We set off at 6am on the morning of November 23 last year from Rosetta in KwaZulu-Natal, heading towards Johannesburg and then to Gaborone in Botswana.

The further north we travelled, the whiter the sand became. We had to be extremely mindful of the many donkeys on the road.

A stop at Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, cost R95 for an adult and R32 for me.

Zimbabweans call the falls Mosi Oatunya (the Smoke that Thunders). The water falls with such force that when it hits the bottom it makes the same noise as thunder, creating huge water vapour, which makes for the most beautiful rain forest. The rain forest is very green with lots of trees, monkey ropes, ferns and bush.

My dad decided that I needed to see more of Tanzania

The waterfalls were spectacular even though the country is experiencing a drought. We crossed over the bridge into Zambia and looked over the falls from the bridge, before heading to Livingstone and through to Lusaka.

Lusaka was cleaner than Nottingham Road and Pietermaritzburg, and the local people speak very good English. On November 26 we headed north to Mpika, which took 10 hours by road.

Zambia is very flat with lots of trees and thick bush. We saw the largest shongololos eating trees in a circular movement. There were lots of dead shongololos lying around.

Once again we had to leave early because we had limited time for my dad to get to Kenya for the East African Safari Rally. From Mafinga we headed to the Stone Age site 10km from Iringa.

This site used to be a lake which has now dried up. The humans who lived here dated back before the discovery of fire. They hunted with slings, stone knives and axes.

'Geez, but you guys smell!'

If they injured or missed an animal while hunting, the weapon would land in the lake. There are large numbers of these tools to be seen in the area.

Walking around what was the lake, where erosion has created huge pillars of earth and stone which tower 10m to 12m into the air, it created the impression of Pompeii. I loved this site. We spent as much time as we could walking around it.

We headed north up the coast to LungaLunga and to Diani Beach in Kenya, where we had a cottage at Thiwe Beach. This was to be my home for the next 10 days while my dad was in a sweep vehicle for the East African Safari Rally.

My 10 days at the beach were quite lonely. I stayed with a friend whom we had recently met, Rob Smith. Fortunately, I was able to entertain myself. I did some cooking, mainly fish, because Rob's cooking was not fantastic. I swam a lot and explored caves. I felt like the storybook characters from The Hardy Boys.

I collected cuttle fish for my mom's birds, which I left behind! Silly me. I collected shells, snorkelled and learnt about coral and how not be stung by sea urchins. It is advisable to swim with shoes on.

I had a starfish climb up my leg, which gave me a huge fright. There were two types of coral which I saw. One was sharp and could cut you badly, the other was like lots of little round balls bunched together. The beach sand in Kenya was very white, which was hard on the eyes.

We left the beach cottage on December 13. I wasn't sad to leave, because I wanted to come home. But my dad decided that I needed to see more of Tanzania, so we set off to Arusha so I could see Kilimanjaro, which is 5 895m high. I was able to see the snow-capped top and Mount Meru, which is opposite Kilimanjaro. Sometime in the future I would like to climb Kili.

Ngorogoro Crater was unbelievable. It was created by a meteorite hitting Earth. The crater has now become a game reserve and is part of the Serengeti, which forms part of the migration path that takes place from around July to November each year.

The view from the top of the crater is like looking into an enormous saucepan with grass and a small fresh water lake. There was not much water because Tanzania was experiencing a drought.

We saw huge numbers of wildlife, such as zebra, jackal, buffalo, wildebeest, lion, rhino with young, hippo and topi, to mention a few. It was wonderful to see the wild animals living in harmony.

What disturbed me the most was seeing Masai grazing their cattle within the wildlife reserve. The cattle are using the water and grazing that should be supporting the wildlife. This has left the natural environment under pressure.

The Masai people dress in red and carry a seemi (panga), a long spear and a stick with a knob on the end. The red dresses can be seen for miles. We left the Ngorogoro to find overnight accommodation elsewhere. Everything there was very expensive and was only payable in US dollars.

We headed back along the main road to Oringa, where we found a campsite run by two African men who spoke perfect English. This was like an oasis in a desert. There were lots of palm trees. On December 15 we set off for Malawi. We crossed at the Karonga border post at the northern end of Malawi and drove down the Lake road. We drove on to Cape Maclear the next day.

My mom always spoke about the fish eagles at Cape Maclear, and when I saw them I understood her love for them and their cry. The cry of a fish eagle is probably one of a kind. I spent time watching the locals fishing. As I snorkelled, I saw some beautiful tropical fish. Their bright colours made for a pretty sight. I tried to dive down to touch the largest fish I had ever seen.

I made friends with some of the local Malawian fisherman and went fishing with them in their dugout canoe. The unstable canoe was made out of a hollowed out tree trunk. We went out into the lake and they cast out with line, hook with worms.

On December 17 we left Cape Maclear and crossed the border into Mozambique at Zobwe. It was uncomfortably hot as we headed towards the coast. From Tete to Vilancoulos we found no campsites, so we drove and drove and drove until 10pm. We clocked 1 400km that day. It was exhausting.

The following morning we took a leisurely drive to XaiXai, which was a pretty but grubby camp. Dinner was prawns, which I did not attempt, and the only option I had was fish - again!

We crossed the border from Mozambique back into South Africa at Ponta Do Ouro on the afternoon of December 19 and entered South Africa at Kosi Bay.

By now my dad was like a horse that had turned for home. We arrived home in Rosetta at midnight and woke my mom up from a deep sleep. Mom's first words to us were: "Geez, but you guys smell!"

It was great to be home and to sleep in my own bed after a trip of a lifetime. When my dad goes back to participate in the East African Safari Rally in 2007, I will definitely be sitting in the seat next to him.

• This article was originally published on page 8 of The Mercury on January 31, 2006