Imperial is not generally regarded as a university that allows much free time to its students and for a reason beyond my comprehension, Medicine at Imperial is considered to be a discipline that gives even less free time. So I hope you can imagine my bemusement when I found myself staring at a gaping 4 month holiday at the end of my 3rd year as an Imperial Medic (which incidentally I thought was the easiest year in my education after Year 10 at school).
I had taken 2 long gap years before university specifically to travel to various parts of the world but due to my Pakistani Nationality at the time, and the implied visa restrictions, the heart of adventure and romance that is Africa was off-limits. Nevertheless, things always have a way of eventually working out and so now with a recently acquired British passport, I was determined to use this gargantuan holiday to explore Africa! I was confident I had the money thanks to a healthy income from my gap years, but the actual £4000 expense was a rather crude surprise when I totaled it upon return and humbled me to my first ever maximum overdraft! During the 2 months I spent abroad I focussed on East Africa, visiting Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and The Democratic Republic of Congo.
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