And so we were finally off to Africa.....!!

It was a very early start when we left Birmingham as we caught the train at 5:50am from New St.  Luckily the snow and ice had not stopped our train and so we zoomed to London in no time at all, having a leisurely breakfast along the way and caught the tube having a difference of opinion over which station we needed for the Gatwick express - obiously, the geography teacher was right :-P.Check in was quick, which was lucky as there were 2 piles of vomit at a nearby checkin desk :-S  After passing through the scanner, shopping ensued and retail was sought, Liz buying yet more clothes to pack into her already bulging rucksack..Our first flight was ontime but lacking in food so we arrived in Madrid sleepy and hungry in time for a lunch of paella (and beer).  After filling our tummies, we found a quieter area of the airport where Hayden had a nap and Liz continued to plough through her book.  Liz was constantly shocked at the size of everyone's hand luggage which was bigger than our hold luggage and meant the flight staff had fun trying to stuff it into every available crevice on the plane so we were only 30 mins late taking off!! The flight, which we had assumed would be 4hrs turned out to be 5hrs because we were going back into a GMT timezone and after stocking up on sandwiches at the airport to get us through the flight, they brought round dinner anyway with the male flight attendent taking particular care over the modelesque, however unattractive lady, sat to Hayden's right..After a particularly rough landing which gave Liz the jitters, we touched down safely in Dakar, proceeding through our first African border crossing in under an hour, and gettingour hold luggage back in one piece.  There was also a prearranged taxi driver waiting to take us to the hotel, where we arrived too late for a beer as it was just past 1am by this point so we went straight to bed and were amazed to find air conditioning.  .We woke and Liz rang home to wish family Happy Christmas and to let them know that we had arrived safely.  The first view of Africa in daylight being captured from the bathroom window as not to disturb Hayden who was stil sleeping! Breakfast of coffee, orange juice, crossaint and french stick was eagerly welcomed before setting off for a walkabout around Dakar in the hot sunshine.  After walking through the market all the way to the university complex, we found the Mali embassy who were closed.  Liz cursing her expensive sandals for giving her many blisters across the top of her feet - definately requiring a taxi back to the hotel for a beer and a siesta..Please check out the gallery!