Its not that I have not been writing up on our blog daily – finding a place that has internet is starting to become rather impossible – I think I have have caught up to date – so the next blog will be in 3 days time when we arrive in Nairobi. I have not checked this - its 22h00 hours and we will be woken up at 03h45 to get out of Dar - the traffic is extremely bad????
Monday 12 September 2011
Woke up at 05h00 to do a Game Drive – very nippy morning and really pissed off that they do not give Rusks and Coffee on the drives – I suppose its all to save money – furthermore our room in the Hotel was the only Tea/Coffee station that was missing – so no coffee to start our day??? We saw nothing of great interest – Impala, Buffalo, Zebra, Kudu, Dyker, Steenbok and a Giant Eagle Owl – so off to breakfast after 2 hours of driving around.
Never did much the rest of the day – arranged for our washing to get done which eventually arrived back in our rooms at 10pm – I guess things are slow in Africa and patience is definitely required.
All off to bed early so that we can wake up early 5am (again) to catch the ferry to Kariba.
Must comment that we stayed in the lodge for two nights – huge imagination from the Management and Chefs regarding dinner – we had a BRAAI for two nights – the food was terrible???
Tuesday 13 September 2011
Early to rise and off to the ferry – we all arrived on time – and slowly loaded the vehicles onto the ferry – quite terrifying – but we all managed to the vehicles squeezed on– we left the harbor of Milibizi at about 09h00 to head off to Kariba and arrive the next morning by 07h00 – a night on the ferry – well not much happened other than the beauty of Lake Kariba with all the lovely islands - we placed mattress on the deck and slept with a howling wind and under the boats front lights – not the best sleep but all okay. During the long hours on the ferry we established that we had 4 bridge players – however not one of us on the tour or others on the ferry had brought cards, must buy some in Lusaka. Comment – the kitchen team produced brilliant meals for us – better food than the Hwange Safari Lodge – what’s that all about.
Rob (the owner’s son) was brilliant – his commitment to ensuring that all guests knew what would be happening and times expected for wake up - his commitment to service was excellent.
Wednesday 14 September 2011
After not much sleep we were all up at about 05h30 – lovely hot coffee and tea ready for us – breakfast at 06h00 and we were expected to get off the ferry at 07h00 however with the strong head winds we were delayed by nearly 1 ½ hours. Getting our vehicle off the ferry was all a bit terrifying however all managed to get off without loosing exhausts. We managed to get through the Zim Boarder with not much problems however every single vehicle had to be checked – i.e. they wanted to see the engine numbers and chassis numbers – 2 vehicle’s had issues – the Mexicans in the Camper Volkswagen had a major problem as the engine number did not match the Carnet??? With a small bribe they got through – David in the Pajero could not find his Chassis number but after quite sometime it was found and everyone was at the Zambian Border. Roger The Classic Car Events Organizer) had arranged for Crispin (Zambian) to assist us through the intricate vehicle formalities of the Zambian Government – thank goodness for Crispin – we eventually got through the Border 2 hours later – and then off to Lusaka – Chris and I headed straight for the Game Shopping Centre in Lusaka to get tennis balls for the rear suspension of the car and cards to play bridge – then it was a mere 30 km’s to the Safari Protea Hotel.
Great Hotel – lovely Buffet dinner - arranged for packed breakfast, paid our bills an off to bed another early morning.
Thursday 15 September 2011
Up and out of the lodge by 05h30 – grabbed our packed breakfasts and headed off with the TR4A and MG in tow – a stop after 250kms for some lovely coffee and my sisters home made rusks – and a destination that we were really looking forward as we had both read the book Africa House about the Gore-Brown Family – Our first night of camping – not really looking forward to this but it has to be done. Kapishya Hot Springs – we met Mark Stewart – the grand Child – we arrive at about 16h30 after taking photographs of the Tower Clock that had been shipped from Brook lands Race Track in the UK. When we were standing in front of the clock tower the MG arrived sounding like a tractor they had managed to completely take out there exhaust on the gravel road with quite large speed bumps. The poor MG another problem to resolve. Once we had sorted the camping spot and put everything up – Chris headed for the hot springs for a quick dip – it was that hot that he only managed a minutes.
We had a lovely homemade cooked dinner by Mel – Roast pork with homegrown vegetables. Mark and Mel joined David & Jackie (Pajero) Michael & Paula (TR4A) and ourselves – we sat for quite sometime listening to Marks stories about the family – too many glasses of wine – but a lovely evening spent with brilliant hosts and splendid hospitality – brilliant – so sorry we could not spend another night here.
A must for would be travellers.
It was off to the tent?????
Thank goodness for the extra glass of wine as the mattress is paper thin – we also fell asleep quickly but managed to get freezing cold about 2 hours later?? An interesting, cold, unprepared night.
Friday 16 September 2011
For our Dwangwa family and Friends – THE TENT – Chris was too tall for it – his feet were pushing extremely hard against the bottom of it – it certainly pops up quickly however putting it back in its little condom holder was another mission all together. – Andy - Chris managed to break it!!!! So one night – one use and throw away – buy another one in DAR? Bigger and hopefully not as hard to store away!!!
We had the most brilliant breakfast and wonderful tour of the Gore-Brown home – brilliant – so nice to see and experience – mostly imagine how the family lived way back in 1932.
Yeah off to Tanzania – Chris and I had already made a decision not to go to Zanzibar and to give our room to Peter (Australian) so that we could spend some time with our really good friends Geoff and Suuze and to see my godchild Rosi and Harvey.
The borders (out of Zambia and into Tanzania) were interesting – hectic, with no form of order what so ever but fun as we had no option but to smile and enjoy the madness.
A mere 193 kms and we were at Utengule Lodge – up on a hill and overlooking the coffee plantations – we played some bridge – had our dinner, and to bed, for another early start.
Saturday 17 September 2011
OOOOPS - I had forgotten to change our time on the alarm clocks – so when it eventually went off we were 1 hour late for everything in fact Michael whom had washed our vehicle the night before woke us up – well I guess we should have been in a slight panic but we were not as we knew where we were going and we thought we knew the road. We eventually departed from Utengule Lodge in Morogoro at about 08h15 the rest of the gang had departed at 7 am – so off we went on a merry way only to be alarmed at the amount of speed humps every single village has 3 lots of small rivet bumps and then 2 lots huge humps – which could take the bottom of your car out – so not only were we hindered by these things the traffic police were out on mass – we managed to get stopped for a speeding fine but a little persuading we paid them Chia (tea) Money and we were off – we managed to catch up with David and Jackie (in the Pajero – our sweeper vehicle) and we headed off to Baobab River Camp to see Darren – the place was empty – nobody to make lunch and nothing cold to drink so we opened up our cooler boxes and got things out and had a small picnic lunch in Darren’s lounge area – we were just about to leave when out popped Darren – a little catch up chat and off on our way to Morogoro - The Oasis Hotel – we arrived in good time at about 17h30 – the Mustang and the Tr4A had already arrived and met us in the car park – with beers in hand – the Mustang (Australians) paid 3 fines whilst the TR4A paid one fine – when everyone eventually arrived only 2 out of 11 cars did not pay the Tanzanian Traffic department - most of the fines had been paid to Chia (tea money) – total corruptions???
We placed our bags in our rooms and immediately sat down to order our dinner – which had to be curry as the chef was a Indian – Chris and I were innocently sitting with the Australians when a altercation with the Group Organizer ensued he ridiculed me front of the Australians and Chris – I was extremely upset as I had being making a concerted effort of avoiding any form of communication with the man as he had on numerous occasions passed horrible cutting remarks to me – which clearly indicated that he had a personality clash with me, and that was enough for me to head to my room and have a good cry??? Chris and I joined the Australians for dinner and we were off to bed – a sad night for me as I would like to head home and get our money back – if this is what its going to be like for the rest of the trip it certainly will not be worth it??
Sunday 18 September 2011
We thought we would have a little lie in bed this morning – but not to be – Chris had set the alarm for 05h45 as he had promised Michael whom is travelling in a red TR4A as far as Nairobi – to assist him with some gear problems – we then we were awake – I managed to wake up with eyes that looked like dog balls in the snow from crying last night. After a shower we headed down to the car only to find the 3 Mercedes (all from Namibia) still all in the parking lot and frantically working on an alternator problem – time was running out for them to catch the ferry in Dar es Salaam. We offered different option should they arrive at the Southern Sun Hotel (old Holiday Inn) and find the rest of the group gone. However time was matching on and deep concerns about them finding and getting to the hotel on time became a huge concern – they followed us into Dar. We were stopped once by speed cops and managed to talk our way out of the fine however poor David was caught then we were stopped by the traffic police – they were looking to find something wrong with the car or our licenses etc. – however a very interesting confrontation ensued with a large truck whom Chris had passed on the left hand side as the idiot clearly did not understand that the road had widened for the slower vehicles to drive on the left?? – He then stopped to advise the police that we had showed him the middle finger to get him to move – after a couple of minutes explaining that this was not the case and then a lecture from the police on how to behave in Tanzania we were then allowed to move on – whilst this was on the go, Walter (Namibian) drove passed and shouted
“HEY Krrris Fuck Him Up” – this immediately relieved our tension, we swopped drivers so that Chris could calm down.
We stopped in Chalinze to get fuel and then where advised that if we went like bats out of hell we may just make the ferry – the traffic in Dar was horrific with loads of weaving in and out of traffic and all following us like snakes we managed to pull into the Southern Sun with about 8 minutes to spare – the ^ Namibians managed to jump out their cars with all baggage ready and into the bus – with frantic waves goodbye – they made it?
We then headed off to see Geoff and Suuuze Denton – lots of memories driving through the streets of Dar. We stopped off at Shoppers Plaza to get some wine, whiskey and beer. Great Excitement to see every one – we immediately sat down to beers and loads of chatting and catching up – Clare Lee and Glen Clark popped over to see us and eventually stayed for dinner – a lovely lovely evening spent with good friends, my god child Rosie and Harvey. Dullah came to see in the afternoon – it was just great to see him – he is looking so good – Dullah was my driver when I worked for DHL.
We managed to get to bed early as we had all started drinking early,
Monday 19 September 2011
Woke up early and had a little chat with Harvey and Rosie before they headed of to school – Chris, Susie and myself went for a nice long walk on the beach, quick shower and off to do some shopping, mainly a tent as the brilliant tent that we purchased from Game In Malawi was not only too small but after one night was broken.
We a re spending a day cleaning the car – tappets and oil change – Chris Managed to snap one of the tappets so than goodness for Dullah he was off to the market to try and find another one – Thanks so much to Blaze for allowing us to have Dullah for the afternoon.
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