A Selous Sundowner

Sunset in Tanzania is a big deal.

Tanzanians traditionally gather at sunset to toast the sun for the day.

Each evening Eenok, Sam and I would stop our jeep out in the savannah, pop up a picnic table, throw a small table cloth over and dive into the cooler for a cold beer. This was our Selous sundowner.

With the animals around us, the sun setting and the heat of the day wearing off we'd say cheers to the sun for a brilliant day!

Dust on our faces and smiles all round, the sigh of hippos, the buffalos grazing nearby and the lions snoozing under a tree round the corner, we'd sit back, sip our drinks and tuck into nibbles cooked up by the camp.

Good night Amara, mia amora

African adventures

What can be better than biscuits and coffee bought to your bed??

Each morning we'd wake at 6am, jumping out of bed super excited for the day. A cafiterre of freshly made coffee and home made biscuits would be right by our bedside just to help with the early wake up.

Heading straight to the jeep we'd head out on a days adventure in the form of a game drive...

Out in the Savanah there would be no one but us and the animals. We'd go a whole day without seeing anyone. Fresh air, wind in your face and some of the world's most impressive mammals, I can't tell you how incredible it was.

... of course there were buffalo

... hippos

... and quietly hiding by the trees were lots of these gentle giants... I believe this one was called Melman.

A few hours later we'd come back for a lazy breakfast and a good sleep

Some animal watching

and some chilling out.!

Thank you Africa.

A trip to Tanzania - Amora mia Amara

Lions, crocodiles, zebras and wild game drives! Welcome to Tanzania!

What could be more exciting than an adventure in Africa! Where lions roam, elephants drink at water holes and zebras run wild.

Sleeping with hippos, sunbathing with Umpalas and breakfasting with squirrels, Sam and I headed into the Selous, Tanzania's largest game reserve. It is one of the most amazing places I have ever been too.

Hidden in the middle of the Selous is The Amara, a small luxury Safari Camp. 

We arrived by "tiny" plane, landing on a dusty dirt track!

And rocked up to camp.

.... nestled on a quiet river bank, with hippos wandering about outside...

... was our tent...

... and it wasn't long before we soon felt very a home.

  

Exhausted from our trip, it made sense to unpack, throw on a bikini and wake up with a relaxing dip in the pool, along with these two birds.

As the heat of the day wore off, we headed out on our first game drive!

 
Hopping into this beast and befriending Enok (who kindly spent a whole four days taking Sam and I off out exploring and putting up with us behaving like a set of over excited kids) we set off out to find big game...

Wedding!

It's been several months since I last wrote.... And that's because.... I got married!


(Photo: Dominique Bader)

In September Sam and I finally got married, after 11 years! Wedding planning took up much of my time in the weeks leading up so this little place didn't get much of a look in. However I promise to share with you plenty of insights and also let you in some amazing places we visited while travelling around the world afterwards.

Every minute of the lead up and the day was bursting with happiness! And afterwards, tired and exhausted, it was time to pack our bags and head off on some wild adventures!

The Providores

On a rainy summer's day and feeling more than a little grumpy about the weather, several text messages started flying across London. It was miserable outside. A walk in the park was off and something that was instantaneously healthy, perhaps a little naughty yet indoors was in order... The Providores

Popped on Marylebone high street, the Providores is a very fun low key tapas bar that does brrrilliant brunches and feels like everyone's local.
It's a favorite among my friends and a go to on a rainy morning. Believe it or not, among many of the young London crowd too. I've just come back from there after another belly rubbing, mouth watering, energising feel good brunch.





Be sure to book, it does get busy and beware the bustling downstairs section is no booking, but once your in sit down and pick your health kick. Spirulina smoothie. Baboa blueberry soy. Brown rice porridge. Or turkish eggs. Odd - I know - but trust me.
Perenially popular and buzzing away, go to this South Pacific inspired hangout - although beware, its hard to leave...

My last meal cost me £18 and that was a smoothie, a coffee and big bowl of miso porridge AND a cheese scone.

 

Lemon Drizzle cake

My dad loves to bake. And his favorite cake to bake is Lemon drizzle cake. This I suspect is because he is french. This zesty sponge has its roots from France and is a french tea time classic.

While at home, dad moaned that there were no cakes in the cupboard nor did he have time to rustle one up himself (the lawn just had to be done). So, glancing at the fruit bowl, eyeing the lemons and grabbing some eggs from the egg basket I popped on a pinny and quickly made a very drizzly lemon drizle cake up.

It's very easy to make and with its crunchy drizzle on top, a few flowers scattered at its base and placed on a rustic bread board, it can be a perfect tea time statement.

It starts with a basic sponge:

6 oz flour
6 oz sugar
6 oz butter
3 eggs

Plus

3tbsp milk
zest of two lemons


And for the drizzle
150g icing sugar
juice of one lemon

1. Set your oven to 180 degrees celcius. Simply add all your cake ingredients together and form a cake batter 
2. Place in a lined loaf tin and pop into the oven for 20-30 minutes
3. When the cake is ready, turn it out onto a cooling shelf. Set to work immediately on the drizzle, heating the sugar and lemon juice on a low heat until it forms a syrup
4. Pour over your still warm cake and keep spooning the syrup all over the top untill it begins to cool and form that lovely crunchy layer

Biscuiteers!

The perrenial biscuit - dunked in tea, crumbled, scoffed or squashed into lunch boxes. It's a tough life being a biscuit!

Imagine, wrapped in a packet you spend half your life squashed up on a supermarket shelf, before being emptied out and plunged into darkness to the bottom of a biscuit tin. If you are lucky you're picked out, only for a short lived gasp of sunlight before being plunged into a big mug of tea and eaten.

Thank goodness for Biscuiteers!

Biscuiteers bring the bride back into being a biscuit! Opening in 2007 these busy bakers make the most decadent and thoughtfully iced biscuits for every occasion. Seaside images to tea cups, racing cars to ballerinas. 

They've recently opened a cute new shop in Notting Hill. As a biscuit fanatic (literally my family hide the biscuit tin when I'm home) there was little I could do to help myself enter their biscuit emporium one sunny afternoon.

Imagine your dream childhood nursery decorated in biscuits. Floor to ceiling, tiny biscuits stood  proud and tall. Straight from the oven and icing parlour, gingerbread men and shortbreads adorned the shop.

Grabbing more than my waist line could cope with I picked up a selection of proud little biscuits before heading home for a cup of tea.

PR's - cupcakes are out, biscuits are in.