Tokyo and Kyoto are the real yin/yang. They shows the diversity of Japan, and the experiences are totally different. Tokyo with large areas of the city with gaming and anime compared to Kyoto where you experience old traditions.

Sightseeing without pocket money and water is not a good idea, even in Japan. Small kiosks may not accept large bills, and running out of water may lead to long distant walking specially when traveling with children.

In Africa we experienced that all animals like hen, pork, sheep, goat, cow and ox where walking around without any fencing. Only experience one fence in Zambia, keeping the cattle together and away from predators. There were nearly no tractors used, and only in some areas of Zambia they seemed to have large scale production of groceries.

In Japan we did not see one single cattle. Not a hen, nor a cow. We did see large areas with rise, but no tractors at all.

The contrasts in Africa are great, from hearing about a grandmother taking care of 10 grandchildren since all parents have died from AIDS in Zimbabwe and tribes in Tanzania living the old way in straw cottages to staying at Radisson Blue in Lusaka (mostly we stayed in low cost hostels, but as a reward for the 52 hour train journey from Dar es Salaam we stayed one night at Radisson). Speaking with people, they are optimistic regarding the future, except from Zimbabwe where people are waiting for RM to …..- then they hope that things will change. In Tanzania the new president seems to be a good man that works for the people of Tanzania – it has not always been like that.

There is a good reason why people are interested in the stars. The sky is totally different in Africa then in Norway. Luna described it as the sky was like glitters. The same comes for butterflies, there are so many different that are magnificent.

Access to internet is widely spread, but the quality is not always acceptable. One day I did spend 90 minutes to pay two bills in the bank. This is an important weakness related to using bank-id without java. The old java bank id is much faster, even if I then had to upgrade java sometimes.

Tazara train using the old wagons means cold nights where lots of clouding is required in July. At the moment there is a new train running on Fridays from Dar es Salaam, but the old train is still running from Dar on Tuesdays. Rumours says that there will come a new train within one year, which will make the journey more pleasant. When arriving in Kapiri Mposhi there are lots of taxis and minibuses that can bring to Lusaka. We payed 500 Kwacha for the whole family with taxi. You may expect to pay 60 kwacha going sharing minibus with others.

Traveling with NRZ (National Railway Zimbabwe) on 1st class is like going back 40 years, but still ok. There are no linen for sleeping so a silk sleeping bag and some extra cover like sarongs are preferable. In July you probable should use wool underwear to keep warm (temperature down to 2 C at night).

Visas and border passing is managed in different ways. In Dar es Salaam there is chaos, cost 50$ each and if you do not have dollars you are asked to go through the custom to withdraw Shillings and change to dollars and then return back to pay. A total of 6 persons were involved in putting the visas into the passport and it took 90 minutes. At the Tazara train we were met by some friendly ladies that efficiently provided 4 visas (visas for under aged was not required) for 50$ each, this took less than 5 minutes, and no extra documents where filled in. Be aware that if you do not have dollars, then there is a guy at the train selling dollars for Kwacha or Shilling. At the Zimbabwe border we had to fill in a visa application (registration), and the total process took 20 minutes with 30$ per visa.

Charging electronic devises without access to European sockets (only British) is no problem. Just use a pen or similar to push down the tap in the grounding slot and then insert the European plug in the remaining slots:)

I need a dollar, a dollar, a dollar is what I need…..

• US$ is the only currency that is accepted across the countries in Africa.
• It is required to pay for visas when crossing country borders
• There is always an exchange office available, but often not an ATM