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Diary - Tanzania - Border to Dar-es-Salaam (21st Sept to 4th Oct)
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With Rwanda completed in a very short space of time, we were ready to swap a tiny country for one of the largest in Africa. Unfortunately this also meant changing from short relaxing driving days to our second longest of the entire trip, as much of Tanzania is not worth taking slowly. Thinking we were up early at 6am was very short sighted and by the time we were on the road everybody was already half way to market, loaded with baskets of chickens (live of course) or overloaded bikes full of bananas. It never ceases to amaze us how far they travel by foot to go about their daily business, we complain at home if we have to park fifty metres away from Tesco’s.
Once we finally got through the border after being held up by lorries forming a blockade on the bridge, simply to ensure that they were next into Rwanda. The rest of our first day in Tanzania was spent whizzing past everything, only stopping to grab a quick bite or to change drivers. Twelve hours and 730km later we arrived in Singida at a little motel, which turned out to be the best value place all trip and to our surprise had some great nosh.
Another day and another all day driving day, though this one on dirt roads in the middle of nowhere. It proved much more fun and interesting than before, especially as our map claimed that the road didn’t exist, making us feel very adventurous! After hours in the dust we stopped in a little, bustling town, with small piles of rubbish burning all over the place. It wasn’t long before we became a bit of interest to locals and Steve started making faces at a little baby, complete with woolly hat, strapped to his mums back. Unfortunately this ended up with the mum placing the child on his leg, making the baby cry, but not before the wet bottom left a darkened patch on his shorts!
Due to the insanely high cost of the Ngorogoro Crater at $340 we had hoped to find a tour company to take us and share a vehicle with some others. We thought this would be easy with it being a conservation area, however it turned out to be impossible. After hours we resigned to the fact we would have to stump up the money. It proved to be the right choice and one we can’t believe we almost denied our trusty steed from enjoying. As you climb the outer slope and into the early morning cloud cover you get a real sense of excitement and anticipation. It is only after almost an hours drive that you get to the descent gate and see the crater sprawled out in all its beauty below. The park is a mix of forest, lakes, open savannah and tree lined rivers all packed into a tiny area with a magnificent backdrop of the crater walls. It proved to be a really enjoyable day and managed to see over a dozen lions, cheetah, rhino, elephant and countless hippos. As time was running out we also came across a pack of friendly Yanks that had broken down in there guided Land Rover. After an offer of spare parts and a little advice (which the owner ignored to start with!) they were back on the go.
We met back up with Roy and Sandy (The Dutch) in Arusha and decided to head to Moshi, having heard from a lot of people that more often than not you don’t get to see the peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro due to cloud cover, even if you climb it. Our initial view was exactly that, nothing but slopes vanishing into thick fluffy white shrouds. As the day wore on it was not looking positive and wasn’t until almost sunset that the clouds dissipated and we were left with a clear view of the snow capped mountain. It is yet another of Africas great sights and it is impressive how it erupts from the ground that is mainly flat and featureless.
The next day we broke the long journey with a stop at a camp that contained some highly eccentric ex-pats, one who was wearing a sea captains hat whilst another had your 19th century explorer’s hard hat. Thinking we were going to get caught chatting to them all day was a bit of a worry, especially as they were pretty drunk by 2pm. Thankfully we managed to escape their stories and Roy and Steve went about some fishing in the river, or rather dangling a line unsuccessfully whilst claiming that everywhere is over fished in Africa. As night fell Katie became her normal excited self as we were treated to lots of Bush Babies scurrying and jumping between all the trees that surrounded our tents. |
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We ventured into the Usambara Mountains to a little place called Lushoto, spending the entire morning looking forward to what the guide book claimed were excellent banana milkshakes. As we meandered up through the spectacular scenery, past men sat surrounded by stones breaking them into gravel by hand, we became thirstier and thirstier. And you guest it, they were a disappointment, but not only that but the selection of food we went for ranged from Medium, Dry and Extra Dry, to some with mould. At least a little trip around the market buying fruit and veg turned out to be fun with us refusing to buy a bag so carrying around armfuls full of food.
The moment that you first lay eyes on the sea, a dancing mass of blues; dark navy to stunning turquoise brings a smile to even the sweatiest, grumpiest face after a long drive. The cars were quickly parked and we headed down the white sandy beach dotted with palm trees, like the ones on postcards that make you jealous when you receive them in winter! We love being by the water although it stayed at knee depth for at least one hundred metres, but was as warm as a bath (well Steve’s luke warm bath). It is safe to say that we didn’t do a lot over the next couple of days except read, relax and eat! At one point we thought we were being treated to some more wonderful wildlife, but as Katie ran down the beach towards the prospect of a turtle that had come ashore, she was instantly taken aback by the lack of head!
With determination of sea food the boys headed out to sea in order to catch dinner, again. After hours of bobbing about on a boat they had climbed aboard they returned empty handed, this time claiming it was the lack of beer that was the downfall.
After days of relaxation it was time to drive to Dar-es-Salaam so that we could sit and do nothing on another beach. This was another long drive made even longer by a hold up in one of the little villages along the main road. As we joined the cue of cars, many who had been there over an hour and were only twenty cars ahead, Katie vanished in search of some answers. On her return we discovered that the village, no more than six hundred metres away, was in riot mode and had blocked the road because the council knocked down some illegally built shops. Nobody seemed too bothered about the whole delay and were wandering around, chatting and laughing. We equipped ourselves with our binoculars and cameras, creating full tourist mode. It was even impressive to see that some business men don’t miss an opportunity and other non rioting villagers were walking up and down the traffic selling various different foods and drinks. We even got treated by a local Muslim guy to a passion fruit style item that looked much like frog spawn, but tasted remarkably good.
As the first police car came past everybody got excited that it might be ending, however although they cleared the road block, they did not clear out the rioters enough. It was another lengthy delay before another Land Rover came roaring past, police in the back all brandishing machine guns, most being heard the instant they got into the hot zone. Don’t worry it was only into the air, but it certainly makes people scatter quickly. After a third truck of riot police turned up to a big cheer of the crowd, the traffic began slowly moving through the village. Unfortunately there didn’t seem much carnage and they hadn’t even had chance to set anything alight… maybe the next riot will be more impressive!
The delay meant that we turned up to the ferry for South Beach in Dar-es-Salaam later than planned and the cue meant we had to wait hours to get the car on to cross the several hundred metre stretch of water that acted as the harbour entrance. Once we got close enough to see the ferry it was dark and we were treated to a comical scene that involved hundreds of foot passengers sprinting away from the ferry, being quickly hounded by the cars. Even in our tired state this perked us up as in ten minutes we also got to have a go at chase the locals. The ferry is just an open flat ferry and most people seem to prefer to huddle right at the front and surround the cars, rather than sit up on the higher deck. Therefore the second you dock they have to get out the way of the tailing cars. To start with Steve was a little timid, but the second we switched on all the lights it was like the parting of the red sea. As we disembarked, with the engine revving, people ran in every direction making us laugh all the way to the campsite.
We have since spent another four nights in South Beach, with a view out to sea from the tent and a lovely soft white sandy beach littered in palm trees and crabs. As you can tell travelling has suddenly become very strenuous and this is all before escaping the car for a short break on Zanzibar for even more sun and sand. |
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| Rocky West |
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| Village Break |
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| Standard Empty Africa |
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| Ngorogoro Crater |
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| Relaxed Lion |
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| Safari Chaos |
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| Hippo Pool |
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| Capturing The Moments |
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| Lions... Finally |
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| River Fishing |
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| Camp With Kilimanjaro |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Sea Fishing |
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| Empty Handed |
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| Riot Police |
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| South Beach |
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