Health and fitness by Nicky

It seems to be customary for travel bloggers to give their readers a blow by blow account of every minor ache, pain and bowel movement. And that's second only in popularity to rambling accounts of the bureaucracy and inefficiencies encountered en route. I am delighted to report that our expedition has been almost entirely free of both types of obstacle and despite starting with a bad case of mumps and meandering through several cut toes and head colds we are all fighting fit. Our yoga practice has suffered somewhat although this week Amanda and I have made the most of the cool green garden of our friends Shaun and Amy Hughes in Khartoum to get back into a routine. The boys have swum whenever possible - at the German Club here, the British Embassy pool in Addis, and in flouride-full brown Lake Langano (actually very pleasant). They occasionally do a bout of crunches and press ups and even a run or two. We have walked in Samburuland, northern Kenya, and walked and pony trekked at Wenchit Lake where we visited hot springs. Robert and Gus appear to get most of their exercise doing car repairs or by flexing their right arm whilst holding a dumbbell shaped remarkably like a beer can. Not in Sudan of course, where sharia law prohibits consumption of alcohol. (thats the official version anyway). And of course for the most part our diet has been extremely healthy - lots of fruit and veg, very little dairy and meat or sugar. All this has resulted in the team collectively shedding about 12 or 15 kg - a welcome development for the adults but we have been trying to fatten up Xander again as all his trousers keep falling down. Not surprisingly our comprehensive First Aid kit which takes up an entire ammo box has barely been touched: at the end of the trip we plan to donate unused items to a small organisation in Zimbabwe that runs a couple of clinics, and is also called Jangano.