Kariba dam is slowly crumbling so we saw plenty of brand new machinery and hordes of Chinese workers scurrying around trying to fix it as we crossed the boarder. It took a fairly long time to get into Zambia due to us having spent more time in Zim than anticipated. Once through we stopped briefly in Lusaka the capital which seemed much more advanced and happening than anywhere we had been in Zim. We were basically just cutting through Zambia on our way to Malawi so we had a very early departure from Lusaka. On the outskirts was an incredible produce market where we stocked up on supplies for the next few days before hitting the flash new road provided courtesy of foreign aid. We cracked out nearly 600km with only a few dusty km which were still under construction until we reached a nice shady camp with the football on for our die hard British fans.
Crossing into Malawi was a real change. Not only were the roads narrower the mud huts were replaced with small brick houses, there were crops other than maize growing (cassava and rice), plenty of people riding bikes and so many waving children (Malawi is the most densely populated country in Africa). This slowed our progress down a lot and what should have been a rather cruisey drive day turned into a late evening, it took us 13 hours to do 350km! Our camp was situated on the shores of lake Malawi and we had organised with the locals a pig for the spit which was accompanied with a fair share of cane spirits and fancy dress needless to say we had a thumping hangover the next day but a tv with streaky cricket signal kept us entertained.
It was a relatively short drive through the lushest highlands of northern Malawi to Chitimba our next lakeside camp. Along the way we drove through a tremendous 2 min downpour before we stopped to do our food shopping at the hectic Mzuzu market where you could buy all manner of fresh produce including huge avocados for around 25 US cents each. Once again the beach was picture postcard and water a perfect temperature to swim in. After the hot desert temperatures in Namibia we have had very pleasant temperatures and next to no rain. In the evenings it was getting a little chilly especially in the higher elevations in Zimbabwe but it is still warm enough to swim most of the time instead of taking a cold shower. The cooler nights have also worked wonders on the mosquito populations. We have probably seen 3 the whole trip though we continue to take our anti malaria pills everyday.
Feeling like we need to work off the effects of too much pork and cane spirits we set off at dawn to climb Mount Chombi which looks over Chatimba. It was a glorious sunrise which accompanied us as we walked along the lake shores to the base then it was straight up. With a couple of local lads showing us the way up we weaved through fields of cassava and maize and sweated like pigs as it happened to be extremely muggy. All the teachers were on strike in Malawi as they haven't been paid in months but this didn't stop the kids turning up and when we walked through the local primary school we got inundated but “how are you, I am fine” which is the first English sentence learnt in Africa. We had great views from the top and after a tomato and smoked fish sandwich decided toast the long winding road way down and check out the waterfall along the way.
Unfortunately our time had expired in Malawi so it was off through the fertile lake flood plains complete with banana groves and rice paddies to the boarder with Tanzania. This border must be one of the most relaxed we have ever been to as we just strolled through and had lunch on the other side while we waited for our visas to be processed. It was a long slow climb up out of the lake through some big hills which looked like farming on steroids. The lush green hillsides were covered in plantations of tea, coffee, bananas, cassava, potatoes and rice as well as timber plots. The houses were more grand, bikes had been replaced by motorcycles there was farm machinery and trucks galore and the people’s smiles and waves had been replaced with less friendly attitudes and gestures. As we left the green hills behind the huge, dry open plains expanded out in front of us as we raced towards the big smoke of Dar er Salam and the Indian Ocean.
We had pulled off the road and camped in a small clearing surrounded by thorny scrub and were preparing to depart just before sunrise when the local police turned up wearing big white ponchos and machine guns. They really didn't have much to offer us other than something along the lines of it’s dangerous here due to leopards (hard to believe) so we hastily departed and hit the road. We had been warned that it might be slow due to road works. What we didn't expect was for it to take nearly 5 hours as the road works stretched for a long dusty 150km or so with a grand total of about 20 people working on actually building the thing. After a quick lunch we ground our way very slowly down through an exceptionally steep gorge. This road is the main road heading southwest from Dar er Salam and its port so is exceptionally busy with trucks and buses all racing on a very tight schedule. The gorge was a classic example of this, we saw a couple of seriously overloaded trucks having come a cropper due to cooked brakes with rather grisly outcomes. As if the day hadn't been action packed enough we drove through a national park on dusk and spotted a couple of herds of giraffe and elephants. We were staying in another bush camp which turned out to be much further down an overgrown dirt road than anticipated so there was a bit of action needed with the axe to get us there.
It was another rather slow day as we finally made it to the very hot and sticky port city of Dar where we got well and truly stuck in traffic but thanks to a few stuff quizzes kept ourselves entertained. Then just as the sun was setting we arrived at the Indian Ocean! The first thing we did was pile straight in to the warm salty ocean which felt so good after 3 days of travel and nearly two months since our last ocean swim all the way back at the Atlantic. We braved the hectic little ferry and streets of Dar with its busy fish and produce markets the next day. We expected the worst due to other’s comments but was pleasantly surprised with the rather relaxed atmosphere (maybe we have just become accustomed) as we bargained for some fabrics though we were disappointed not to find more African style prints probably due to the huge Arab/Muslim influence.
Next up on the itinerary was a morning ferry to the famous Zanzibar where we were to spend 4 nights. Upon arrival at this semi autonomous island we were greeted by Dan our host who took us to his place for an excellent curry made with local spices, beef, spinach, tomatoes, carrots and banging rice. Food is a little hard to come by at present due to it being the fasting month of Ramadan. Though we had to be a little more discrete when eating we still had the opportunity to witness the spices growing and sample some delicious local fruits and the potent home brewed liquor. Zanzibar famous for its golden beaches, cloves and dark slave past was just coming out of its wet season so there was still a few puffy cumulonimbus floating around. We didn't really have too much we wanted to achieve while here, we had a good long walk around the coast and watched all the wooden fishing dhows heading out for an evening of fishing. The water was a perfect temperature for swimming and we were conned into an expensive sunset booze cruise that ended with everyone stumbling for an early night.
Before departing we had one night in stone town, the main trading centre. There are many old buildings built mainly out of lumps of coral and they form many twisting narrow alleys that are easy to get lost in. The muslim shop owners were much more pushy than we had experienced in the rest of Africa so after plenty of persistent nos we hit a rooftop bar for a sunset beer before a street dinner from the small but noisy night food market. It was a very early start as we had to get a 7am ferry back to mainland Tanzania where trusty old Walter was waiting for us in our beloved truck.
For the second night in a row the mosque kept at it all night and with another pre sunrise start we were all pretty tired and slow moving as we headed inland to the Marangu at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. The three main tourist attractions in Tanzania are extremely pricey, just to step foot inside kili national park will set you back $100, so instead of this we made the most of the cooler temperatures and went for a run and swim and helped give the truck a good scrub down. The lush lawn at our camp also made for a fine place to have a cold afternoon ginger beer and game of croquet.
It was a short drive to Arusha where we booked our tour to the Serengeti and Ngorogoro Crater and also got a quick photo on the shabby roundabout which supposedly marks the halfway point between Cape Town and Cairo though I think someone had stolen the sign… Our camp was at a place called Snake Park where a family has set up a Maasai museum, health clinic and keep a few snakes. The snakes had pretty tiny enclosures but it was good to learn the differences between them and watch a highly poisonous Black Mamba swallow a guinea pig.
As mentioned previously the national park fees are exorbitant with our two and a half day tour to the Serengeti costing $520 US each. Anyway we set off just after lunch and passed through vast tracks of dry woodland, home to many Maasai cattle herders and managed 15 minutes at one of their weekly markets where Nick finally got his hands on a pair of jandles made from old car tyres. From there it was another hour or so to a camp just outside the national park entrance. Arising well before sunrise we climbed slowly up through the thick mist and rainforest in our trusty old poptop land cruiser (Toyota must make a killing in Africa) to the crater rim before dropping down a steep 4x4 track to the crater lake and surrounding plain. Not only did we see a small endangered carical cat on the descent we also spotted half a dozen lions as soon as we reached the bottom. We were one of about 40 other Toyotas parked up watching these amazing though slightly overwhelmed big cats. The circus didn't really disperse too much as we sped around from animal to animal though we were told it's 10 times worse in a month or twos time. Anyway we spent nearly 5 hours in this unique landscape which is home to a huge variety of animals most of which we saw right up close including a female elephant happily destroying a prickly acacia tree.
After a slow climb back up out of the crater and a quick picnic lunch it was a long dusty drive on heavily corrugated roads through the Maasai inhabited plains to the Serengeti. The Maasai are amazingly graceful looking with their robes and colourful beaded jewellery and are still allowed to graze their herds inside the Ngorogoro part of the park but not the Serengeti. It must be a very hard place to reside with hot dry winds creating huge dust storms accentuate by the obvious overgrazing. At this time of year the plains are quickly drying out and most of the animals have headed west in search of greener pasturers. This didn't detract one wee bit as we saw giant herds of zebra, gazelle, elephants and impala as well as plenty of birds, lions, giraffes and hyenas. Arguably one of the best moments of the trip was spotting 5 lioness’s heading our way just as the sun was setting. For once we were the only vehicular as we stopped and watched them come and plonk themselves on the road and were quickly joined by their 14 tiny cubs. We must have spent 45 min with them as they played rough and tumble and by the end we had them all around our truck. We all let out elated cheers as we departed and raced to our bush camp where we crawled exhausted after 13 hours of game drives for a nights sleep.
After waking several times to the sound of cackling hyenas and roaring lions we set off once again just before sunrise in search of the elusive leopard. It wasn't long before we met back up with the lionesses and all the cubs dozing in the early morning sun but we needed a leopard to complete the big five. After a lot of jabbering on the radio we got the location of a young guy up a tree which some other truck had spotted so we joined the procession and raced across the plain to where he was stationed high in a tree. We watched for 15 min or so and saw him jump around in the tree and climb high up to another branch where he happily plonked himself down and went back to sleep. The number of animals on the plains is staggering, there was always something happening somewhere and you never had to drive far to see a different scene. The topi antelope was a new species and had majestical colourings but still our favourite is the elephants. We saw 3 or 4 tiny babies that our guide thought were only a couple of weeks old, they were still trying to work out what that long floppy thing on the front of their nose was! We had to retrace our tracks back through the dusty plains and around the edge of the crater rim and like good Maasai cattle herders made it back to snake park just after sundown.
Time has flown by, when we first jumped on the truck Nairobi seemed like ages away now after a well needed long sleep we were headed there. Surprisingly it was a cold drizzly day though we did get a glimpse of the tops of Mount Kili on route.
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