So one night in Ethiopia, the guys decided they should have a mo-growing competition (moustache, for those of us who aren’t in with the lingo). Their idea, not the girls’. But it wasn’t merely going for length and bushy-ness, they were going for (ridiculous) appearance too. It was decided that it would be for a month, and the day of reckoning would be in Snake Park, Arusha, just before some went off to climb Kili, and others to the Serengeti and Zanzibar (think most of the women were relieved that their ‘spouses’ would no longer have mo’s in Zanzibar).
I’m sure it required hard work in maintaining the mo the past couple of weeks, and having regular shaves, often without a mirror - not that this was noticeable! But gradually we all became accustomed to the mo-look and the mo-talk, and marked their progress, and sometimes gave advice.
Here are a few examples:
 |
| The Ro-Mo |
 |
| The Jo-Mo |
 |
| The Ja-Mo |
Unfortunately the Tom Sellick look-alike wasn’t allowed to keep his...
Us girls didn't even try competing...
And so, the day of reckoning arrived round about now. A decision had been made that the women of Athena would be the judges, and there would be different categories. It became so much more than just the mo’s. Overall appearance and presentation of the mo’s and their style was considered. The guys really went to town and put on a fabulous show for us, leaving us with some difficult decisions to make.
 |
| The Mo-crew |
 |
| Glenn & Rogan |
 |
| Caolan |
 |
| Bruce |
 |
| Jason |
 |
| Kevin |
 |
| Bob |
 |
| Carlos |
Eventually, Jon’s act took the cake and he was awarded first prize, before heading off to climb Kili a few hours later.
 |
| Jon and his Jo-Mo |
 |
| Our Kili climbers - Jon and his brother Matt, who joined us briefly |
While some shaved theirs off immediately, one or two seem to have kept theirs, there are even rumours that Ro is missing his Mo... Don’t worry, we still have a couple more months to find something else ridiculous to occupy us!
From Zanzibar, we still had a few more days exploring Tanzania, with some beautiful drives to remote areas, and a couple of lovely campsites in between.
We visited Ruaha National Park, which is another of the larger parks in Africa, and is particularly special as you don’t see many other vehicles in it.
We have moved further south along the lake, where we are based for 3 days to do some snorkelling, diving, canoeing, horse-riding, chilling... whatever takes your fancy, you get the idea...
And speaking of Fancy, last night was fancy dress night here on Athena. The theme was ‘recycled’, the ration one and a half bin-liners and whatever other plastic bags you could find, with a few bits of rope and plastic thrown in. I must say, a few fashion-designers are hiding their talent – Jason even stitched his best pair of bin-bag trousers.
