Photo album from the Serengeti

 Today feels like a good day to go back over some photos from my camping trip to the Serengeti in 2011...

Nothing says 'Welcome to the Serengeti' like skulls!

I need a new camera, I'm not happy with the lighting in a lot of these photos - any camera suggestions?

Things not to bother doing whilst visiting Zanzibar

Zanzibar fans... hello! I am a fan also!

I'm heading back to Kenya in a month, and I think it would be downright rude of me not to pay a visit to Zanzibar again seeing as I'll be SO close - hey neighbour! I'm feeling nostalgic and I just finished up the last of my chilli powder that I bought in Zanzibar, so I thought this an appropriate time to revisit this beautiful place in my head and on my blog.

Oh for Goodness sake, look how amazing it is:

The Z Hotel, we didn't stay there :) http://www.thezhotel.com/

I visited Zanzibar last year as part of an Exodus trip and it gave me just enough time to dig into the surface, climb in and fall in love with the place. I want to go back quite desperately.

But when I do go back, there are things I won't do and these are just my opinion, but these are things to miss out in Zanzibar:

1. Doing a spice tour
"GASP! But everyone else is telling me to do a spice tour!!" Yeah well I'm not. To tell you the truth, I haven't spent a whole lot of my life wondering WHERE spices come from. They come from the supermarket shelf in a handy A-Z order so you know exactly where to find them. There was no way I was going to use the precious time I had to do a spice tour. Life's too short for spice tours.. in my opinion!

When the sun is beating down on you (it is swelteringly hot in Zanzibar by the way) and you have the choice to follow a REALLY boring man around and make lipstick out of plants and gaze at lots of things you don't really understand about... OR you could wander round Zanzibar at your own pace and stop off at a little beachside bar for a cheeky beer or two - no contest for me.

2. Buying spices at the market
ARGGGH what is it with the spices??! NO I DON'T WANT TO BUY ANY CINNAMON. You know what? I fell for that classic tourist trap. On the second day in Stone Town, everyone I met said 'oh have you bought any spices yet?' and I was like 'No but I got myself a few Kilimanjaro beers and a Tusker beer or two (no contest, Tusker forever) I started to doubt myself.

'Do I need cinnamon? Everyone ELSE has cinnamon - and they know where it comes from...'

*shiver* maybe I should go and get some cinnamon from a market before we move in incase I regret it forever...?

BIG MISTAKE. Most streets in Stone Town are as wide as this:

Plus, they're pretty hot (it's quite a hot place, did I mention that?) and they're crowded too, so when a random man says he'll show you the way and you insist that you're fine and that you would prefer to not be accompanied and he follows you the whole way and you're about to punch him when he shows you to his brother's stall who will sell you some cinnamon at a very good price because you speak some Swahili and you look like you're about to punch them and then they try and sell you some vanilla pods, chilli powder and saffron too at a very good price and you walk away but then think 'Shit, I'll just buy it, Christmas presents' then carry a heavy bag of spices that won't fit in your rucksack and burst leaving saffron all over everything (it stains)...

...well then just go to the bloody supermarket, buy a pretty tin for it and just say you got it from Zanzibar anyway.

3. Argue with the beach boys
The beaches of the north coast of Zanzibar are the prettiest I've seen with the bluest water. The beach boys there are the toughest, most persistent and charming I've encountered. There are LOADS of them as well selling the same conveyor belt of things you don't need: Tours, watches, sunglasses, tours, watches, sungl...... on it goes.

It's my last day in Zanzibar, I have no need for a watch and I'm already wearing sunglasses... However, after a while of getting annoyed realised it wasn't going to change, so you just chill out and have a laugh at the situation, they have a job to do and a living to make afterall. Plus, it's a good opportunity to try out your haggling skills.

Zanzi Chic

In conclusion, cinnamon is cinnamon no matter where you buy it from and Zanzibar is super duper hot.

Take a peek here for things you MUST do in Zanzibar, - see you there!

My Favourite Africa Photos

It's official, now that Pinterest and Instagram are in my life, I feel more complete. And now that I have myself an iPhone (am I the last person to get one? I think so.) I have this at my fingertips, so I'm even more antisocial focused.

I love photos. Sometimes on a trip out or a holiday, I worry that I've spent too long behind the camera instead of just enjoying the trip for what it is, and it's important to have that balance. Overall I think I'd rather have too many photos than not enough. So there.

I thought I'd try my first photo essay type thing of my favourite photos from Africa so far, hopefully there are so many more to come:

2007: Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda

Look what the African sun did to my camera! It looks like I was there in the sixties rather than 2007. I love this photo because I have so many memories of my trip to Uganda and trying to navigate that dug out tree trunk on the water was just so funny for all of us. We didn't think we'd ever make it back to shore. Happy days.

2007: Nyakisiru, Uganda

This was our last day in the village and we had our photo taken with the elders of Nyakasiru. I had my photo taken with a 90 year old Ugandan man who, when translated, said he never thought he'd live to see the day where we had his photo taken with a white girl. Brilliant, glad to be of assistance.

2009: Mombasa, Kenya

Clearly I make a great, fascinating and lively teacher. Here are my students, asleep in class. To be fair they were only 4 years old and were far too young to be sitting in a small classroom at a desk, similar children back home here would be running around screaming and playing with jelly moulds or doing finger painting. The dude on the left later peed his pants in his sleep. Bless.

2009: Tiwi Beach, Mombasa

I don't know why I love this photo so much but it's always been one of my favourites. We went for a walk around our beach resort (Tiwi beach is beautiful but quite remote) and stumbled upon these guys who let me take their photo - asante sana rafikis! I REALLY wanted that wooden ship.

2009: Mombasa - Nairobi train, Kenya

Look at me! I'm on the Mombasa to Nairobi train. I wrote another blog all about the 15 hour train ride to Nairobi, but one of the things I really wanted was to take a picture of the train going around the bend and by jove I did! I might not have had a fandangled camera like the other people on the train, but I got the shot I wanted and then just enjoyed the view.

2011: Lake Naivasha, Kenya

This photo is cool for so many reasons (well actually, just one reason really, the giraffe) We did a walking safari after being reassured that there were no predators in the area and it was amazing. I fell in love with warthogs on this walking safari, they're just so damned funny looking, I love it.

2011: Nakuru National Park, Kenya

A true Lion King moment at the top of this hill overlooking the park. How amazing is this place? Everything the light touches is your kingdom.

2011: Tanzania (A beach somewhere)

Oh my. I just love this photo. This photo represents the one morning on this trip that I was one of the first people awake and up. Every other morning I had to be dragged from my tent so we could get going (what? I love sleep) but that morning we'd slept in a hut on the beach, so the sea woke me up and I got up to enjoy the view on my own. Serene hey?

2011: Stone Town, Zanzibar

Stone Town holds the prize of the hottest place I've been to, twinned with the place I've covered up the most in despite the heat. Out of respect for the Muslim community, my translucent skin was covered up resulting in around five outfit changes per hour. Stunning place though, you soon get tired of the winding alleys as you get completely lost and have no idea where your hotel is...

2011: Nungwi, Zanzibar

No words are needed really, just admire the picture.

The scenery there was so beautiful, it should be illegal. I HAVE to go back there.

And that's all for now! Hope you enjoyed it. Does that count as a photo essay? Let's pretend it does to make me feel better.

I Love Edinburgh and here's why...

Heading up to Edinburgh this weekend. Yep. I've a special place in my heart for Edinburgh, right next to Galaxy chocolate, Bryan Adams and TV shows filmed around police, airports and animal rescues.

Getting the train Saturday morning at 8am. Ouch. After a Friday night of drinking where I'll try my best to get to bed at a decent time. Double ouch.

The weekend will most probably be spent drinking, eating, sleeping, strolling, Arthur's seating, drinking, scurrying down alleyways that lead to who knows where, drinking, dancing, eating, you know whatting, one o'clock gunning, shopping, tacky souvenir shopping, open top bussing...

Taken on a previous trip... that is my real hair. Got a problem with that?

...And generally being smug about having Monday off of work. Life is good in Edinburgh.

That's right, if you check your calendars, April 2nd is the first day of the new calendar year and I've booked it off. Good start to 2012's holiday allowance!

Note to self - must not hit Three Sisters Bar as hard as you did last year with your two sisters...

If I'd Never...

One of my favourite games to play is 'If I'd Never' (look - I've given it capital letters and everything such is the importance of the game) and it goes a little something like this...

Look at your life RIGHT NOW, yep, right now. Where are you? How did you get there? Which decision did you make that got you to where you are at this very moment in your life? Once you start digging, it's totally fascinating, like digging up the roots of your own family tree, but not.

So right now, I'm working for a TEFL company in Leeds, and all of my other family members live at least 200 miles away back in Berkshire where I grew up and all that jazz.

I had a good old think about this over a glass of red wine or bottle, and I think my turning point that took me on this path was a trip to Ibiza back in 2002 - stick with me, this is going somewhere.

During my trip I met a boy. When you consider that this holiday was an 18-30s holiday (and the fact that I was only 17 at the time and MY LOVELY DAD had to sign a consent form to say I could go...) I'm not sure my Dad was all that thrilled to hear that I met a boy.

This boy lived in Leeds. The furthest I'd ever been up North was Fife, so quite a lot further than Leeds (not really sure why I put that part, I was thinking when I started typing that bit that I'd never been that far up North but then I remembered that I had. Much further. Anyhoo...)

So I went up to visit this boy. And it turns out that I quite liked him and at the time I was on a 'gap yah' as I decided I didn't want to go to my first choice Uni, Bournemouth, so I decided to move up to Leeds. I worked in the Devonshire Brasserie and Hotel over in a lovely little place called Bolton Abbey. The hotel? Not so lovely, I don't think I'll be going to work in a hotel anytime soon...

So, I quit that job on Christmas Eve. That went well. Moved back home and worked in New Look for the rest of my 'gap yah'. That went well too. I easily spent more than I earned working there...bad idea.

I applied to Leeds Met Uni and got in to a QTS course with Primary Education as my degree.

To cut a long story short, this boy and I didn't work out, but I met a very nice other boy who I married 7 years later, so it wasn't an entirely wasted trip to Leeds...

After one year and a teaching placement, I decided not to pursue teaching as I didn't enjoy it enough to sustain it as a career. I liked the idea of teaching but all the planning was DOING MY HEAD IN. I'm not an organised person.

I changed courses to Childhood Studies and graduated three years later with a 2:1 (*bows* thank you very much) and toddled off to work full time in Superdrug. Yep, living the graduate dream.

Another long story short, a month later I got offered the chance to go and teach in Uganda with i-to-i on an all expenses paid trip of which Channel 4 would be filming me and four other Leeds Met students (Leeds Met were covering the bill in exchange for us wearing branded clothes - they pimped us!) I don't mind, it's easily the jammiest moment of my whole life and it was amazing. Oh did I mention that there were 8 millionaires joining us who were trying to solve poverty through enterprise? Yes, i-to-i boss Deirdre Bounds was there, along with that Google pay-per-click guy Seb Bishop and others...

When I returned home, I agreed to do a talk at an open day for i-to-i and Deirdre offered me a job interview. I aced the interview (natch) and started there in Spetember 2007.

Since there I've had the opportunity to go to Kenya, Honduras and most recently an amazing overland trip to Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar. I've met my circle of friends who I wouldn't be without and generally had a ball (occasionally doing a spot of work somewhere along the way).

If I'd never gone to Ibiza, chances are that I would have completed a degree in Tourism (my original choice) and who the hell knows where I'd be now? Fun game hey?

What's Catty Doing?

Just in case you've been wondering what Catty has been up to recently, I'll fill you in.

2011 was a good year for Catty, check out what a busy year he's had and some of his favourite things to do...

Busy growing in to an EVER BIGGER cat.

Checking out his snow boots!

Sniffing stuff and being curious in general

Diving! Scores please?

Perfecting staring and the art of total lack of spacial awareness. Yep. He is a busy dude.

Balancing and that.

Catching some rays! Outta my sun!

Snoozing on laps, did you know cats sleep for up to 20 hours of the day?

Making new friends who have beer!

Drinking out of toilets - I don't think I'll ever understand this...

Practicing my 'I'm just too cute for anything laborious' face.

So there we have it. Catty has BIG PLANS for 2012. He's going to go on a diet (he doesn't know this) he's going to chase more things thinking he is a dog, he's got plenty of sleeping to be catching up on and muddy paw prints to tread through the house. Hopefully this Boxing Day he won't be sick on the carpet and this year I'm crossing fingers he stops using the bathroom mat as an extension of his litter tray. All I have to remember is that this is actually HIS house and I'm just lucky he allows me to live there with him.

Room 27

Hey dudes,

I'm checking in to room 27 for the next year. Room 26 was getting a little small for me and I'd outstayed my welcome there, room 28 is too big at the moment, so 27 it is!

26 served me well though; I got married, I moved out of Headingley, I got a new job, I lost over 2 stone, I discovered I don't hate mushrooms, I got a cat, I...well that's enough for now anyway!

I had a great birthday! I nearly got a cup of tea in bed,, but I overslept so no tea for me. Josh got me a WIFE card which thrilled me, plus 2 awesome CD's. Work was fine, apart from having my birthday cakes stolen! I got some lovely presents from Rachel and Dawn, some lovely cards and Nayani bought me a carvery dinner! Yumtowns!

I got home to MORE CARDS, and my Dad sent me a great present, the heel from my wedding shoe that got stuck in the drain outside the church :) a guy from the church pulled it out of the drain and held on to it for Dad and he posted it to meeeeeee.

Then a bunch of us coolkids headed to Tariq's in Headingley for a trip down memory lane and a lamb saag. I love lamb in my curries. The plan after dinner was to head to a karaoke booth, but it was BROKEN!!! So instead we played on a quiz machine for like half an hour and gambled all my taxi fare.

Cat lollipop...birthday me...birthday gamble...best bag ever from Rachel...

Things I'm excited about:

• Dad is taking part in an all day badminton match for his church charity this Saturday - Go Dad! 
• Josh and I are going to Blackpool for the weekend! Pleasure beach, trams, fish and chips
• Tomorrow is Friday - what's not to be excited about?
• Wearing my new welly boot necklace from Rachel :)
• Going on the Big Dipper for the first time!