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26/02/2009

We reach Dar es Salaam which is a busy city and eventually, after about 2-hours in the traffic we reach our destination, Silver Sands, about 20km north of Dar es Salaam.

The price is 4000 Tsh (R30) per person per day. We get it down to 12000 Tsh (R90) per day for the 4 of us and we pitch our camp right on the beach. After setting up camp we send the kids to pay our fees and they stay away for a long time. I eventually go and look for them and there they are in reception having an argument about the fees. Now, all of a sudden, there is a 2000 Tsh Parking fee per day and they refuse to pay this. I also refuse to pay because this was never mentioned. Typically they wait for you to set up camp, and then hit you with a different rate, hoping that you will rather pay than leave.

Zelda eventually also get to reception and she notices a sign at the back where the rate is advertised at 4000 Tsh for a campsite. So, now we are saying they are cheating us even more because they want to charge us that rate per person whilst the notice says per campsite. We refuse to pay the parking and demand to see the owner.

Eventually we are not charged the 2000 Tsh parking fee but the rates is settled at 12000 Tsh per day.

We spend 3 days here and have a very good time. The showers are cold but the sea is so warm that at certain times of the day you can hardly get into the water, and if you do, you have to swim in deep to get to the colder water.

25/02/2009

Six o’ clock the morning we are ready to go. The children are still asleep and after checking the car for any damage were off. Strange noises force us to stop. I can’t find the source but something is definitely loose.

Eventually I discover it’s the battery stand that was torn loose from the body. We proceed slowly to the tar road and 60km we pull into a roadside workshop where the damage is repaired for the grand total of 10000 Tsh.

We feel much better about the car and the rest of the day proceed quite well. We are often stopped by traffic officials but as were not speeding there is not much they can do. One guy even pulls me off and then informs me that it is illegal to drive with sandles. We are however not fined or hassled and continue.

Along the way we stop at a roadside restaurant complex Al Jazeera. There are a number of busses parked for the passengers to relax and buy something. It’s busy with numerous vendors selling their wares and we decide on kebabs and samoosas which all tasted great. The children have changed a lot since we left South Africa. They are more prepared to try different food although I’m not sure whether that is because they are more adventurous or because they are hungry.

With the long distance driving it is sometimes difficult to prepare 3 meals a day. If we leave to early in the morning we don’t have breakfast and whilst we are driving we don’t prepare a big meal so everybody must do with snacks.

At about 15h00 we reach Crocodile River camp and decide to spend the night here. We are once again on our own and camp underneath a big Baobab.

24/02/2009

We reach the Tanzanian border by 11h00 and within one hour we cross out of Malawi into Tanzania. On we way to the border we were stopped a few more times by Malawi police with their customarily friendliness and conversation about “where you from” and “where you going to”. We remark that we are on our way to Tanzania and hope to find the Tanzanians as friendly as the Malawians. They all remark that Tanzanians are not that friendly.

At the border itself we also comment to the officials how pleasant out stay in Malawi was and how overwhelmingly friendly all the people are. They appreciate our comments and also warns us that the Tanzanians are not the same.

We leave Malawi with sadness and I have my usual stressful moments about going through another border post and dealing with officials.

On the Tanzanian side you start paying immediately. $200 for the visas, $25 for road tax, and $150 for our COMESA insurance. At least we don’t have to pay any more third party insurance for the rest of Africa. We are also ripped off about $20 when we exchange money and we decide to never exchange money on the street again. Hope we can stick to it.

In any case the mood is created for Tanzania and it is not pleasant. It seems as if visitors are regarded as an easy rip-off, and the looks you get from people on the street make you check your wallet and whether you have locked everything away.

Within the first 40km we are stopped 4 times by traffic police. At least we cannot speed but you can never be too carefull. At some places the speed limit is 30km per hour, sometimes for no apparent reason.

They also enforce the speed limit with hideous speed bumps. Some are small,c loosely spaced and others are just big heaps of tar chucked in the road. In fact, some stretches of the tar road looks like a normal word dirt road, covered with tar. You can still see every indentation in the underlying dirt road and your vehicle still needs a high clearance for the centre portion that remains from the dirt road.

We manage to travel about 550km for the day and reach Lake Ngwazi where the GPS points us to the “sailing club” where camping is allowed. It is a 6km dirt road and once again we are sorry that we took the turnoff and did not continue another 60km to another camp site. Now we are here and it is was not worth the trouble at all. There is no drinking water or a tap of any kind so now showers unless we go fetch our own water out of the lake. As it is already dark that is out of the question.

It’s going to be a difficult night as I cannot get the fact that I must drive this 6km back tomorrow morning out of my mind. We are always worried about the car because it can just take one stretch of bad road to cause serious damage and comparing the infrastructure and people of Tanzania with that of Malawi I just don’t want to break down here.

23/02/2009

Whilst travelling we try and leave as early as possible and for us that is normally around 6h00. We head off towards Karonga close to the Tanzanian border.

The road is just amazing. The scenes are incredible and although we take pictures none of them do the views justice.

We pass some rubber tree plantations and stop to see how the rubber is harvested. We then decide to take another 10km detour on a dirt road to get to the processing plant and after all that the manager is not interested in showing us how the rubber is processed. He does provide us with some info on what happens but we are all disappointed. On the way back to the main road we visit the rice paddys and get a good view on how the rice is planted and harvested.

At Nkhata bay we stop for lunch at Big Blue Star Lodge which are situated about 80 meters above the lake with 180 degrees views over the lake. Although it is a bit early for lunch, (11h00) we decide to stop because of the view and the road there was quite hectic with sharp bends and hills.

In any case we order our customary peri-peri chicken and speak to the proprietor, an English woman who has been running the lodge for the past 3 years. When we eventuall get our lunch 2 hours later it was disappointing to say the least. For the amount of time we waited we expected something delicious but this was bland cooked chicken. For that we also had to pay 4000 kwachas (R266).

Now we are behind schedule with a long way head of us. The woman at the restaurant at least gave us the name of a good place to stay close to Karonga so we look forward to that. The road is now even more spectacular. We cross the Rift Valley Pass with very steep ascents and a terrible winding drop on the other side towards the lake. The visit to Malawi is worth it just for this stretch of road.

We manage to find Chitimba Beach Lodge and it is impressive. Although we reach it after dark we can see that it can be a destination in it’s own right and not just an overnight stop. Although there is a truck of overlanders they also go to bed early and the camp is quite. Unfortunately there is no hot water so after a really cold shower I am clean but Zelda and Zante is a bit grumpy.

22/02/2009

We have to continue with our journey around the lake towards Tanzania and drive about 241km to Nkothakotha also on the edge of the lake. The roads are fine until you turn off to the lodges then it’s a mess.

This is no different. A terrible few hundred meters to get to our destination and it is also a lodge with good facilities, breathtaking views across the lake and no people beside ourselves.

We have ourselves a meal of rump steak and trinchado and best of all everybody has a hot shower before we go to bed early.

As a family we have started our own challenge to see who can buy the best, or most, of anything with $1. At this stage everybody is still playing a strategic game of waiting to see what the other guys are going to buy.

We have also met some really nice people from Europe that has said to come visit them once we reach Europe so we decided to extend our One Dollar Challenge to any person, group or company that feel like making a contribution to our trip.

It basically works like this. You offer us anything you want for $1. We decide whether we want to accept it and if we do then once we meet up we will give you $1 in exchange for whatever you offered.

Example: You offer to buy us a beer when we reach Paris. When we reach Paris and contact you we will exchange you our $1 for a beer.

Of course you can offer anything. Maybe a room for a night, a meal, a guided tour or whatever you are prepared to exchange for $1. Once we take you up on your offer we pay you $1.

If you have something to offer us please e-mail us on ericus@north-bound.co.za Keep in mind we are 2 adults and 2 children.

You can enter your own offer here. Just remember to send us your contact details as well.

We will display everything that anybody has offered us on this page and our heartfelt thanks to everybody that has taken the time and trouble to respond.

Play along. It can be fun.