Tanzania 2nd episode

Some people seem to be battling to see the photographs that we are downloading to the blogspot – this is what you do to see them
On the left hand side of the first page of our blog spot is a picture of Dave and I by our swimming pool.
Move your curser to over this photo till you get a hand
Then click
Choose Dave’s public gallery
Then various albums will come up on a new page
Choose the album you wish to see



Sunday 22nd April

Happy Birthday Mom! Hope you have a lovely day and that everyone spoils you rotten. Thank you for the phone call last night, Guy, it was great to talk to you all.
We woke up and had the supplied toast, eggs and coffee at 10 Degrees and then we set off to look at The Old Boma which is an old fort built in 1895 overlooking Mikindani Bay. The walls were built with coral and coral lime mortar – a practice which is now banned. Obviously, the practice raped the coral reefs and in addition they used to fire the coral in a kiln using the indigenous trees so that also affected the local forests. The fort has now been restored into a comfortable hotel at about $90 per night so we just had a morning visit! We then proceeded on to Mtwara where we stocked up with beer and visited the internet café. Thank you to Barry, Noelene, Jean, the Boardman’s, Merri-mow, Wendi and Moira plus of course Mom Kotze and Mom Marsh who are getting very good at sending us emails! This trip is making the Grannies computer literate. Neville, Brian and Willie send their regards to Eddie and Moira. The Karg’s also have a blogspot so if you want another angle on the trip, check out www.4x4africa1.blogspot.com
We then drove around to Msimbati Beach which is in the Mnazi Bay Marine Reserve and set up camp at Ruvula Camp. We decided to spend 3 nights here as it is idyllic and we have had a grueling past few days. First of all, it was laundry time! Then we could relax and have a drink on the beautiful beach which is literally dusted with gold flakes – we think mica. As the sun set we were lolling in the flat water of the bay which has virtually no waves at all.
Dave cracked open a coconut that he found on the beach and we drained the milk to make a most delicious Thai Chicken curry for supper – we thought of you CJ while we enjoyed it!

Monday 23rd April

We woke up and after our early morning coffee, Dave and I set off on a long walk along the beach – 1 hour on the tread mill! We are getting so unfit sitting in the car all day long! Bev, you are definitely going to walk all over me at squash! We came back and had toast for breakfast before going out on the boat to the Ruvula Reefs to snorkel. The snorkeling was great and the visibility about 15 metres. We saw plenty of reef fishes and corals and Brian, who is a dive master, rated it as a very good dive so we were thrilled. Because it is a big bay, you have to be careful of the riptide and you can only safely dive when the tide is coming in – which unfortunately is at about lunch time – however we wore T-shirts to protect us against sun burn. When we got back we bought a rockcod from the locals for R29 and it was enough to feed all 8 of us for supper!

Tuesday 24th April

Another day in paradise! This morning, our fisherman, Brian and Willie did us proud catching 3 jacks and 1 kingfish, so we will be eating fish again tonight. We are about to go snorkeling again and then tomorrow it is back on the road.
Natural gas has been discovered on Msimbati Beach and a Canadian firm are busy drilling for it. So far they have sunk 3 holes and the latest one is 2 800 metres deep. They are using the gas to drive gas turbines for power generation. Martin, the owner of 10 Degrees in Mikindani, is a marine biologist, and he is employed by the Canadian company as the environmental officer. He told us all about it before we came but we have also met some of the Canadians here on the beach. When they first sink a hole, they burn a flare out of a chimney, which makes the noise of a jet plane, and the flame is about 30 metres high and even generates small clouds, for 5 – 7 days. This process is used to determine the quality and amount of gas found to check the viability. So far, the gas is a very good source and they expect to be drilling here for a long time and to be able to electrify a large area of Tanzania.

Wednesday 25th April

We left at 7.30am and traveled the slow 40kms back to Mtwara. Most towns boast a traffic circle or two and in Tanzania they are called “Keep lefties” which is quite a descriptive name! We spent our hour in the town and then headed N for Kilwa which we thought was a 4 hour drive. But, of course, we had forgotton about Tanzanian roads and so 6 hours later we were still not there and were looking for a bush camp! Well we found a huge quarry on the left hand side of the road and worked our way off the road into this quarry and set up camp Mozambique style(in Mozambique in 1997 we always used to camp in quarries).
Climbing up into a roof top tent has become far less stressful for me now as I have finally taken the advice of all the other ladies on the trip and started using a potty! Nevermind that mine is a 2l ice cream tub! Actually it works quite well as it has a lid. At least now the night does not seem so long.

Thursday 26th April

We set off bright and early towards Kilwa and the rest of the way was a breeze as it was good tar road so we reached Kilwa just around 9am. Kilwa is made up of 3 towns – Kilwa itself means “Place of fish”. Kilwa Kivinje(kivinje means Casuarina tree) is on the mainland in the N and was prominent in the early 19th century as an Omani slave trading centre. Kilwa Masoko(masoko means market) is also on the mainland but further S and Kilwa Kisiwani(kisiwani means island) and is an island just 2kms off of Kilwa Masoko. We headed for Kilwa Masoko and found a lovely lodge/camp site called Kilwa Dreams where the manager, Patrick met us. He went out of his way to accommodate our every needs, accompanying us into town to arrange the necessary permits for us to visit Kilwa Kisiwani and organizing our dhow trip over to the island – all this despite it being a public holiday here in Tanzania. He then came with us and acted as our tour guide on Kilwa Kisiwani. We spent 2 hours exploring Kilwa Kisiwani – Kilwa Fort and various mosques and tombs. Kilwa Kisiwani rose to power in the 11th century and by the 14th century its fame had spread across the ancient world as it traded gold to Renaissance Europe. Trading partners from Persia and the Arabian Peninsula intermarried with the Swahili and the Islamic religion was embraced. However, Kilwa’s greatest period of prosperity was short lived as gold prices fluctuated. On the island today, majestic ruins of this once splendid city are all that remain. Then we sailed back in our dhow and went back to our campsite where we relaxed and went out to their restaurant for dinner.
Friday 27th April

We left and drove N towards Dar es Salaam. As usual it was fairly slow going but we finally arrived at Kim Campsite on the south side of Dar at about 5 pm and set up camp. The beach was pure white with cocnut palms all around so it was beautiful! We had a swim to revive our souls and I was lucky enough to see a black and white sea snake! Although I didn’t feel lucky at the precise moment that it slithered past me in the shallows!

Saturday 28th April

We drove into Dar and what a nightmare that was – the traffic congestion is something else! Straight down to the harbour where we bought our ferry tickets to Zanzibar and organized accommodation on Zanzibar. Then we headed to the north of Dar where Brian had organized for our vehicles to be parked while we were away. We packed and caught 2 taxis back to the harbour to wait for our ferry. Seabus III left at 4 pm and was a large ferry and we had a very smooth trip – 2 hours – to Zanzibar. We were met at the harbour and taken to our hotel Coco de Mer in Stone Town. We had quick showers and then walked back to Forodhani Gardens in Stone Town which was a hugh open air night restaurant. Dozens of vendors serve freshly grilled meat, chicken, fish, squid and prawns along with drinks and bananas and ice cream for dessert. There are plenty of locals eating there as well and it was a real experience. Of course, there were also lots of carvings and paintings on sale for the tourists and we had a lot of fun with one (quite drunk) local who eventually sold us a shirt for Dave for TS 5 000 after starting at TS 25 000! At one stage he put it in my lap and said I could have it for “flee” but I insisted he took the TS 5 000. The next day we bumped into him again – still drunk – but delighted to see us and he posed for a photo with Dave!

Sunday 29th April

After breakfast we explored Stone Town on foot. It is the old part of Zanzibar Town and is a fascinating maze of narrow streets and alleyways of old houses, mosques, ornate palaces and shops. Many buildings date from the 19th century slave boom and most have brass studded doors with very elaborately carved door frames – an indication of the owners wealth. At 1 pm we all met at the hotel where our taxi took us on a Spice Tour which included lunch. Our guide, Anand was a mine of information and in less than 2 hours he had shown us more than 40 spices and medicinal trees! It was so fascinating. We then jumped back in our combi taxi and headed N for Nungwi Beach, where we booked into Jambo Brothers Beach Cabins – basic but clean. Nungwi is at the northern end of Zanzibar and is the centre of the traditional dhow building industry. We watched the sun set while having sundowners at a bar on the beach. It is low season now, but we could imagine how the place would be alive with beach parties in the high season. After showers we went out for supper at a nearby restaurant which juts out over the sea. We all had the special for TS 10 000 (which is R57) which was a 3 course meal of a salad starter followed by grilled fish and a crayfish plus chips and rice and then a dessert of banana fritters – not bad?
Monday 30th April

The Day’s and Karg’s went snorkeling while the Hardman’s and us hired 2 scramblers and went on a day trip around Zanzibar. It was great fun but by the end of the day we were cursing our “torture bikes” as we had very numb bums! We went right down south and then across to the east coast and meandered up the coast. We stopped in at Zanzibarian Safari Lodge near the bottom and had drinks and a swim in their pool and then headed right up to Matemwe Beach. Realizing we had missed Mapenzi Beach (where the Driemeyers, Boardmans and Castles are going in June) we decided to head back down to it. We met the manager, but unfortunately he will be on leave when our friends are visiting so we left a note for you guys – please make sure the reception give it to you. The resort is wonderful and you are all going to have lots of fun. We had a drink, snack, swim in the sea and the pool and then we headed back to Nungwi.

Tuesday 1st May

We got up at 6.30 and went for a walk along the beach to the lighthouse and a turtle sanctuary where we saw hawksbill turtles. On our way back we stopped to look at the dhow making which was very fascinating as they drill holes with a hand held mechanical drill which they operate in a violin like fashion. When we got back to our beach, Ingrid and I snorkeled for half an hour which was wonderful. I thought of Rayanne a lot as she loves snorkeling! Then we had a quick breakfast and our combi taxi was waiting to take us back to the harbour at Stone Town to catch our ferry at 1pm. This time it was Seabus I and it was a third of the size and we had a very rough trip back to Dar – a good percentage of the passengers were using the plastic bags supplied – including Dave!
We collected our “homes on wheels” and headed N to a camp site at Silver Sands about 15kms out of Dar.

Wednesday 2nd May

Today is not a good day I am afraid. It is raining on and off and I am sick of hanging up washing (while getting eaten alive with big black ants) and then taking it down again! The ablutions at this park are appalling and Dave is trying to fix our brakes so our whole campsite is packed up as we keep having to drive off to get more spares 14 kms away through Dar’s disgusting traffic so it takes us half an hour there and back! The outskirts of Dar where we are, are a complete slum and everywhere is flooded or muddy – to get into the bank this morning I had to walk through a massive, muddy puddle with frogs in it! There are brown rivers running down the sidewalks and it’s very ugly. Why we are doing this trip I don’t know and Dave has worse troubles than me as he has to get Garfield’s brakes sorted out.
A few hours later and I am feeling a lot better! Dave has replaced the brake shoes and I have picked up email. It is always wonderful to hear from family and friends. Thank you Andrew, Dee, Sheila, Mom, CJ & Mike and Rayanne & Donovan(who wrote us a long, informative and amusing email). We really love and miss you all. But we are fine and are progressing well – despite the rain, car troubles, ants and frogs!!! In fact today everyone has been busy with car repairs – The Karg’s had to replace bushes, the Day’s suspension and master cylinder and the Hardman’s a sevice and tyre repair. So we have not seen anyone all day.