A visit to southern Africa and some Indian Ocean islands - Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, then Mauritius, Reunion and the Seychelles October 1980 Our route round southern Africa and Indian Ocean islands (blue is flights, red is overland) Malawi On 3rd -4th October we flew Saudia to Jeddah, Kenyan Airlines to Nairobi and Air Malawi to Blantyre, Malawi. We started at the Mount Soche hotel in Blantyre, which had colourful Jacaranda trees and a nice outdoor dining area. In Blantyre town we saw a nice little town hall, a group of sewing-machinists in Livingstone Avenue and not the best name for a driving school! We hired a car and drove to the Zomba Plateau past mountain villages .... .... and stopped at the Ku Chawe Inn. There were some impressive views from the plateau. We drove on along the M3 road past more mountain villages .... .... to Lake Malawi, where we stayed at Club Makokola on the lake .... .... and took advantage of their copious mosquito nets! We went for a boat ride to Bird Island on Lake Malawi, and saw big lizards .... .... and fishermen in dugout canoes. We drove round the lake and through Golomoti towards Dedza, passing more mountain villages along the way .... .... then down the M1 road to Ntcheu where women were singing and dancing .... .... and back to Blantyre. Zimbabwe / Rhodesia On the 9th October we flew on Air Malawi to Salisbury (renamed Harare in 1982) the capital of Zimbabwe (which had been Rhodesia until six months ago) and stayed four nights at the Courtney hotel. We walked around the immaculately-maintained Cecil Square, subsequently renamed African Unity Square, with more colourful Jacaranda trees .... .... and had lunch in Barbour's Coffee Shop on First Street. On the 11th we flew to Victoria Falls and back on Air Rhodesia. We had a boat tour on the Zambezi river and fed the monkeys on Kandaha island. We visited Big Tree and had lunch at the Casino hotel to the accompaniment of a steel band. Then on to the main event, the falls themselves. They were of course spectacular .... .... and Sheila was ready to burst into song! And we stopped for tea at the historic Victoria Falls hotel. On the 13th-14th we got the overnight train to Bulawayo. We looked round Bulawayo town, visiting the park, the museum and stopping for ice cream along the way. Botswana On the 15th October we got the train on to Gaberone, Botswana, where we stayed one night in the Holiday Inn. We walked around and saw the National Assembly building. South Africa On the 16th rather than continue on the train, we accepted the kind offer of a much quicker lift with Humphrey in his Citroen to Johannesburg, South Africa. We visited 'Santarama Miniland' model village .... .... and the 'Dromedaris' tall ship. We found that apartheid works both ways when we tried to go for a ride on a blacks-only full-sized trolleybus and the driver was very reluctant to let us on board. He eventually let us get on but everyone seemed embarassed so we got off a couple of stops later. The trolleybus system closed in 1986 and apartheid was scrapped in 1990. We visited Johannesburg Lion Park where some of the residents didn't seem to like us being there .... .... but others were much more relaxed about it. Mauritius On the 20th we flew to Mauritius on South African Airways and stayed five nights at Auberge Ile de France, with a nice view of a harbour. We looked around Port Louis, the capital, where Mahe de Labourdonnais was presiding over Place d'Armes. We hired a car and drove round the island, visiting Grand Baie, Arsenal and Fort Adelaide. It was washday in the river near Arsenal! We passed an ox cart near Arsenal. Réunion Island, a french Department On the 25th we flew to Réunion island on an Air Mauritius ‘Otter’ and stayed one night. We hired a car and visited the fort at Saint Denis and the Cirque de Salazie volcanic crater. There was a cow in a very restricted field near Salazie. Seychelles We flew back to Mauritius, stayed one night and flew to the Seychelles on British Airways on the 27th. We stayed for six nights at Casuarina Beach hotel near the airport on Mahé island. We hired a mini-moke and drove 15km up the coast to Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles, with a clock tower in the main square and sea-shells for sale in the market. The next day we drove round Mahé island in the mini-moke, stopping for a view across Victoria to Saint-Anne island .... .... and stopping to play on the beach at Port Launay. We stopped at another beach near Port Glaud. Another day we got the ferry from Victoria harbour .... .... to Praslin island and went on the Vallée de Mai nature trail. We got another ferry to nearby La Digue island and boarded the only available taxi for a tour. Another day we drove across Mahé island to another beach at Anse Boileau, then found a playground in Victoria with climbing frames and swings. On the 2nd of November we flew to Bahrain on BA and back to Riyadh on Saudia. If you would like to see more of our travels just click the map.