Bush Camps, Donkey Showers and Long Drops

Location: internet cafe facing indian ocean in Zanzibar
Jambo!
As it says, I have made it as far as Zamzibar! Am safe, in fantastic spirits and have thoroughly enjoyed the last week and a half. To quickly summarize, in those 11 days, Ive: danced with the tonga tribe on the banks of the zambezi river, found myself in a malawian rainstorm at 2 in the morning pulling a raincover over our tent, eaten seafood at the zanzibar night market, swam with (well near...in the same ocean..) dolphins, visited a malawi village school and hospital, played a local at a game similar to backgammon, sampled the spices fresh from the trees in zanzibar.. the list goes on, but i dont have my diary to hand, so it will hopefully come tomorrow..
Just to give an idea of whatg my life is at the moment, an average day will fconsist of us waking up in our tents roughly 6ish, making ourselves breakfast from the truck- a behemoth of a vehicle, photos to follow, before piling in and being taken to our next stop, in journeys across the african landscape that vary from two hours to eleven. I havent found myself bored yet in the truck, as we're a small group of 7 travellers a guide and a driver, and so were spoilt for space, so one can comfortably stretch out and sleep on the floor of the truckj as we pootle along, if one's not playing cards, reading, listening to music, or just watching this alien world open up in front of us (a mezmerizing experience).


Before I left John pointed out that Im travelling through countries roughly in the order of the standard of living, going from poorest to best, and I was thinking, while it could serve as an interesting tour through the various ways people live around the world, I also think its a shame, as I wont experience the "reverse culture shock" Ive been warned of, where, upon returning, one sees their hometown in a completely new light. Instead Ill be somewhat acclimatising to each country as I go along, and as a result, I fear I may not be able to benefit from seeing directly the contrast between the mud huts and mosquitoes of Malawi and the lush life that I have in Hatfield. Thaqt said Ill do my best to bear it in mind, as its something i feel incredibly strongly about at the moment, the luxury in which I live, and how I should appreciate it as much as I can.

As weve been soo busy and done soo much, I wont write it all down here, instead Ill paint a picture of the night we camped on the banks of the Zambezi river alongside the tonga tribe:
We started by travelling ................

MUST DASH, as internet cafe is closing, but ill fill in the second half of this tomorrow, as were still here, and this is the only internet Ive seen for a long time, so I want to make hay etc.
Love and Regards
Laurie X