27 June, Day 14: Zebras and Falcons and Dik Dik, oh my!

The plan for the morning was that some of the guys head off to the Tarangire National park to check out what the deal is with camping there, while the rest of the vehicles spend some time in the garage for some TLC and servicing (Air filters, oil change etc). Annelie and I choose to stay at the lodge and just chill, although “chilling” for Annelie involves cramping and the warm slicing of scalpels in her gut. We’ve tried the usual meds and had her on nothing but black tea and toast with marmite (a sure fire fix) but this is something normal Boere raad won’t fix.

By the afternoon we regroup, having received a message that there is a place to camp in the National Park proper, but it’s shit. And expensive. Our alternative is the Roika Tented lodge close to it, but at the usual £150 pp. Fanie managed to work it out so that we can camp next to their swimming pool instead, for $10 pp, but we must have dinner also at £25 pp. Our alternative is to stay here, at the very smart Maramboi (with dapper host extraordinaire Aladdin), but Aladdin was unsure if he’d be able to get us the same discount, since they had just enough room for us last night so it was kind of a special deal. All depends on what the boss says.

We make the decision to head 45 minutes down the road to the park. It costs $40 per vehicle and another $30 pp to enter the park. And they follow the same script as the previous park, so no room for negotiations. The nice thing at least is that the pass is valid for 24 hours, but the park closes from 19:00 to 05:00. Next up, we arrive at the Roika Tented lodge (yes, same tour company we’re using for the safari).

Very nice place, fully decked out with a huge reception area, req-room with pool table, huge bar and restaurant and a massive kitchen. The pool side area is a little under construction still, but we setup our tents just fine. Heh, a little hillbilly actually, this really nice lodge with us setting up washing lines and whatnot, even rinsing some washing in the pool! At least the lodge is totally empty (I found out later that from the 1^st of July, they are fully booked). The facility manager allows us the use of one of the tented lodges so that we can use the shower, very nice of him.

Before we head down to the park I need to clear out some room from the back seats of the Bulllet, since it’s the only other double cab we have and we want to use two cars instead of four, to save some cash. Hard work. I may have mentioned this before but I don’t know what I was thinking, bringing so much stuff to Africa. By late afternoon we’re cruising in the park, on the lookout for game. I manage to snap off pics of a great many Zebras, Wildebeest, Giraffes, Elephants, Dik Dik (a very, very small antelope), Impala, a wide range of birds including a majestic and bad ass looking falcon and a large group of Warthogs. No Lions. Too bad.

I did spy a particularly LARGE bull elephant, shepherding his herd across the road. His tusks where massive, probably 3 meters or more, at least. We managed to get his attention once. He gave us a “look”. A look that said “that tin can you’re driving in wont save you from my wrath”. We apologised for any inconvenience caused and (slowly) went on our way.

Back at the pool, we’re all mulling around waiting for dinner (to be served at 21:30...) and Mattie is checking out his 2 infected wounds again. Eeeew. Not pretty. It basically looks like something is running tracks... underneath his skin. Actually, about 2 or 3 “things”. They through around some ideas, like slicing it open, injecting alcohol or what it may be (venom?). The wounds feel fine though, apparently, but they look red and swollen, and... those tracks! I comment that to me, it looks like a parasite burrowing under his skin. Which last time I checked is bad, and he should have that shit checked out. This is way-waHAY past Betadine, band aids and a good night’s rest.

Dinner was too much food. I couldn’t possibly finish it. Ordered the steak (rare) again, received an over cooked but massively better cut of meat, with chips. Starter was a butternut soup (delicious!) and for dessert we could order tea, coffee, coffee with tropical fruit, tea with tropical fruit, tropical fruit or nothing. This may seem pedantic, but I assure you that our waiter, Moses, was adamant that we understand our options. A language barrier was also crashed into on many occasions.

I chose coffee, with the tropical fruit salad. Yes it was a weird combination. No, I couldn’t finish it.

PS: my stomach feels funny.

Tomorrow the gang wants to go back to the park at 06:00. We’re not going to get up for that ride. I have quite a few things to do, like repack and rethink our strategy for our day to day boxes, and clean out the fridge (someone spilt about a litre of milk in there. Rather, someone spilt a litre of milk in the fridge, 3 whole days ago. Yuuuuuck.)

Mattie and Johan will bail at around 09:00 for Arusha to get some real medical advice on those interesting critters doing road works on his knee and bicep. Yes, my money is on parasites.

[G & A], out

Karibu = welcome

26 June, Day 13: Onward to Tarangire

Slept like a king, almost too comfortable :)

We met up with the rest of the guys for breakfast, toast and eggs. Asked for the eggs medium, no chance. Toaster is broken, so you have to stand next to it and stop it manually lest you burn the your bread. This happens at least three times. Along with our “western” breakfast requirements they serve what I can only describe as a kind of beef Miso soup. Delicious! Not used to having beef stew this early in the morning but whatever.

I also discover this really awesome Tanzanian instant coffee, African. It’s the best instant coffee I’ve ever had, very much on par with filter and it’s very very fine. Made a note to buy some.

Pre-flight checks, pack all the gear and the other guys spend about an hour trying to get hold of the tour company, Roika tours. We need to check if they can perhaps meet us in the town just after Arusha, since Mattie has to pick up his wife from the airport there. We are also keen to change the dates somewhat, to buy us some time. Cell phone reception is very choppy and it’s frustrating trying to get hold of anyone. They do manage to speak to someone, bottom line is we’ll need to stop over at Arusha anyway.

All done just before 09:00 and we head out, towards the Tarangire national Park.. As you’d expect, the roads are pretty bad again once you leave town. We pass by a big road works project (Chinese in full force) and I drive on the service road (mostly sand, so car swims around a bit...) as much as I can, to try and reduce the bumps and vibrations, again for Annelie’s sake. She’s getting progressively worse, headache and stomach cramps. We’ll need to get her checked out. We break for lunch at about 13:45. Mattie has a few wounds that look infected, so we treat and dress them.

Around high noon we arrive in Tarangire and start scouting camps. Our first looky look is a dud. Lakeview campsite seems to have been abandoned a long time ago. We are greeted by a very sweaty, very drunk local, who claims to be the camp owner. The entire site is perched on a hill, with a fantastic view of Lake Manyara, where many wild animals hang out. Unfortunately, as I’ve mentioned, the place is derelict and the entire site is covered in thorns! So no camping here.

We head back down to another option and reach a fork in the road. We split up, 2 cars left, 2 right. I forget the camps name on the left, but it was the same story (less vista, more derelict). I head back to the other camp, but not before snapping some pics of the numerous zebra running all over the show. On the right hand fork we come across Camp Maramboi.

It’s the first time that I’ve seen what’s called a Tented Lodge. The restaurant and reception area blends in seamlessly with the Savannah and it has a little deck that ends in a pool area, with deck chairs for sunset views and cocktails. The entire restaurant structure is only covered with a straw roof and it is stunning! The “rooms” are high quality canvas tents perched on their own wooden platforms. The guys have a chat about price. $150 per person, per night. Yikes! The manager, a gentlemen going by the name of Aladdin sees our despondent faces end decides to offer us the only 4 available tents he has left for the day, for a mere $75. We accept!

He gives us a quick rundown of the house rules. The entire place is run on solar power, generators in a pinch. So, don’t charge any appliances in the rooms, switch off all your lights when you leave the room (to conserve power and prevent attracting mosquitoes and other bugs). Our stay includes a buffet dinner, breakfast and Lunch. Fanie tries to catch him out, saying that technically we’ll miss lunch if we need to check out by 10:00. Without missing a beat he casually replies: “How? We pack you a lunch box”. Very suave, Mr Aladdin, very suave indeed. Another thing: if you retire for the evening to your tent, stay there. This is for your own protection, since you’ll need an escort to move about the camp. There are actual wild animals cruising around freely. For security detail, they have employed quite a few Masai. They don’t say much and always carry a weapon of some sort, usually a short sword. One of the escorts had a bow and three very sharp, very deadly looking arrows. He gladly showed it off when I asked about it. Too damn bad I didn’t have my camera on me!

Anyways, we get the keys for our tent and I instruct Annelie to go fish out her wedding dress. We have about an hour of good light to play with. I rush to get all my gear together while helping her get dressed with my one free hand. We manage to snap off a few hundred pics, some of them are even good. The camp it filled to the brim with American Tourists... on Safari (have I mentioned that it’s the worst kind of tourist??). Meh. So lots of stupid remarks and unfunny jokes as we try to grab the last bit of light.

We finish off the session with a well deserved dip in the pool, before heading back to the tent for a shower and to get ready for dinner. I made a suggestion that they try and organise Annelie and myself a table away from the rest of the group (and, more importantly, away from the khaki clad, sunburnt, loud and obnoxious Americans. They dress really funny, who tells them to buy this shit??). They happily oblige. The buffet was absolutely phenomenal, all sorts of treats on offer. I was a bit greedy and couldn’t finish off my plate. Hate wasting food.

Annelie phasing between recovery and cramps. When we get to Arusha I will take her to a hospital.

Highlights: A refreshing dip in the pool after a day of dusty, bumpy driving

Lowlights: Annelie not feeling well.

[G & A], out

*instrumental*

25 June, Day 12: The road to Dodoma

Monkey in the tree right above our tent woke us up at 05:00. Poked my head out and shone a torch it the general direction and it buggered off. Bastard. Slept somewhat till about 06:30 when the rest of the camp stirred. Today we’re heading up to Dodoma. More happy-super-funtime with that darn dirt road, back through the winding little town to refuel, restock (if we can) and buy another spare tire (just in case).

Do the pack-up dance: get Annelie out of bed, she grabs the dregs of boiled water from 2 kettles, makes coffee, I roll up the sleeping bags, fold the stretchers, pack them up, pack up the sleeping bags, pack up the suit case. Annelie is on a go slow still. She’s still suffering from a severe headache. Mmmmm....

Have a quick breakfast, not before guarding Annelie in the bathroom against 2 giant crickets (“Koring Krieke” in Afrikaans), a salamander-lizard type thing and a spider the size of a monkeys fist, while she sits on the toilet (which was ill lit, to top it off). Funny how they don’t all just attack each other. I had instructions to terminate with extreme prejudice should any of them move a carapace (not the lizard, I think he was on our side...)

Head out at 07:45. Pre flight checks all good, tires still look sexy! PS: damn I’m good. Dusty road, compacted by dirty windshield and morning sun blinding you from the east. Ray Bans once again coming in handy. We perform radio checks to make sure we can all hear each other (they act up on these dusty roads, for some reason) and give each other about 300 meters of room as to not drive in the others dust.

About 15 minutes later, a figure standing the shadows gestures my way... right before I drive right through a pothole. Figure grabs and shakes his head. It’s one of our team members, Fanie. And he was trying to warn me NOT to drive where I just did... over a particularly large boulder in the pothole. Said boulder hit Mattie’s front left tire INSTANTLY deflating it. And, surprise surprise, the radios didn’t work again! So, they couldn’t warn me. Fortunately for me, no harm was done. Mattie’s tire on the other hand was toast. The rock bent the rim right in.

Shit.

Field repairs, part duex: take off tire, replace it and see what they can do about the damage. Some gentle persuasion with a hammer bends the inner rim back out, but not enough to create a tight seal. And more gentle persuasion only cracks the rim. So, by the time the shooting stops, we’re down to 3 spare tires, from 5 (1 spare being the repaired one I fixed up last night).

On our way again by 08:42 and by 10:00 we hit asphalt! Glorious, sweet, smooth asphalt. We enter Iringa, which is quite a large town, and hunt down a tire shop. Annelie and I break away to track down a shop for meat, fruit and the like. No luck. Rather, we DO find a place, but I wouldn’t trust that meat if you paid me.

Mattie decides it’s better to take the Bullet’s rim, remove the totally unsalvageable tire and replace it with the Fords still brand new tire (but busted, bent rim). All and all, we’re back to 4 spares, since no good tires (or rims) are on sale anywhere. In the meantime, I head to NBC bank to exchange a few dollars, including a very dubious looking $100 note (which no one will take!) for some Shillings and exchange another 400. PS: they’re really picky about the 100 Dollar note, even trying to NOT accept a not older that 2006 (it has a little “series” number on it). Lots of fraud I suppose.

Anyways, refuel (again, at Tanzania’s slowest fuel pump... what’s up with that??) and I buy a little wooden elephant necklace from a hawker. Annelie helps me pick out the best one, and I haggle to guy down to a more “down to earth” price.

All done, locked and loaded we head off to Dodoma by 11:15!

Now remember how I was complaining about that little 2 hour or so stretch of dirt and dust they call “road” from Iringa to Ruaha? I’d drive that road all day long, compared to what we encountered next...

So what’s worse than a dirt road? A road that used to be asphalt, but has disintegrated due to absolutely NO maintenance. So jagged pieces of rock (which I assume forms the base layer for a road) interspersed with huge boulders (don’t want to hit those at high speed, ala Mattie’s rim incident), the usual potholes, tight spaces, long drops off the side of the road etc etc. Coupled with this, Annelie still feels mighty shit, so this party is really not an enjoyable experience for her. ETA to Dodoma: 10 hours!

I asked what the hell is up with this road, since Dodoma is considered a large city in these parts. Basically this road doesn’t get used for trade or transport, since all trade comes from the North, i.e. Dar Es Salaam and the coast. The boys in charge didn’t see the point to maintain it any longer and the once pristine colonial road has fallen by the way side. Personally, I REALLY enjoyed driving it! But I had to curb my enthusiasm (and speed) for Annelie’s sake. There’s only so much you can do I’m afraid. It wasn’t so much a “road to Dodoma” as “a ROUTE to Dodoma”.

We do stop periodically for “bio breaks”, and the road takes us into high mountain passes and impressive vistas. We break for lunch around 13:40. By 14:30 we reach the Mtera Hydro power plant. Big sign warns not to take pictures under any circumstances. Annelie snaps a few anyway. Very impressive structure! The road here is better, basically crossing over the dam and exiting the other side, the guard at the gate asked for a coke. We give some money for a coke, since we’re in a hurry. On with the show.

More bad road. So much so, that 20 minutes after we leave the dam, Mattie’s bonnet clip (the bit that secures the bonnet to the car) snaps off.

The lads engineer a solution involving a torque strap, which lasts exactly 3 minutes before we stop again. Rethink, reset. 5 minutes later, we have to stop again. This time they wind the strap length wise in the middle of the bonnet, which does the trick!

On we hurtle, at stupid speeds for this kind of road (still having fun! Annelie not so much...) and we reach Dodoma in a record time at 17:20. Cruise into town and it’s quite busy, late afternoon traffic, people, dogs, carts, fires... the usual. The GPS units advise on a few hotels (not camping today, it’s too late to setup anyways). GPS units get confused. GPS units cause us to drive around 3 blocks 3 times. GPS units switched off. I swerve just in time to prevent driving over a GPS unit that was tossed out of the window (ok, made that last part up. But lots of swearing ensued over the 2-ways...)

We check out quite a lanie looking building, called the Nam Hotel, fully booked. We check out the New Simba (that’s Swahili for “Lion”) Hotel, fully booked. Check out the other hotel across the road, called the Dear Mama hotel, success! Rooms look pretty decent and prices quite reasonable (60 000 TZs a night, or £30), so we all check in. Head up to our rooms, grab a well deserved shower and meet up again for dinner at 19:30. We were requested to place our orders an hour earlier, so that they can prepare it all. Most of us order the “Pepper Steak, fillet, with chips”. I’m very brave and order mine “rare”.

Get to the restaurant, Mattie’s room didn’t have hot water and he’s quite surly. Anyways, food presented and, well, I’m not sure what they’ve done to this poor piece of meat. I now know what the loud banging sound coming out of the kitchen was: they clearly had one piece of decent steak, sliced it up and beat it to death until they could sell it as “fillet”. What’s left is this thin slice of over cooked, battered, bruised and beaten, over spiced road kill I now have the pleasure of consuming . I take a picture for posterity, and eat it anyway. Annelie ordered the chicken. What she got was some chicken pieces mixed with some parts of duck... she eats it anyway. They kill her “salad” with vinegar, so she asks for a tomato instead (can’t fuck that up, right?)

The chips where very good though, and the pepper sauce was actually awesome. But I reckon we spun out the kitchen tonight, I’m sure they haven’t had a big, 8 seater table in a while. A few other patrons arrive, and by the looks on their faces as food is placed before them, I reckon they didn’t get a good deal either. Oh well. This is Africa. (I’m beginning to really despise this cliché though)

Overall, whatever, I’m clean, fed and I have a real bed tonight. I’m going to sleep like a baby tonight.

Highlight: A real bed to sleep in!

Not so kief: This “steak” is gonna come back on me in a bad way. I can feel it.

[G & A], out

No colours or shapes

24 June, Day 11: Field repairs

Well, imagine that. I reckon in a twisted way the malaria pills, bee sting and adrenalin super-fun-time shot really cured him! Mattie was all singing and dancing all smiles this morning, and fit as a fiddle. Good times. Since he is feeling much better and we don’t have to hang around here for another day, we’ve decide to carry on with the original plan of heading back up to Isilinga, and then hand a right towards the Ruaha National Reserve. There are quite a few camp sites and lodges off the same breakaway road, so we’ll check when we get there. We got a good tip about a brand new site so that would be our 1^st port of call. I perform the morning checks, pump the Bullets rear tires (there even more flat than usual today) and check all the other bits, like oil and the fridge battery. Start up the Bullet for a few minutes to get everything ready to go.

Lots of traffic on the way as we leave just past 09:00. Busses and road works... it’s a little slow going at first, little meandering road through a town (I forget the name) but before long we break into the small road dirt road to the park.

Quick anecdote: Tanzania, as the rest of Africa smells dusty. Very much like South Africa. The only difference is the presence of soot and smoke from numerous fires (cooking, heat or garbage disposal) in towns and cities. And of course, lots of smog from trucks and taxis, cars.

The dirt road is the worst we’ve had since. It’s very, very bumpy peppered with deep potholes (hitting them at 80 km/h is a little frightening) and dust! The DUST! Everywhere! Also have to negotiate tight spots with other trucks and busses going the other way, including various breakdowns that parked right smack bam in the middle of it all. Lots of little villages along the way.

At noon we roll into the Chogela Lodge and camp site. We’re covered in a fine, red dust. Everything. No matter how smart you think the cabins closed vent circulation system is, dust can and will get in. The site is very nice, lots of big thorn trees and a cute little restaurant (not working yet). Facilities include hot water (bonus!) but no electricity. We setup shop near a fire pit, just beyond the non functioning (but very pretty) restaurant and break for afternoon lunch and teas . We were told that the best time to view the animals in the reserve was dusk and dawn, and obviously closest to a river or watering hole. So we hang around till about 14:30 and head out, onto that bumpy, pothole ridden, deceptively brutal dirt road.

We do stop once next to part of the river, and catch a glimpse of some wild life. Took a few pics and spied through my brand new binoculars. Stoked I decided to buy them!

Round about high noon we arrive at the gate to the Ruaha reserve, which has a little parking lot, a bridge crossing over the river into the reserve and a gentlemen glad in camo's with a very beautiful and no doubt loaded AK-47. He does smile though, which I guess should be a comfort. Into the office for negations, but we soon realise that this is a government owner reserve. Well, basically, anything that says “Public” or “Reserve” is government owned and run. As such, we only get the pre-canned response and there is absolutely no budging on price. And it’s a stinker: $30 per person, $40 per vehicle, and the park closes at 18:00. So each vehicle would have to cough up $100 for 3 hours and most of that time would be spent just getting to a nice spot. If you’re still in the reserve by 18:00, expect to pay another $100 fine per vehicle and an escort of smiling gentlemen armed with loaded AK-47’s. So we’ll give it a skip, it’s not worth it for 1 hour, effectively (say, 1 hour drive, 1 hour checking wildlife IF we’re lucky, 1 hour chasing for the gate to be out by 18:00). I did grab a few pics of two Elephants, 2 Hippos, a few fishing birds and a croc lazing in the river. Heading back to camp, but not before checking out the Hilltop lodge which we saw perched on the side of the hill. A nice cold beer with that view should go and a treat. And it did! Full square kilometres of trees, as far as the eye can see. You can clearly spot the numerous Bilbao trees jutting out from the landscape

Head back to camp, at about 17:00. Mattie, believing his GPS, ends up driving almost 80 km’s BACK to Isilinga! Whereas the Chogela camp was a mere 3 km's away! Hahahahah. Very funny. He eventually returns about an hour and a half later. We only notice that he and Johan are strangely absent 10 minutes earlier, and hailed him on the 2 way (he happened to be in the 3 km range at that stage.) Drinking and driving does that to you, I guess...

Annelie has a headache and goes to the tent for a lay down. She’s been feeling a bit shitty the last day or two, worried that she may be coming down with something. The bumpy, dusty roads didn’t help. I take her some aspirin and a cold cloth for her eyes.

Check up on the tires again and decide that enough is enough: I’m gonna fix them! Grab the jack, tire iron and some water and get to work (in my best clothes, I might add... Annelie wasn’t stoked, when she eventually woke up...). Started with the right rear, pumped up the tire and wet it to try and spot the leak. Eureka! I find one, tiny little cut, opposite the valve. I reckon I should check the rest of the tire while I’m at it. I stop counting at 8 leaks... Little, super tiny slow punctures. This tire is a write off, so I grab the spare from the roof. They’re steel radials, and not the same rim as the existing tire. But the steel radials are new: one on the bullets roof and one on the Fords. All done, move on the other side!

Spot the leak almost instantly: big bolt, 3 cm’s long stuck in the tire. Easily fixed. Check the rest of the tire, all good. Good times

The puncture repair kit consists of a round rasp, which you use to clean the hole and make it large enough to fit the repair patch. Once you do that, you thread the patch (looks like a 10 cm stick of tobacco, but sticky) through a big needle, apply some rubber cement and force it into the hole. Next, just pull some of it back out, creating a seal. Cut of the excess and voila! One fixed tire, which will now be a spare, since we’re putting the other steel radial on the left rear to match the right. Pump it back up with the compressor and check just to be sure. Perfect.

All done by about 21:00. The Bullet looks mighty damn fine with his new dancing shoes! And just a little meaner too (if that was possible), since the rear tires are wider that the old ones. Cleanup, re-seat the busted and fixed tire on the roof of the two vehicles and have dinner. Steaks, chops, beer bread (with added yoghurt, YUM! Have some apricot jam and Lurpack butter on it) and salad.

And that’s it for today. Quite hard work, I feel smattered. But it was quite rewarding.

Sleepy time.

Highlights: First pics of wildlife!

Fixing the Bullet

[G & A], out

Hakuna matata

23 June, Day 10: BEES!

So we didn’t get our 05:00 wake up call. Instead we were treated to the soothing Islamic melodies of prayer call at 04:45, 05:30 and 06:00. This wasn’t so bad actually. What was bad was the incessant barking! Sounded like at least 10 of them, barking and howling at each other ALL night. And this is only amplified at 04:45, 05:30 and 06:00.

Mattie seems in good spirits but still reporting flu symptoms. We pack up, make some rocket fuel for the road and head out at 07:00. Greenway was by far the worst site we’ve camped at so far. No (usable) warm water and of course the Mosque drowning out all thought on schedule. Not ideal for weary travellers.

We’re heading towards Iringa today hoping to stop off at the Kisolanza Camp, setup and check out the Korongo Isimila. Isimila is the site of what is believed to be an ancient river where prehistoric humans lived and existed about 400 000 years ago. In this location archaeologists have uncovered animal bones and stone tools dating from this period. We arrive there just after 15:30.

The area itself is quite surreal. From what the guide told us, many years of corrosion has created these massive compressed sediment pillars, capped with lava. The sediment once formed part of a large lake and dense forest that dominated the plains. We hiked for a short while until we got to these stone pillars I mentioned before. Two of the party members are engineers and a lot of their (now ancient) course work when they were in university was about geology. So they added quite a few extra perspectives on how the sediment compacted, what kind of rocks where present and what pressures could have caused the weird monoliths. They also had a theory that, well, 400 000 years is a long time. Long enough for this area to have built up, eroded and built up again, only to erode to what we see now. It’s very clear that there was obvious volcanic activity in the area at some stage, but the underlying sediment could be much younger, perhaps. Anyway, it was good to listen to all the perspectives. I snapped a few pictures of everything, of course.

Another short hike and more formations, each one strange and wonderful. We completed our tour of the valley, but not before our guide pointed out rows and rows of bee hives against a rock face. Mattie is very much allergic to bees, so we gave them a wide berth.

Before we leave the site we check out the little museum that have on site, with some of the artefacts they discovered. There is also a very nice illustration of how the area could have looked like and how it evolved to what we see today. All theory, of course. But nice, regardless. Any of the so called “artefacts” in that room could have been made up, and I sincerely doubt anything of real valley would be left in some little, super-low tech, low security building in the middle of nowhere in Tanzania. So it was a quick, cursory look. We thanked the guide and paid him 10 000 Tsh per car for the honour. We’ll worth it, I think.

On the way back we break away for the group to check out a little road side market. Nothing of interest really. Annelie points out an abattoir (to call it a butchery would be doing it a service). It’s a little shop, with a big wooden table, stained dark black with blood and little bits of various species of animal all over the place. And hunks of meat, warming cosily in the late afternoon sun, for sale. We politely decline.

We get back to the Kisolanza camp site where we are confronted with a bit of drama. Turns out, on the way back, a bee flew right into Mattie’s open window, while he was driving and stung him, right on the vein in his neck. By the time we arrive. He’s had “the extractor” stuck to his neck, trying to suck out the venom. It’s not looking to good though, and he’s remaining calm. A few minutes in and he calls for the EpiPen, a cocktail of adrenalin, cortisone and other party delights. Jabs himself in the butt, and wait. He’s already showing signs of a rash a swelling. At this stage, I’m feeling way sorry for the dude, he’s body has taken a real beating the last two days. Compounded by the driving, and well, it doesn’t make a good mix.

We all make chow, make him comfortable and keep him warm (very cold again tonight, locals spoke of -2 degrees last evening). Food was absolutely mind-blowing: flame grilled steaks (thin and thick), banana salad, papaya (the one we bought from a road side market), banana atchar (this was a experiment that worked out beautifully) and stuif pap (hard to explain, porridge basically. Don’t ask,, it’s a South African / African thing...). AWESOME.

By the time we finish dinner, Mattie has crashed pretty hard from the adrenaline wearing off (must be like chugging ten redbulls in rapid succession) and is off to bed. We’ll watch him tonight, keep him warm etc.

Annelie and I prep for a cold night, I dig out by extra layers of clothes and warm hat. Before we tuck in we take a walk and check out the restaurant on site. FANTASTIC! Built in the same mud hut / straw roof style we’ve seen so many times before, inside it’s kept cosy by little coal cauldrons and lit by oil lamps. There’s a dude at the door that plays drums when you enter and exit. The reception counter is made of this gorgeous piece of wood! One day, when I’m big, and I have a bar in my house, THIS is what I want. We linger some more, staring up at the stars and a clearly visible milky way. It’s amazing how soothing this is, such a simple act of being in the moment.

All done for today, and it was a doozy. Fingers crossed that Mattie kicks that nasty malaria habit tonight.

Highlights: 400 000 thousand year flashback

The Milky way!

Lowlights: Bees!

[G & A], out

I don’t really wanna feel like I did that day

22 June, Day 9: Malaria and Minaret's

Woke up to the sound of activity in the camp. Slept a bit cold last night, we didn’t think we needed our sleeping bags. Bad idea, clearly. Opened the tent to a glorious vista. The sun wasn’t up just yet, or rather, it was obscured by a heavy bank of cloud. I started to pack up the gear, roll up the sleep bags while Annelie grabbed the rocket fuel and porridge. Stopped packing to grab my camera and try my darndest to capture it. Lots of other folks with the same idea, kept running into my shot. Morons... Oh well, it’s way too beautiful a morning to get upset about that! :)

Took over from Annelie to brew the daily Java. Finished packing up and loaded the Bullet. Seems like we have less space somehow! Need to repack this bad boy at the next stop, I can hardly get to the fridge in the back. We finish up and head out at around 07:25 toward the border of Tanzania. We’re only 40km’s out so we reach it quite quickly. We did stop once or twice for pictures, when we were close to the lake. Also did a quick group shot near some farm land (very green!). The area is still lush and peppered with Raffia Palms, banana trees and a bouquet of other trees I’d be hard pressed to identify.

At the border (08:55) we stop to fill in the usual paperwork: exit / entry cards for each individual, then for each vehicle (using the Carne de Passage’s organised in Cape Town. Without these, you can expect to be around for 5 hours filling in forms... and paying a small ransom for “importing goods”). Tanzania is a bit different in that we need visas. Good thing we brought passport photos (which we’ve lost and found umpteen times). Go through one set of gates, stop at the little forex office to exchange some dollars and left over Malawian Kwachas for Tanzanian Schillings. Exchange rate is 1200Tsh for 1 Dollar. Finish up, go through another gate (all smiles, good morning, how are you, you have a good day now!) and park next to customs and immigration building.

The border post is actually a very organised and clean building, everyone in uniform. It’s definitely the finest African border post I’ve seen on this trip. Zim / Zambia was a joke and Malawi wasn’t quite better. The exchange After filling in another form we hand in our passports before going into the offices to sort out the vehicle entries. Here we need to pay road tax and a vehicle tax. A smiling customs agent is more than happy to take our dollars, wringing his hands (I shit you not) in the process. He even says “it is not robbery”. Right. We manage to build up rapport with him and before long he makes sure we know that the speed limit in Tanzania is 80km/h, but there are spots where even he doesn’t drive that slow. Also where it says 50, drive 50, because THATS where they’ll catch you. And where it says 30, well, trust him you want to go 25. Carne’s come in handy again, we get our official discs and paperwork. Before we go, Mattie asks if he’s ever been to South Africa, he says no. Mattie says: “Well, any time you want to come, you can enter for FREE!”. Heh heh heh, he enjoyed that. We ask about 3^rd party insurance and how much he pays, he says 25 dollars a year for his car. “But when they see white, they smiling”. We head out to the 3^rd party insurance office (making sure that we can or can’t take the vehicle across the line. You step across without insurance, well, this is Africa.)

We’re escorted by an all smiling gentlemen into his new office (so new in fact that the front is just one big wooden frame, with space for a door and 2 windows). Oh, I forgot to mention that we have to bat and negotiate with the usual “foreign exchange specialists”. I politely refuse, not before making some chat and so forth. You can get into deep shit if you trade with these guys in the open, so the strategy is to invite the bidder with the highest rate into the insurance office and have HIM pay for your insurance, before handing him dollars. That way, technically, YOU didn’t exchange anything. But in this case we already exchanged at the border and all the prices are in dollars, so.

Anyways, into the office, where the smiling gentle proceeds to clean us out. “You see, insurance is determined by engine capacity, so your vehicles are 2.99 (never say it’s a 3 liter, since that’s WAY more expensive) and we determine it according to 25 Dollars per cc....” and so it goes. “But, you can sign up with Comesa, which will cover you for all 22African countries.”

Now I didn’t take pictures of any of this, but we’re in a little office, with the “exchange specialists crowding outside and about 4 other employees (I guess. They all seemed to have a stake in the discussion), 3 of us and the smiling salesman behind his desk. In the end, we had the option of taking 3^rd party insurance for Tanzania only (and no, you can’t take 1 week. Only 5 weeks) for 60 dollars per vehicle, or we can “sign up with Comesa, which is valid in all African countries”. Which is $160. The problem is, how exactly do we know it’s legal AT ALL? He keeps gesturing to the “certificate” above the cupboard and the calendar on the wall behind him (The Tanzanian Insurance Company ltd) as proof. We examine the discs, the yellow paper and seals. It all looks legit, but then, not. We’re screwed basically, since there aren’t other options here and we set foot into the country we won’t go 1 km before we get pulled over, conveniently. So we opt for the Comesa option, swearing that we will hunt this bastard down if at the next border post it turns out to be useless. To put it into some perspective, the most we’ve paid per country so far was $20, and of course we know what Mr Customs pays per year for his car.

On the bright side, three very pissed off Souf Afrekan males have a slight advantage at this stage of the negotiations, and the ultimatum of “ok, we take Comesa, but we WANT DISCOUNT! We pay $110 per vehicle...” which almost.. ALMOST became $100. Smiling gentlemen concedes and his fellow employees take the Carnes and write out the paperwork. We demand to see the carbon copies in the books they’re using (not sure what that would help) and walk back to the vehicles. Annelie proved to be a hit with the locals, as every other exchange representative tries to chat her up and when I arrive they’re in mid photo shoot, posing with them. I laugh.

I write in my journal: $50 x 2 for visas, $20 vehicle tax (valid 1 month), $5 road tax (charged per entry) and $110 3^rd Party insurance. Total : £235. That BEFORE you even stepped foot or tyre into the country.

By 11:35 we’re through and on our way.

We’re treated to even more fantastic asphalt winding through hills of green, great big valleys and ravines and mountain ranges. On the two-way radios we all kind of agree that so far, the £235 was worth it :) We climb up mountain passes, passing villages and farms along the way. I comment that if you transported me to this spot blindfolded and I woke up in the middle of this, I could swear I was on my way back from Hermanus, or I’m somewhere in the Durbanville hills. Very familiar features and developed houses and farms. At some stage, we reach 2350m above sea level. Annelie’s cleanex gel literal spills itself when you open it because of the pressure. We finally descend to about 1100m into Mbeya for a pit stop. There is a Barclays Sales office here, so I try and score some dollars out of my account, but no luck. I have to carry on 7 km’s to another town and go into a branch. We go to the bathroom. We skip the bathroom. Way way too nasty, which belies the petrol stations advanced looking building. They don’t have toilets here, more like porcelain long drops.

Get back to the vehicle and we are informed that we need to find a hospital, since Mattie isn’t feeling well. I get an address form the Barclays sales team and we head out. We find the Mbeya Referral hospital a a few clicks into town. Mattie and Dirk go in and chat to the doctor, while we have a look at the GPS units for a place to camp tonight. It’s already 13:50. We find a few spots and I check on my electronic Loneley Planet guides if they’re any good (pHs: DAMN I’m good). We settle on two options and head out, 2 vehicles stay at hospital. We arrive at the first, the Karibiyui Centre. Seems nice, but the other one is also close. We go check out the Greenway Hotel and campsite and settle on this one, since they have a REAL toilet (just one, mind). Costs us $3 per person and $2 per vehicle. We radio the coordinates to the rest of the group and start setting up camp. The kitchen is in the middle of the driveway, practically.

Mattie and co returns, and he has Malaria. So he’s feeling pretty kak, flu symptoms, joint and muscle ache etc. Blood tests we’re positive so the doctors gave him and Johan some pills (pretty good ones, form from the looks of it.) We make him comfortable and get cooking, hang out our washing and chow. Hot water for the shower was a big dream, the tanks didn’t produce any to speak of, and what we got in the end wads red and brown. So your gonna be even dirtier once your done. So, no shower today.

Ants EVERYWHERE! The sugarcane I bought was ok, but not succulent at all. I break it into 8 pieces and chuck it a few meters from each tent, in a bid to lure ants to it and not out tents. We’ll see how that works out.

Greenway is next to a Mosque, unfortunately, so prayer calls started at 17:00, then again at 17:30 and 18:15. And again, at 19:30. When I say next to Mosque, I mean he Minaret and speaker is literally pointing into the area we’re camping in. So it’s LOUD. Manager promised it would only be at 19:00 and 05:00 in the morning, for 3 minutes each. So far, she’s been proven incorrect. Tucking in, 20:35. Looking forward to my 05:00 wake up call.

[G & A], out

“Does this look infected to you?”

21 June, Day 8: Rubber trees, Papaya milkshakes and Sunset photoshoots

Broke down camp, had breakfast and a quick “important bits” shower. Left Steps camp (which I found was part of the “Sunbird” hotel chain) at 06:55. The plan for the day is to follow the road next to the lake as much as possible, heading towards Nkhata bay. We’ve had to revaluate our travel plans somewhat. Other travellers at the camp reckoned that they had all sorts of issues crossing the Rovuma river when travelling back down from Kenya through Mozambique. Apparently the only ferry operating in the area sank, and the supposed bridge that’s indicated on the map is about 4/5 from completion. They had a little construction temporary bridge but this was washed away a few weeks ago. After consideration it became apparent that their only option was to cut West and South through the Selous Wild reservation. About 10km’s in they were hunted down by 2 game rangers and escorted to their offices... where they were fined $400 per vehicle. They had 4. Ouch! 5 Hours later, and much frustration, they were escorted to the border and ejected. Of course, there were NO signs indicating that they are in violation or trespassing... but then again, this is Africa. “You have maps? Surely you must know? Ignorance is no excuse”.

What these travellers didn’t consider was Lake Malawi. Why not catch a ferry ACROSS the lake?? “hmmmm, no, we didn’t consider that”.

So that’s why we where now off to Nkhata, to see when the ferry runs. On the road we pass through lush valleys and hills. Annelie and I both agree that this is more of what we imagine Tanzania to be. Lots of high trees and green fronds, we end up climbing about 900 meters from camp to the bay.

Before we reach our destination we drive through a heavy cloud break of torrential rain, reducing our collective speed to about 20km/h. This lasts for about 15 minutes before clearing u[p, but it was our first rain on this trip. Doesn’t sound like much, but you couldn’t see 3 meters in front of you, with trucks and animals etc etc. You know the drill. Next we pass through a huge rubber tree plantation. Beautiful, little leaves falling through the air, almost like it should be autumn or something. I I stopped to take some pictures and to buy a little rubber ball from these three little kids, for 200 Kwacha. Carry on through more lunch overgrowth and wild forests before dropping a few hundred into the harbour, at 11:23. Town is quite lively, little fishing boats out in the water and the sun shimmering off the water. As with most town, the market is entered around the “main” road. We park in convoy in front of the harbour gates and the other guys go check with the port authority about the ferry. I hopped out and checked out the market, bought some dough balls, which taste exactly like vetkoek! Also bought some deep fried rice balls, delicious. Hang around for a few hours, speak to the local dive school rep. Get a good tip about a restaurant around the corner where we can catch some real Malawian food. Turns out it’s a Thai and Italian joint, called Kaya Papaya (House of Papaya). We manage to convince the German owner to make us some more traditional fare, which was chicken or lamb served with some Sheba pap (porridge). We are presented with a jug and basin to wash our hands first, around the time the papaya and banana and papaya and strawberry milkshakes arrive. Very tasty!

I suspect the porridge was a little undercooked, but everything else was good. On the way out of the bay we stop at a little store to buy some malaria cures. The locals reckon that if you get malaria, THIS is the stuff to have. I’ve heard a rumour before that the local cures are far superior to the commercial stuff we buy for prevention at home, and they’re much cheaper. We buy 10.

Head out at around 14:15. We need to hunt down a camp site for the evening. A few options present themselves as we reach Chitemba. Check out about 3 (one ok, 2 very much NOT ok) but a local police officer gives us a good tip to check out the Chitemba beach lodge, about 6 clicks down the road. Wow! What a brilliant place. Drive in at around 16:20, lots of fellow travellers and backpackers, big tourist trucks, little huts and a bar on the beach. We decided to pitch a few meters from the shore. Camping light this evening, so no fire, just leftovers from last night. Light is still quite good, so Annelie digs out here wedding dress while Marieke helps her put it on in the tent, which gives me just enough time to grab all my gear, tripod, umbrella (WAY too windy for that, but you never know...) some pocket wizards and my sandals.

I think we managed to grab quite a few good shots with the dramatic sky and water etc. Employed one of the little local kids to act as my VOL (voice activated light stand), so he held one flash and remote trigger with the other mounted on my tripod. Paid the little guy with 2 t-shirts and 100 Malawian Kwacha. Pitched our tent, stretchers and kit right on the beach and joined the others for a feast of left overs and good wine (Two Oceans Cabernet Sauvignon, veeeery nice). Chewed on some of that sugarcane I bought, but I’m clearly doing something wrong! Maybe I need to clean it or something first...

Tucked in at around 20:45 (ja, way early). Just as well, I was well tired anyways. We’re kicking off again at 07:00 tomorrow to make the border to Tanzania and we’ve allotted about half a day to do the Safety Dance through customs.

Till later.

[G & A], out

“isn’t this a one way??”