TravelStream™ news feed for member dusted on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/dusted en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:10:47 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusted/1/1220250600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusted/1/1220250600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusted/1/1220250600/tpod.html Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:10:47 -0400 Cape Town to Ethiopia...............and back again!

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Mtwara, Tanzania

The Crossing
The story all started with three groups of travelers meeting up in the Southern most corner of

Tanzania in a beach paradise known as the Ruvula Marine Reserwe. This
is the last stop before the border crossing into Mozambique and the
only way South apart from the well known "long way round" involving a

huge back track around and through Malawi.
This is however a well traveled
option as the border between Mozam and Tanzania consists of a croc and
hippo infested river about 2km's wide known as the mighty Rovuma! How
they all got there.... Well the Family Buhrmann are an Afrikaans family
of SIX travelling in a Toyota Landcruiser and on their way home after 3
months travelling through Southern and Eastern Africa.
Then there
is Sam and Sarah, a Kiwi and Canadian combination who flew out to SA,
bought a Hilux, kitted it out and are also on their way back to SA
after 5 months of travelling a similar route. A key point to note

here is that the Hilux is still owned completely by the bank! Finally
we have two South African Accountants, Franci and Jo-Ann du Plessis,
who have been away for 5 and a half months spent on the African roads
south of Ethiopia with their trusty 60 series Landcruiser "Frodo".



The border, usually has a reliable (by African standards, i.e. runs
when not being repaired) ferry that carries vehicles gently to and fro
from country to country with minimal risk. The ferry pilot is usually
contactable by cell on a number which is passed from overlander to
overlander and Sam had phoned him from Dar just to make sure it was
running. The response he received was that it was "currently out of
service and would be back in action in about 4 days", this lead to Sam
and Sarah slowly making their way South, only to hear on arrival at the
border that the ferry had actually sunk two weeks ago and there was no
plan to recover it before the end of the year! A true example of
African optimism from the ferry pilot! Anyway, so with the three

vehicles sitting on the wrong side of the Rovuma and no one really keen
to add another 1600km detour onto their trip we started looking into
plan B.... crossing by dhow! After three evenings of long discussions

about complications, validity of insurance claims due to "loss by dhow
crossing" and the all important question of who would go first, on the
beach with a beer in hand and the African sunset over the sea it was
decided that we would take the plunge (hopefully not literally).



We arrived at customs at about 10am and after hearing that the dhow
owners charge $400 per crossing we knew that our first hurdle would be
the price negotiation. Their first price offered to us was $450 per

car, ours was $150 and so the game began with Franci, as a true
accountant does, lead the procedure using hand signals, drawings in the
sand and the key, facial expression reactions to their exorbitant price

offerings. The discussions take ages as three dohws are used for the
crossing, which means that there are three captains and about 8
deckhands each so there are loads of guys involved and each needs to

work out what they will get in the end ..... which takes a long time.
Finally after a good 2 hours of haggling, the price was settled at $750
for all three cars and so we headed for customs to check out of
Tanzania and the boat crews headed to prepare the boats.
By the
time we finally got to the river's edge at about 2pm, no progress had
been made but we did manage to find out that the two engines needed
petrol to take us which we needed to buy for them upfront! We

reluctantly handed over $50 after ensuring that it was part of the
total price and then settled down on the bank to watch the process of
our makeshift ferry come to life. Three
boats about 5m in length were pulled up beside one another and tied
together with, no lies, a twine bought from the market up the road.
Then wooden poles, about the width of your forearm, are laid across the
three boats to make two
narrow platforms onto which your tires are
supposed to go and this still all being held together with more twine!
By this time the team are starting to show
their true colors with Sam, our nervous Kiwi getting more and more
stressed that he is going to be put in jail until
he can pay back
his car, Franci, eating his way through
a record number of cassava (similar to a potato) and prawn meals (the
standard meal on the Rovuma), Jo wanting to unpack the entire contents
of Frodo to reduce the weight, Sarah and Father Buhrmann (Hein) chain
smoking, children Buhrmann looking very bored and not concerned in the
slightest about what was happening around them and mother Buhrmann
(Yvonne) capturing it all on video camera going on about how exciting
this all is!


The entire setup
was looking extremely dodgy until a small boat loaded to the brim with
planks arrived and these were then used to lay on top of the poles, to
strengthen, not widen the wheel platforms, and two were also used to
create a "ramp" which was leant up against the side of the floating
boats....mmmm. Hein was not too
happy, not surprisingly as he had by far the heaviest vehicle (double
cab cruiser with 2 roof top tents and enough stuff to keep a family of
three daughters and one boy happy for 4 months) and from the straw
drawing earlier had ended up the shortest of the three so was up first,
so he got stuck into the setup with a couple of ratchet straps and some
rope which, unlike the twine, had a breaking strain of more than 10kg's
and wouldn't disintegrate when wet. Once
all looked substantially less disastrous, it was time for the first
vehicle to head up the very unstable ramp. The one captain John
Raphael, gave the thumbs up and waved to Hein and with much excitement
from the crews and nervous chatter amongst the team the first car
approached the ramp. The ramps were adjusted by Hein, until he was
happy and with captains Jamerson and John Raphael guiding his wheels he
slowly crept up the ramps. With huge creaking and cracking as the
massive cruiser drove up the flimsy planks it finally made it onto the
level platforms with bursts of celebration from the crews...... this is
obviously not done as
often as we were lead to believe! Jamerson
and John Raphael then erupted into a shouting match over where the car
should finally sit and with John Raphael waving forwards and Jamerson
waving backwards, Hein
turned the cruiser off and lit up another
smoke. The one boat engine was pulled into life and the driver put us
into full steam ahead. Unfortunately the other engine didn't have as
much luck and so we ended up heading off at a right angle, colliding
with a small island about 20m's away.
This lead to a huge uproar
from Jamerson as the driver was obviously one of John Raphaels and John
Raphael inturn gave the driver a huge lecture who in turn blamed the
other driver for not starting his engine quickly enough who
consequently gave Jamerson stick for not keeping up the maintenance of
his engine!! After pushing off the island with a big pole and the
starting of the second engine with much sarcastic cheering from the
crews, we were back on track and heading towards the channel. The
actual crossing went pretty smoothly apart from the water level getting
very close to the edge of the middle boat with nobody else but Hein
getting very concerned. The landing was
again a steering nightmare with a second eruption of abuse flying from
captain to driver, to anchor boy, to pole holder to other captain to
other driver to other captain and so on... Once the ferry (using the
term very loosely) had been semi stabalised by the anchor men and the
ramps were again balanced against the boat, Hein took one last drag,
locked the hubs for the sandy ascent of the bank and tentatively drove
the cruiser down the ramps with much loud creaking and up the bank to
ecstatic applause and whistling from the crews. With one vehicle across
the only man smiling was Hein, as the whole event made Franci and
especially Sam even more nervous than before!

On the
way back the one engine cut out and would not start up.
This made Franci fairly
concerned and when he raised the issue with Jamerson, was told not to
worry they will find a "good one" before the next car goes over. True
to his word, on the way back a random boat driver was heading across
the river, he was whistled too, there was a quick exchange and suddenly
he was tailing the ferry back to where he had come from. I sensed this
was now the new engine for the ferry and that there would be another
sharer of the money, I was right.
Number two was Sam's bank owned Hilux with no insurance! The nervous Kiwi was sitting in the drivers

seat waiting for the ferry by the time it had docked and by the look in
his eyes you could see that he just wanted the nightmare to be over!
With the Hilux being a lot lighter, his ascent was a great deal less

"creaky" and apart from his front left only just landing on the
platform, the start of Sam's crossing went very smoothly. The ferry got
all the way to the middle of the channel without a hitch until suddenly
the one engine cut, resulting yet again into full scale abuse which was
suddenly altered into fits of laughter when the "good" engine then also
cut out. The one man that didn't find the situation too funny was Sam
and with a strong off shore breeze it's no surprise as his Hilux
started drifting slowly towards the mouth. After a few minutes of

tugging on the engine the "good one" did indeed finally come good and
managed to stem the outward drift and got the Hilux heading for the
opposite bank. With one engine in use, the steering was tough but the

anchor boys did their job and got the boat in a decent enough position
to be able to get the ramps onto the boat and ready the vehicle for
departure. Sam's nerves were now completely shot and after a trembling

foot nearly made him miss the platform on the entry, he asked Hein to
take the car off for him. Hein gladly accepted and was more than happy
to drive someone else's car off the ferry.
Two down and one to go!


The last vehicle was readied for the ascent and by this time Jo had
unpacked Frodo with just about everything in the vehicle, not realizing
that this was the last trip and so everything would still have to go

over on the ferry with Frodo anyway.
Franci was by this time regretting the 15 prawns and 6 helpings of
casava that he had taken in to calm his nerves and was now thinking
about their weight impact too! The tide had now risen substantially
since the first crossing, so this meant that the ramp ended, not on dry
land, but now in about a foot of muddy water. This didn't make the
ascent too easy but with the trusty guidance of the two captains, Frodo
was up and onto the boats without a hitch and only a marginal creek or
two. The rest of the cargo including half the Buhrmann family, Sam and
all Frodo's stuff that had been unpacked was then loaded onto the ferry
and the final trip got going.
In the
end the last trip was probably the smoothest with Frodo leaving the
ferry with relative ease on the other side. As soon as Frodo was safely
on the ground the celebrations burst out into joyous song, fist
punching and general silliness with Jamerson leading the charge.


Once the cash
was handed over and goodbyes were said, the crews dismantled the boats
and headed back to Tanzania. The team was so blown away by the whole
thing that they couldn't possibly drive anywhere else
and so setup camp on the river bank to watch the sunset with a beer in hand.


Not the smoothest, but a great adventure for even the most amateur African travelers!
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Mombasa, Kenya

Not long after arriving in Nairobi, the word at Jungle Junction from
the rest of the overlanders was that the migration was then in full
force in Masai Mara. We received numerous accounts of excellent river
crossings, something we just apparently couldn't miss. After not too
much budget-consulting, we just decided we'd go for it and try our luck
once more after having zero migration sightings in the Serengeti.



It took us about half a day to drive the 300k's to the Mara and
spent our first night camping
outside, planning for the day ahead. We
started off on the eastern side of the park and before long we were
completely dump-struck by the herds that lined the plains of the park!!
It has been described as "black-plains" and to be sure it was not far
off that. With huge herds come many predators so we were lucky enough
to bump into lions around what felt like every corner. Unfortunately
they were more often than not accompanied by a mini-bus or two full of
tourists with mighty big zoom lenses. Throughout the whole morning the
herds were showing some very promising signs of moving towards the
Talak river getting prepared to cross but they just would not come. In
an attempt to avoid the crowds, we just kept moving along the river and
then came across yet another massive herd of wildebeest and zebras
grazing quietly on the other side. Slowly but surely excitement started
building amongst them like they were trying to physch each other up for
the big cross-over and we, being the only car around, just patiently
sat, fingers crossed, hoping that we had finally hit the jackpot. Then,
from nowhere a line of wildebeest, like marching soldiers, started
trotting, then galloping, then sprinting, towards the river. In the
hype of it all, the whole herd pretty much irrupted and came bolting
through the river right in front of us and then up and out the other
side, some 10 metres away from our car!! We sat there mesmerized for
about 10minutes watching them come in an absolute frenzy. We couldn't
actually believe our luck!


The rest of the Mara was pretty beaut
with more open plains and
excellent sightings of cheetah, buffalo, hyenas, elephants and the
notorious lapid-face vultures. A long way to go but definitely
something quite spectacular.


It was then back to
Nairobi for some admin and vehicle maintenance and after about 3 or 4
days we made our way to the Kenyan coast. We didn't put fuel in when we
left Nairobi as we expected there to be plenty of fuel stops along the
way. Unfortunately we didn't have much luck finding one though and only
about half way along the route, when the petrol gauge was looking
awfully low, we finally found a station only to be told that there was
no fuel. They kindly informed us that we'd definitely find in Mombasa
though. So we had no option but to just keep pushing on and thankfully
we made it to Mombasa, trying to use as little fuel as possible, and
pulled into the first available station to give Frodo some juice.
Alas...such is our luck, there was not a drop of fuel in Mombasa! There
had been some kind of strike or something and as a result, no fuel had
left the port for about 4 days. We weren't sure how much longer Frodo
would hold out but again with not much other option, we made our way a
further 20 km's south to Tiwi Beach and in one piece found ourselves at
Twiga Lodge campsite where we set ourselves up for a few days. Jo's dad
was coming to Mombasa for business at the end of the week so we spent

an awesome time there seriously chilling on Tiwi beach, doing pretty
nothing, going nowhere, since we had
no fuel, and let time pass us by.


Fuel fortunately arrived after about day 3 so we managed to fill
up, pull ourselves away from Tiwi and made our way to Mombasa for our
much anticipated visit from Alistair. The objective of Alistair's visit
to Mombasa was primarily business but an additional contributing factor
was the Tamarind restaurant in Mombasa which serves the world's best
Chili-crab! Alistair has been coming to this restaurant for many years
and, rating it as one of his favourite restaurants, desperately wanted
to treat us for a plate of the best. Ofcoarse we had no other choice
but to order the crab, so after waiting with baited breath 3 pots
packed full of crab and smelling of the most perfect combination of
chilli, coriander and ginger arrived at our table. The meal is not
quite complete without the array of utensils provided for the eating!
Lined up in front us lay about 5 different utensils ranging from a
petite "digging-out" fork, to a crusher, to a wooden batton for
breaking the shell!! We didn't say too much to each other after that
and were pretty much at it for the rest of the evening, hacking and
munching away at our meal! It really was awesome and a very special
evening spent with dad which we will never forget! Dad spent 2 days in
Mombasa and kindly put us up in the Nyali Beach hotel, a much
appreciated treat where we enjoyed comfy warm beds and more deliciously
good food. Unfortunately all good things come to an end though and so
after some sad goodbyes, we made our way south and crossed the border
into Tanzania.


Altogether Kenya was awesome and we
were pretty sad to say goodbye, but some really good times lay ahead
for us in Southern Tanzania and Northern Mozambique and so two days of
hard driving bought us to the most exquisitely beautiful beaches. More
of that later...
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Maralel, Kenya

Yet another milestone has been reached on our Africa trip and that was
visiting Grant and Loutjie Swanepoel. Grant, Loutjie and their 2
daughters, Abbey and Katie are missionaries based in a very very tiny
little town (not on any map or on the GPS) called Korr in Northern
Kenya's desert area, home to the Rendile people. Our connection to this
wonderful family is both through our dear friend Maria who passed away
a number of years ago and through our church back home who are avid

supporters of the Swannepoels work. So,
we had been in email contact with the Swans on a number of occasions
throughout our
trip but when it came to the crunch time of actually finding where they
were, the satellite reception in Korr was lost, unbeknown to us, and in
turn so was any means of contacting them. Fortunately we had a rough
idea of where they were so slowly started making our way to a town
called Maralel, stopping at every little town along the way to check

our email to see whether there was any mail from our friends in Korr.
Unfortunately on reaching Maralel,
supposedly our final stop before
Korr, there was still no news from them. So in desperation, Chris
decided to take the plunge and walked straight into the Camel Derby
Committee meeting and standing in front of a panel of strangers,
politely asked if he could ask a general question. Given the go ahead
he proceeded to ask if anyone knew where Korr was. Amazingly enough,
help was found and it turned out that an American woman was on the
Camel Derby Committee
and she was from a town right near Korr and
actually knew Grant and Loutjie!!! Thankfully, she was then able to
give us the clearest directions possible and with that we set off the
following morning for the 7 hour drive to Korr.


Her directions were spot on and after a pretty tough drive, not long after
8 hours on the road, we pulled up outside the Swannepoel's house and
were welcomed by a very relieved Grant and Loutjie. Although we had
never actually met Grant and Loutjie before, we immediately felt so at
home, with so much talking to get through, asking about their amazing
ministry, telling tales of our travels, filling them in on news from
Holy Trinity and just general get-to-know-each other chat. Grant and
Loutjie have been based in Korr for about 4 years and came up to join
Grant's parents who have been missionaries there for over 20 years.



We spent a wonderful few days there really just living the Korr life
with them, Lara and Jo getting some motherhood training helping Loutjie
with the girls and Chris and Franci getting their hands dirty welding
with Grant. We were taken on a little tour of the village, the hot
spots being the church, the bible school and the local well...quite the
place to be seen. We met one of the Rendille woman,
Nario, who become a
Christian many years ago and invited us for a little visit to her
"Manyatta" (village) and got shown around her hut. It was really
fascinating and wonderful to have her story told to us by herself via a
translated of how she became a Christian. She was a really wonderful
woman and is a real testimony to how great our God is.



It was at this point, actually exactly our 4 month travelling
anniversary, that the Husted's made the big turn southward and headed
home, taking a mere 10 days to get all the way back to Jo-burg!!!
Record-breaking stuff.


Having long-looked forward to the northern Kenya area, the Dups's then went on to spend a good while
exploring it. After taking full advantage of the Swannepoels
hospitality and staying there for a further 3 days, we then drove off

into what seemed like the middle of nowhere with nothing but Grants
hand-drawn map to get us to Lake Turkana.
It took us roughly 3 days to
get to Lake Turkana from Korr, the highlights being the drive through

the Chelbi Desert, an awesome desert experience, our bush camp outside
Kargi, the camels!!, the beautifully
decorated people and the rugged
volcanic rocky road leading to the turquoise Lake Turkana. The areas we
drove through were fascinating, the beauty being in its harshness.
Seeing villages functioning and surviving in such conditions was really
incredible.



Running low on fuel and general resources, we then made our way south, stopping in South Horr for a
hike , and then travelling another really remote, unmapped road, all the
way down to Isiolo, crawling in there with close to zero fuel. We then
slowly made our way to Nairobi, where we spent a few days "luxury
camping" at Jungle Junction, so far Kenya proving to be far better than
anything we expected!!!
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Kampala, Uganda

With almost no expectations for or knowledge of this country, we were so pleasantly surprised when from the moment we entered this unknown land we were met by wonderfully friendly people and vast open untouched countryside. Quite a welcome change from the excessively farmed Rwanda and the "not-so-friendly" Tanzanians.

Through the border, after paying yet another ridiculous amount to enter, we made our way to the South Western corner of Uganda and found ourselves at an awesome campsite on the shores of Lake Bunyoni. After not camping for so long, the opportunity to open up those roof-top tents, dig into our packing systems and just get into the camping routines again was welcomed with open arms. We had a cracking view over the lake and enjoyed a swim in the crisply cold water. There are apparently no fish in that lake because the water is so cold!

The Husted's then made their way north with the Austrians to Queen Elizabeth park where they managed to find a jack-pot spot overlooking the reserve and got to camp under the stars!! The visit to the park was specifically to see the famous chimps which they were lucky enough to see, so all round their trip was unforgettable and pretty successful. The Dups's on the other hand were forced to follow Franci's undying craving for birds and in this particular case for the world-famous Shoebill stork, so headed east in search of it! Jo, who is not as keen a birder, decided to be a faithful wife and follower and so joined Franci in his pursuit to spot this very shy specimen. Despite the very enjoyable drive on day 1, it ended with no luck and our two hours spent at the Shoebill lookout spot in search of the bird were to no avail. So day 2, we cut our losses and made our way to Kampala. We had time to kill, so on approaching Kampala we saw a sight on the GPS for "Honningtons Shoebill" and thought, what the heck, let's just go check it out. So we're heading along, wondering what this little place is going to present to us, and out of the bush jumps Honnington himself who's pointing at himself frantically saying "Honnigton's Shoebill, Honningtion's shoebill!!!" A little reluctant to go on Honnington's Shoebill tour because of cost, he managed to finally persuade us after a little negotiation on the price and after Franci got a glimpse of the Shoebill flying into the marsh in the distance. So in we hopped into a skinny little boat and off we went in search of the Shoebill! The ride was pretty beaut through narrow canals with tall reeds on each side of us and before long we reached an open marsh area and there before us stood our much searched for bird!! Franci was one very happy camper and Jo admitted that it was in fact a pretty amazing sight!

So with the Shoebill and the chimps ticked off, we met up again in Kampala and set ourselves up at The Backpackers place. Kampala turned out to be a very fun city and we enjoyed our first "boda" trip into the city at night. The boda's are scooter taxis that fly through every gap on the road irrespective of whether the gap is on the wrong side of the road, down a one way or on the pavement. They'd squash 2 of us onto the bike, plus the driver and cruise...with no helmet it was pretty hair-raising but an unforgettably fun experience.


It was then onto white-water rafting on the Nile!! As always, we took advantage of a group discount and booked at a slightly reduced price and before we knew it, we were being picked up at 7am and escorted to the much feared "Jinja" rapids! Unfortunately we have no pics of the whole event but we assure you the size and power of the rapids were not to be reckoned with. Unfortunately Lara was sick so couldn't come so that left Jo on a boat with all boys...the boys loved every minute of it while Jo held on tight at the back of the boat and made close friends with the guide for her protection!


We had to then say goodbye to Sash and George who made their way to Masai Mara from there. You guys, thanks for joining us on our trip, we really loved having you!! Sash, your Nutella and Mannashuten didn't last very long after you left but thanks for those treats! George thanks for making us laugh so much...we will never forget those bus-drivers of yours.

The team, now back down to four, then began the journey north for the much anticipated visit to our friend Lowna Gie. Lowna is a missionary working for an organization called Child Voice International (CVI) in a very small town called Gulu. CVI are an NGO that focus on rehabilitating "child mothers" who are young girls who were mostly raped or abducted by LRA rebel soldiers. They are currently caring for about 30 girls between the age of 14 and 23 and their 38 children!!! They teach the girls some basic schooling, lifeskills, sewing, saloon ( it's their word for hairdressing), and other things to enable them to one day be able to sustain themselves. Lowna was employed by CVI to start up an income generation project and her aim is to set up a card making "factory" where good quality African cards will be made and exported overseas. It was a really interesting and encouraging few days there! The work they are doing is awesome and we were amazed at how much they have been able to achieve in just over a year! They put us up in their "guest wing" (their vacant mud huts) for two nights and we selpt in the fanciest hammocks imaginable, quite an experience.

So, yet another country come and gone and yet another bunch of memories and photographs gathered! On the whereabouts of the team, the Dups's are still in Kenya, (next blog coming soon, promise) while the Husted's are on their way home and could have reached SA by now. The Husted's have been thinking for a long time that once they reach Northern Kenya, they are going to take a turn and try get home asap, the SA soil is calling them. The Dups's on the other hand have maybe become lost wanderers and are still furthering their adventures through Kenya.


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Kigali, Rwanda

Although our stay in Rwanda only ended up being a mere 5 days, it was a truly fascinating and heart-wrenching country to visit. Their second language is French, we had to drive on the right side of the road , and it's the first African country with no mini-buses, only scooters for taxis, so overall it felt very different to all the other places we have been to. Still very African but just quite unique. The main contributing factor to the short stay is that there is no camping in Rwanda, only "lodgements" (their word for lodge I suppose). Staying in a lodge generally means the prices are higher and with not being able to cook your own food, our budgets were being pretty much blown out the window.

Because the country is so small, we drove one big circle around the whole country during our short stay and so felt like we managed to really "see-it-all" in a sense. There is however very little info about the place for travelers, like ourselves, so we had to "wing it" half the time. Our maps were wrong (claiming untarred bad roads to be main-tarred roads), the GPS's had sweet-nothing, and the lonely planet started becoming a very unreliable source. But thankfully, many a catholic-lodgement came through for us, and by the end of our stay in Rwanda, we had spent every single night in a Saint-something or other.

Two particular memories come to mind during our swift tour through Rwanda, where our sources of directions were failing on us and we had to rely on the local Rwandans for some guidance. Our third or so day in Rwanda, we headed south out of Kigali to visit a few genocide memorials just outside the city. The memorials themselves are pretty much as one would expect, dreadful and terribly sad. Rwanda as a country has made a substantial effort to maintain these memorials so as to not forget the past but to hopefully remember the horrors of it all and learn from it.


Around 3pm we had finished visiting the memorials and started making our way further south hoping the road would turn west before we hit the Burundi border J . Well, on reaching the border we got a little concerned but as we reached the fence, we found a road heading west, which according to the officials standing around, was the road to Butare. On driving the road for 30 minutes and seeing that we had only done 10k's, we decided to have a team meeting to discuss our options, considering that if the road continued like it was we were not going to make Butare and would pretty much end up camping on the border between Burundi and Rwanda...who are apparently not such good friends. So we decided to head back to the border post to make some further inquiries about the road. It is now about 4:30. Thanks to Sash who can speak fluent French, we managed to find out that the road is only bad for about 15k's, but after that it's fine, we'll reach some villages and we'll definitely make it to Butare. So off we headed on our merry way. The road was a shocker but 15k's along it improved a bit and we thought, for once we actually got some quite decent advice from a local. But, alas, the road only improved marginally and after a good 2 hours or so of driving, we were still pretty much nowhere! Thankfully the people we had seen and villages we had passed though along the way were so amazingly friendly and excited about us Mzungus (like they had never seen a white person before, really), that we decided to pull in at a police station in one of the little villages to ask about whether they had some "lodgements." Fortunately they said they could help us but in true African style took over an hour to confirm that we could in fact stay, which left us waiting outside the police station, wondering about whether these lodgements were for real, not having any other alternative though, if they weren't. But, thankfully, the catholic church came through for us again and before long, we had been ushered into some perfectly-looked after rooms with hot showers! We had drawn quite a crowd of followers but that stage who all kindly escorted us to the Millenia Restaurant in town where we enjoyed some pucker Rwandan food of Goat brochette (kebab) and plantain (savoury bananas).

The next morning we headed out quite early planning to visit a few more memorials and then make our way to Lake Kivu. Our maps assured us that we were in for a main-tarred road all the way there and our GPS scouted out a campsite, so we looked forward to what lay ahead for us. The road seemed to be reasonably fine all the way west but on turning North, we hit a gravel road and thought this was a bit strange. It was only about 100k's from there to Kibuye town, where we were heading, so we figured, the road would improve and we'd make it there by 5ish. Well, again things did not turn out as planned. The road was an absolute shocker, requiring a bit of low-range here and there. It wound all the way along the lake consisting of some seriously sharp bends, long climbs and rocky terrain. It didn't take us long to realize we were not going to make it before dark but we just kept pushing on with no other alternative. Unfortunately, in complete contrast to the people we met along the Burundi border, the people here were not as friendly, quite hostile actually, so it made our drive all the more tense as we slowly climbed our way along the lake. All was going reasonably smoothly when Rose decided to play up. She had contracted a little habit of cutting out in the Serengeti, and she decided that now, on the dark winding mountain pass, was a good time to put her foot down again for some attention. It ended up being about an hour delay but thankfully she decided to pull herself together and start up again. So after a very eventful drive, we finally pulled into Kibuye at about 9:30 and went in search of our much anticipated campsite on the lake. Alas, the good-old GPS was wrong again and there was no such place in Kibuye!! Man-oh-man. But, yet again, the catholic church showed itself to be faithful and it was St Jeanne that put us up for the night!!

After 2 nights in Lake Kivu, we then decided to head back to Kigali and from there made our way to Uganda. An awesome stay in a really beautiful country.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusted/1/1216561440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusted/1/1216561440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusted/1/1216561440/tpod.html Sun, 27 Jul 2008 09:49:56 -0400 Cape Town to Ethiopia...............and back again!

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Mwanza, Tanzania

So, there we were back in Dar. We spent a few days on South Beach camping in the tents provided, living off Chipati's and tomato for breakfast, Chipati and avo for lunch and Chipati and beef stew for supper. A really healthy diet, the life of a backpacker!

We then made our way to Zanzibar on the ferry and met up with Sash and George, The Austrians. We had a fun few days in Stone Town wondering the streets, dodging the money-making Touts (the guys who try sell you just about anything and take you just about anywhere to try make a buck) and tasting more deliciously greasy food.

The team, now consisting of the Husteds, Dups's, the Austrians and Jerome and Denise, a couple we met at our lodge in Stone Town, squashed into one of the hair-raising dalla dallas and made our way north to Kendwa. We managed to find the cheapest accommodation in Kendwa, and began priding ourselves in being the cheapest group on the island. The place we found was called Kendwa Villa and with a name like that one would've expected a stunning mansion on the beach. Well, perhaps one day it will be just that but as long as it remains under construction, the best thing about it will just be the price! No, the staff were actually so cool and made such an effort to make our stay as comfortable as possible.

The days at Kendwa were mostly spent relaxing, reading, strolling along the beach and snorkeling while the evenings were spent playing beach volley ball and exploring the many restaurants set up on the beach. The highlight was definitely the snorkeling trip to Mnemba which consisted of a 2 hour bumpy boat ride to the island during which we saw dolphins, turtles, a whale shark, which came right next to our boat, and Franci caught 2 beaut fish! We then spent a good while exploring the untouched coral reef, snorkeling through turquoise blue water with millions of absolutely beautiful tropical fish!!! The day was ended off with delicious lunch, consisting of fresh fish, more chipati's and fruit served to us on a deserted beach.

After a good few days in Zanzibar we made our way back to Dar on the overnight ferry, spent a few more days in Dar on South Beach and then made the big journey back to Mwanza by train. One would have thought that this time we were prepared for the trip and knew what we were in for but somehow this journey seemed to be a whole lot worse on the way back, this time they managed to squash even more people in the passage and outside the toilet so that there were now 3 times the amount of people outside the cabins then inside. We also nearly lost our self-appointed team-leader Chris who suffered pretty badly all the way home. After packing all that medical kit with us and not having used any of it once so far, the one time we actually needed it, it sat 100 miles away in Mwanza! We finally made it back to Mwanza though, the wild-wild west, in sort of one piece and were unfortunately hit by another bout of misfortune! Can you believe it! Frodo, being the victim this time, was somehow broken into while we were away and slowly but surely the Dups's discovered that Franci's socket set, new balance takkies and the camping light (sorry folks forgot to tell you about that) were all gone! What a bugger, oh well. But, yet again, our dear-old friends from Mwanza, Tom and San came through for us and invited us over for another cracker supper at their place to lift our spirits.

Just to let you know we did finally make it out of Tanzania and into Rwanda, a mere 2 and a half weeks after our first attempt to leave the country!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusted/1/1215693720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusted/1/1215693720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusted/1/1215693720/tpod.html Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:02:09 -0400 Cape Town to Ethiopia...............and back again!

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Mwanza, Tanzania

A twist in the tale....

So, there we were, on such a high after our nights at Ngorongoro, an exciting few days outside the Serengeti and all steams ahead for our drive to a new country...Rwanda. Alas, things, as we should've known in Africa, never quite go as planned and thus we have the "twist in the Dusted Adventures tale".

After Serengeti, we met up again with a couple, Kevin and Rachel Steyn from RSA, who we initially met in Northern Malawi and who Franci and Jo had travelled to Zanzibar with, and it was decided around the campfire that night to travel with them in a 3-car convoy through Mwanza, around lake Victoria and into Rwanda, since the rumour was that that road wasn't great and the area slightly notorious for Bandits. So the following morning, after doing the usual car check, filling up watertanks, having church (our Sunday morning thing), we headed off.

The trip to Mwanza was pretty uneventful and we were all getting quite excited for the new country that lay ahead. We pulled into the BP in Mwanza, and after all filing up, discussing last arrangement, and getting ready to leave, the event took place.....some slimy little buggers picked the lock of Rose's passenger door (with Chris standing just on the other side of the car), snuck their hand in and grabbed Chris and La's bag fill of pretty much everything from passports, money, drivers license, wallets with credit cards, to vaccination certificates...you name it!! We could not believe it, of all the worst things you imagine to go wrong in Africa, this is pretty high on the top of the list.

We then spent the next few days in Mwanza, racking our brains through all the options that lay ahead. Had it been only ourselves to worry about, the matter would have been slightly less complicated but with Chris's cousin(Sash) and his friend(George) flying in to meet up with us in Kigali on the 1st, nothing was that simple. After exploring all the possible options it seemed we had no other way out but to head back to Dar to apply for a new passport, so after much deliberation, cost and time calculations, the plan came down to getting Sash and George to fly to Zanzibar, while the Husted's would catch the train from Mwanza to Dar (a 38 hour ordeal that turned out to be a 48 hour ordeal), and the Dups's just decided, this is what this trip is about, we're in this together....so they're coming with!

The four days spent in Mwanza is really nothing to write home about but how ever long we think back on good old Mwanza, we will not forget San and Tom, a South African couple expiating in Mwanza! Had it not been for them, I think we would have lost all hope in Africa and turned around to come home. The night we arrived after the passport debacle, they came over to chat to us at the camp site and on telling them our dramas they went to all stops to help us over the following few days. Chris and La made and received many a phone call from their office to various embassies, they tried to make use of any connection they had, let us get our washing done at their house, and best of all, invited us to their home for a much-needed, good-old South African Braai!!! We all know Franci has a pretty healthy appetite, but that night even Chris had his teeth around a juicy piece of wors before most of us had even sat down at the table. What a feast.

So Thursday, the day of the train ride, finally arrived and during our preparation for leaving (getting the fridges sorted and packing out backpacks) the Husted's got a call from a chap called Eric, or, as we have come to know him, The Negotiator. Chris played it cool and when the guy tried to smooth talk him with his kind words, acting like he was on Chris's side, he fell for none of it. How much was true at that stage we were not sure, but he was apparently a businessman from Arusha, who had some of the Husted's documents in hand and he, on behalf of the robbers, (of coarse he had nothing to do with it ;)) he requested a mere $2000 in return for the passports. Chris gave the classic police-investigator answer, just like he'd seen in the movies, and said "Only once you have all my documents, then we can talk". You'd think he had practiced it or something. The call was pretty amusing but at that stage we had lost all hope of getting the documents back, we had booked our train tickets and we were on our way, so we really thought nothing of the call and laughed off the possibility of Eric coming through for us. The train was scheduled to leave at 6, we had been advised to get there an hour earlier, but like typical Mzungus, we thought we should get there even earlier to book our cabin, so got there at 4:30. (Can't believe we actually thought the train was going to leave on time.) I know this story is getting long, but now the plot thickens...while we were waiting for the train, Chris gets another call from The Negotiator, Eric, who is now miraculously in Mwanza and has ALL their documents. He even read them out to Chris, so that when Chris heard things like "vaccination certificate", he knew he must be for real. They made arrangements to meet, Eric requesting somewhere public, and Chris choosing the Talapia Hotel (not only because it's public but also because he was certain it was the sort of place they would have gone to in the movies). So minutes before the train was (supposed) to leave, this was getting really exciting, the boys ran off towards the hotel, while the girls stood guard at the station over the bags. Minutes after arriving, a white Toyota Lincoln pulled up next to them, the window was wound down (also just like the movies) and there they were, the documents altogether in a plastic bag being held out to Chris. On the way there the boys had decided they were not going to pay this guy money for their documents and just seemingly support the crime to get what they wanted so as confidently as possible Chris told the guy, "These are mine, but if you want them, you can keep them because I am not going to pay you for them." The guy was pretty taken aback and slightly dumbfounded by their sharp thinking and didn't really have an answer to that. So...the so-called deal was done, and off they walked, then jogged, then sprinted a little nervously all the way back to the train station, documents in hand!!!!!! With Sash and George meeting us in Zanzibar, there was, however, no turning around so at 7:30, an hour and a half late, we boarded the train and entered our 6-man, second class cabin, which we had booked out and contemplated the journey that lay ahead. The train-ride was pretty long, to say the least and hecticly bumpy. We concluded that the wheels must be square because, honestly, at times it was roller-coaster stuff it was so bad. The cabin itself was pretty cool with three beds on each side that can be converted into seats but outside the cabin and getting to the toilet was unreal. We worked out that on our train carriage there must have been more people seated in the passage and outside the toilet (!!!) then in the cabins. We had to literally stand on people to get to the toilet. Admittedly, we probably had quite romantic ideas about the train ride, but this trip turned out to be your typical African adventure. A highlight of the trip though, was the so-called eating arrangements. Around supper time, the train stops in the middle of what seems like nowhere at a stretch of dozens and dozens of food stalls, all selling locally cooked, absolutely delicious food. So we selected our stall, ordered a plate of food (mostly the best tasting rice, some spinach and tomato relish) and after cleaning our hands in the water trough, ate from the bowls provided with our hands. They know how to cook rice in Tanzania, that's for sure. Once everyone on the train has had their full (and there no rush), the hooter sounds and off we go!! Only in Africa.


So after 48 hours we arrived in one piece in Dar with yet another adventure ahead of us....but that's a story for later.
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Ngororogoro Crater, Tanzania

Our trip to the Ngorogoro crater has been talked about and discussed for more than a year! |Ever since we were very kindly given two nights accommodation at a lodge from Franci's awesome company, we have dreamed of the warm showers, double beds, delicious meals and maybe even a chocolate on the pillow that would meet us as we rolled into Tanzania after nearly 3months on the road. All this build up lead to much excitement and as the time grew closer we were getting a touch nervous that our expectations may not be met.

The two nights before were spent around Arusha and they were predominantly filled with serious discussions around the different ways of entering the park but still paying the lowest possible fees. The final decision came to Frodo being sadly left at the park gate and all of us climbing into trusty Rose who proudly took us to the crater edge where our first "lodge" night awaited us.

The drive in was super funny as it was so misty you could only just see off the edge of the road and the spectacular views that we were promised were nowhere to be seen. Apart from the "big white" which was all around us, there was absolutely nothing and our nightmare of the next few days being overrated was slowly coming to fruition! On arrival at the lodge we were warmly welcomed, but were still haunted by the "big white" and we had to be lead by a guard to our accomodation as we could not be pointed anywhere. On asking the camp manager if the mist was normal, the reply was "yes, during June and July it is always like this!" ....well it seemed as though Ngorogoro was going to be a real letdown and with nervous laughter we left each other and headed to our rooms to put our stuff down and then meet for lunch.

On arriving for lunch things started to look up quickly however as we were introduced to our personal butler and game driver, received a touch of sherry and were seated on couches that were surrounded by snacks ranging from chocolates to frosted dates! We suddenly realised that even if everything stayeed snow white outsite, this was definately not going to be an experience soon forgotten.
The main dinning area for the lodge looked directly over the crater and during our third course (I think, one tends to loose cound when the meals go over four!) the mist completely cleared and we were treated to the most increadible view we have ever experienced! The crater is very difficult to describe, and the pictures don't do it justice, but all we can say is that if you ever get the opportunity to visit it, take it up because you won't be dissappointed.

The rest of our time spent at the crater was mostly filled with enjoying the absolute luxury of the lodge. From snack boxes in the room containing shortbread, noughat and turkish delight to complimentary bath robes and gumboots to buffalo's on the front lawn and zabra outside your doorway the crater lodge had it all! We obviously took advantage of absolutely everything and were not shy to even request a little packed lunch on our departure. Nothing is too much for the crater staff and they obliged happily cheering us off with a sandwich and and fruit cocktail juice in hand!

Apologies for being a touch late on this entry, but sad tales lie ahead which had quite a big impact on the trip, but we are back on track and the blog should improve going forward!

Till then, happy reading!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusted/1/1212396300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusted/1/1212396300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusted/1/1212396300/tpod.html Sat, 14 Jun 2008 02:41:57 -0400 Cape Town to Ethiopia...............and back again!

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Stone Town, Zanzibar Archipelago, Tanzania

Even the name Zanzibar conjures up images of endless palm lined beaches and bags of fresh spices overflowing into the streets. However the first stories we got of this paradise island was that it was completely overpriced and very commercialized. Another downer was that we had just heard that the main power line running from Tanzania to the island was cut and so Zanzibar was now also powerless, with only a few upmarket places owning generators which didn't add much to the tranquility of a dream island outing.
Anyway we were in Dar and had about 5 days to kill so it was either the bustling dirty streets of Dar es Salaam or a powerless overpriced tropical island. We went with option B and left our Superb campsite on the South Beach and headed for the Ferry ticket queues. Tickets across the 70km stretch cost a mere 7,500 Shillings (6USD).... For the locals that is! Non residents win the 20USD prize tickets, but also admittedly get VIP seating, a couch instead of a bench, not too bad!
On arriving at the port you instantaneously get about 25 new friends all wanting to show you everything around town from a place to stay, to where you can get the cheapest prices on coconuts. This may seem helpful, but after a while of getting "Mr Moosa's Spice Tours" rammed in front of you every step, it doesn't make your first impression of the island that peaceful.
After hacking through the mass of traders and new found friends, we managed to find a decent place for $20 for the two of us including breakfast ....not too bad although double the camping budget we usually allow for ourselves . Once our backpack was down we were off into the narrow alleyways of stone town looking to discover a cool local spot for a sunset drink. We headed off with Stephen Little(A mate of Sacha's from Varsity, who we bumped into on the ferry..... tiny world) but realized we were on different budgets when he was up for having a beer overlooking the sea for a mere 4000Ts (R28). We passed, and headed onto a back alley place with no name, but did advertise "cold beer". We sat back and ordered a "Serengeti" and a "Kilimanjaro" (loving the local touch) and awaited our cool refreshments. The streets of Stone town had been completely different to anything else we had experienced on our trip and it was the first place where we had really noticed a huge Muslim influence with most of the women completely covered and Arabic inscriptions everywhere. Full of excitement we chatted about our plans for dinner and the next few days The beers finally arrived, warm, and when questioned about the "cold beers" advertising we were told that that was only when the generator was working and theirs was out of fuel..... only in Africa! It was a rad spot though and we enjoyed the beers and decided to head off to the market for some local flavor for dinner.
Unfortunately the famous Forudani market that used to line the shores of the western side of stone town had collapsed and was under reconstruction..... not much seemed to be going right..... but there were a few food stalls still operating in one of the nearby side alleys so we headed there anyway. We were not let down and here we got a taste of local Zanzibar, starting with the original Zanzibar pizza (layer of dough filled with mince, radishes, onions, a few sauces and topped off with a raw egg all fried up creating a superb errr.... Pizza), moving to a mix of falafels samoosa;s and chipata's (pretty standard), being washed down by a glass of sugar cane and ginger juice (superb stuff especially when freshly squeezed in front of you) and finished off with a Sweet Zanzibar Pizza (banana and chocolate in dough fried to perfection), and this all for a mere 4000 Ts (R28). Zanzibar as a "overpriced" and "comercialised" was becoming overatted!
After a superb breakfast of freshly baked bread, pancakes and some quality coffee we head off into the streets of stone town. Much of the day was spent discovering each nook and cranny of the little town while getting completely lost, finding cheap transport for the next days travels to the east coast and dinning on the very best of Lucky Stars pilchards (brought over with us from Tanz) on fresh Zanzibar roll. Nothing like a "free" meal!

The trip to the East coast was taken on the back of a truck with some cushioning around the sides for seating comfort (overrated) and a wooden frame for packing excessive (underatted) amounts of maize, wood, steal and coconuts. The two hour trip costs us about R14 each and we arrive safely, but a bit shaken. On the trip we met up with a local called Mohammed who at first seemed as if he was just another "friend" looking for a cut from some place we would stay, but in the end the man turned out to be a legend. He was sharp as anything and during the trip helped us brush up on our US politics and he was even the one who broke the news of Hillary's defeat against Barack! Classic the people you meet on public transport in Africa. Mohammed showed us about 5 places and in the end we chose the cheapest and the first one he had recommended... he just laughed and said that we must please enjoy our time in his village!

The place we chose was called the Oasis Inn and although it was not in tip top shape it was perfect for our needs and was right on a pearly white beach, which was indeed lined with coconut trees and did stretch plenty a mile! We only planned to stay here for one night, but in the end could not resist and ended up staying for two.
Most of our time was spent walking the beach, swimming in the crystal clear water and basically just decking around on the beach. Our one major highlight was getting a local dow to take us snorkeling for a few hours around the reef which was set about 2km's off the beach. The trip out there was awesome in itself, riding a completely handcrafted boat in pure local style with bamboo mast and a sail made of rice bags, skimming over crystal clear water was just incredible! The crew of two were pretty cool and they stopped at an amazing spot where Jo and I dropped into an array of colourful corals and tropical fish. Although the weather was pretty overcast we still got to see some amazing colours and were really once again amazed at the creation that surrounded us!
After our incredible two days on the East coast we headed back into stone town and went to book our ferry ticket back. Our cheap ferry back had one hiccup, as the return Journey was an overnight one, leaving at 9pm and arriving at 6am in Dar! Not ideal, but our other option was nearly double, so we bit the bullet and decided to risk a night of sea sickness for an extra 15USD's. Oh the joy's of travelling on a shoestring!
The trip ended up being awesome and it was definitely God's doing that we did not both spend half the evening hanging off the side of the ferry. The sea was pretty rough and we were both awoken on numerous occasions by the hull thumping against the swell and being on the third storey meant that we felt every roll and rock of the boat!

Arriving tired but still very awake at the same time in Dar after an incredible 4 days in Zanzibar we felt very blessed to have experienced such an awesome trip together and it completely out did any of the expectations we had!
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Mzuzu, Malawi


So, with only one pair of clippers with us on the trip being owned by Chris while it's Franci who is sitting with a very very thick black beard which desperately needs to be trimmed...there is only one result....Chris, in his very strong bargaining position has the power over the destiny of Franci's beard. The final terms established were that Franci was only allowed to cut his beard using Chris's clippers (a razor is no longer a possibility in this case!) on condition that Chris could choose the "style"!!


So after being called a yeti by Rob Freercks, Franci finally came to his senses and handed over his face to the crafty hands of Chris for his first trim. I will have to use the pictures to explain it as it's not easy to describe the technique used (Chris's hand grabbing Franci's forehead to keep him still) or the atmosphere created as Franci's slightly nervous wife stood as a not-so-quiet onlooker...Lara was not much of a support as she waited excitedly for the outcome!


Exhibit A...The candidate before the much-needed trim munching on some mielie!

















Exhibit B...There's no turning back!















Exhibit C...Chris's technique...take note of the very dirty hands...those of a true mechanic
















Exhibit D...The first outcome...
















Fortunately, it turns out that Chris is a better friend than we thought he was as he did not leave his client in that state but decided to finish him off with some smashing lamb-chops, 70's style. Jo is very pleased as according to her, those side burns reflect something very close to Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice!!







Exhibit E...The final outcome of a pretty successful trim.




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