Crowne Plaza Monomatapa Harare

... high fence plus razor wire and electric fencing. The property is patrolled by security guards 24 hours a day. 2 guards at night. the whole place lit up like a Xmas tree. We actually feel quite safe.The security industry certainly provides one of the biggest job sectors in the economy.There's the main house and a small cottage for house staff. Takes a bit of getting used to being saluted at the guard house next to the electronic gate when you leave the ...

... br>..........i wasnt as savvy to the conmen and conwomen that i thought i<br>was................in fact ...........i cant recall ever being tricked<br>by a woman on my travels before ............in the East the women are<br>Shy ,reserved and Polite..........<br>i think i had spent too much time<br>over there .......these women were stronger , more assertive<br>........and while their husbands spent all day in the local boozers (as<br>i found out on the train) these women had ...

... in fact located within a bird sanctuary on a beautiful lake. There were heaps of people picnicking, fishing, boating, playing - real family atmosphere. They put us overlanders away to the side so as not to disrupt the peace too much! Yesterday I basically just sat updating the blog. Can't believe I am nearly there. It has taken me soooo long. The current word count stands at 109,665 and is 204 pages long!! My goodness. No wonder it's taken up so much of my ...

... a lot of credit for 'making a plan' and being incredibly resilient. I live in hope that things will start to change soon.<br><br>I spent most of my time with my parents, I hadn't seen them for 18 months so they were the focus of my visit. But I also did manage to catch up with Lynne and Ollie and remind myself why life in Zimbabwe is still good - nothing beats a braai in a garden, with good friends and lots of laughs (and reliable weather)<br> <br> <br>

... are only partially paved but fully pot-holled. We race to the Malawian border before it closes at 9, arrive a couple minutes before closing, and are turned away by a cranky border official. After bribing Malwian border officials to allow us to walk to Malawi to sleep in a lodge, we find out lodge is booked. We pitch tents and sleep through violent rains. I leave my shoes outside. 1 PM (the next day): Arrive in Blantyre, Malawi, two days behind schedule

... Later that day though I (Danny) was booked on to go on a walk with Lions so I soon booked up! The Lion walk was amazing, I got to stroke them etc and one of them even jumped up at me nealry knocking me over! Apparantly they do that to the people who are most dominant in the group and are the biggest threat! ;o). I nealry shat my pants though! (Vikki seems to think they attack the weakest link but we all know that ...

... his midnight feast. An early start for those signed up for white wat** riv** rafting and bungee jumping. I decided to go to the Zambian side of the Falls, with Nikki to see the Falls with low wat** and compare it to my June trip. I couldn't believe it. It was more like a gorge than a wat**fall. Th**e was just a trickle of wat** h**e and th**e. We even walked across what would have been the top of the Falls back in June with wat** gushing relentlessly ov** the ...

... out disadvantaged youth in Harare. It is a football (soccer) academy that has produced both male and female players on the Zimbabwean national teams. When I first met Danyi's father, he was in a meeting with men who wanted to discuss possible futures in Fifa for some their prospects. Danayi's father and step mother are people who have a deep love for their country, and are determined to see that country return to greatness. It is nearly impossible to find young people ...

... took a while. To be honest, despite not having eaten for 5 days they didn't really seem that they could be bothered. They walked a long way ignoring a couple of zebra and a duiker and then lay down for a bit whilst the keepers waved a light at some ostrich about 200 metres away. And then it happened. The ostriches got up and started jogging in an ostrich fashion away and the next thing you know the lions have flashed across the gap in between them and the birds ...

... my voicemail message to:<br><br>"Hi, you've reached David. I am currently traveling around Africa until February. You can contact me on (email address) or visit my blog at www.travelpod.com/memb**s/dcm wh**e I will leave my latest cell numb**.<br><br>Please don't leave a message, as I won't be checking them anyway and my mailbox will just fill up. Now would be the time to put the phone down before the beep..."<br><br>We left the country at 18:30 - or so I ...