This is to be our last day in beautiful Malawi, and after a relatively short road trip through many more interesting villages and street markets, and a stop in one village for water and snacks in the local Superette, we arrive at the most beautiful beach we've seen so far. Two people events to remember: 1. the butchery was chopping sides of meat on a wood stump in front of his shop while other sides hung overhead in the sun, 2. A mother was waiting for transport with two small children, three suitcases and a large blanket when a bike "taxi" stopped and after some negotiations the three suitcases were tied to the back of the bike and all walked off along the busy roadway. We have mentioned before about the street scenes, but it's worth ... read more

Up a bit later this morning, breakfast of pancakes and sausages at 7:30, departure at 8:00. We didn't have far to go, just a few hundred kilometers. Surprisingly, Malawi has a lot of hills and high rocky mountains that start right from the lakeshore.  Lake Malawi is the third deepest lake in Africa, and is 75 km across and about 750 km long, part of the Rift Valley system. From our campsite, we can't see across it. We drive through the hills, covered with all kinds of crops, from rice in the low marshy lands, to bananas, cassava, sweet potatoes, potatoes, red onions and tea plantations. This is quite a rich farming area compared to the southern highlands of Tanzania, and is much greener, even though this is the dry season. On the last few days, ... read more

This morning we went on a walkabout in the old quarter of Stone Town, with photography of the famous doors on Kayla's agenda. Emily joined us. There are some 500 mahogany doors with large brass studs, each a different hand carved design, all of Indian origin. The studs were originally to keep elephants from rubbing against the door. Interesting to note that there have never been elephants on Zanzibar. However that doesn't take away from the beauty of the doors. Although she didn't get photos of all 500, Kayla did take shots of many interesting designs. Stone Town is on the ocean, which provided other sights of interest, including a secondary school for Muslim youth, and a very high end hotel opened by the Aga Khan, with room rates starting at $450 US. We luxuriated on ... read more

Today is a long days drive (450 km) to Dar Es Saalam through more highway side villages. Most of our group settle in for a long day's rest but we can't take our eyes off the interesting sights passing us by. Maybe it's that we are still new to the trip and have lots of energy. We learn later that one Australian couple started their journey in Egypt a month ago. Bicycles are everywhere, used for all types of commerce. There are bicycles carrying 20 litre containers of water from wells, 5 per trip; bicycles carrying hay stacks so large the peddler is not in view, bicycles pushed up hill by small boys loaded with huge bags of rice, cycles in road side outdoor repair shops with tires being pumped or spokes being changed, cycles with ... read more

Up at 6:30, game drive at 7:00. Highlight: large herd of elephants and magnificent pair of male lions with female. And the sun came out just as we spotted the lions, so incredible photography. Out of Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Conservation area. Traveled through beautiful country on some very wet roads. It had rained in this area, although it never really rained on us. One vehicle from another group we were traveling with broke down completely on the road, with a broken rear differential, so we loaded the passengers and gear into our remaining five vehicles, and left the driver with some water to wait for help, parts and mechanics from Arusha. They intended to repair the vehicle on the spot. No tow trucks available around here. Armed guard at crater overlook. Armed guard at tourist shop. ... read more