So with all the sights and day tripping detailed in our last blogpost, we will now share some of the exciting nightlife that we experienced while on Contiki - it too brought its own sights and soundsJ

In the beginning of the Contiki, there seemed to be a connection between Contiki and karaoke...three of the first four nights went down over (many and much needed) drinks and sing-along-songs.Most of the nights were actually spent in local small town bars where arriving in a group of 15 to 30 people really brought the party to town. On the first night of tour, we were introduced to our new American drink of choice, bourbon and ginger: it comes heavy handed, strong and fast and goes down very easily. Since bars generally stop serving drinks and close down around 2am, we would only get to bed quite late. The night caps certainly helped with falling asleep quickly (as did the serious lack of sleep on the tour) but the early rises to get a 5 minute breakfast before hitting the road weren't as easy. Fortunately, the adrenaline kept the hangovers at bay, or maybe we've just become drinking fit!

West Yellowstone brought about an interesting night that landed up with two girls, one from the tour and the other a feisty local, in the bar, eyes in each other's eyes, faces close together, hearts racing, and their fists trying to fly for the other's face, yip, a bar fight people (what were you thinkingJ). Fortunately, given that one of the girls was on our tour, it was broken up quickly and no one got hurt. There was also a great night in Kanab where we had a white-trash themed motel room party. Everyone got lekker dronk and at one point we all started singing our anthems and local songs where Shosha-Loza was brought out in full alcohol induced lyrical brilliance. DJ Darrren (the legendary Jozi mixer) then kept everyone singing into the early morning with his favourite ipod classics and requests…the crowd could not find a song that the DJ didn't have!

So many great nights were had but the best was yet to come…oh yes, it was Vegas time baby! Two nights in Vegas with a crazy Contiki crew and everyone ready to get their party on was a recipe for madness. On our first night, we started with an incredible guided tour down the strip from our tour director, Drew Walker. We were then surprised by a full mock Vegas chapel wedding fully kitted with an Elvis impersonator. And then we spent some time on Fremont St in the original strip of Vegas (we didn't even know this street existed and it's a must do if you're heading to sin city). The party was then taken to one of the great new clubs in town, Haze Nightclub at the Aria Hotel. Unfortunately, the party had to be cut a bit short as we were heading out for the helicopter ride into the Grand Canyon at 7am the next morning. Night two, however, had no restrictions and kicked off with a stretch 4x4 and champers limo ride down the strip to the classic "Welcome to Vegas" sign and back to the Palms for an evening on the rooftop GhostBar. Our party continued with another, unplanned, limo ride later that night to the after-hours Drai's Nightclub and finally ended at 5am with some Micky-D's to attempt the mammoth task of soaking up remaining alcohol. Viva Las Vegas Viva…

The end of Vegas brought about the end of Contiki - what a way to cap off an amazing tour (photos of the whole tour will start going up on the blog today) - and the next day, after a bus ride to LA, we were saying our goodbyes to our new friends and preparing ourselves for hitting the road again…backpacks on our back…smallpacks on our fronts…onto the streets of Los Angeles…two mlungus left the comfort of the Contiki and trekked forth into their own unknown.

Trek on…Brett and Darren