The Final Blog!!!
We left the Northern Tanzanian curcuit with landie troubles! The seriously rutted roads out of the parks damaged our suspension and getting it fixed in this part of the world was not likely. Driving became too dangerous. We decided to drive the 600 k's back to Dar and to put the car on a ship to Durban. So sadly the adverture is over and we fly out of Zanzibar to Johannesburg on the 6th. As a final, final spoil we booked into the Mnemba Island Lodge for three nights. Absolute paradise and a stunning way to end off the 8000 km tour over the last 8 weeks. We are sorry that we won't complete the trip as planned as we are all just as enthuisastic about our travels as we were when we started! But no problems really, we reckon that we can get to Zimbabwe and Zambia easily enough ........................on the next adventure!

Cheers,

The Maasai on the flat Serengeti plains. Very very dry!
Our tent
Sunset over Serengeti
Ellies

The pictures of Lake Manyara and the Serengeti do not seem to have uploaded, so here goes again!
Lake Manyara in the dry season.

Ngorogoro Crater:

After two days in the Serengetti, we arrived at Simba A campsite. A beautiful grassy hill overlooking the Ngorogoro crater. A large bull elephant walked straight into the kitchen for a drink of water and walked through the campsite at dusk. The weather at night was cold and rainy and the wind blew hard. The morning was sunny and we met up with our compulsary guide, Athens, and began our decent into the crater. It was everything we imagined it to be and more! I felt like I was in a nature documentary!
Once we had our fill of the crater we began the journey home. Yes, after 7500km we have turned around and should be back in Joburg in two weeks time. We are having a rest in a hotel in the city of Arusha before we attempt the two day drive to Zambia. We also had to make sure that the landy was up for it as the roads are pretty shocking and the suspension seems to be acting up. She seems alright, so we leave tomorrow.

A Lion in the Toilet!

If we thought the hyena rummaging in the dustbin all night wasn't enough. Or the loud australian tourists making a scene outside our tent at 5.30am. We were pretty fed up anyway when we discovered from fellow campers and one nervous looking Masaai that there was a female lion stuck in the mens toilet cubicle prohibiting anyone from using it! At first we thought it was a joke or tourists being nuerotic, but the Masaai confirmed the story and suddenly we were a bit nervous. We realised that if a lion had been stuck in the toilet all night a very angry animal had the potential of bursting out into the camp. And as if the lion in the toilet wasn't enough, the whole campsite was shocked into silence when an italian/spanish? tourist walked out the mens bathroom after taking a twenty minute shower. When dad asked him if he was aware of the huge predator in the cubicle he simply laughed and tried to explain in broken english that he did not think it was a lion but the backwash of the toilet that was making the banging and roaring sounds. No matter how much we tried to reason with this man he refused to believe us! We chose to believe the Masaai who had seen her throught the window. he simply had no concept of the danger he was in. It made the whole experience almost comical, were it not for the roaring and grunting coming from the bathroom area. The game rangers arrived and she was let out safely with little injury a couple of hours later.

Serengeti:

When we set off for the serengeti with a mission. We wanted to see lion! The road was terrible! The 4x4 traffic that tourism has brought to the area meant that we had to cover 150km of corrugated gravel. Dad did not enjoy it. He was worried about his car.
We got there eventually and all decided the bumpy road was worth it. It was fantastic! The next day we woke to beautiful orange sunrise and we hopped in the car for a game drive. We wanted to find some lion! After watching a herd of elephant climb a kopje and passing hyena in a den, we found what we were looking for. Not only did we find lion but the were with cubs and were feasting on a recent kill! Then we were told by a a fellow game driver where we could find cheetah. After seeing them the serengetti turned into a zoo! More lion. More elephant. Giraffe. buck. Buffalo. Then mom spotted a small leopard at the top of a fever tree. Within twenty minutes thee were more than ten other vechiles surrounding us all with radios blaring about moms find. Obviously she had spotted an animal that is not so easy to find! Then more lion, buffalo, a lion hunt, hippo, more elephant etc. by 1pm we had seen everything accept Rhino! ridiculous really. So we went back to camp for lunch and a chill. The experience was quite overwhelming!

Lake Manyara:

On our way to the game reserves of Northern Tanzania, we passed group of british tourists biking it to Niarobi through the Serengetti. When we were approaching the cyclists the outside temp was a good 32 degrees and our surroundings were barren and desolate due to drought. After witnessing these guys, rolling down the window of our very comfortable 4x4 with air-con to say hello, we all agreed that that must be the worst way to travel through Africa that we have seen so far. This view was confirmed when, ten kilometers later, we came across a herd of elephant next to the road and wondered what the reaction of the tour group would be when the bumped into them? Good luck to them we say.
Lake Manyara National Park was a contrast of green compared to the dry surroundings of the rift valley. After a brief drive through the park, in search of the famous tree climbing lions belonging to the area, we arrived at our camp site. We noticed the abundance of Tetse fly wizzing around the car. I was wearing blue so it took me a good while before I was brave enough to get out the car. Mum and I noticed that we may have set up camp under a baboon nesting tree as there was a strong and unpleasant smell surrounding us! There were also alot of bees. Mum kept talking to them. Calling them 'darlings' and telling them it was 'time to go to sleep'.
We spent the next day trying to find the tree climbing lion but there were none to be seen. To myself and Dad's relief, the biting flies seemed most attracted to mum, biting her all over!

Last day of Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro:

Our brief stay at the Kilimanjaro was cooler and, to moms relief, less humid than previous nights. We spent the evening with a very interesting and avid conservationist named Tom who told us about what the effects of global warming and tourist activities is having on the mountain. An issue that needs urgent attention! In the morning we woke early to try get a view of the famous peak. She was slightly covered by a morning blanket of cloud, but just as amazing to see!

Spice Tour on Eid (Zanzibar):

Zanzibar photographs:

The Streets of Stone Town...

Congratulations!!!

Congrats to Kate on the birth of Samuel! We are thinking of you and wish you well! Lots of Love!

Zanzibar:

We set off three days ago on a very full ferry to the island of Zanzibar with a series of mixed expectations about what we were going to find when we arrived. After two and a half hours of strange arabic chanting sung by a group of children the whole way on a small loud television, we didn't care what was on the island we were just pleased to get off the boat! As soon as we set foot on dry land we were bombarded by masses of people with services that ranged from taxi driver, to personal guide and porter. After exploring the island with our taxi driver Mr Idi, we eventually settled on a lovely hotel called Asmini Palace in Stone Town. The building had a beautiful arabic design that included one of those typical Zanzibarian doors which the island has become famous for, and to our relief air-con! We were delighted to discover that we had arrived on the eve of Eid which meant there would be celebrations and plenty of delicious food the following day. Unfortnately the last thing dad could think about was food as he was feeling poorly.
Mum and I explored Stone Town while he recovered and met many lovely smiley Zanzibarians on the way. The atmosphere in Zanzibar is warm and colourful to say the least!
The next day we went on a spice tour run by a businessman named Mr. Octopus. It was a very interesting tour of all the spices grown outside Stone Town, what they are used for and how they are grown. We also got to taste the different fruits grown on the spice farm and eat delicious local cuisine for lunch. DELICIOUS!
To moms delight we went on a historical tour of the old slave market and chambers that intiated Livingstones revolt against the slave trade. Very moving.
That evening we joined in the celebrations of Eid by eating a lot of seafood and Zanzibar Pizzas (Nutella and Banana!) in Stone Towns open air food market. There were hundreds of people celebrating in their finest clothing. We especially loved the little girls in their matching party dresses, lace socks and polished baby doll shoes. A wonderful cultural experience for all of us!
Yesterday, after great deliberation, we decided to go to the east of the island to see the beautiful beaches that Zanzibar has to offer. On the way we stopped at Jozani National Park to view the Red Samango Monkeys and their habitat which consists of a Mangrove swamp and a red mahogany tropical rain forest.
Today we nearly drowned, or mum and I at one stage or another worried about drowning, as our ferry suffered 'technical difficulties' travelling back to Dar. We had to return to Zanzibar (so we have been to the island twice- yes) to catch another ferry. This made our day consist mostly of travelling, but I got to go to the spur in the end so I didn't mind.
Our last day at the beach for the rest of the holiday is being spent at a lovely beach hotel in Bagamoyo.
We head off to Kilimanjaro tomorrow and begin the last chapter of our adventure which will consist mostly of game reserves and camping... yay! Photos are on the way.

A Perspective from Mark:

We have just spent four days travelling through the Selous Game Reserve. Camped wild on the edge of the lake- totally alone except for the nightly visits from elephant, hippo, hyena and a very forward genet.
Very broken sleep but thrilling stuff!

The map they sold us at the gate was so old that we got lost within an hour - borrowed GPS co-ordinates from Sasha, the Beho Beho Game Ranger (bumped into after chasing a light aircraft that luckily landed at the bush lodge) and only then did Lindsey's growing tracking skills get us through the wildest park we have ever visited. Selous is a great park with plenty of game and breath-taking scenery.Lots of 4x4 Landie stuff. On the way out we camped at a cute lodge on the edge of the Rufiji river and again had a huge elephant walk straight pass the tent ( more like a large mosquito net because we had not put on the flysheet!)

Reached Dar-es-Salaam yesterday, via a very African ferry crossing, and booked into a swanky five star hotel. Great room with sea-views and most importantly- a bath! Dar (as they call it) is the first real city since Johannesburg- a suprising contrast to the endless small villages that we have passed through for the last month.

This trip is half gone and we have LOVED it! We remain very happy campers and are still enthusiastic about the remaining month , which is a relief to me since I am the one who dragged them into this mid-life crisis Africa exploration thingy.

My final comment is that Africa is anything but remote. We have covered more than five thousand kilometres and only two stretches of 100 kilometres have been bad bad roads. For the rest the roads have been excellent. The big surprise has been the Human traffic- endless lines of people on bicycles, people walking or packed village markets.

On to Zanzibar tomorrow and then up to the northern Tanzanian game parks. Wish you where here!

Selous Game Reserve:

Driving through Tanzania:

Driving skills on the road proove to be a little... um... hairy!

Our stay in a Hemmingway novel for the evening...
An anthill we passed that towered into the sky!