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

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