Lovely to be home despite the cold!

Well hello! I’m back home after nearly a month in southern Africa and seem to have forgotten that it’s still winter here. My friend who lives about 50 miles away couldn’t come and visit today as Oxfordshire is snowed in! I’ve got used to 30 degree heat so am staying indoors…

 

A couple of London things to report on since my return in the middle of last week and then a quick trot through my trip for those who might be interested.

 

This weekend saw the culmination of the celebrations for the Chinese New Year as we moved into the year of the Tiger. Central London was awash with red lanterns and huge crowds enjoying the sights, sounds and food on offer and all things Chinese. It was great to see so many people enjoying the day and plenty of Chinese people as well as locals and tourists. A few photos to give a feel of the day:

Food and drink have been a priority since my return and Friday evening was a lovely meal at Brasserie Max in the Covent Garden Hotel. Buzzy and at times a bit noisy which drowned out some of my endless holiday stories, perhaps that was the plan! Sunday evening was an engagement party at the Oxo Tower top floor bar with it’s amazing views along the Thames. Generous amounts of champagne were served and I recommend it for a bash.

 

So on to the Africa trip – in brief. It was a brilliant overland adventure from Cape Town to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe side) taking in Namibia and Botswana on the way, in a safari truck called Otiz. Everything from Cape Town’s Robben Island and all that awful but ultimately uplifting history, to elephants in our path, lions at a kill, quad bikes on the dunes and white water rafting equally in the water in the boat! We travelled 5,000 kms by road, light plane, bikes, boats, canoes, helicopters and by foot. We boiled and sweated, got sun and wind burnt, got bounced and bruised and wouldn’t have missed it for the world. The camera broke on day one but I indulged in the new Lumix so was happy if rather poorer. A few pictures of course but where to start and how to stop?

Next week it’ll be back to normal blog-wise as the sun tan fades and as I return to bringing you the best that London has to offer.

 

Bye for now,

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