Exactly 100 days after leaving Australia, we have finally arrived on mainland Africa. During that time we sailed more than 6,500 miles and visited four different countries and dozens of islands. Most of the boats we had been sailing with tended to focus on the Pacific as the highlight of their trip, spending season after season between the Pacific and NZ/OZ. We were somewhat disappointed to have only spent one season there, but had no idea that the best was yet to come.

The sailing in the Indian Ocean was incredible. For the most part, it was fast and comfortable, the weather was warm and sunny and the fishing spectacular. We did experience some of the infamous Indian Ocean squalls and fronts, but never found ourselves in more weather than we could handle. Each landfall was remarkable, from the highly industrialized Christmas Island to uninhabited Chagos to the impoverished but thriving Madagascar. Each stop offered something unique and we had some of our best experiences on this leg of the journey. Everyone we met was friendly and helpful, cruisers and locals alike, and we really feel like we got to know each place we stopped.

The most challenging, yet rewarding, part was not having access to...well, anything. Everything we used, ate and drank had to be carried with us from Darwin. There were no stops for burgers and cold drinks and certainly a run to the corner market for milk was out of the question. We had to be extra careful with diesel and cooking propane, knowing the next chance for refill would be S. Africa. For me it made me realize just how far we could make things go, and also how much we could do without. Some of our best experiences were BBQs on a deserted beach with a freshly caught fish and whatever else we could pull together from our stores.

We are arriving to Richard's Bay with about five huge bags of laundry, only a few gallons of diesel and not much more than some cereal, rice and pasta. While it's been a wonderful, unforgettable experience, it will be nice to get back to civilization, give the boat a good cleaning, replenish our stores and do a bit of boat work while waiting for the next weather window to head south to Cape Town for the holidays.