Uganda

Friday 18^th May

We woke up yet again to pouring rain – it seems to rain every night- and our proposed day of rafting seemed very un-inviting! Lorraine assured us that it would clear and sure enough, it did. We have just had the MOST exciting, adrenaline pumping, challenging day-as Dave says “a once in a life time experience.” We rafted the Victoria Nile from Bujagali Falls for 20kms downstream to Itanda rapids. The route included 9 major rapids, 4 of which are classed grade 5. It was a very “hands on experience” as we all had to paddle! Will and Maureen did not come with us, so there were 6 of us plus our guide, Juma. The raft completely flipped over 4 times and besides that, on other rapids, although the raft did not flip, several of us were thrown overboard! The one time we went down a 6m high waterfall! Brian, who has done 25 Duzi’s, even found the day to be an adrenaline pumping one! We all agree that this has been one of the high lights of the trip. Tonight, at 9pm, we are going to see the video and I am sure that we will buy it. The last rapid was VERY strong and us girls chickened out, but the 3 men did it with Juma while we all observed from the bank. Juma said it was a very strong, sucking rapid and we saw that for ourselves! In fact, I was really scared as they were all thrown overboard, including Juma, and they all disappeared for a few seconds. Dave was under the raft and then sucked back into a vortex of swirling water – he actually lost his shorts to around his ankles, and after the “bare bum” had climbed back on board the raft, he saw that the shorts were completely ripped! On the 45 minute trip back, I had my first beer! So, Donovan, I am also learning to drink beer this year! I am sure we are all going to have a few aches and pains tomorrow morning.

Saturday 19^th May

We had a leisurely start – drove into Jinja to look at the place where Speke first saw the Ripon Falls and claimed it to be the source of the Nile River – and then proceeded to Kampala. We arrived just before lunch time and met Terry Esterhuizen and his wife, Rita van Tonder. Rita is The First Secretary(Administration) at the South African Embassy in Kampala and they live in a huge embassy house in the suburbs of Kampala complete with security guards, maids and a chauffeur! This has been wonderful for us as we have all handed in HUGE piles of washing and generally just chilled out. After lunch, we went to an Irish pub called Bubbles O’Learys to watch the rugby. It was really festive, especially as Rita is an avid Blou Bulle complete with her horns and Terry is a Shark! The pub was full of ex-pats as well as local Ugandan rugby fans and we had a really good time. It was a disappointing end but that can’t be helped, at least it was a close match. We had a few drinks after the match and then came home to more drinks and snacks! Rita and Terry have been fantastic hosts and all Dave & I hope is that we can one day reciprocate their hospitality.

Sunday 20^th May

We had a day of rest! An afternoon braai and generally just a relaxing day with plenty of laughs and good times.

It has been wonderful to have time to catch up with email as they have a permanent internet connection and we have all had turns to monopolize the computer!

Monday 21^st May

After breakfast we lazed around till Terry came back at about 11.30am with all the info from Rita. Then we set off in 2 vehicles to the Sudanese Embassy where we all filled in visa applications – they will consider these applications and we should know in a week. We filled in the Ethiopian visa applications and these visas should be ready in a couple of days.

In the afternoon we did a bit of shopping and then came home for a rest before going out to dinner as a “Thank you” to Terry & Rita.

Tuesday 22^nd May

We do still know we are in Africa as this morning there was no water and no electricity! However Terry and Rita are geared up for this – there is a massive generator in the garden that can run the whole household and within an hour Rita had summonsed the water tanker to fill up the water tank in the back garden so we were sorted!

Our Ethiopian visas will be ready tomorrow but only at 3pm so it looks like we are only going to leave Kampala on Thursday morning. Maureen has not been feeling too well so she is going to the International Hospital for blood tests. We are just continuing our lazy life. Kampala is really one of the nicest cities we have visited in Africa. The city itself has several hills which gives it definition and makes it attractive.

In the evening we had a lovely braai and just chatted and relaxed. Maureen’s thyroid level was too low so her medication has been adjusted and she is much happier!

Wednesday 23^rd May

Everyone did last minute errands or went sightseeing or fishing. Our passports were ready at 3pm with the Ethiopian visas so we are going to leave tomorrow to tour Uganda and Rwanda. We will call back in Kampala after that to see if the Sudanese visa applications have been approved.

Thursday 24^th May

Well, 8.30am and we are on the road again! Thank goodness, because I tend to get restless and then homesick when I am not busy. Today, Dave is not feeling wonderful-I think he is getting a cold. So, I was at the helm, driving Garfield! It is quite challenging dodging the pot holes and I gained a new respect for Dave’s steering ability – it is not so easy when you are in the driver’s seat. To Dave’s credit, he never criticized my “pot hole dodging ability” or disability at times! But I think we are both better at filling our normal roles so hopefully he will be feeling better tomorrow.

We drove NW up to Murchison Falls. It took us about 4 hours to get to Masindi where we had a drink at the Masindi Hotel in their Hemingway Pub – supposedly named after Ernest Hemingway, the writer and a hunting enthusiast. Then we proceeded into Murchison National Park. All over, they knock non residents with dollar prices, and we had to pay $140 per vehicle to enter for 3 days! Anyway such is life – we will just have to work harder when we get home!

Friday 25^th May

We had a very good nights sleep except for our visitors at 2am – Dave woke me up and said listen to that! – There next to Garfield was a mother hippo with her calf, chomping the grass! We had been warned that it was quite common for hippo to graze in this campsite but still when you actually heard the mighty jaws crunching away, it was quite scary! This morning Dave repaired yet another tyre puncture-we have lost count, although we have now replaced the tyre, as there must be a thorn embedded in the tyre that we cannot find. After lunch we are going on a boat cruise on the Victoria Nile to the base of the Murchison Falls. We have just had avo on toast for breakfast – the most beautiful avos that a local gave us in exchange for coke! We have hardly used all the tinned food that we brought with us, as we are primarily living off the land- eating plenty of tomatoes, bananas, sweet potatoes, cashew nuts, avos, pineapples and pawpaw etc. Meat, we have managed to buy at supermarkets in the bigger centres, and so I have not had to turn vegetarian yet! When we were in Kampala we had the chance to weight and Dave has lost 6kgs!!! Sadly, I have only lost 2kg so I am obviously eating his share of our food! Dave has had to buy a belt to hold up his jeans, and it still looks like he is wearing his big brothers pants!

The cruise up the Victoria Nile started at 2pm and the boat was full of tourists – quite a few Americans – it is the first time we have encountered crowds anyway on this trip. Within minutes we spotted loads of hippo – the most endearing being a mother with her calf standing ¾ ‘s out of the water. But from then on it was just a visual overload of birds, baboon, hippo, crocodile and antelope with the Jackson’s Hartebeest being a new sighting for us. After 2 hours we reached the base of the falls, or rather as close as we could get. What a spectacular sight – the Murchison Falls are 43 meters high and the sheer power of the water is amazing as the wide Victoria Nile is forced through a 7 meter wide cleft in the rocks – an electrifying sight! The trip back only took 1 hour as the boat was flowing with the currant.

Saturday 26^th May

We woke up and packed up camp before taking the Paraa ferry across the Victoria Nile to the northern side of Murchison National Park where the bulk of the wild life is situated. We spent an enjoyable morning game and bird viewing and then went to Paraa Lodge for a drink before catching the ferry back to the southern side. We drove back a bit to camp at another campsite at the top of Murchison Falls. Now we were right next to the falls and the deafening roar of the water and the soaking spray really brought home to us the power of that water being forced through the narrow cleft in the escarpment. We did a walk to the bottom of the falls where we saw not only the main falls but also another section of waterfall to the N of the main waterfall. The falling water is snow white and is contrasted by the dark green, moss covered cliffs – altogether a beautiful sight.

Sunday 27^th May

We drove out of the Murchison National Park through the Budongo Forest which was cool and green. Then we headed down S towards Fort Portal and the Ruwenzori Mountains. Traveling in Africa is never boring and today we saw a huge black pig strapped on its side on the back of a scooter! We couldn’t imagine how they got such a huge animal on to the scooter or what backache the poor pig would suffer from? We also crossed a river which was a thriving car wash business! It is quite comical to see all these cars parked in the river, being energetically soaped down. The roads today were dirt but in fairly good condition and we covered about 350kms which is very good going.

Thank goodness Dave is feeling much better, I had been starting to get quite concerned about him and had even done a malaria test on him(he really complained when I pricked his finger and said it felt like I had stabbed him right through to the bone!), but fortunately it was negative. And today he is definitely much better and full of his normal chirps!

Just before we reached Fort Portal our brake light came on and we stopped to discover that the rear brake fluid pipe had once again broken – it had been repaired in Marangu! We were just in a village when it happened so we pulled into a garage and 2 local mechanics dived in – as Will said they were like 2 monkeys let loose with a spanner box – and basically we had to ask to eventually ask them to get their heads out of there so that Dave, Will and Brian could do the work. Then they still charged us the equivalent of R250 for their labour! Anyway, the main thing is that we got on the road again.

We came 8kms W of Fort Portal to a campsite at Amabere Caves which is a beautifully lawned campsite with a proper flush toilet and a hot shower = paradise! Just as well there are good ablutions, as we are all covered in a film of red dust- Dave looks as if his beard has gone instantly red!

Tonight is the night and I am having a number 6 haircut! (Sorry Glyni but I have to join the other girls on this trip) I don’t know if I will be brave enough to put a photo of myself on the blog!!

Monday 28^th May

We explored the surrounding area – Amabere Caves, a waterfall, forested area and a group of about 5 crater lakes. It was a good morning hike and it feels good to have done some exercise. Now this afternoon we are just catching up with chores and we will leave early tomorrow. I have made some yeast bread and we are going to bake it in the coals tonight.

The bread turned out beautifully and we had a real feast on warm, crusty bread with oodles of butter! Not too good for the diet.

Kenya en Route

Monday 14th May

We are relaxing here at Lake Naivasha today – the bird life is wonderful so that keeps us entertained, and of course there is always laundry and car maintenance to be done. We went for a walk in the afternoon, otherwise just had a really lazy day.

Tuesday 15th May

We left at 8.30am and stopped in at a weavers shop where Dave bought a shirt & belt and I bought a kanga. Then we headed N on another appalling road – Kenya has them too! In fact, Kenya is the “pot-hole king” and now we were on a detour, it was dusty and pot holed so going was slow especially as the road was so busy. We saw Lake Elementeita an our left hand side and stopped to go and investigate as we could see the pink shimmer of a million flamingo on the water. Lake Elementeita is a soda lake only 1 ½ meters deep at its deepest. Thousands upon thousands of flamingo live in Lake Elementeita, Lake Nakuru and Lake Bogoria – all lakes in the Great Rift Valley. When a female flamingo is 18 months old, she goes to Lake Natron to lay a single egg which she leaves in the sand for the sun to incubate – 28 days later the chick hatches and feeds on the egg yolk for 7 days before going into Lake Natron to feed on algae for 3 months before migrating to either Elementeita, Nakuru or Bogoria to start the whole cycle again. Marabou storks and African fish eagles can and do feed on flamingoes. The sight of thousands upon thousands of flamingo was a breath taking sight.
We then got back on the road to travel towards Nakuru where we stopped at lunch time for shopping, petrol, internet café etc before heading NW for Kagamega Forest National Park – one of the few remaining rain forests in Kenya. Slow going roads with loads of traffic resulted in us having to look for a bush camp as we realized we were not going to make Kakamega, however, Kenya is very populated, so despite taking a side road, we had to ask locals if we could camp in their land. Well, it was the equivalent of 4 UFO’s landing in someones back garden- the “Baba” could not speak English but through one of his 5 sons as an interpreter, he gave us permission, and in fact invited us to sleep in their home! His grand children had never seen white people and this was definitely the event of the decade. Fortunately, for us, it started to pour with rain after we had set up camp, otherwise I don’t think they would have gone to sleep that night!

Wednesday 16th May

Bright & early at 6.30am we were up making coffee and so were our hosts on hand to observe these “aliens”. I took a family portrait of them all and Dave printed it out for them which led to great excitement, while Brian & Maureen gave the kids marbles and colouring-in books. The hospitality shown to us by this family was incredible and we were really grateful. Anyway, we set off again at about 8.30am and reached Kakamega Forest at about 10.30am. We did a drive around and saw 100’s of exquisite butterflies and then set up camp as we saw the red tailed monkeys, black and white colobus and plenty of birds right there in the camp.



Thursday 17th May

We woke up fairly early in pouring rain but it soon subsided and we set off on a guided walk – man was this guide knowledgeable! He could identify the birds from their calls alone, and he could imitate their calls as well, so it helped us see and hear things that we were not even aware were there. We had a late, big breakfast and then set off back to Kakamega town to do shopping and tyre puncture repairs! We made a short detour out of town to see the Weeping stone of Shinyalu which is a 20m high granite stone with a boulder on top. Water continually weeps from this boulder on top down the length of the granite stone. Of course there are several local legends surrounding this stone.
So it was after 1 o’clock once we finally got on the road NW to the Ugandan border. The Ugandan border was a pleasure and we were through by 4pm and heading towards Jinja on a wonderful tarred road. Our delight was short lived however as after 50kms the road deteriorated badly and the last 70kms were harrowing – busy, pot-holed and dusty with far too little road for the amount of traffic – often you were quite literally squeezed off the road by bigger vehicles with “more claim” to the patch of tar! We only reached the Explorers Campsite on the banks of the Victoria Nile River after 7pm.

Serengeti & Ngorongoro

Wednesday 9th May

Later in the afternoon we went back to Arusha town to go to the internet café. We had been warned about the crime by the Hardmans and Days as their cars had had attempted break ins the day before, so Dave went into the internet and I sat in Garfield to guard her! Well, to cut a long story short, they stole 4 of the 6 bolts off the free wheel hub on Dave’s side while I was in the car! Obviously, with the intention of stealing the free wheel hub, but luckily a policeman saw them and called me. So, I am not a very good car guard! However, this is the first bit of crime we have encountered on our trip so that’s not too bad and Berry at Meserani Snake Park was able to give us more bolts, so alls well that ends well.


Thursday 10th May

We left at 8.15am in our Fun Safaris Landcruiser with our guide, Livingstone, and drove about 3 hours past Lake Manyara and to the Ngorongoro gate. After the gate formalities, we headed up through forest to the crater rim. What a spectacular sight! But it was really chilly and by the time we stopped further around the rim to have our packed lunches, we had all donned our winter woollies! We carried on down the far side of the crater rim towards Serengeti which is derived from a Maasai word meaning “endless plains”. We reached the Serengeti and walked up a kopje to a view sight and just stood and took in the sheer vastness of the plains for a few minutes.
We then started driving through them, and what a treat – in the afternoon and on Friday we saw 24 different animals including a cheetah with 2 cubs, a leopard in a tree, several tree climbing lions, baboon, crocs, gazelle, giraffe, African rock python etc etc. It was so exciting to see the cheetah and especially the leopard as I have been looking for one in parks for years with no success. And we identified 29 different birds including augar buzzard, marabou and white stork, secretary bird, various vultures, kori bustard, white headed buffalo weaver, bare faced go away bird etc etc.
The only bad part of the day was the tsetse flies that we encountered, luckily only for a brief period. We actually had quite fun for the brief period as everyone becomes violent killers and there is much hilarity with all the swatting and squashing! They are evil little flies with wings that cross over on their backs and they bite, and some people have a really bad reaction to the bites which can last up to a week! They are resistant beasts and do not die when you swat them so after swatting you literally have to squash them with great force and of course glee- sometimes they are full of blood – so it is all quite gruesome!
We reached our lodge at the northern edge of the grass plains at about 6 pm and what a treat it was to be shown to luxury rooms with hot water and best of all, a bath!! I thought I had had my last bath at the beginning of March for 2007, so that was a wonderful surprise, and Dave even lay back in a bath for 10 minutes! The Seronera Lodge was completed in 1971 and is built mainly out of wood and glass and is built all around the existing boulders. After a wonderful evening meal, we collapsed into our beds – exhausted but very content.

Friday 11th May

Livingstone picked us up at 7.30 and we set off a bit further north to look for migrating zebra and wildebeest.
In November the short rains start and the wildebeest migrate from the N of the Serengeti down S to the plains to eat the new grass which is rich in minerals needed to rear their young. Apparently, in Feb/March for about 3-4 weeks 90% of the female wildebeest give birth, flooding the plains with thousands of calves every day – this is a sight I would love to see. Then in May, when the rains stop, the wildebeest and zebra, set off from the southern plains, to the northern dry season range. We did not see great running herds, as perhaps, I had expected, but in the middle to top part of the plains, we did see huge herds of zebra and wildebeest, all heading north.
We then headed south back towards the Ngorongoro crater and to our lodge on the crater rim. Once again we enjoyed and appreciated the sheer luxury of hot baths and hotel dinners!

Saturday 12th May
We headed down into the crater early in thick, rainy mist but luckily it cleared once we reached the bottom, although it was still a cold day and I was very glad to have Rayanne’s GHS water polo jacket to snuggle into! The crater is 20kms in diameter and covers 260 square kilometers. We saw buffalo, warthog, gazelle, zebra, cokes hartebeest, golden jackal, hippo, black backed jackal, elephant, white bearded wildebeest, ostrich, black rhino, lion, waterbuck and loads of spotted hyena. Plus we saw lots of birds again – plenty of flamingo, crowned cranes and kori bustards etc. There is one road down into the crater and another one to ascend, although I believe there is one other road on the northern side of the crater that is for both up and down. Anyway, we went up the ascent road at lunch time and back to Ngorongoro Lodge for lunch, before heading back to Arusha in time for the Shark’s rugby match.
Berry and Lynn Bale at Meserani Snake Park had put a wildebeest and a warthog leg on the spit braai for us for dinner and of course they had the satellite TV for us to watch the rugby. They have been so hospitable to us and their park also encompasses a Maasai museum and of course the snake park. They do not charge camp fees at all and just expect you to frequent their pub and perhaps eat their very reasonably priced food – a cheese hamburger for just R12! So, we would really recommend their camp if you are up this way – their email is snakepark@habari.co.tz
It was wonderful to see the Sharks win and we all have decided that we have to find a TV next Saturday to watch the final! Thanks Guysie & Glyni for the phone call – it was great to hear your voices. My brother, Trevor, has also phoned me twice – thanks a million.

Sunday 13th May

We left at 8.30am and headed N for the Kenyan border. We take it in turns to lead on a rotational basis when we have days of traveling and Dave and I were in front today. It is Mother’s day and I had phone calls and sms messages so thank you my chickens – I love you so,so much! Dad has printed an A4 colour photograph of the 3 of you at Kelvin’s wedding and I have it hanging in front of me over the cubby hole so I can look at you all day long, while I do my tapestry or read to Dad!
We croseed the border at lunch time and said goodbye to Tanzania.
The costs in Tanzania were
Border fees R 875
Accommodation R1 076
Internet R 18
Groceries R1 195
Eating out R 651
Petrol R5 593
Car repairs R 437
Drinks R 749
Sight seeing R 538
Arusha Nat Park R 770
Ngorongoro& Serengeti R5 460
Purchases R 237

And in Zanzibar
Ferry R1 050
Taxis R 297
Accommodation R1 260
Restaurants R 378
Drinks R 267
Sight seeing R 241
Scramblers & petrol R 308
Purchases R 168
In addition, I spent R1 078 on Bradt travel guide books on the various countries we are going to visit – these travel guides are really good and I would recommend them to anyone traveling to a country in Africa. The most extravagant thing we bought in Tanzania, was a small bottle of Marmite for R45!

We traveled past Nairobi, and headed straight for Lake Naivasha only arriving at 6pm, so it was a long day. Luckily I have a “microwave” with me and the lamb chops were soon defrosted on the top of Garfield’s bonnet!
Thank you Jean, for always commenting on our web and thanks Yvonne J for doing odd chores for me when I sms you – you are a star!

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.

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.

Tanzania 1st episode

Tuesday 17th April

After looking around Livingstonia we descended the hairpin bend road and then proceeded up the road back towards Karonga. Thanks for the email, Jean and the advice but we didn’t go down into Malawi very far. After stocking up at Karonga and getting tyre punctures repaired, we headed further N up to Songwa river and the border into Tanzania. The border crossing was fairly quick and painless and we were through by 4pm but that was of course 5pm in Tanzania as they are 1 hour ahead. The change in the country side was immediately evident and quite dramatic. There was of course much more land as Malawi only has a little land alongside the lake, the soil was a different colour and looked very fertile. The agriculture looked so much more organized and in fact there were fields upon fields of tea on our right hand side and banana plantations galore on our left hand side. We traveled for about an hour and then because of the late hour we pulled off to a mission station where we camped for the night for R21 a couple – so that was a real bargain. Last night, however, did challenge us all as it poured with rain and even the ground where we were camped was water logged! This trip is not always a piece of cake.

Our costs in Malawi were
Border processing fee R63
Internet Café R30
Petrol R1 675
Camping fees R328
Groceries R191
Drinks R306
Sight seeing R99
Gifts R70
Tyre puncture R184

Wednesday 18th April

We left at 7am which was really 6 am on our Malawi time scale so we did really well. We headed straight up for Mbeya where once again it was the normal routine of atm’s, petrol, internet cafes etc. Then we headed E for Makambako and then S for Songea. We are not quite at Songea and are camped at a bush camp but it is a 100 times better than last nights “bog”. I have made pumpkin soup and it was quite a story liquidizing it with a whisk – life in Africa can be challenging but we manage and actually it is quite fun. Today we drove through terrain much like Ashburton with thorn trees etc and then when we headed S it was like the Natal Midlands! Just when we think we have seen the absolute extremes with bicycle transportation, we enter a new country, and we find a further extension to the simple bicycle! Today we saw guys transporting HUGE baskets of tomatoes on the back school suitcase carrier with an additional 50kg bag of tomatoes strapped over the back wheel mudguard! Unbelievable!



Thursday 19th April

We left at 8am and drove down on good tar road to Songea. At least the tar roads in Tanzania are not full of pot holes so the going is quite rapid. We reached Songea at 11.30am and stopped at a very colourful hotel with purple tables, turgoise chairs and a huge display of animals in the front porch! There we had a drink before leaving for Makambako and here our troubles started- first of all it was a dirt road and an appalling one at that – but half an hour into the trip we came across a river with a bridge and there in the river was the 12 ton truck loaded with 20 tons on top of the collapsed bridge! This had happened 5 minutes before we got there! See the photograph. Luckily there was a local Landcruiser with us and he said that he knew a way around so off he led us at breakneck speed – him, followed by us 4 and we picked up a local police van at the rear. I have no idea what the local villagers thought as we roared past as they probably never see traffic on this back road, and there we were, an armoured convoy! Anyway half an hour later we were back on the road and back to our slower pace. The road was so bad that our pace was 30kms per hour! So of course it was a bush camp again.

Friday 20th April

Today our daughter, Carmen-Jo, graduates with her B.Comm Accounts and she got her degree Suma Laude (I think that is correct?) coming in the top 3 in her whole class! So we are extremely proud of her and I am feeling quite homesick that we are unable to be with her. Babes, we are so proud of you and we are thinking of you the whole day. You are a star!
We have had a tedious day just grinding our way along this appalling road at a rate of 25kms per hour! Why are we doing this? Anyway, after a refreshing shower, at our bush camp, we all feel better and are ready to tackle tomorrow.

Saturday 21st April

We left and proceeded on our laborious road but finally reached tar road at about 1pm –Yay! Our average speed increased to 85kms per hour and soon we were on the Tanzanian coast at Lindi. This is a real dive of a town and we decided to proceed down to Mikindani where we are now. We found a lodge called 10 Degrees which is situated right on the bay and the view is breath taking. We have had ice cold drinks and a delicious dinner of calamari and prawns! We certainly deserve it after a grueling 3 days of driving.
The terrain we drove through these past few days has been more like Malawi and not as fertile looking as when we first crossed over to Tanzania. Also the people and villages that we have been through have been really poor.

Malawi

Friday 13th April

We woke up fairly early and were on our way by 7.30am. We took 3 hours to complete the 80kms from Chitipa to Karonga on Lake Malawi and there we all drew money at an Atm, filled up with petrol and went to the internet café. Thank goodness petrol is now R8.50 instead of the R12 – R15 we were paying in Zambia! Downloading to our web is still proving to be a challenge – the café had a dial up connection with a speed of 26 kbs which is half the speed of a dial up at home. So it took us 40 minutes to just read our email and dump prepared text to the blog. There was no way we could download photographs. The cell coverage here is good and in Zambia it was intermittent, however, the towers do not have Gprs/3G data connection so we can’t get our emails via our cell phone. The satellite phone is very slow and very expensive so I’m afraid our communication is sporadic. I hope we are not frustrating you all too much but we are doing the best we can.
We then drove down the M1(a tarred road!) along side the western shore of Lake Malawi. The scenery is really spectacular and the lake impressive. We went about 80kms south before finding an absolutely beautiful campsite called Sangilo Sanctuary. There was a steep descent to Sangilo but the end result was worth it – a totally private beach with big rock boulders at either end. On the pure white, non salty beach was the kitchen, restaurant and bar area. The lake has gentle bobbing waves(just for me) and is a pleasant 25 degrees(just for Dave). We couldn’t resist their evening menu of an avo starter with cream cheese followed by a choice of lake fish or lemon braised chicken with veggies and sauted potatoes for R65 a head! It was the perfect end to an idyllic day.

Saturday 14th April

We decided to spend another day at Sangilo as it was just so restful. The owners are a married couple with 2 little girls – one turns 5 tomorrow on Daryl’s birthday and the other is 18 months old. The lady is a doctor from Scotland – she came here 10 years ago on a contract and has never left! The weather was wonderful and we just lolled in the lake and played cards and read our books. Another tough day in Africa!

Sunday 15th April

We left at 7am – we are getting good – and headed west inland over the mountains that surround the lake. The view was breath taking and we got a birds eye view of the enormity of Lake Malawi. We drove SW to Rumphi and then up into Nyika National Park. The Nyika Plateau is 2400m above sea level and is quite a different landscape from that around the lake. On the way we stopped and bought local produce along the road – whatever the locals have for sale, they just leave in a bucket on the road and when you stop they appear from nowhere to serve you! I bought a pumpkin for 50c and a cabbage + 4 tomatoes for R5! The tomatoes are absolutely delicious obviously organically grown! We are now camped at Chelinda Campsite in the Nyika Plateau and it is just like being in the Drakensberg. They lit a donkey and we had wonderful, steaming hot showers and are about to sit down beside the camp fire. Tomorrow is my boy’s birthday and you are really in our thoughts Daryl – Happy birthday son we hope you have a wonderful day and that everyone spoils you rotten! Hope you enjoy your presents – we love and miss you stacks.

This plateau is about 40 kms from the lakeside as the crow flies, but is almost 2kms up and you can certainly feel the temperature difference-Sunday night it went down to 9 degrees and the afternoon had been 19 whereas the lakeside was 25 to 30 degrees!

Monday 16th April

We left at 8am and headed back down the road towards Rumphi and then the Lake. We stopped to look at a “basket bridge” which was originally built in 1904 and is still maintained and used by the locals on a regular basis. Further up the pass over to the lake we took a turning to the Wungra Falls which was 8 kms off the road. A local met us and said he would guide us on a 20 minute walk-not too steep-to the falls. So off we all set except Maureen, in our slops, no water or anything. Well, 3 hours later we got back to the cars, with only Neville having actually made it the last 40 meters down to the bottom of the falls! You needed to be a mountain goat to do this walk and in fact it was very dangerous with a sheer, slippery, muddy path vertically down. As we said to Jeffram(our guide) it was VERY steep and you needed hiking boots, rescue ropes and definitely water! Anyway, we all lived to tell the tale although I, for one, can hardly walk today on Wednesday!
After our long walk we were all exhausted and decided to just get to the lakeside and find a camp instead of going to Livingstonia, as had been our original plan.

Tuesday 17th April

We left at 8.30am and headed 10kms up the lakeside before turning inland towards Livingstonia. This was a really exciting road which was 15kms long with 20 hairpin bends, besides other twists and turns, which ascended 1 000 meters, and was definitely more challenging than the Sani Pass road. The view was breath taking and the drive was really worth it. Livingstonia is an ancient mission town which relocated up into the hills to escape malaria.