Africa is not for sissies!

Finally we have internet! J
It took a long time to leave SA and this I found frustrating! After spending a night a ZaZoe (really stunning place) we set off again…hoping to finally leave. Jen had a whole bag of oranges with her and was told by the boys to dispose of them if she wanted to carry on with the trip – apparently elephants like citrus fruit and will trample cars to get to them. She was very popular at the petrol station where she handed all the locals a dose of vitamin C. Upon arriving at Zanzibar order post we discovered it was closed and so we backtracked…for about the fifth time on that road. Eventually we crossed into Botswana. We stayed at a freezing Elephant Sands where I had a bad experience with Bushmans Insect Repellent – it took all my nail polish off! We met Gav and Jen at breakfast looking quite proud, they had arrived somewhere before the Austin’s. Their faces fell when they realised that we had packed and were ready to go – back to 2nd.
Things slowed down considerably once we arrived in Zambia, the official at the border was very methodical and took his sweet time. We found a stunning lodge called Shackletons, I think we all wanted to park off there for a few days, great hospitality and delicious food.
Travelling to Kafue we gave out lots of soccer balls to children on the side of the road. To hear their screams and see the pure joy in their smiles when they realised that we were giving them the balls was very humbling and emotional for me. Somewhere between Muluezi and Mulanga our SA flag snapped off the car, so Gav and Jen carried on with the patriotism and put SA ‘earwarmers’ on their mirrors. There was a lot of bundu bashing and tree bending, followed by a snacky lunch in the bush for some stamina. Amongst us there are 3 garmins and no two said the same thing whilst driving on the forgotten roads of the Kafue Park. Our vehicles were attacked by tsetse flies and so we all armed ourselves with repellent. However, when Jen and I had a roadside wee, we discovered that we needed to extend our area of ‘repellent coverage’ to our bums as well! Needless to say we are still scratching! We did 220kms in 9hours. In these parts, when asking how far something is, the answer only comes in hours rather than kilometres – understandable after this experience.
We were all looking forward to Kaingu, just to relax for a few days. What a nice surprise when it turned out to be a gem, with a beautiful location and great hosts. We went fishing on the Kafue, Echtbert did the steering, Jen and I relaxed and supplied the beer and the boys fished. Gav caught a lot of fish and dad…not so much. I kept everyone entertained by getting stuck in the mud and spending the next half hour trying to find a place to wash my hands, feet and hat without sinking again. We had a delicious bush lunch with cold beers – Africa is not for sissies! Gav commented that he enjoyed fishing ‘colonial style’ – not once did he have to touch the fish that he caught. Bright helped him out and was repaid by receiving the fish for dinner. After a serious night of ‘Jameson Raiding’, dad and I went fishing with Bright again – dad refusing to leave until he had caught a fish. Finally he reeled in a silver barbel and we were allowed to moor. When the sun had relented a bit, we took a trip to the iron smelter (very interesting) and then had sundowners and snacks on Shumba Rock. We were all sad to leave, after thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Having a drink with a very entertaining Andrew at Fringilla, he suddenly asked “Ok so who is the paedophile here?” This resulted in a roar of laughter and the explanation that we are related, both of us turning our heads ad showing our identical noses!
After Lusaka we experienced some hairy potholes! Jen’s theory proved to be very helpful – if you see skid marks, start breaking, some serious potholes will follow.
Currently we are at Kapishya hot springs, they are truly amazing and very beautiful. We explored Shiwa Ngandu this morning – very interesting - and are getting ready to watch the soccer now. Until next time…

Alan's Final Perspective!!

The last time that I actually applied my fingers to my BlackBerry (or a keyboard) was on the 1st July!! Why so long ago? Driving all day every day took a lot out of me and when we stopped for the evening the last thing I felt like was thinking about what to write, so it was a blessing in disguise when Fiona arrived and took to writing the blog like I took to drinking Jamesons!! Some of my thoughts were shared in Fiona's writings and all our daily activities were well documented.

My biggest regret about the trip is the fact that it was far too short for me!!! Whilst I felt that I needed to come home, there is/was no real reason to have done it other than that I had to be back at work on the 2nd August.

To have been able to spend more time seeing more of Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and Mozambique would have been ideal for me. I feel that a lot of the time was rushed getting to places and when we got there very little time was spent looking around the actual towns we were in. (When we were in Tanga we met the couple from Namibia who were spending 6 months on a trip - now that is what I should of done!!!!)

North of our border is so different to what we have in South Africa - yes the roads are bad, the food served is different (but the same if you bought and cooked it yourself), being out of your comfort zone is not always great, camping is great if you spend longer than one day in a camp and have decent ablutions, hotel etc are fun to experience (well some of them), beers are great to taste, local gins are lovely (except the one made from banana in Uganda), all the people we met were so friendly and helpful and the beauty of the countryside is staggering to drive through.

The highlight of the trip was definitely seeing the gorillas. Whilst the journey on foot is not so memorable I will never forget the feeling of being so close to these wonderful creatures. I have watched the video that I took of them a few times and it reminds me of how regal and imposing they are. The mind boggles at the thought that there are actually people out there that actually kill these primates. May the gorillas be protected forever!!!!

"Lowlight"? None really other than The Beast giving me grief but with hindsight I am pleased that I was able to DISABLE the Steve Autoclinic so called modification.

I appear to others to have returned a different person (besides the tan) and on reflection of this I can honestly say that I have been re-energised at all levels.

Will I do it again? Damn right but this time I will be probably being doing it on a motorbike and for a longer period! After I met the chaps from Bulgaria and Italy, who have travelled through Africa on motorbikes, I would love to do the trip this way and forefill my initial dream. Clearly the logistics of this would be little different.

So for now that is me and I will be posting some more pictures this week-end and I will also try to attached a section of the odd video taken.

Inhambane accommodation

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28th - 29th July Fiona's last Perspective

Today was spent at the market haggling the prices down to an acceptable level and then buying a few gifts, before lunch in Tofo. The price starts at double what the real value is and eventually you might be lucky to pay the locals price.

We all had Barracuda & Chips at Casa Barry. The prawns seem non existent at the moment.

We drove to look at a few beaches. Mozambique reminds me a bit of Thailand and the Transkei. It is not at all what I expected and I am honestly not sure whether I like it or not.

One annoying thing is that wherever you go, as soon as you get out of your car, you are harassed by a million people trying to sell you something. You can be in the middle of nowhere and as soon as you get out of your car there are 10 people standing around you with their hand out...

The cellular companies advertise by painting the roadside Kiosks in their colours with their branding. North of Malawi most of the buildings were painted dark pink for Zain and yellow for M cell. In Mozambique every second little building or roadside Kiosk is painted in blue with Vodacom branding. It is hugely overdone.

I loved our accommodation in Inhambane, the room being on stilts and being able to sit on the deck and watch the fish swim by, the crabs scuttle around trying to catch dinner, and of course the crisp white linen, that's always a deal closer for me!

We slept well, knowing that we were leaving for home soon.

We left Jen & Gav early the next morning and headed for Maputo, whilst they headed for Durban. Gav's brother is not well and he is going directly to Durban to see him.

We stopped en route to buy some Peri Peri and then again to say hi to an old freind Dennis and then headed for Maputo.

So, after 6 hours we arrived in Maputo.

That evening we took a taxi to a local Portuguese restaurant recommended by Dennis, called Cristal. We must have been the only non locals eating there, just what Alan and I like.. Good Chicken, good Prawns and good Vinho Verde.

Komatipoort here we come!

Tomorrow we would be home....

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27th July Fiona's Perspective

This morning we set off for Inhambane, a 4hr drive. A fairly good drive, except for a 20km stretch of roadworks. A single dirt track became the road and there was no way to overtake the trucks and slow Bakkies! Well, Alan found a way! I felt like I was in the Dakar!

We got to Inhambane by 1.30PM, in time for lunch. Unfortunately our eagerly awaited Prawns and chips were actually Shrimps and chips.
We tried out the Pao (Mozambique bread) as suggested by Sam, one of my staff at the office. Alan quite liked them and had 3, the last one with a layer of Chilli and hot chips.

We found a place to stay and settled in for the next two nights after Jen negotiated a discounted rate (50%) because we were South Africans, we are nice, it was low season etc

Dinner was great and Alan finally got his Chourico sausage. It was warm enough to sit outside next to the pool for dinner and with an African singer playing Guitar in the background (sounding a bit like Trini Lopez) it was perfect.

Our rooms are made of wood and are on stilts out in the bay. Going to dinner, the tide was in and water surrounded the room, coming back, the tide was out and our room seemed to stand on stilts on the sand.
The rooms were out quite a way from the restaurant and pool, so it was either a long walk up on an elevated gangway over the water or a ride on a golf cart, which was quite fun after a few drinks.

I think we have definately ended the holiday on a high note. The accommodation is great! There is nothing quite like crisp, white linen sheets and a patio with steps down into the ocean.

Tomorrow we will be lunching in Tofo, visiting an old Lighthouse and buying some gifts at the market (not sure if we can actually fit anything more into the car!!!)

The countdown has begun...


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Gav & Jen - Inhambane

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Lunch @ Inhambane, Mozambique

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26th July Fiona's Perspective

After a quick cup of coffee (Jen's jump start for the day) we set out for the coast. The first big town that we hit was Chimoio. We stopped to draw money and put in petrol. The ATM queues were down the road, but to our delight, the Std bank ATM was deserted. Reason - No money!!! So after waiting an African 5 minutes for it to be refilled (actually 30min) we drew money and were then able to fill up with petrol and continue towards the coast.

With every country visited, there are always roadside stalls, but there are subtle changes in each country. Mozambique definately has a different feel to it. Besides the Portuguese writing everywhere, it just feels different.

The drive today was fairly stress free due to the roads being good and relatively free of traffic, so we made good time and only had to give one policeman a bottle of water. Actually he wanted Coke and couldn't speak English, so he looks at Alan blankly and says Coke? Alan says no, we have none and gives him a half finished bottle of water.

By 3PM we arrived in Inhassoro. We stopped in at Seta Lodge and had Prawns & chips and a bottle of wine with a sea view. Well, that was just for me. Alan had his own meal and some Whiskey. Gav & Jen ordered Calamari expecting rings and got a Calamari steak instead. I think something got lost in translation.

After that we decided we were not going anywhere and booked chalets for the night.

Mozambique is going to be a quick overview for us. We can always come back again as it is so close to home.

We sat on the deck whilst the sun set and Alan & Gavin attempted to work their way through yet another bottle of Jamesons.

At about 10PM we all went for a walk on the beach as it was full moon, the tide was out and it was the romantic thing to do.

The holiday is coming to an end, and I can't say I will not be glad to sleep in my own bed, be able to love my dog again and be back at the office.

Too much of a good thing can ruin it...

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24th & 25th July Fiona's Perspective

Today was relaxed, a bit of a boat ride along the coast, and some wine with lunch and an afternoon snooze whilst Alan and Gav watched rugby.

All in all exactly what we wanted.

Our last night was spent with Taffy and Jen, sitting around chatting, laughing, drinking and listening to Ismael Lo.
We all couldn't believe the time had passed so quickly and were really sad to leave.

So, we left with Herman, the wooden caricature of a Giraffe and set off before Gavin and Jenny for Blantyre. We would catch up with them after the border crossing into Mozambique.

We met Elizabeth's (our domestic worker) father and sister outside a prearranged spot near Lunzu.
Rhoda, her sister helped me buy some Malawian material and have a few sarongs made up. Thereafter we followed them back to their home in the village, Rhoda on the back of a bicycle taxi and her father on a motorbike taxi.

The rest of the family was waiting outside for us, the children all in their Sunday best. After some introductions, we were shown the house, the yard, the chickens etc. They had a big parcel for Elizabeth and gifts of homegrown Paw paw, eggs and peanuts (all pre shelled) from his garden for us. We gave each child a soccer ball and some pens. I took a couple of photos and Alan Videotaped Precious, her son whilst he kicked his new ball around.
Soon it was time to go as we still had about 700km to do before dark and Gavin had already crossed the border into Mozambique.

The border crossing was once again uneventful and we ended up about 40km behind Gavin & Jen as we had entered Mozambique at a more southern Border crossing.

We caught up with them in Tete, where they had stopped for coffee and to get some take away Chicken and chips.

A quick stop along the road to eat and we were quickly on our way again. The overnight stop was still 300km away and it was getting dark and everyone knows you don't drive after dark in Mozambique or anywhere north of our borders if you can help it.

Well, so much for no night driving. We drove till 8PM, which meant 2,5hrs in the dark, which was not great as we were tired, having been on the road since 7am. Trying to phone ahead for accommodation was interesting as no one seemed to speak English and my Portuguese is a little rusty (ha ha).
We finally decided to aim for the closest place as the cell signal was almost non existent and trying to call ahead was just becoming impossible.

The closest place seemed to be a Kruger Park replica, in the old days. It was a bunch of Rondavel's alongside a lake. With the decor to match the Kruger lodges. But it seemed vaguely clean. So we lay our weary heads down on the pillow and we were lights out.

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23rd July Fiona's Perspective

This morning we chilled, waking a little later than normal and deciding to drive in to Monkey Bay harbour and see the old ship the Chauncy Maples, 101+ yrs old from the days of Livingstone.

After breakfast, we set off for the harbour. About 4km after we hit the tar, we got pulled over by a Policeman standing in the middle of the road. The embankment on our side of the road was so steep that Alan pulled over to the right hand side, off the road onto the dirt. We then got a 20min lecture on how it was illegal to park facing oncoming traffic and it was a major offence in Malawi (where goats, cows, bicycles etc are all over the road). After apologising, we then reversed and parked on the road, on the correct side, in the middle of the lane, blocking traffic, but that was ok, totally legal!!! We were then asked for Alan's drivers license, and when that was in order, he asked to see our fire extinguisher, which is actually not a legal requirement, so we showed it to him. Alan then asked him what else he would like to see as we would love to show him anything he wanted to see (facetiously). This put him on the back foot and we were allowed to go.

Wouldn't it be great if all the burnt out trucks lying next to the road had had a fire extinguisher on board, maybe they wouldn't be a shell of their former self!!!

We stopped at a roadside stall, called 'Toys R us' a couple of guys sitting under a Lapa making wooden replicas of Landrovers and Landcruisers. (I have uploaded a pic of their signage). So we ordered one to be made to look exactly like our vehicle and showed him a photo on my camera of Gavin's vehicle and ordered one for him too. Incredible workmanship.

Back for lunch and an afternoon snooze! Well, actually I snoozed and Alan repacked the car to fit in all the Curios I had bought. Especially Herman the Giraffe, a caricature of a giraffe that Taffy&Jen had just brought back from Zambia from a lodge they had stayed at. It wasn't for sale, but they managed to purchase it, just to give it to ME!!!

Afternoon drinks were relaxed and we sat chatting to Taffy and Jenny (South African owners of our accommodation), watching the sun set, when I got an sms that Gav and Jen where close to Monkey Bay and where were we.

They arrived about 30min later and joined us for dinner, drinks and more drinks. So, the team was back together.
We decided then and there that we would extend our stay by another night...

Do we have to leave?

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Toys R us

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22nd July Fiona's Perspective

Our Hosts Taffy & Jenny arrived and joined us for drinks. We soon learned that we were going out on the boat tomorrow to snorkel and feed the Fish Eagles.

After a real home cooked meal with Beef and Pork roast and loads of Vegetables, we retired, exhausted from the last 20 days of continuous driving.

This morning we woke to the sounds of Red tailed Monkeys playing on our tin roof, actually it sounded more like Hippo's.

We have an outdoor shower, which works here as we are in the middle of winter and it was warm enough to shower outside last night.

So, after a shower and the first decent breakfast in a while, although the egg yolks are quite pale and creamy coloured, almost the colour of the white, because the Chickens apparently don't get enough greenery to eat, the local vendors set up their wares at the bottom of the beach. They are allowed to come once a day for an hour to peddle their wares. This stops the constant hassling every time you set foot on the beach and seems to work quite well.

Taffy took us down the Bay on his speedboat to a site where we could snorkel. He then threw a couple of dead fish out, which got the Fish Eagles out of their nests in the trees on the cliffs. We had a few circling and then swooping down in front of us to grab the fish out of the water, quite a magnificent sight.

The snorkeling was amazing, it was like being inside our tank at home in the days when we had some really beautiful Cichlids (Malawi fish). The colours were quite spectacular. Blues, Turquoise, zebra striped with yellow fins....

Alan and Taffy drank a few beers whilst I snorkelled, after which we headed back to the Lodge for lunch. What a way to spend the morning.

Taffy tells us his story of how he decided to get out of the rat race and sell everything and take a chance on starting this Lodge in Malawi. Now, as Alan put it, we pay him to drink beer with us and live a life that we were quite envious of.

Lunch was served and after a bottle of white Wine, we thought it would be the right thing to do, to have an afternoon sleep.

Later, we met a 55yr old American lady that spends her time traveling through Africa selling her paintings and artwork to fund her travels. We exchanged some tips on where we had both been, and which Campsites were worth a visit.

After another great dinner, the day was over.

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Following Paul to Murchison Falls

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Nairobi policeman

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Sunset on Lake Malawi

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21st July Fiona's Perspective

Well, 9 days to go and we will be back home and back in 1st world Africa.

Whilst we may not be 1st world, we certainly are compared to most places north of our borders in the African continent.

This morning we were up early, and after packing everything (cutlery, pillows etc) back into the car, we set off to find better accomodation in southern Malawi.

We had been recommended a place by a SA family from Durban (parents and 2 girls) who were doing a 3 month trip, in their 200 series Landcruiser. Home schooling (tent schooling) for the girls.

They told us of a place run by a SA couple that was worth visiting. So we set off to find the place as we could not get hold of them by phone. We drove for 4 hours and finally got hold of them an hour before we got to their place. They had been away for 5 days and out of cell contact.

It was finally a place we could relax and chill for a day or two. I posted a picture on the blog of the view from our cottage.

Before I could get the bags out the car Alan had a beer in hand and had his feet in the sand.

Norman Carr cottages, Cape Mcclear, Monkey Bay, Malawi. Worth a visit.

I would say that the three other places that I enjoyed and would recommend were Utengule Hotel, Mbeya on a Coffee plantation in Tanzania, Bahoma Lodge, Bwindi, Uganda and Ishasha tented camp, QE National Park, Uganda.
And then of course our first nights camping in Murchison Falls, in the middle of nowhere at the side of Lake Albert with only the Hippo's for company (a place not even marked on Tracks4Africa) ..... But if I give out the location, will it be private anymore?

I'm off for a Sundowner, whilst watching an African sunset over Lake Malawi in the "Warm heart of Africa"

Till tomorrow....



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Monkey Bay, Lake Malawi - View from our room

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20th July Fiona's Perspective

The border crossing into Malawi was pretty uneventful. We bumped into our biker freinds again at the Malawi side of the border. The BMW had a slashed tyre (not surprising after some of the roads travelled) and they needed to get a new tyre at a dealership in Lilongwe, Malawi or in Zambia. We tried to help them by making a few calls, but had no luck.

We had arranged to meet our Domestic worker's sister in Malawi in order to pick up some Rice and Mielie meal for her. Apparently the Rice and MMeal in Malawi is much nicer than the SA brands, but you cannot get it in SA. We called ahead and met Catherine and her husband at Kapolo, the third Police roadblock from the border.
What a nice couple. I took photo's for Elizabeth and a video message for her from her sister. When we get closer to Blantyre we will be going to meet her son, Precious at his school. We have saved some soccer balls and pens to hand out there.

I have never been to Malawi before and besides the fact that they have a large lake that stretches down the country for 580km I did not know what to expect.
I was surprised by how mountainous it is and how beautiful the drive through the mountains was. They seemed to go on forever.

We got a recommendation to stay at a place called Kande Bay on the shores of Lake Malawi. Well, if we had been 25 years younger, British and backpacking across Africa, this would have been where we would have stayed.
I think it was the worst place we have stayed in so far. We lit a big fire, used all our own Cutlery, plates etc as I was not eating off anything in the rondavel's kitchen. I even brought my own pillow in from the car as I wasn't sleeping on theirs.

So after the initial shock of seeing where we had to sleep for the night (moving was not an option, it was a long drive back to the main road and who knows what else we would find) we unpacked the car and lit a big fire and Alan made me a great meal! Rump steak, Veg accompanied by lots of Jamesons (this would help us sleep).

Another experience in Africa...
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19th July Fiona's Perspective

Up early this morning as we wanted to try and make it to Mbeya. Overnight there and cross over to Malawi Tuesday.
This means at least 8hrs driving today.

Alan started collecting number plates from countries we visit a couple of years ago after I managed to purchase old plates in Cuba (essentially illegal). Since then we have managed to purchase them in countries where you have number plates assigned to you for life.

On this trip we have only managed to get a Kenyan plate so far. In Tanzania there is not a lot of English spoken, so it is a bit of a challenge. In Uganda we may still get one.

In the last 2 days we have passed 8 trucks that have gone off the road and rolled or collided with other vehicles and gone off the road or are burnt out.
This is hardly surprising as they drive these roads at high speed.

We have also passed a couple of foreigners who are cycling through the country with their sleeping bags etc all strapped onto their bicycle. Very brave, the roads are long, steep at times and treacherous. The buses and trucks give way to NO ONE!!

Driving through little villages or just in the middle of nowhere you see a mud house with no windows, but a huge satellite dish on the roof, held in place by bricks and a small solar panel. It just goes to show everyone watches Sky news or CNN, wherever they are.

The car seems fixed and is going well, this is a good thing as our back up vehicle (Gav & Jen) is 2 days behind us. They are off to the Ngorogoro crater whilst we want to spend a bit of time in Malawi. I am sure we will touch base with them in Mozambique.

Every time you go near a village, the speed limit drops to 50km/h. We are always careful to obey the set limits, but despite this, we were stopped and fined for going 96km/h. I think they were pulling a fast one, so Alan negotiated them down from a R260 to R100 fine, with no paperwork! The police here are at all times very freindly, especially whilst taking your money.
We have subsequently discovered that the maximum fine they can give legally is R130.

On the way North, Alan and Jess handed out almost 50 soccer balls to children in various villages. Imagine our surprise when driving back through one of these villages, we saw the school children playing soccer with one of them!

We phoned ahead and booked into the Utengulu Hotel on a Coffee Plantation 15km out of Mbeya. The team stayed there on their way up. I think Alan is going to need a hot bath and a stiff drink after the last couple of days driving.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised by the accommodation. It was really stunning.

We met a South African guy who is on contract in Dar es Salaam and two Bulgarian bikers who had ridden from Bulgaria all the way to Egypt and down through Sudan to Tanzania and were ending their 10 week trip in Cape Town.
We had a great evening, chatting, drinking and eating with them. We also gave them tips on where to stay and got some idea from Alex the South African on where to stay in Malawi.
Simon, one of the Bikers organises adventure trips through Bulgaria, so guess where our next trip will be....

We got a tip that a South African running a Tyre dealership in town could help us with a number plate. As he could not locate one, he saw that his own Tanzanian plate was about to fall off, so he helped it along. We left town for Malawi with our Tanzanian plate, exchanged for some biltong.

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18th July Fiona's perspective

This morning we left Arusha and set off for Moshi en route to Morogoro. Another long day in the car.

Driving through Moshi, I caught a glimpse of Mount Kilimanjaro's snow capped peak. Almost 6km high, it is very impressive.

The landscape has changed again, with the flat plains becoming mountainous.
The majority of the locals seen on the roadside have changed from Maasai to Swahili, dressed in pretty bright coloured sarongs.

There is a big Muslim influence in this part of the world and one area I really notice it is the public toilets. They are all long drops with a porcelain bowl in the ground. So you have to squat. These are normally filthy so using them is just not an option.
I now understand why Jess always opted for a bush wee on the side of the road.

Today was a long day in the car. 8 hours of driving terrible roads.
We arrived in Morogoro and went in search of the best hotel in town.

This was because the rest of the team stayed in the New Acropol on the way North , as the guide book rated it highly and it was apparently awful.
We stayed at the Hilux hotel, which was better (I'd hate to see what the other hotel was like if this was better!)

After a few double G&T's, (in order to sleep in our room) we ate some dinner and went to sleep intent on an early start in the morning for another 8hrs on the road.

We have changed our plan and are hot footing it for Malawi. We decided that we have been to so many great game parks that we would rather spend our last few days seeing Malawi and Mozambique, both countries we have not yet seen.
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