Western Sahara 2016

Western Sahara 2016

Sunday 31 July 2011

Malawi to Zambia

Ten days have passed since my last blog update so there is a lot to update you all on...

Kande Beach in Malawi was a great spot and horse riding there was one of the trip highlights. It is not everyday you get to ride bareback in a bikini and take your horse swimming! The horses were lovely and very well looked after. As Cherie, Claire and myself have all done a lot of horse riding, they gave us some fun horses and took us on a fast ride through the forests and wetlands, then on to the beach. Eventually, we ended up back at camp where we took the saddles off, changed into swim wear and took the horses into the lake to cool off. 

I mentioned in my last blog post that there were riots in Mzuzu. As it turned out, there was also rioting in Lilongwe and Blantyre (protests against the government). Not sure how much of this made the British news, but about 18 people were killed and for a while we weren't sure if this would mean changing our route. As it turned out, we were still able to pass through Lilongwe en route to Zambia as things had calmed down by the time we were due to leave Kande Beach.

So Zambia is country number eight of the trip. After camping in Chipata (a town 30km from the border), we took the bumpy road out to South Luangwa National Park. Not many overland trucks bother to do this as the road is bad. A new road is being built but this is Africa so it could be a while before it is actually finished. However, it is a trip worth making as our camp site on the river was probably one of my favourite spots in Africa to date. You hardly even need to bother going on game drives as you can see so much just from camp. It is pretty special to be able to lie in a hammock by the river and watch hippos, crocs, elephants and giraffes. The riverbank is too steep for the crocs to get into camp, but hippos graze outside your tent at night and the elephants tramp through camp whenever they feel like it. I cannot believe how quiet elephants can be considering the size of them. You do have to be careful at night if you need to get up to go to the toilet - I made sure to strategically position my tent close to the bathrooms for that very reason. It's not good when you  need to go in the middle of the night and you can hear animal noises all around! Most of us did an evening game drive whilst in Luangwa which was good. Sadly, the leopards and lion kills continued to elude us but we did have a hyena walk right by the jeep within touching distance.

From Luangwa, we spent the best part of three days driving across Zambia to get to Livingstone / Victoria Falls where we are now based for four nights. Four whole nights in one place is a first for us on this trip but it is flying by and already two nights have passed and it won't be long before we are on our way again. Livingstone is home to lots of adrenalin junkie activities. Really, I would need at least a week here and unlimited cash to do everything. I always thought before coming to Africa that I would raft the Zambezi but as it turns out, the water is high at the moment and not all the rapids are open. Given we've already had an awesome rafting experience on the Nile, we've therefore opted to give rafting a miss. Instead, yesterday I took a microlight flight over the Falls. I've never been in a microlight before so it was a cool experience albeit a little scary at first! A spectacular way to see the Falls and get a different perspective. Also really good seeing hippos and elephants from the air.

After the flight, I spent the rest of the day watching some of the group take on the "Big Air" Experience. This is a zip wire, a bungee and a bridge swing. I have to be honest, I used to love stuff like this but when I walked out onto the bridge yesterday (it's the third highest bungee in the world), I was actually quite glad that I had decided not to do it! And we are going to the highest bungee in the world in South Africa later in the trip so if I decide to do a bungee again in my lifetime, then it will be there....

That's it from me for now. I've probably missed lots of things out, but I'm not firing on all cylinders after last nights sunset cruise (for "sunset", read unlimited booze). That followed by the coldest night camping so far means I am sleep deprived...

Thursday 21 July 2011

Tanzania to Malawi

So from Zanzibar, we took the ferry back to Dar Es Salaam and were reunited with Athena at the beach camp. The following day, we headed out of Dar and continued on our way through Tanzania heading towards Ruaha National Park. We camped en route in the Baobab valley (Baobab trees are pretty cool, it has to be said). The next day it was just a short drive to our camp just outside Ruaha NP as the road surface was better than expected. It was quite a treat to not be in the truck all day and actually arrive at camp early afternoon and have some time to enjoy it. However, we have clearly all become quite sad because we were just excited that we would have the chance to do some washing and get it dry before nightfall! After over two months on the road, that is the sort of thing that we now find exciting!!

A very early start the next morning so that we could get into the game park just after first light. Breakfast at 5.15am which is no fun when you are on cook group. Ruaha NP has the most elephants of any park in Tanzania and we certainly weren't disappointed in that respect - we saw loads, some of which were quite aggressive and semi-charged the truck! Didn't get to see a lion kill though (or indeed any big cat kill) which has now become our quest. Not sure we will be that lucky, but we can but hope..

From Ruaha, we headed back to the town of Iringa to re-stock. As Cherie and I are responsible for the bar for this section of the trip, any stop in town for us just involves a mad dash around trying to locate cheap beer and ice. Finding ice is not always easy to say the least, particularly in a town that has local markets rather than one big supermarket. From Iringa, we continued on towards the Malawi border. Rather than try and do the trip in one day, we stopped at a great farm camp en route. As we have spent so much time sitting on the truck, eating and drinking over the past two months (today was the half way point of the trip by the way), we decided some exercise was in order. As there were lots of walks and farm tracks to explore, some of us foolishly decided to go for a run. I cannot believe how unfit I now am. I had to walk after 15 minutes whereas before leaving for Africa I could run for an hour quite comfortably. In my defence, it was quite hot and I was running in heavy walking shoes, but still....

Another early start the next day (feeling quite stiff and sore after my run!), and a long transit day. We crossed the border into Malawi just after lunch. Malawi is the first country that doesn't charge for visas. We camped that night right by Lake Malawi on the beach. The camp was lovely in that we were the only truck there as it isn't a camp that is regularly used by overlanders. The locals were delighted to see us and so welcoming and friendly that this more than compensated for the very basic facilities. Whilst the bigger overland camps have better facilities, the downfall is that you can guarantee that at least one truck will be leaving at 5am the next morning to disturb your sleep. You also feel cut off from the locals in that the camps are normally within a compound. Whilst I appreciate that the security may be necessary in some areas, it deters you from leaving camp when in many places it may well be fine to do so.

We are currently camping at Kande Beach on Lake Malawi where we are staying for three nights. Our journey here yesterday was an interesting one. We had planned to go to the town of Mzuzu en route to pick up some supplies but had heard from the locals that a protest against the government was planned for that day. As we headed towards Mzuzu, several vehicles indicated that we should turn round. As we got closer, we could see smoke billowing out of buildings and people running everywhere. The locals informed us that things had turned violent so plans to go through Mzuzu were quickly abandoned and we had to find an alternative route around the outskirts. I presume protests took place across all major cities in Malawi yesterday, but I'm not sure quite why or whether they will continue. Things are quiet at Kande Beach anyway! The lake is amazing and seems more like a sea because there are waves. Had a swim yesterday evening (after my second run of the trip) and the water is lovely and warm. Plans for today are not much - may be a snorkelling trip later today. Tomorrow, I'm planning to go horse riding as you get to ride along the beach and take the horses swimming in the lake.

Thanks to everyone who has sent me emails and messages via Facebook saying how much they are enjoying the blog. It is nice to hear from you all. Apologies that the blog site is so difficult to actually post comments on!

Wednesday 13 July 2011

Zanzibar

My final day on Zanzibar and I only wish I was here for longer. It has been blissful to spend four nights in a bed and be away from truck life..

Mind you, I wasn't sure I was actually going to make it to Zanzibar as when I arrived at the ferry port I realised I had left my yellow fever certificate on the truck. Zanzibar is part of Tanzania so I'm not sure why you have to go through immigration when you arrive on the island from the mainland. But you do, and the officials were initially quite adamant that I would not be allowed in without my certificate. Options were a 2 hour ferry back to Dar Es Salaam to get my certificate, or pay $40 for the jab. After much pleading, they eventually gave me a new certificate in exchange for just $10 (and no need to have the jab). In fairness, that is much cheaper than getting a certificate in the UK but very dodgy that they just write you out another one!! Don't you just love the corruption in Africa.

We spent the first night in Stone Town which is a maze of old buildings and narrow streets. Great shopping to be had so the girls went a bit crazy buying new clothes. Having new clothes to wear is quite exciting though as the clothes we bought with us from home are starting to show signs of wear and have some serious ingrained dirt that no amount of handwashing will ever sort out. What I would give to use a washing machine right now. After shopping and sunset cocktails, we headed to the night market. This is a big food market with numerous seafood stalls. As the seafood had been cooked earlier and had been sitting out for some time, I decided to give that a miss and opted for the Zanzibar pizza. This isn't a pizza as we know it, but more of a pancake filled with minced beef, cheese and egg then cooked in front of you. Very tasty and then rounded off with the sweet version which is filled with chocolate and banana. Definitely a cheap way to eat.

The following day, we took a bus up the coast to a beach resort where we are for three nights. White sand, turquoise water, beach side room, a couple of bars / restaurants, hammocks - who could ask for more? It is a very low key resort and a great place to chill out. Part of me wanted to just lie on the beach for three days but another part of me felt I should go diving. So as I haven't dived for several years, I did a refresher course the first afternoon and then the divers in our group went on a two dive trip to a nearby island the following day. The boat ride was fast and bumpy (not to everyone's taste but it was quite fun). The diving was distinctly unimpressive. Our first dive was a coral reef but there was a lot of dead coral and not that much marine life to see. The second dive - a wall dive - was much better with more colourful and plentiful fish, but still not the best diving.

Today has been spent sunbathing and walking on the beach. I love that I step out of my room straight onto sand so that I don't need to bother with shoes at all. Anyway, must sign off now as I have a massage on the beach to go to.......and yes, my life is very tough but someone has to do it!!

Friday 8 July 2011

White Water Rafting, Meat Feast and Safaris

One word for the rafting - AWESOME! It was somewhat different from previous white water rafting I've done in that the aim seemed to be how many times can you flip the raft. 4 out of 8 rapids in our case - no coincidence that these were the ones being filmed for the DVD and photos you can buy afterwards! Some of the rapids were Grade 5 (the hardest level that can be commercially rafted) so they were pretty fierce.

The rapid known as 'The Bad Place' wasn't actually as bad as I feared. In fact, it was quite fun even though we flipped pretty much straight away. I even got over my fear of being trapped under the raft because there actually is an air pocket. The rapids on the Nile are far apart so there was also lots of time just swimming, chilling on the raft and eating amazing fresh pineapple. The fruit in Uganda is one of the highlights - fruit salad for breakfast everyday - yum!

The last rapid of the day was a shocker though. Talk about being stuck in a washing machine. I had no idea which way was up or down. Every time I made it to the surface, more white water would engulf me. I was very happy when the guide dragged me out of the water because I was starting to think I would drown!! No one enjoyed that last rapid, that's for sure. It was fun watching the filming from the day later on in the bar. Was also able to watch Nadal beat Murray - no surprise there then..

So that was our last day in Uganda. I've really enjoyed this country. It's such a green, lush country with diverse landscape including mountains, rivers and lakes. As always, the people are so friendly. One of my abiding memories of Africa will be the children smiling and shouting "Muzungu" (white person). They never seem to tire of waving to tourists and their faces just light up when you wave back.

From Uganda, we retraced our route back to Eldoret in Kenya where we spent a night at the campsite we had previously stayed at. The following day, it was on to Nairobi. Here we stayed in a camp in a wealthy suburb of Nairobi (or Nai-robbery as it is so frequently known). As we were on the outskirts, we didn't get to really experience the city. Just the electric fences and razor wire on all the expat houses giving away that we were in Nairobi.

After an afternoon in camp, we headed out to the Carnivore restaurant. As the name would suggest, it is all about the meat and you get 18 different types to sample including camel (quite tasty but tough), crocodile, ox balls (disgusting - not sure what possessed me to even try them), ostrich meat balls, plus all the normal meats - beef, lamb, chicken, etc. The food just keeps coming all night long until you put your table flag down. Suffice to say, I did not manage all 18! Despite the fact that they no longer serve as much game meat as they apparently used to, it was still a fun night out trying different meats.

Next country stop - Tanzania... The truck was based at the Snake Park camp in Arusha for four nights. This is a big overland camp with several trucks in residence. After a night here, most of us headed off to the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater for a two night safari. Serengeti means endless plains and this is where the famous wildebeest migration takes place. We weren't lucky enough to witness that (wrong time of year) but we still got to see plenty of animals including lots that we hadn't yet seen such as wildebeest, hippos, cheetah, leopards, hyenas and male lions. Animals aside, the landscape was just spectacular - vast open plains (the Serengeti is 14,000 square kilometres). The sunset was amazing. The biggest red sun setting behind acacia trees creating an iconic African scene. We camped in the National Park itself - caged cooking areas and hyenas coming through the camp at night - definitely not a night to need to get up for the toilet...

The following day we went to Ngorongoro Crater which is an incredible natural phenomena. Within the crater walls live numerous animals and it is strange to think how they actually got in there in the first place. We camped on the crater rim and I woke in the night to the sound of zebras grazing right aside my tent and bush pigs routing through the camp. Apparently, they are fond of toothpaste and will rip tents down if you have any inside (luckily our guides warned us of this so it was in the jeep). 

It was back to Arusha for a night to rejoin the truck and today we are heading towards Dar Es Salaam and have just stopped off at a camp en route to break the journey. Dar is on the beach where we will be tomorrow night and then it is on to Zanzibar, a tropical island paradise off the coast of Tanzania, for four nights. Since the very start of this trip two months ago, the whole group has been looking forward to Zanzibar. It is going to be like a mini break from this epic journey - no truck, no camping, just lying on the beach relaxing and may be some scuba diving or snorkelling..