Tanzania 3rd episode

Thursday 3rd May

We woke up to sunny skies and everything looked better – even the ablutions! The men were still doing vehicle maintenance and I cleaned out Garfield and generally got things in order. Brian still had major problems with his vehicle so them and the Hardman’s decided to spend another night in Dar while the Karg’s and us decided we had had enough of Dar so we left. By the time we actually had finished with shopping and gas cylinder refills and worked our way out of Dar, it was after 4 pm so we just traveled until dark and then bush camped in a quarry. Dave says that I must tell everyone that his tan, beard and pig-tail are all coming along beautifully!

Friday 4th May

An early start saw us reach Tanga on the coast at lunch time and we headed straight for the Amboni Caves, extensive limestone caves that are said to be more than 20 kms long although a comprehensive survey of the caves has not yet been undertaken. A guide took us through the beginning of the cave and we saw large rippled stalactites and had to crawl through a narrow passage way. The caves are inhabited by thousands of bats and when we shone our torches up they all flew around. It was a pleasant outing and we then proceeded back to Tanga to Kiboko Campsite. This campsite and restaurant is owned by a Swiss guy who has lived in Tanga for 26 years but his precision is still Swiss! So it was the most organized camp we have stayed in and the ablutions were great – in fact the loose stone paths looked as if they were straightened with a straight edge every morning!

Saturday 5th May

We headed for Marangu, a small town near the base of Kilimanjaro. When we were in Zambia we had met a lady traveling down to Lusaka who was the owner of the Marangu Hotel and she told us that she had camping facilities at the hotel. So we had planned to all meet up again at this Marangu Hotel. The hotel is family owned and was very pleasant with a distinct English country feel.

Sunday 6th May

Garfield’s brake fluid pipe on the right rear wheel developed a crack – luckily only as we arrived in Marangu – so on Sunday morning we went to the hotel’s workshop where the mechanic was luckily able to repair it and bleed our brakes so that all was in order again. After lunch we organized a guide, Kunda, who took us to two nearby waterfalls Kinukamori and Ndoro which were pleasant outings. By the evening, the Hardmans and Days had arrived and we were all re-united.

Monday 7th May

We woke up at 6am and jumped out of bed to go to the hotel lawn to see if we could catch a glimpse of Kilimanjaro, as she had up until now, been covered in cloud. Hooray! At last she was clear and we could see Kibo peak 5 895 m and Mawenzi peak 5149 m. Marangu is still 25 kms from Kilimanjaro and so the mountain looked disappointingly small! Anyway we were pleased to have seen her. We were all ready at 8.30am and we picked up Kunda who was taking us on a day tour. First to Lake Chala, which is a 3km wide crater lake. The water in the lake is a brilliant turquoise and there are sheer cliffs draped in tropical greenery all around. The lake itself is invisible until you virtually topple over the crater rim! We then headed back towards Moshi and around back up into the foothills of Kilimanjaro where Marangu is situated up a most scenic pass to see a 102 year old Catholic Cathedral with very interesting stained glass windows – one with a local black man being blessed. Kunda then led us back into Marangu to a local beer garden where we had a drink and then visited the market next door which only operates on Mondays and Tuesdays. What a colourful site! Everything from dried beans & fish to Chinese shirts, fresh green peppers & huge orange carrots plus brightly printed zip up “Moosa bags” which we bought 2 of to put our mattresses in. It was a real sensory delight and Kunda took good care of us the whole time, even carrying our purchases for us!
Supper was very healthy with fresh carrots, bringal, garlic, tomatoes and green pepper all in our stew!

Tuesday 8th May

We left at 7.30am and headed straight for Arusha National Park. It was $110 to enter for the day! But what a wonderful day we had seeing an abundance of animals – giraffe, zebra, elephant, warthog, buffalo, waterbuck, duikers, Kirks dik-dik, baboon, hippo, bushbuck, blue monkeys and the opulent black and white colobus! Birds were prolific, the most spectacular being the pale-billed hornbill, and we sat and had lunch by the Momela lakes with stilts and plovers keeping us company. The park encompasses the Ngurdoto crater(a spectacular extinct volcanic crater), Mount Meru 4566m(Africa’s 5th highest mountain) and the Momela Lakes(a group of shallow alkaline lakes each with a different mineral content) It was an altogether spectacular day and we only left the park at 6pm. We camped at Colobus campsite just outside the park for $10 so that was not too bad.

Wednesday 9th May

We drove through Arusha town to Meserani Snake Park which is run by Barry Bales, an ex South African. Through him, we have arranged to take an organized safari into Ngorongoro and Serengeti for 2 nights and 3 days as they charge a huge premium for non-Tanzanian vehicles and we can take the package tour and stay in lodges for about the same price as camping in our own vehicles. Today we are doing laundry and going to the internet café etc before we leave early tomorrow. We will be back here on Saturday and can watch the rugby on his satellite TV – a treat that Dave is looking forward to.