Despatches

Northern Malawi 1999. Children in African Villages love to crowd around newcomers,
even if they are only popping in for a cup of tea.
Photo Anne Simpson

Setting off is always a good feeling. Today was no exception, but like all expeditions it started with a slight snag... (More)

Quite a lot has happened in the last few days, I've been frantically running around trying to organize things, write articles... (More)

Today was an important day for all of us. It was the day that Narinder climbed into his ridiculous 130 and chugged off towards Moshi.... (More)

With only nine days to go, the preparations for B577WKJ (the Weasel) are becoming frantic. I flew over to Dar es Salaam specially to pick up the Weasel.... (More)

My last day at work turned out to be a disaster. Not for me perhaps but a disaster. Let me explain. All last night I was sick, I staggered into work this morning.... (More)

I honestly thought that I could quietly slide away from Zanzibar. I had had a party to say goodbye to the Swahili Divers staff and thought that was the end of it... (More)

It was 0645 hours in Nairobi Aerodrome and it was bitterly cold. I swore quietly to myself, wrapped my fleece tighter around me and stomped off to find some coffee... (More)

"Raf the mechanics say this looks like a Toyota starter motor."
"Errrr actually it's an Isuzu KB petrol starter motor"
"Whaaat?" ... (More)

If someone asked me to cram eight days of my normal life onto paper, it would be difficult enough. However, the last eight days have been some of the most diverse in my life. We have covered 1870 Kilometres since Nairobi, crossed a desert, blown up a tyre, come face to face with a herd of foraging elephants, entered a new country and destroyed two shock absorbers. We haven't seen Penny & Narinder in this time, and it's cold here in Abyssinia. I have transcribed my notebooks onto e-paper in 2748 words, I hope those of you that manage to get to the end can see why we do stupid things like leave home and bounce across Africa. (More)

Hey, I know that guy, that’s an ITN news researcher. Said Stuart in surprise. Once again my interest was piqued, what was going on in this city?(More)

Harar was an Islamic city state with some degree of autonomy that nestled in the mountains five hundred kilometres from Addis Ababa. The drive turned out to be a marathon journey. (More)

The road to Awash was the same as the road to Harar. This time we were able to see what we were looking at for we make the fortuitous decision to travel by day. (More)

Two days ago another Land Rover pulled up into the Debre Damo Hotel in Addis Ababa. A rather lanky Dutchman and his delightful girlfriend stepped out and asked us who we were. (More)

Today we managed to get rid of Cisca, she flew off to Lalibela to see the Ancient churches carved hewn from the rock. We have driven 587 miles from Addis Ababa and are about to crack on to Gondar. (More)

Even more to my surprise we re-joined Penny and Narinder. We chatted for hours discussed time schedules. They had indeed broken down and had asked some officers in the Royal Horse Artillery to radio ahead and inform us of their dilemma. (More)

The Land Rover roared up along the track, past the mud houses of Mehtema and started to descend. An Ethiopian Soldier leapt from beneath a tree, sprinted to the road, and brandished his AK47 in a signal to stop. (More)

Khartoum is grand city that sits on the confluence of the two Niles. On the southern bank of the Blue Nile, sit the Anglo-Egyptian constructed ministries.

We left Khartoum on the Atabara road and cruised along the smooth tarmac at 110 km/h (More)

The next morning we decided that discretion was the better part of valour, crossed back to the main tarmac road, sped to the correct turn off and drove along a smooth sandy track to the temple (More)

Leaving our German friends behind we motored north to Ed Damer and crossed the Nile. This was the last we were to see of the Tarmac. (More)

We cleared the Bayudya desert and arrived at the Nile. Eid had started and Ramadan was over. For this reason the ferries were not running and everyone was at home. (More)

This is our first full day after Ramadan. I enjoy drinking Turkish coffee on the steps of a café at 9 am. Stuart did not enjoy changing all the oils by the side of the road, but I kept him supplied with copious quantities of coffee and tuned into the world service. (More)

This was a long day for us. We hammered North as fast as we could go. It was a Tuesday and Stuart wanted to head on to Egypt. (More)

We rose at dawn. "Hey it's 7.30 am!" I shouted "Numpty, it's December and we are in the Northern hemisphere" Stuart shouted back. (More)

Christmas Day 2001.
It seems fitting that today is the day that the Weasel made her last desert journey of the year. Cisca and I drove out along the Khartoum railway line towards "Station number one". (More)