THE ITINERARY

Well the plan for the 183 day trek is roughly as follows: 28 November Assemble in Malaga, get to know everyone, travel to Rock of Gibraltar (have an argument with Alex Ferguson about who owns it), stock up on goodies and the odd necessity, then on to Algeciras and across to Morocco 2 December Arrive in Africa and travel across Morocco for roughly 2 weeks - include Roman ruins at Vollubillis, Fez, Marrakech etc... 16 December Mauritania and the Sahara desert. Follow Atlantic coastline before cutting inland - lots of sand, more sand and more sand - 35 degrees and rising and as Mauritania is a muslim state it's no alcohol till Mali so we will need to put our foot down and get there ahead of schedule......i.e. before Xmas!!!!! 26 December High road to Mali. Desert nomads, herds of goats and camels and on to Bamako, the Capital. The markets of Mopti for a bit of haggling. Djenne and the 15th century mud mosque then a trek across the Bandiagara escarpment into Dogon country who have inhabited the area since 500BC. 7 January Burkina Faso - The vulture city of Ouahigouya, the Capital Ougadougou etc..... 11 January Enter Ghana and travel along the tributaries of the White Volta. Stop at the Mole Game Reserve and then on to Kumasi the capital of the Ashanti (not one of Micheal Caine's finest) kingdom, Accra and the Gulf of Guinea coastline where we get e-mail access for perhaps the first time on the trip. Beaches, rainforest, wildlife and more beaches. 22 January Due to arrive in Togo and visit the Voodoo market in the Capital, Lome. Then onto Benin and Ganvie Island the stilted village in the middle of Lake Nokue and then camp on the Grand Popo beach just outside of Benin's capital Cotonou. 31 January Nigeria ..... Consulates of Abuja for visas then Yankari game reserve and camping at the Wiki warm springs (it would have been more of a surprise if they had been cold but we will see). 16 February Into Cameroon via dirt road - a bit of Roger Milla style dancing round corner flags....the beaches of Limbe and (because of the problems in Sudan's Darfur region) we then have to fly to Ethiopia from Douala. 25 February Ethiopia and the Capital - Addis Abeba. The castles of Gonder, the Blue Nile falls then descending the high plateau to see the Rift valley and it's lakes, the lip plate tribe (Mursi) and south to Kenya... 27 March The Samburu, Turkana, Rendilli and El Molo tribes of the hot and dry north. Lake Baringo for a bit of twitching..... 6 April Onto Nairobi (or Nairobbery as some have nicknamed it). Through the Rift valley and towards Uganda and a trek to see the Mountain Gorillas (she got on perfectly well with David Attenborough!). Across Lake Victoria to the Chimp sanctuary and a bit of rafting on the Nile. 20 April Leave Nairobi across the Savannah of the Massai into Tanzania. The Ngorongoro crater and the Serengeti national park - game galore. Then south past Kilimanjaro (climb it ..... are you having a laugh) and Dar Es Salaam. 25 April Makadi beach on the Indian Ocean coast and across to Zanzibar. 1 May Into Malawi - camping at various points along Lake Malawi, local markets etc.... 7 May Drive from Lilingwe (Malawi's Capital) into Zambia. More game spotting in the South Luangwa National Park. Across Zambia via Lusaka to Vic Falls. River boat cruises, white water rafting and various risky activities around the falls (micro-lighting, bungi jumping etc). 15 May Across Zimbabwe into Botswana. Chobe National Park and then the Okovango Delta for more safaris, some on foot..... North West into Namibia - Etosha National Park - even more game viewing, the rock outcrops at Damaraland and the Skeleton coast. 26 May to 2 June 2007 The Cape Seal colony and Swakopmund, the world's larget sand dunes, Fish River Canyon and into South Africa and down to Capetown. Might come home then ...... but hang on a minute....someone just told me about a place called South America ........