As you will very quickly gather this is Katie writing on behalf of Tarka, as he has just returned to Africa from a fleeting visit to the UK. (Confused?)

Well, Caroline Rose (our speaking agent) had been asked by a client if Tarka could return so they could book our dual talk. Considering all that’s gone on, with the projects goals changing due to my departure, and how Tarka is so passionate about his speaking, we were delighted to except the job. In addition it was a great opportunity to see each other, as it has now been 4 weeks since I left Africa and it will be a further 3 weeks before he is home for good. 

Tarka’s journey was a fairly hectic one, flying from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania to Nairobi in Kenya and on to Heathrow, where I picked him up. We then drove to Birmingham to give our evening talk and then the following morning we went back to Heathrow for him to fly once again to Nairobi and then on to Dar Es Salaam. He is now making his way back to where he left his bicycle before he can continue into Malawi.

On a different note, Tarka throughout the journey has had very little time for taking photos, as when he is not cycling he his predominantly filming (our primary aim of the journey). On his brief visit back to the UK he did remember to leave with me his used DV tapes and memory cards. I have started to go through some of the DV tapes and the footage is really promising. Below I have posted some of the few photos he has managed to snap, most of them are from Kili, as this seems to be the only place he has had the time to take both photos and film footage, but there are a few more from the orphanage also.

This cross section of images from Kilimanjaro show just how diverse the landscape and terrain can be within the 5 day trek, ranging from the humid rainforest’s through to the punishingly cold glaciers.

Next are some more pics from the Huruma Orphanage (including another one for Hector)