No stoney silences in Stone Town

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At long last we are able to get on to our blog and update it. Once again thank-you for sending messages we read them with relish and some salt. A pinch thereof.

15 Dec on we travelled north along the Malawi Lake. In places the lakeside resembles a coastal cove with small lapping waves. Mkuzi Beach lodge is nice and apparently room 8 is the best one to stay in. Sangilo lodge is an hour and a half from the Tanzanian border and not a bad stopover.

Sometime between the 15th and Christmas we entered Tanzania and arrived at our first lodging on a coffee plantation - Utungele. We could defnitely have stayed there another night as the walking is great and the pool big cool. We met an intrepid biker from Bath who had already travelled from Cape Town and was intending arriving back in the Uk on the 16 jan. He was doing 800kms a day and had a story or two to tell about his travels. Will paste his website address on here once we find it.

From Utungele we headed across the south of Tanzania towards the safari hub stopping at Mkumi national park. Having learnt that drinks cost a fortune we drank tonics all night - adding a transparent liquid into them from our hidden stash - commonly referred to as Vodka. Early the next morning we went for a mud drive. Setting off with the intention of viewing game it became fair game when we got stuck at least five times in slippery mud on one loop. It entailed finding stones, long grass and branches to get out of each one and exhausting and trying time. To say we were covered from head to toe in mud is an understatement but it did take the itch out of mosquito bites. Nice Park although to be honest we didn't get to see much of it apart from the various consistencies of mud and the trees we used to winch the car.

We proceeded to Lushoto - the Lesotho of Tanzania with it's high moutain peaks and stunning views of plunging valleys. Seeing Nigel standing on the edge of World's End view conjured up some frightening temptations that I will speak to my therapist about.

And then onto Moshi, the town on the edge of Kilimanjaro. A nice view if you can see it without the blanket of cloud permanently covering it. After consuming a number of Kilimanjaro beers the mountain exposed itself to us. We found a great Indian restaurant and met a couple who live in Moshi. Apparently there is a fantastic Italian restaurant at Leopard lodge. And there were also tailors galore. On just about every pavement there is a tailor and Carmen couldn't resist challenging one to make an outfit in one hour. And he did with it with much encouragement from locals who had gathered to watch this event.

Now comes the safari fest. First we spent two days in Tarangire National Park and apart from the spectacular view from the lodge you also see loads of elephants frollicking in the fields. Nigel got to spot a White Bellied GoAway bird and we saw Yellow collared lovebirds. We however did not see a complex of lions. We figured there was no such thing as a pride of lions here as they were not prepared to strutt their stuff in the normal manner esteemed lions generally do.

Lake Manyara National Park was next where the famous tree climbing lions remained hidden in the undergrowth but it is a beautiful park nevertheless with a lake teeming with water birds including flamingos, pelicans and yellow-billed storks. We also spotted two bushpigs and saw the endemic blue monkeys in the forests. Stayed at a nice place just outside the park called Magunga Forest camp.

Then onto Ngorongoro Crater Conservancy on Christmas Eve. The crater is an amazing sight but it burnt our pockets badly to firstly enter the conservancy, drive down to the crater and then spend the night at the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge. Although the views from our hotel room were phenomenal the hotel itself is a complete rip-off and to be avoided at all cost. Our Christmas Eve dinner supplement of $ 40 EACH was a hoax considering that there were two sittings - we chose the second - and all it comprised was eating the leftovers of what was a very drab and unappetizing meal to start off with. Carmen feasted on dried spaghetti and Nigel dined on cold, dry, chewy beef akin to stale biltong, without the flavour. AVOID AVOID STAY CLEAR.

Camping in the Serengeti has been the highlight of our trip so far. But before we get to the good part where Nigel encounters a lioness 10 meters from our campsite may we mention that the entrance fees are extortionist. Firstly you pay an entrance fee of $ 140 for Ngoro for 24 hours, $ 200 to the crater, $ 15 for a compulsary and incompetent guide, then you also have to pay an entrance fee of a further $ 140 to enter the Serengeti for 24 hours. Transit fees do not apply - you have to pay the full entrance fee for 24 hours to cross the Ngoro to get to Serengeti whether you spend an hour doing so. The catch is - you can't enter or exit the Serengeti without traversing Ngoro.

But to revert to Nigel's "episode" - having set up camp in what was probably the most stunning corner of the Serengeti with absolutely no amenities, after our braai we settled with a vodka and tonic only to be startled by a group of hyenas. We had assumed that there were no animals in our neck of the woods having not seen one for one hour of driving there. Nigel gallantly offered to survey the perimeter, armed only with his baton and torch. When he got to the front of the car he heard a rustle in the hedgerow and shone his light in the direction from whence the sound emanated. Expecting to witness a hyena skulking about Nigel shone his torch directly at the animal and moved towards it as a city boy does. After a few moments of focusing Nigel came to the realisation that the animal was not a dog but a large pussycat. With his tail between his legs Nigel creeped back to the fire where he stood shivering and tried to explain to Carmen that it was time that they retired to bed. The rest of the night was somewhat restless. What can we say but - It was real!

The next day we arose, packed up camp and then headed back to Ngoro staying at a really nice place called Ndutu Safari Lodge located on Lake Ndutu. To access Ndutu we were required to cross the savannah bursting at the seams with wildebeest, zebra and gazelle - think migratory numbers as far as the eye can see. Needless to say we got stuck in the mud - this seems to be a general theme of this trip.

Arusha - what can we say but we saw the white colobus monkeys in the Arusha National Park and had great accommodation at the East African Hotel in central Arusha.

From Arusha we headed south east towards Dar Es Salaam with a stopover at Pangani beach staying at a sweet place Tiga Tiga which had cold beers (a rarity in Tanzania).

Finally we reached Dar to meet up with four of our friends. Selva and Daniel had flown in from JHB that day (30 Dec) and Sarah and Ulric live in Dar. Had a wonderful fish braai at the yacht club and a raucous game of Cranium with some of Sarah and Ulric's friends.

With hangovers we flew to Zanzibar island to Nungwe beach up north staying at an affordable place called Sazani run by a real character called Mike who speaks in riddles even when replying to where the toilets are. On new year's eve we met a South African couple who had opened a resort next to Sazani and they kindly offered to drag us off on a cruise of the local parties. A number of us jumped on the back of Colin's Toyota Hilux bakkie and ultimately ended up very drunk on French champers, sweating profusely on a beach to see the new year in under a star studded sky.

After a few days of enjoying sun, sand and sea we drove to Stone Town staying at the majestic 236 Hurumzi - the old Emerson and Green hotel. A must! Try and book the North or East rooms and definitely have dinner and cocktails at the Roof Top restaurant which has 360 degrees panoramic views of Stone Town.

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