Blogs from Tanzania, Africa - page 353

Early Thursday morning we left 7 degree Cape Town travelling through JoBurg (which was a cold 2 degrees) to Dar es Salaam (which was a hot 32 degrees when we landed). Getting through the immigration and customs was quite a process with the inefficiencies in the local systems especially not believeing in any sort of organized ques. The drive from the airport to the hotel was quite different than South Africa. The roads were quite crowded (and not maintained as well) and many more people were walking along the street. Later on in the evening we drove along the ocean and had the locally made cassava chips and drank cocnut water (madaf) from the street vendors. After seeing a few oceanfront hotels, we had a dinner at a local Indian-Chinese restaurant. We noticed the many casinos ... read more

14th to 19th August: More Kenyan Adventures Having crossed the border back into Kenya from Uganda, we clearly had lots more Kenyan adventures in store. From Eldoret we travelled to Lake Baringo, hippo territory! Hippos kill more people in Africa by crushing them with their massive teeth than any other creature in Africa so...We camped right next to a hippo infested river! The trips to the long drops were pretty scary, particularly as the lads took a liking to hiding in the bushes and jumping out on us. Didn't sleep much the first night and when I did I dreamt about being attacked by a hippo...the noise of the beasts fighting sounded like it was literally right outside your tent...still claim they really were peering in the window! Our first encounter with a swimming pool was ... read more

This is the last day of our holiday in East Africa. A driver from Tamarind took us safely to the airport. We left very early, 10 o’clock to avoid any rush for our 13.35 departure. We were at the airport 10.50 and checked in without fuss. With 50 kg luggage between us we had to pay overweight to Dar es Salaam. But Tsh 10.000 (ca 50 NOK) was reasonable, we felt. However, we did not see any flights scheduled for 13.35 on the handwritten board just behind the check in counter. Well passed the security checks we discovered our boarding passes did not have the flight number noted on our ticket, PW 731 but simply 452. Shortly after 12 noon flight 452 was called for and we boarded an ATR 72-200, a twin-turboprop with 72 seats. ... read more

From the Serengeti and Crater we headed towards Dar es Salaam, stopping halfway at a gorgeous campsite in the middle of nowhere, surround by fantastic red mountains. We not only got to upgrade to a room for a few dollars, but had a swimming pool and tennis court! Had a little underwater swimming contest with Scott, and only after he whipped my arse did I find out he was a free diver… bastard!. Our campsite in Dar es Salaam was awesome, right on the beach. We arrived early for once and actually had some time to chill out. Of course, everyone stripped off and headed straight for the ocean. Sharon and Kurt got jiggy with some jellyfish, but the rest of us were unscathed. I got to see my first bluebottle, which promptly signalled the end ... read more

NOTE: THIS TOUR WAS A RECCE FOR MOTOAVENTURES WHO WILL BE OFFERING THE CAPETOWN TO ZANZIBAR AS OF JUNE 2007, FOR MORE INFORMATION: WWW.MOTOAVENTURES.COM 21 days, 8 244 kms, 5 countries and millions of pot holes later - Tom nearly missed one! We got in to Dar in great time after a quick stop in Morogoro, where Nina (Jens’s mum) was born, to find the city of Dar Es Salaam, a huge bustling city with busy people all over the place. We knew then that the tour was over, it was time to celebrate our safe arrival from the wild and cold Atlantic Ocean to the beautiful peaceful Indian Ocean. It didn’t actually sink in until Tommy left yesterday morning for Zanzibar to meet his family. That’s it for now, all the great memories are now ... read more