A Bonnie Day

James and Cornel left early this morning to climb four Munros in the Fannichs. Cornel is visiting us this week and he and James are hoping to do lots of walking despite a mixed forecast. Today is beautiful so they decided to go for a big day while they can. I went down to the estuary at 9 a.m. when there was a very high tide of 4.99 metres. The water was so far up the grass that it nearly reached the bushes. The water was quite chilly but I had a good swim, and then sat and read my book for a while on a deckchair in the sunshine. Later I went for a walk along to the village where I did some shopping. I was sitting on the sea wall drinking some refreshing chilled apple juice when I saw a group of six fit ladies walking along from the ferry, wheeling their bicycles. Heather had messaged me earlier in the day to tell me that Kathleen and a group of the Glasgow Gals cycling group would be crossing to Ullapool from Stornoway after a cycling trip in the Western Isles. I had assumed that I wouldn’t run into them since Ullapool is currently about as busy as it gets, but I spotted Kathleen straight away and hailed her. We had a brief chat and I took a photo of the group. James and Cornell arrived back at the cottage, tired but very happy after climbing all of their mountains in glorious sunshine and we had drinks outdoors before dinner. 

Erin and Hughie

We are enjoying the warm summer in Ullapool, having a peaceful time with the cats. Both of them are spending a huge amount of time outdoors and so are James and I! We were sitting on the bench today watching Flora who was rolling around on the slabs in the sunshine, and we noticed that she just rolls her shoulders and top half over, and then her lower half inevitably follows. It’s very funny and sweet. Less endearingly, Flora likes to eat the cobwebs on the wall beside the patio as if she is eating candy floss, including juicy dead flies. Disgusting. 
Yesterday we visited Alison and Hugh in Nairn for a very special reason; to meet their five month old grandson Hugh, aka Hughie. What a smiley baby he is! Whenever you catch his eye he gives a great big smile - what a friendly wee chap! His smile is very like that of his Grandpa Hugh, and I have always thought that Erin looks very like Alison. We haven’t seen Erin since she was a baby herself and now she is about to turn four years old and is a gorgeous wee girl. She is very clever; she can count to a hundred and can say the whole alphabet as well as writing her name. She is also pleased to be the big sister of Hughie and is very kind with him. Hugh and Lucy have taken to double parenthood like ducks to water, they are so calm and competent, I can remember Hugh so clearly as a wee fellow running about our garden with our boys in the 1990s, not much older than Erin is now! It was very nice to see Lynsey again, she dotes on her wee great-niece and great-nephew. After a delicious lunch we went outside so that Erin could play on her swing and discovered that she is completely fearless, liking to swing very high while trying to burst bubbles that Granny Alison was blowing for her! Having grandchildren looks like great fun. 

Walking in Strathconon

This morning, James and I gave Kevin a lift to Inverness station. We were sorry to say goodbye to him, we have had a lot of fun with him over the last few days. We were in good time and had a quick coffee in the Costa at the station before saying our farewells to Kevin and then heading for Strathconon. James had a Corbett that he wanted to bag, called Bac an Eich, which was a six hour circular trip from our parking spot near Inverchoran farm. I decided to walk along a bit of the River Meig and then walk the length of Loch Beannacharain. There was an attractive big house at the end of the loch called Scardroy and opposite it there was a steep hillock with a little cylindrical monument on top. I climbed up to take a closer look, and found it easier to take my shoes and socks off to walk up through the long grass! Apparently the monument is in memory of a 2nd World War Major-General called John Frederick Boyce Combe. There are a couple of crests on it but the plaque mentioned online is missing, so I’m not sure what was his link to the area. I walked back to the car, stopping beside the river on the way for lunch. The field was full of delicate pale blue harebells, tiny clusters of white field madder, purple field scabious and little yellow tormentil. By the time I arrived back at the car I had walked more than 12 km which pleased me. James made really good speed on his hill walk and arrived back at the car only twenty minutes after I did. We headed home via Deli-ca-Sea where we got fish suppers. The cats had been outside all day, with access to food and water in the porch, and were excited to see us. 

Appletons meet in Ullapool!

The weather in Ullapool is fantastic and we have been making the most of it. Yesterday I went swimming in the estuary and today we are at Mellon Udrigle beach where I have had another swim. The water is at its warmest at this time of year, it’s such a pleasure to be able to stride into the water without even flinching! Kevin had been staying with us for the last few days and it has been lovely to see him. He posted a few photos on Facebook about his trip and his cousin’s son contacted him to say that he now lives in Ullapool! So we invited James and his partner Cal round for drinks and we all sat in the garden in the hot sunshine and chatted. They are in their thirties, really nice and also extremely interesting. James is a photographer and film maker and hill runner and kayaker, and Cal is a vet and paddle boarder. They moved to Ullapool a couple of years ago and are renovating a boat as well as travelling and working. Last year they made a film of Cal paddle boarding around Scotland, interviewing local people on the way about their work for the environment and biodiversity. We watched the first part last night and it was fascinating; we’re going to watch part two tonight. 
On Saturday evening James, Kevin and I went to see the Lewis McLaughlin Duo at the Ceilidh Place Venue. Lewis is a talented young singer and guitarist, and he was accompanied by Chloe Bryce on the fiddle who was also great. It was an excellent evening and the sky was glowing red on the horizon as we walked home along West Terrace. We also took Kevin for a trip on the Shearwater yesterday morning, where we saw bonxies swooping about, and lots of dolphins leaping in and out of the water. It turns out that tour guide Noel Hawkins is a great friend of James and Cal - so many connections! 

Sounds of Africa

We are back in Ullapool enjoying the warm weather. We had a sunny lunch sitting outside Tea by the Sea today, and enjoyed the beautiful views along the loch. 

On the way north we played some of the music that reminds us of our Tanzanian holiday. Many lovely African songs were played in the evenings at our lodges and camps, often accompanied by dancing by the staff and sometimes us too! Three songs particularly stood out to me. 

Firstly, Jambo Bwana is a cheerful and catchy Swahili greeting song from East Africa, originally written in Kenya in the 1980s. Its famous line “Hakuna Matata”  means “no worries” and was subsequently used as a song title in the Disney film “Lion King.” We heard it (and sang it!) every evening.  
Secondly, we heard a lot of Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) which was the official anthem for the South African World Cup in 2010, written and sung by Shakira. It draws inspiration from traditional African music, and also Colombian rhythms. 
However my favourite song of all was Jerusalema, a Zulu song from South Africa. It has such a beautiful tune and is an anthem of hope, unity, and belonging; it is the song that we danced to at Lake Manyara Lodge. 

We also learned a few phrases while we were in Tanzania in addition to Hakuna Matata. 

Asante sana means thank you very much, and we had very many occasions to say that. Karibu means you’re welcome, and Pole Pole (pronounced “polay polay”) means take your time, take it easy.

For me these songs and words perfectly reflect the spirit of our trip - full of friendship, adventure and shared memories. 

Farewell to Tanzania

A quick blog from top of the garden before I go inside to make dinner. It is delightfully warm today; not as warm as the Serengeti or Zanzibar of course, but still properly summery and balmy. The sky is completely blue and the garden is in full bloom. Flora is sitting in the chair beside me, keeping me company. I have done quite a few very useful errands over the last couple of days which would be boring to relate but were satisfying to complete. I have also been swimming, visited the dental hygienist, done loads of laundry and packed for our trip to Ullapool which starts tomorrow. We had lunch with Heather and Ewan yesterday at Vin18 and then came back here for coffee and cakes. James took the car for its service and has been working hard in the garden. 

We had such a great holiday with our young folks. It’s hard to believe that we were in Africa just a couple of days ago, and its vivid colours and scenery remain with me. I am so delighted that the holiday went so well, but I’m not surprised; after all we are a family and we all share our love for adventure. 

The young people were all vocally appreciative of the accommodation and the holiday, and enthusiastic about the animals and birds. I couldn’t have asked for better companions. 

What would I do differently? Not much, however perhaps I would choose a couple of lodges rather than move around so much. We could fly between them and spend 3 or 4 days in each, going on one game drive per day early morning and relaxing at the lodge for the rest of the day. I would love to go back to Tanzania, however I’m aware that there are different countries whose safaris would offer us more and different experiences. It has been truly brilliant. 

Stone Town

We were being collected from Breezes Resort at 1 p.m. yesterday (Saturday) so we had a relaxing breakfast and morning before meeting at Reception. I had actually asked for a late checkout, however when the hotel didn’t have availability we asked Audley Travel if our airport transfer could be a couple of hours early so that we could visit Stone Town. Holly arranged this for us at no extra charge, which was a really nice gesture, and by 2.30 p.m. we had been dropped off and were heading on foot into the narrow alleyways of Stone Town. These twisting lanes were full of colourful shops selling bright fabrics, dresses, paintings, carvings and other souvenirs. There were lots of beautiful carved wood doors with brass studs in them. Ally was our excellent navigator, and guided us first to the Anglican Church. The church and the neighbouring East African Slave Trade Exhibit stand on the grounds of one of the largest and most notorious slave markets in East Africa. This exhibition was created to commemorate the abolition of slavery and preserve the legacy of the individuals who were brought here and sold. Slavery had always been a component of traditional East African society, but during the 19th century the trade grew hugely and was led by Europeans, Indians, Arabs, coastal people and

ethnic leaders of the mainland. A lot of people made a lot of money and Zanzibar was at the centre of operations. Slave trading in East Africa was abolished in 1873, however it persisted in Zanzibar well into the 20th century. We went on a tour which included the cramped cells where the slaves were kept before market, and a group of statues of chained slaves outside. The exhibition was very interesting and showed us that as well as the slave traders there were also good people who tried very hard to abolish slavery. Our very own local boy from Blantyre, David Livingstone, was one of the good guys. He spent most of his life campaigning to end the slave trade as well as exploring Africa. It was a sobering visit but I felt glad to have paid my respects to the men, women and children who were sold into slavery. 

Ally then expertly led us onwards to the Old Fort which was full of little stalls selling food and drink.  We walked right through the courtyard and some attractive gardens to the harbour and had lunch in the lovely Cape Town Fish Restaurant. It is an attractive and busy harbour with lots of little fishing boats as well as ferries. On the way back to the minibus we stopped briefly at the house where Freddie Mercury lived until he moved to the UK when he was about 20. 

And so our journey home began. It was a long haul, mainly because we had factored in significant gaps between our flights in case of delay. We said good bye to Jamie and Kerry in Addis Ababa when they headed to Dubai and thence to Bali. We said goodbye to Ally and Cat at London Gatwick, from where they had a short journey home. Davie, Chanel, James and I hung around at Gatwick rather tired, until it was time for the final leg of our journey to Glasgow. We finally arrived home at about 4.30 p.m. Tom and Flora were waiting for us and it was so very good to see them.