Hi from Africa!

wish I was there, must be nice and cool compared to here.

Where's our postcard?

Hmm. Take it you've never been to Ethiopia, Missi? The cuisine is very, very cheap and very tasty - and it's the home of coffee. There are a lot of beggars though - you have to stick to giving them small change otherwise all your money would be gone in a week. Stephen - Africa is indeed inspiring me to write. I've got a whole bunch of poems and prose-poems filling up my travel book, as well as sketches and notes. I'll be posting them up when I get back! Gail - I was looking forward to the cheetahs but we didn't see any! Plenty of lions and elephants though. Skeeter - been to Zanzibar, yep! Very nice place, especially Nungwi beach and Stone Town, but also very expensive and touristy. Jonsys - I learnt a little swahili (Jambo! Mambo? Asanti sana,) but now I'm struggling with Amharic (Salem! Dananah? Chigger yellem!) 1leg - missed Mwanza unfortunately. The time constraints mean we've been zipping about all over the place but not managed to go everywhere we wanted to.

Coo! you're lucky! a place I've always wanted to go, Tanzania, I'm working up to it. And Zanzibar, I'd love to go there. Tell us if you go to Zanzibar. You're keeping a travel diary aren't you? Good luck, have fun!

Hi hen, I love Africa. I go there every year in February. Won't go anywhere else now since I started going to Kenya. I'm leaning swahili, but most of the locals speak English. A wonderful people. I envy you.

Will you be passing through Mwanza? on the southern shores of Lake Victoria - my birthplace. Its a wonderful, expansive country full of natural beauty..

watch out for the cheetahs. My sister spent 9 months in Tanzania studying them. I have a gorgeous picture of a baby one she took, I guess all grown up with babies of its own now.

Still in africa Hen?

personally, if I could go anywhere in the world it would be...hmm, let me think... New Zealand, Kenya? Peru? Trinidad? Provence? nope.. I think I'd choose Bethnal Green Mate

Don't forget to take a sandwich with you Jon and feed a 100,000 locals.

Now now.....not nice... ....but Hey Jude, I thought you would want to be in New Orleans? I know that's where Mississippi wants to wind up...so to say... ....probably similar weather to parts of Africa....

my "neuroscience new orleans trip" has been cancelled due to staff shortages and me being the only person manning the office. Instead I have a week in Philadelphia next month. Sounds awful but never been before so you never know. jude

Oh I didn't mean it to be nasty, just my warped sense of humour. Sorry.

Yeah, hi-Hen. Not see that much of your work recently. Is Africa inspiring you to write?

Hiya Hen - luvverly to hear from you. Dusty an' tanned, eh? Cooo...er...cor...um, nice.