Well after four weeks back in Europe it feels good once again to sling on the back pack and head off to Heathrow.


The last month has been dominated by umpteen visits to doctors for tests and appointments and at last, I have as much medicine as the NHS says that I am allowed and I am all packed and ready to go .


My medical situation has improved dramatically over the last twelve months. Twelve months without drinking, including the six months travelling has done its job and my diabetic readings are now much better. Still more needs to be done and here’s hoping that Africa will deliver some health benefits very much in the same way India did.


With all the visits to the NHS taking up so much time, it allowed few visits for friends, although I did get to see my mother, sister and her family. I also managed to slot in a much overdue trip to Athens to see my friends Mary & Polis, which was great. They live just outside Athens on the coast, and the weather was excellent. The cafes and the restaurants in this seaside town were humming and the 18C temperature and blue sky were a welcome change from both the UK and Nagaland.


It was great to catch up with Mary & Polis again, and their friend the winemaker Haridimos Hatzidakis (the best winemaker in Greece) also arrived from Santorini towards the end of my stay . Mostly this was a visit to chance to catch up, so yet again I did not get to the Acropolis, but one day I will, nevertheless we walked around a lot and had some great meals.


So after my time out from backpacking its off to Ethiopia and a resumption of the blog. My basic itinerary is still the same except with one exemption. Unfortunately I have had to rule out the opportunity of going to the Cameroon to work with Apes at Ape Action. Originally this was planned to slot in after my visit to Ethiopia but after contacting Ape Action and applying for the post I lost all enthusiasm for their project.


In a nutshell this organisation (which has its offices in Bristol) are so disorganised that I became disillusioned with their staff and lost all confidence that this organisation could ensure my safety at the project site. Having been unable to act on my application for some months, they then insisted on a Skype interview at ridiculous hours when I was travelling in Asia. They were insistent on only 8am UK time Mon-Fri for the interview irrespective of what I had been doing and there was no chance of a weekend time. The fact that they were asking way in excess of £1000 for this experience made it all the more insulting.


I have already worked for an animal rehabilitation organisation (Amazoonico) in Ecuador 2006 that was so ambivalent in its attitude towards volunteer safety, which resulted in a near fatal injury to one volunteer by a primate during my working time. Consequently I was having deja view with this organisation’s complete lack of flexibility towards its paying clients (volunteers). So its a shame not to have the opportunity of working with great apes in Africa, but so be it.


So after Ethiopia I will fly directly into South Africa.


I have enclosed some typically January shots of Bristol to set the mood.