15th August 2013

Tanzania

We left lovely Malawi behind and crossed into Tanzania.

We drove up to the Tanzania Border which was a bit chaotic on the Malawi side. It did take a while. Ping did the immigration thing but had to excuse herself halfway through so I continued to deal with the nice man. He stamped my passport but still needed a signature from Ping. I saw her ambling across the car park so I shouted to her that the man was very angry and she should run across the car park in the midday sun. I thought it was funny and the man thought it was funny however my esteemed life partner was rather less than amused and her reaction meant that the joke was on me rather.

I had handed our precious Carnet in to the customs man who took it swiftly into a back office and then returned saying someone would bring it out when it was stamped. It is always a bit of a worry when documents disappear in this way. You cannot know what is happening and there is a real danger that asking any questions may be taken as an insult to some very important person unseen in the office who then decides that it is lunchtime! 

So, I waited patiently and amused myself watching the very dilapidated coach that was being inspected outside. All the passengers, and there were a lot were being checked, all their baggage searched. This was a major operation that had clearly been going on for some time and then all the cargo had to be taken off the coach to be checked. Much of this cargo was in the form of many huge bunches of bananas each of which was minutely examined I don’t know what for. The high spot for me was when a large engine, it was a V6, was manhandled by a group of passengers out of the buses baggage compartment. This was an incredible tussle. It was checked and then heaved back in the bus.  

Anouk and Isobel

Isobel and Anouk our Dutch girls,  ‘mmmm Dutch girls!

Sorry about that I just became a bit whistful then. I am better now. - anyway they were all stamped and ready to  go so off we went to the Tanzanian side. We paid our $25 road tax and heeded the official warnings about money changers. 

Straight to the mountains

And off we went once more.The scenery changed abruptly and it was already possible to understand why people speak of the beauty of Tanzania. We dropped our friends off at the next city as they would get a bus to catch a train to Dar es Salaam, as we travelled north.

As we moved on it started to rain for the first time in many months and it rained. Once again we had a problem finding somewhere to camp and had to continue after dark we eventually found the turning for the unlikely named Bongo Camp! As we set onto this mud track I was taken by surprise. It was dark and wet. The tracks mud surface was very slippery as well as uneven. It was hard to see but there were several points where the track fell away under us and I was genuinely worried that the van may overturn. These were violent lurches and sitting high up as we do in the van it felt all the more severe. After a short but traumatic drive we arrived at The Bongo Camp. 

I want to speak as highly as I can about the Bongo camp, it was crap! But it was dark and raining so any port in a storm. We stayed one night and it did not improve with daylight and dry weather.

Tomatoes for sale on the roadside

We then had to cross a decent sized mountain range. Our drive started dry, and then drizzle, which turned to mist. We had to drive on a high mountain pass. As we got higher we ran into the most dense fog imaginable visibility was down to 2 or 3 meters that is to say for example we could see the edge of the road but not much more than that. The problem being was that we knew there would a sheer drop but of course we had no idea where. Sometimes we would see long stretches of crash barriers that was either mashed beyond recognition, or missing altogether. Not very reassuring! 

We continued through this fog for more than an hour. Then as we made our descent the fog vanished almost instantly and we drove through some lovely mountain scenery until we arrived in a large and frantically busy town, here we decided we would buy fuel, no problem.  Bread, we managed with great difficulty to find something that looked a little like bread but that is where the resemblance finished. 

Then Ping went to see about buying a local SIM card for the phone, nearly everywhere else that we have been, this has been a simple five minute job. Not in Tanzania. After an hour and a half I went looking for her to find her clutching frantically at her hair, wringing her hands and grabbing at her clothing. It seems she was a bit frustrated that the whole process involved several text messages to the phone company, and then wait for a reply. She had to produce a driving licence and passport, and oh yes photocopies of same. After 2 hours she was given her phone back and told in 2 days it will be activated. At this point I had no choice but to give Ping her medication. Then I manhandled her back to the van where she sat foaming at the mouth for the rest of the afternoon. What larks eh?

We drove away from the town of Mbeya.  The weather was now just lovely and we went to stay in ‘The Reeverside sic apparently so called as it is alongside a reever. There was nothing in the way of water toilet shower etc and we were told it was quite ok to bathe in the reever. I declined this kind offer as I am allergic to crocodiles and I am a bit old fashioned about bilharzia. 

sitting by the reever

This place is far from anywhere and we were so surprised when two more vehicles arrived one of which was an Iveco similar to ours. This was a party of 3 people from The Italian part of Switzerland.  We spent an evening with them and were treated to some genuine Italian Risotto. Very nice!

Masaai head of security

After a further days drive we were keen to rest up a little and arrived at a camp run by a young English guy, Archie, a very nice chap who made us very welcome. The camp itself is quite rustic and is genuinely miles from anywhere. The first thing that really took us aback a little was that security was run entirely by Masaai Warriors! I know it sounds like a bit of a cliché but they were the real macoy complete with robes and swords as well as a quite pleasant demeanour I am glad to say. We stayed at The Farmhouse for three days for a much needed rest, also enjoying the company of Archie.

Having had the camp literally to ourselves we were a bit surprised when a group of Landcruisers arrived. These are kind of characteristic of South African travellers.  It is quite usual to see them travel in 2s and 3s but when 13 trucks turned up and filled the site, it was  a bit of a culture shock. They were part of a group that was being organised as a package tour where they use their own vehicles with a guide/organiser and they were on their way to see the Ngoragora crater.

Romantic dinner??? They don't have electricity

We left the next morning, not because of them I hasten to say, indeed despite their all arriving in the evening they were gone by the time we got up the next day!

unusual 2 storey house

So we made our way to Iringa another important market town. Again quite crazy but important for a bit of shopping. We were set for the Ruaha National park, having already decided that we would not be spending the astronomical sums to see the Parks at Ngorgora Crater and  Serengeti. We learned that Ruha is often believed to be the best kept secret of National Parks. It is not expensive and not many people go there. We went to stay in a recommended camp and when we arrived we immediately struck up friendship with a couple from Reading. More of them shortly.

The next day we went to the park and we were not disappointed. We saw plenty of game, you can’t have too many giraffes. There were surprisingly few elephants even though this park is thought to have a vast herd of elephants. Anyway among the basking hipos and the lazy crocodiles we happened across a most extraordinary sight.

Just passing by for a chat

Lion Kill

 A juvenile elephant had been killed by a pride of lions the day before and they were still feasting on it. It was quite a sight as the lions took turns at feeding and dragging their distended bellies back for a postprandial nap. Nearby waited a flock of vultures who only came up close when the lions were away. It seemed to me that they checked out the carcase and came to the view that they could not tackle the thick hide as they quickly flew off. Vultures are quite exciting birds and to see them take off was magnificent and when their flying shadows were all that remained as they left. It rather added to their spooky personna.

I say old man would you pass the salt

An undignified end

We stayed for quite a long while watching this incredible sight. I was absorbed in taking pictures when yet another lion came from the other side of the van and strolled right across in front of us  maybe 5 feet away taking no notice whatever of our presence. We had probably the most fulfilling day of wildlife since we stayed at Kruger and we were so close!   

Oh god I am so full!

Now back to our friends from Reading, Paul Tickner and Hanna Shaw - they are managing a project 

for thewildlifeconnection.org(facebook.com/the wildlife connection). Their work is to foster better relations between local farmers, the staff at Ruha NP and the elephants. None of these relationships are working very well.  The farmers want to kill or scare off the elephant that conservationists want to preserve (there are no fences around the park). The Elephants want to eat all the lovely veg as they have done for years. So Paul and Hannah are organising a elephant kind of census as well as involving local people in finding out more about the work in the park. The conservationist are hostile to the locals as they don’t like their elephants and so on. So they do some teaching in the local schools, they try to get some local people to see inside the park. Unfortunately the park is so expensive for them that most locals have never been inside and has no idea what it is. They have an uphill struggle on their hands and they will only facilitate, they will not run a programme.

making a prototype beehive

I have a great interest in appropriate technology so most interesting for me is one scheme that they are introducing.  Elephants it seems are very much afraid of bees! No I didn’t know that either. So Paul and Hanna have introduced a blueprint where they get local people to build frames from which they hang a long beehive set a short distance apart. It seems this is enough to discourage the elephant from passing between them. If they can encourage farmer to make ‘beehive fences’ they are cheap and there is a good market for the honey. The theory being that everyone is a winner. We sincerely wish them the very best of fortune with what I feel is some inspired work that could help people to change their lives to be much more productive.  We enjoyed the hospitality of Paul and Hannah as found seeing their work first hand was very important to us.

Hannah showing the way

This a good opportunity for me to explain the problems that we have with The RAC and our Carnet de Passage. I say that because we are very anxious to move on but in truth I would have love to have stayed on for a good while to work with Paul and Hannah. Quite surprisingly they didn’t seem to hate the idea.

Anyhow, as I have touched on before here is the longer explanation for our fairly major change of plans. In order for us to pass between various counties with a vehicle as we do we have to have a document that says we have made a significant deposit of funds and an insurance policy that saves us the need for paying duty on the van in every country.  This is called a Carnet, it is a hugely costly document. Ours is due to expire on the 1^st of November. This means that we absolutely have to leave Egypt by that date. However this being Africa we felt it was expedient to set our deadline for the first week in October as things can so easily go wrong and there is no flexibility. The penalty for not taking the van out in time is eight times the value of the vehicle which is a huge sum!

With this is mind we contacted the RAC well in advance to ask about an extension or renewal. They informed us that there were no extensions and that rather than renew they insist on a new Carnet. This would mean that we would have somehow to get new forms, downloading complex stuff is all but impossible as a traveller in Africa. When I told the RAC this I was informed that as they insist on a personally signed document it wouldn’t make much difference anyway.

I asked can they not simply transfer the info to the new document from that which they already have on record.

Reply came, ‘Absolutely not, don’t you know this is a legal document?’

I said, ‘but surely we can use the same security deposit for the new Carnet?’

Reply came ‘no we have to protect the original document in case of a claim’

But there is only one risk and that is our one van, it’s the same van that we have to re-export. 

Reply ‘No’.  

So what does this mean to us? 

We have yet to be precise in formulating our plan B but probably it will be impossible for us to visit Uganda and Rwanda that was high on our list.  We may now have to make the complicated diversion to Israel as we need to get a reliable ferry and it seems that the ferries in Egypt are significantly disrupted  by the political situation in the region. If we cross to Turkey we will also need a carnet so we just don’t have the time.

I am at a loss at the attitude of the RAC. They set themselves up to facilitate the likes of overland travellers but seem to see no merit whatsoever in providing a service at this end of the deal.

I have posted a similar account on the website of horizons.com where I found that others have started having such problems. Personally I would be delighted if the RAC would see their way to explain this bizarre position or better still put it right. I will put any response they make on here.

So that is why we have to press on.  We have to get to Nairobi where there is a particular camp for overlanders. There are a number of reasons for this. We can exchange views with other travellers that may open up our options a bit. I think at this point I should thank Taniya of Catsitchyfeet.com who has already helped us by sharing her encyclopaedic knowledge.

From this camp, ‘Jungle Junction’, we will be enbarking on a vastly different leg of the journey as we will travel to the north of Kenya into Ethiopia. There are some dangers , there will be a stretch about a week long that has no roads before we enter a quite bleak area in Ethiopia. Now it is not a very difficult or dangerous route but we may expect to see no one for many days. For this reason Jungle Junction is a place to meet others in the hope of forming a convoy, A bit of reassurance perhaps maybe company and also some extra safety. This part is not the place to break down on ones’ own I think.

We also have quite a lot of admin and applications for visa and so on to do in Nairobi so I am guessing we may be there for a couple of weeks.

So now, as I write we are parked in the lea of Mount Kilimanjaro which is truly magnificent. We have got here by a long drive through amazingly changing countryside moving from a golden grassy vista into deep lush green wholly tropical country. In addition to this the mountains of Tanzania are stupendous not only because there are so many and they are also so grand but the colour schemes are wonderful and varied, unlike any other mountains we have been through. The temperature has risen steadily every day as we move toward the equator, though surprisingly it can still be quite cold at night.

The roads have been very variable, mostly ok, but some long sections are being rebuilt and there are dusty rock uneven alternative carriageways that run parallel with long distances of roads often as bad as some that we found in West Africa. We have stayed in a variety of camps; one run by a German man called French, another we stayed on a really nice petrol station where the owner said we could camp but stipulated that we buy our fuel there, which was pretty reasonable it was great even had a shower and we were left entirely alone. This display of open generosity really helped us out as we did not know where we would stay otherwise. And then we stayed in a campsite called the Pangani River Camp that had the appearance of something we encountered in Guinea which was it seemed that the owner had shipped out and just left the keys with someone who did nothing much but make a few quid. It was lovely spot but I am guessing it won’t last much longer.

By the way as we drove today we passed another milestone, We have just completed 30,000 Kilometers, we will drive around Mount Kilimanjaro or ‘Killie’ as it is known and then cross into Kenya

Mt Killie