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After another bumpy ride we crossed the border and arrived in Tanzania. First night was spent at Snake Park camp ground in Arusha. The first thing we had to do was learn how to put up our tent (no more luxurious permanently erected tents like in the Masai Mara),which ended up being pretty simple, the hardest part was trying to roll it up and fit it back in the bag once we had dismantled it. The ground was hard dirt and dusty, with quite a few stones, no grass whatsoever. We weren't looking forward to our first night, especially as we didn't have any roll mats to sleep on. Thankfully Mat our tour leader had two roll matts that we could "borrow"- our mission was to find our own in the next couple of days, however don't want to spend too much on them as we will be ditching them after Africa.
We were split up into different groups, Guy was a Cheetah and Shannene was a Hyena. The purpose of the groups was that we had different chores to do each day - putting out stools, pot wash (the absolute worst chore especially when we've had mash potatoes for tea), food prep, truck clean and you also got one day off during the week. The first day Shannene was on stool duty (putting out the stools for people to sit on each meal time) and Guy was on pot wash duty. Hygiene is very important, because if one person gets sick then chances are everyone will get sick on the truck, so it's very important people wash their hands. We had three bowls for washing hands and three bowls for washing dishes:
1 bowl with soap and water to wash
1 bowl with dettol to rinse in (both hands and dishes)
1 bowl with clean water to rinse
And then you have to shake or flap dry your dishes - no tea towels as they carry germs/bacteria and in turn make people sick.
After dinner we visited the snake, crocodile and wild birds at the reptile park that was at the campsite. There was one snake that was so big and there was an article attached to the window of the cage that showed a photo of the snake which had eaten a man whilst he was napping- you could actually see the outline of the man in the snake. Some of the cages had live mice in the cages with the snakes and we actually saw one snake kill a mouse. We were all crowding around the glass - the boys were rooting for the snake and the girls were hoping the mouse would escape to live another day, but alas his days were numbered. The next morning we packed up our tent (not the best tent roll, couldn't quite close the bag properly, more practice is needed) and headed off in 4WD's to Ngorongoro crater where we stayed at a campground in Karatu. The camp grounds so far have been dust and dirt so it was a welcome change to have green grass to sleep on. After dinner we were entertained by a group of African dancers and music which was brilliant, everyone was up dancing by the end of it. After a fairly early night it was up super early the next morning for our game drive in Ngorongoro crater. One of the 4WD's broke down before we even left so a few people plus their luggage were crammed into the rest of the vehicles. There ended up being 6 in ours, and just enough room for our bags The top opened up so we could stand up and see the animals and take photos. We didn't see as many animals as we did that first day in the Masai Mara, but it was still spectacular. Unfortunately our driver's radio had been stolen when he was in Arusha so we couldn't keep in contact with the other drivers, we reckon we would have seen a lot more as the drivers radio each other when they see the animals and then they drive to the spot. That night we pitched our tents in a campground in the middle of the Serengeti, no showers tonight. It was amazing how many stars you could see at night , it was beautiful. Before we went to bed our tour leader gave us a bit of advise - if you have to go to the loo in the middle of the night shine your torch around first before you get out of your tent and if you see red eyes looking at you then stay in your tent as those red eyes probably belong to hyenas!! Suffice to say we didn't drink much that night as there was no way we were going to risk having to go to the loo. Although Shannene had almost forgotten where we were early the next morning as when we got up she was wondering why Guy was taking so long to get out of the tent and shining his torch around - hyenas!! We didn't actually see any red eyes although you could hear animals during the night. Early that morning we headed to the Serengeti, you have to have an early start as that's when the animals are more active early morning and also in the evenings, as they tend to sleep during the heat of the day. The highlight today was a lioness and her 3 cubs which sat in the middle of the road directly in front of our vehicle, absolutely amazing how close we were to them. After our mornings game drive we headed back over the plains to back to Arusha. One more night at the Snake Park campground and then onto Pagani. We actually got a sleep in this morning, breakfast at 7:30am and we left at 8:30am. We had a couple of hours in Arusha to buy snacks and water and then we drove for about 4 hours stopping off for lunch on the side of the road. We erect tables and then the food prep team help Pete the cook prepare the food. Lunch normally consists of salad, ham, any leftovers from dinner the night before and bread and everyone makes their own. We then wash our own plates and cutlery and flap them dry and everything is then packed away and put back on the truck and we're on the road again.
Today a bunch of curious local children came running over to investigate. They seemed quite amused by us and we happy to pose for photos -they just loved seeing themselves on the screen of the cameras. When we left we gave them our left over bread and one couple gave them some biro pens. It's amazing how appreciative they are of such small things as a pen. We arrived in Pagani and had the option to upgrade to a dorm room at an extra cost, but decided to stay with the camping option. Another early start 6:15am breakfast and we were on the road by 7:30am. Another full day of driving and we arrived quite late in Dar es Salaam. The campsite was at a beach and as soon as we arrived and put up our tent we went for a quick swim in the sea as the sun was setting. After dinner it was an early night as we were all pretty shattered from the days drive and we had another early start the next morning. We had to catch the 7am ferry from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar where we spent the next 3 nights. The plan was to catch a local passenger/car ferry to the other side of the river (15mins trip), then jump in a taxi to the main ferry to Zanzibar (1 ½ -2hr trip)-bearing in mind there were 30 of us. Well it was absolute chaos when we got to the first local passenger/car ferry - there were cars and a sea of people just running to catch the boat. As we were coming down the ramp the boat was pulling away and people were still running and jumping to get on it. There was no way we were going to run and jump onto the boat especially with our big packs on and risk getting everything wet. There were 6 of us who didn't make it, and two of them were our tour guides. At this point it was 6:30am and we had to make the 7:00am ferry or we had to wait until 1:00pm, plus one of the tour leaders had all of her groups tickets. At least with our group we all had our own tickets so they could jump on ferry if need be. Only the tour leaders had mobile phones so it wasn't possible to contact the others to tell them what to do. One of the girls who did manage to jump onto the boat lost her jandals in the water. A local man ripped off his shirt and jumped in to grab them and we were all thinking,cheers, what a nice man. But once he got out of the water he proceeded to run off with them. Her boyfriend who was left behind with us threw off his pack, yelled and ran after him. After a bit of a chase he decided to give them back - cheeky so and so!! It's now 6:45am and we are starting to stress a little bit, so much so that our tour leader asks some local fishermen if they could take us across in their boats for a small fee. We were just about to make a decision as to which would get us across quicker, the local fishermen (not know how much extra it was going to cost us) or wait for the boat. Our decision was made for us as an official man working for the ferries said that we couldn't go with the fishermen, so we had to sit it out and wait for the boat. Our tour leader Mat managed to phone the main ferry to Zanzibar and ask them to hold the ferry until we arrived, which they thankfully managed to do. At last the boat arrived and we all piled on and we managed to make the main ferry. The main ferry ride was about 1 ½ to 2 hours to Zanzibar, once through passport control we caught mini vans to our accommodation.. You had to be on your toes as there were lots of "porters" who would try and grab your bags and carry them for you for a price. The safest option is to just carry your own, mind you the taxi driver tried to steal one girls camera as he was helping load the bags.
We spent the first night in Stone Town who's streets still retain their Arabic influence, from the Medina-like shops to the palaces of the Sultan who founded their vast empires on the spoils of the slave and ivory trade. The island is still famous for it's spices and we took a tour of a spice plantation. The local tour guide had a very mixed up accent - he spoke perfect English but some words were spoken with either a North or South London accent and with a lot of "innit" and "you know what I mean" thrown in - which made it all the more amusing. The tour started in his family's home for lunch. the food was amazing, it was a simple salad and rice dish which had been cooked with a selection of spices from the spice plantation. It was a little bit strange sitting in a strangers home eating this amazing food while they sat on the floor watching us. We said our thank yous and were driven to the spice plantation where we tasted different spiced teas and fruit freshly picked from the trees, such as pineapple, custard apples, passionfruit, paw paw and lychees- delicious. We also had fresh coconut after we watched a nimble man climb the tallest coconut tree we have ever see, we felt dizzy watching him clamber up and the acrobatics he performed on the way down. We then visited the palace ruins and the slave markets. That evening we decided to check out the local food markets. Everyone from the group went so if we were going to get sick we figured we were all in it together!! Each stall seemed to sell the same food - seafood, salad, bread and pizzas. The idea was to walk up and down and see what you want to eat and then haggle for the best price and then they cook it for you. We ended up with two huge plates of calamari, octopus, lobster, falafel and coconut bread, all for a whopping 5 pounds -bargain!! It was absolutely delicious and so so fresh. Apparently the guy selling it to us had caught the seafood that day himself. We had a feeling everyone was spun that line!! Thankfully we were all ok the next day, no dodgey tummies. The next morning we drove north to North Beach and the next couple of days we chilled out by the beach, no tent accommodation, we actually had a room and a comfortable double bed - luxury. Although the luxury ended there as on the last night our resort had a power cut, the generator blew up and there was no hot water. Some rooms didn't even have running water. Our room did have water but no lights, so we had people queuing up outside our room to use the bathroom. We had a lantern in the bathroom so people could see - how romantic. There was a 24 hour bar right next door to our resort which was a lot of fun - basically it was a bar on the beach,we were all up dancing on the sand until the wee small hours. After 2 nights of chilling out and relaxing we left Zanzibar and return by ferry to the mainland and stay a night in Dar se Salaam. We all managed to make the car ferry with out any hiccups, although the ferry crossing was really rough with people being sick left, right and centre. It was horrendous,we were both fine though, watching a Chuck Norris movie. We arrived back at our campsite in Dar se Salaam and after we pitched our tents there was enough time for a game of football on the sand before dinner (well we just watched). Another early night as we were on the road at 5:15am the next morning. Another full days driving ahead of us,which Shannene pretty much slept through. We headed for Iringa passing the Mikumi National Park where we saw various animals such as giraffes, zebras and elephants. That night we camped at the Old Farmhouse, an old rustic campsite in rural Tanzania. This place was famous for it Chocorullas - hot chocolate with Amarulla (African versionofBaileys) and chocolate brownies which our tour leader had said many times how fabulous they were,so we were all looking forward to them especially after a long day on the truck. Unfortunately the Amarulla had gone off and the chef hadn't baked any brownies, we were all so disappointed and the tour leader Mat was in the dog house!! It was a freezing cold night with frost expected in the morning, so we decided to upgrade our accommodation - ahh luxury our own room (no putting up/down the tent) a proper bed, sheets and a duvet!! We also managed to have hot showers too - fantastic. The next morning we headed for Lake Malawi,passing through beautiful tea plantations. We entered Malawi through the border of Songwe and headed to Chitimba beach campsite on Lake Malawi for the net 2 nights. Lake Malawi is huge they call it the Year Lake as it averages 52km wide and 365km long. It almost looks like the ocean as it's so vast,you can't see the other side of it - Lake Taupo pales in comparison. It even had waves and people are known to surf on it. We pitched our tent right on the sand for the next 2 nights - it was lovely listening to the waves crashing on the beach as we slept in our tent. The next morning a few of the group woke up early for a 30km hike, we opted to stay behind due to Shannene's knee (as it was quite a lot of hiking up hill) plus Shannene was feeling under the weather with a cold - nothing a few flu tablets, a lie in and breakfast in bed couldn't fix. We decided to join a few others on a visit to the local witch doctor. We were shown into his house and instructed to sit on a mat on the ground while he prepared himself. He came out wearing an unconvincing blue smock with a medial cross on it, a belt made of bells and more bells around his wrists and ankles, plus a donkey tail attached to a stick which we waved around and a whistle. Someone stood beside him beating a drum and then he started dancing. We've never seen anyone move their hips like he did, he sure had great rhythm - all the bells around his waist,wrist and ankles were going in time to the beat and then came the whistle, Of course we all had to get up and dance with him one at a time - we must have looked so funny. He then showed us his potions and medicines - love potion no. 5 and love potion no.9 (one was for finding love and one was for keeping the loved one you had) medicines for all sorts of ailments. They all suspiciously looked and smelt like soil dirt or sand. Apparently you just mix with water. Suffice to say we didn't try any or buy any to take home with us. We then had our fortunes told by the same witch doctor. We all went in separately,he didn't speak any English so another man was present to translate. Once you sat down he whipped his donkey tail around your shoulders and then pressed the handle into your chest,then his eyes rolled back and he started talking. He told Guy that he was going to marry within 3 years time,have 3 children all boys,have a good safe trip with no accident and will come back to Africa with his wife. Shannene went in after Guy and he asked her if she was married, when she said no he said do you have a boyfriend,she said yes and then he said the last guy that came in was my boyfriend (which was Guy) he had figured out we were together through our body language. And then he said that she would have 3 children (all boys), will be married within 3 years, have a good trip, will do well in her job and her family are thinking of her. All just a wee bit random. On the way back to camp we passed a local boy having problems trying to round up his goats, so the boys decided to help him out. He had two of them on ropes but one of them had escaped, so they trie to capture it for him, running through the grass and then eventually diving for it. The local boy looked on in utter bewilderment and amusement. The boys seemed quite pleased with themselves to have helped the boy out, although their legs and arms were starting to sting. They soon ran off to have a shower as the pain was so unbearable. The water didn't help, so our tour leader asked the local gardener what they could use to help ease the stinging. He ran off and came back with some plant from the garden and rubbed it all over their arms and legs, which to their relief worked. Guess you kind of have to wonder why the local boy didn't dive to grab his goat, figure he knew all about the stinging nettles/weeds.
They had a lot of markets at our campsite selling carved wooden goods. We fell in love with a wooden table that was also a chess board and came complete with chess pieces which were African animals. It was a great steal at US$25 but decided against buying it as not sure how we were going to get it home. We did however buy a wooden frame with carved figures in it. After a bit of haggling we bought it, they even wrapped it up for us in cardboard, so hopefully we can sent it home when we reach a bigger city like Cape Town or Durban. So far that is the only thing we've bought, which is pretty good compared to a lot of things others on our trip have bought like a giraffe the size of Shannene !!
After 2 nights at Chitimba beach campsite we drove to another campsite on Lake Malawai, Chintheche campsite, where we stayed for 3 nights. On the way we stopped off at the local markets to pick up our fancy dress outfits for our party. We had to pick a name out of a hat and had US$3 to spend on the funniest outfit we could find for that person. We sort of had a feeling that the guys selling the clothes knew we were coming as they had bags of clothes (leopard and animal print seemed to be the most popular and a lot of lingerie) and they would choose outfits and say "hey this is funny by this one". After a lot of haggling we all had our outfits. Everyone was tired when we arrived at the camp so we decided to leave the dress up party until the following night. The first day we just chilled out, did some hand washing and walked along the beach to watch 3 of the guys kayaking on Lake Malawi. One of them Kevin had never kayaked before and kept falling out of the boat a lot. To start with it was quite amusing but then we noticed that he seemed to not be able to get back on the boat and we were quite worried. Something didn't look quite right. One of the other guys Adam, kayaked over to him and then rushed back into shore yelling at us to get the rescue boat. So Steve ran off to reception to get help. Remembering this is Africa, things take a lot longer here, it was a considerable amount of time before someone got to the rescue boat. But before they could get the boat out onto the water they first had to pump up the boat and fill it with gas - only in Africa. Thankfully Kevin had a life jacket on otherwise he probably would have drowned by now. It turned out that the kayak had 4 holes in the front of the boat so it was literally sinking. Every time he tried to get back on it filled with more water, so he was left tredding water. It was pretty much submerged under the water when they finally got the rescue boat out to him. Thankfully he was ok, but everything takes so much longer here, well it is Africa!! That night we had the dress up party which was a lot of fun and Guy made his infamous punch and anyone who's tried his punch knows it sure does pack a punch and this was no exception. Everyone had a great time and Pete our cook even made a cake for pudding, which was pretty special as he made it on an open fire, no oven - the man is a genius. We also experienced maize for the first time, which is a staple food in Africa. That was received with mixed reviews.
The next day everyone was feeling a little bit fragile after the evenings partying, however 2 of the girls persuaded Shannene to have a go at kayaking. Guy was a little worried considering it was going to be her first attempt and having just watched Kevin's rescue the day before. After they put on their life jackets the girls went to pick up the only 3 working kayaks, however the one they gave Shannene was the very one that had 4 holes in that sunk the day before - so the girls ended up sharing the 2 working kayaks. It was surprising how big the waves were on Lake Malawi, but one you got past those first waves it was plain sailing. Shannene did really well and didn't even fall out once. She did have a few issues with turning as she couldn't quite reach the pedals and seemed to be going straight out a fair distance from the shore. But she managed to get there in the end and caught a wave back in - tiring but great fun. After lunch 10 of us decided to go on a fishing trip, we all thought what a great to spend an afternoon on a motor boat on Lake Malawi, with our fishing rods cast over the side. How wrong were we!! We were met by one of the locals, Vincent, who walked us along the beach to our boat which was a wooden boat like a canoe, with paddles and no motor whatsoever. There were 15 of us packed onto it like sardines - 10 of us and 5 locals. We looked at each other and thought hmmm this doesn't look very safe, but we continued with the adventure anyway. The paddles were very thin, more like spears, and we couldn't see any fishing rods on the boat which we thought was a bit odd. When we asked them what we were going to fish with they showed us two sticks with fishing line wrapped around, like the kind you used to catch sprats off a pier. We were all wondering how on earth we were going to catch a decent sized fish on these. Guess we should have asked them to turn the boat around and head home, especially when our feet were covered in water and they had to stop to keep bailing out the water. It took us an hour and a half to paddle to an island where we were going to fish off. The island was just a rock formation which we had to climb up onto. The locals then proceeded to show us how to fish and started catching the smallest fish we had ever seen, about the size of your thumb. We tried to tell them to throw them back as they were far too small and showed them the size of the fish we should be catching, but they just laughed at us. We didn't really do any fishing, as the fishermen seemed to be more concerned with trying to catch as many of these tiny fish as they could, guess it was going to be thir dinner as they said they ate them whole. Well there wouldn't be much left if they filleted them. After about an hour we got back on the boat and rowed back to shore which seemed to take ages. It was definitely an experience and not quite what we had expected - fishing African style.
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