Off to a sole/soul journey through Tanzania!

As I leave the park boundary I pass an English couple who have been traveling with their two small kids all the way from the UK! We exchange info and I give them my Ruaha NP map as well as the phone number for the Rovuma ferry crossing which they might make use of. Their website is www.dieselanddust.co.uk I decide to spend a few days at the neat Chogela camp site to chill out a bit, gather new focus for the next step of my journey and, most importantly, catch up with my much neglected diary!

That afternoon, when I looked into my food drawer and saw a majority of my veggies not looking too happy, I decided to cook up a storm. Not only do I make a delicious spinach and broccoli soup (mixed with my magic electric blender) but also fire up a huge veggie stir-fry with all the colorful goodies I had bought at the Mbeya local market: sweet potatoes, beans, carrots, broccoli, chili, green pepper, egg plant, peas, garlic and onion.

· Wednesday, 11th of June, Tungamalenga

I spend pretty much the whole day writing my diary and finish reading my book ‘Diary of a Magus’ (great read!).

· Thursday, 12th of June, Tungamalenga

Chogela the camp site’s owner is also an avid cyclist and we ride to some nearby Masai villages bordering onto the Ruaha NP. It’s amazing what simple lives people live here, just living off what Mother Nature provides! Tonight, Chogela cooks a massive dinner for me which would have been enough for three people!

· Friday, 13th of June, Tungamalenga

Chogela takes me on another cycle excursion to the Tungamalenga waterfalls. The path takes us through the communal rice plantations, where I can watch an old couple harvesting it. On return from the waterfall we find both my tires flat! After patching the puncture we make our way through the rice fields and the village back to camp.

While I write my diary sitting next to my car, I hear rustling going on around me in the grass. At a closer look it seems to be bug-humping-day! Numerous black male bugs race after and mount any female bugs that cross their way which in turn sometimes respond with quite some fighting! Just like in real life J !

· Saturday, 14th of June, Tungamalenga

Chogela’s wife makes excellent pancakes with cardamom seeds and I can’t resist having five of them for breakfast! Yummy!

While I am writing, I again notice some strange things going on around me: There is this moving stream of black ants moving through the grass towards me! After having a closer look they are all heading for a new home, carrying their larvae to a small hole in the ground.

· Sunday, 15th of June, Tungamalenga to Iringa

I pack up and clean Anse for my departure, only to reverse her blindly into a tree when leaving! The damage is more severe than it initially seems and I am really upset about it! The front wheel of my bicycle is a write off, Anse’s door frame is bent so that the rear door doesn’t shut properly anymore and the water tank’s tap is broken.

I give Chogela a lift to Iringa and he helps me find a bicycle workshop where I can have my front wheel fixed. We stay the night at the long established Riverside Camp Site whose owner supports Chogela, establishing collaboration between them by offering guided tours in Ruaha NP to Riverside’s guests.

For a few days already, I have seen a lot of smoke coming out of Anse’s exhaust and the camp’s mechanic bleeds some oil out of the engine. Even though it’s been changed only 2000 km ago it seems very black and he recommends an oil change.

Chogela and I fill our tummies at the camp’s amazing dinner buffet. There is a Swahili language school adjoined to the camp, providing full time basic language courses to mainly foreign missionaries but also professionals who plan to spend a few years in Tanzania.

· Monday, 16th of June, Iringa

Chogela and I drive into Iringa and after going past the cycle store to fetch my new rim we park in front of the Iringa Info Office, which was established by the Riverside Camp’s owner. Chogela heads off to organize building materials for his camp while I take care of my errands: I buy engine oil, visit the local office of the Tanzanian Revenue Services to renew my monthly foreign vehicle tax (only to find out that I have to pay directly into their account at a specific bank where I end up queuing forever!) and gather all the needed spare parts to repair my water tank’s tap. At the same hardware store I get asked secretively by the owner if I’d like to change Dollars into Shillings and we do some wheeling and dealing (at a good rate!) in the back next to his store in an enclosed alleyway. Hardware stores seem to be lucrative businesses here!

I also need a new battery for my watch and after finally finding the right ‘Fundi’ he unscrews and opens the back plate of my watch. Wanting to have a closer look at the rubber seal, I lean over the flimsy glass counter which unexpectedly shatters into a million pieces under the weight of my elbows! The shop owner is not too impressed and I hand him 5000 Shillings to repair the damage. He also doesn’t stock my watch’s battery. (‘Wann’s laaft dann laafts!’) Another customer who witnessed the accident insists to take me to the clinic across the road to have a sister take car of my two tiny cuts.

After Kirsty’s endless preaching about hygiene in Africa (I think I mentioned that she has stakes in Dettol which soared to an all time high during the past three months J) I finally buy some flip flops to use in the shower. I beg your pardon, not SOME flip flops! The ultimate red ‘KILIMANJARO ORIGINAL’ for $1,50!!! Here’s to many hygienic showers in Africa! Cheers Kirsty!

After spending too much time waiting for the revenue official to sign off and stamp my deposit slip for the foreign vehicle tax, I pick up Chogela again and we head back to camp.

The camp’s mechanic takes care of the oil change and with combined effort (by using retched straps hooked to Anse’s door frame and tied to a tree) we manage to straighten it to such an extend that the door hooks again well into its latch!

· Tuesday, 17th of June, Iringa

After having to change to a different size hose, I finally fix the water tank’s tap and meet Henry, a Dutch mechanic who lives, works and drives around in his mobile workshop, a converted truck.

Chogela leaves with another lift back to his camp in Tungamalenga.

· Wednesday, 18th of June, Iringa

I go for a run in the morning to some impressive rapids on the Ruaha River and spend a big part of the day going through my trip’s photos (with Kirsty’s and mine they have accumulated to over 3000 already!) in order to convert a selection for my blog.
In the afternoon, an elderly German couple arrives with their car’s number plate from Esslingen (near Stuttgart)! They’ve traveled around Africa for 3 years now and have just come from Selous NP which they really rave about, not so much about the abundance of wildlife but more about the amazing scenery.

· Thursday, 19th of June, Iringa

I leave the Riverside Campsite and head to an Iringa internet café to finally post my latest 28 pages of diary on my blog! It turns out to be a long session (uploading these photos is a nerve-draining process with the slow connections here!), so I decide to camp next to a guest house just outside the town center.

· Friday, 20th of June, Iringa to Mikumi

The narrow tar road to Mikumi sown with deep potholes is rather tiring especially with trucks and buses trying to outdo each other! On this about 300 km long stretch I have seen no less than 4 overturned trucks and plenty others broken down in the most awkward places.

I drive 10km off the main road to the western gate of the Udzungwa Mountains NP to get a feel for the area and to get an idea if hiking here would be worth the expensive entry fee. I learn from the not very helpful park ranger that permits are only issued at the main gate, and that’s about all the info I could get out of him! After having a look at the nice Baobab Valley Camp and buying a handful of freshly fried chapatti breads from the Ruaha village market, I carry on to Mikumi where I pitch my tent next to a Swiss run Hotel and Restaurant for a reasonable Tsh 3000. At night I meet three backpackers from the UK and watch with them the Europe Soccer Cup at another hotel down the road. Turkey vs. Croatia, boring at first and then 1:1 in the last minute of overtime! Sadly Turkey beats Croatia in the shootout. Should make for an exciting game against Germany though!

· Saturday, 21st of June, Mikumi to Jukumu Campsite near Mvuha

Driving through Mikumi NP on a tarred highway feels weird! While busses and trucks race past me, undeterred by the vicious speed bumps I can spot some wildlife from the road, mainly zebra, impala and giraffe. In Morogoro I fill up diesel, buy some supplies at a well stocked (Meaning they had Nutella J !) Indian supermarket and even get mandarins and strawberries from street vendors!

After asking lots of locals about the road from here via Kisaki to Selous Game Reserve, I finally find the right turn off marked ‘Old Morogoro Road’. The following stretch of road is absolutely spectacular! I am driving through a jungle like area which reminds me of the Ngozi Crater area! Village after village (Misongeni, Pangawe, Kiloka, Madam, Mkuyuni, Matombo, Mvuha to name a few) the in patches muddy road winds its way along the eastern flank of the Ulugurus through dense vegetation consisting of mainly banana trees, coconut palms and other tree giants, sometimes revealing jaw dropping views of impressive overgrown mountain ranges in the backdrop. Past Mkuyuni there is a sign for a community run campsite, but for Tsh 10000 with no facilities I decide to push on to the Jukumu Scout Campsite at Mambarawe Ridge mentioned in my Rough Guide (Tsh 5000).

· Sunday, 22nd of June, Jukumu Campsite near Mvuha

Since according to my Rough Guide the next 45 km of road supposed to be one of the worst stretches in Tanzania, I decide to put in a rest day to be prepared for the challenge! It also rained last night and I hope that one day of sun will hopefully make some of the water disappear and dry out the track again…let’s see tomorrow!

· Monday, 23rd of June, Jukumu Campsite to bush camp near Stiegler’s Gorge, Selous Game Reserve

The road to Kisaki and on to the Matambwe Gate of Selous Game Reserve turns out to be quite a drag but is in good condition (not wet as I feared). I get there around lunch time but by the time they have signed me in and organized the compulsory armed game ranger for me it’s more than an hour later. The young game ranger Francis, who will be glued to my hip for the next 48 hours, is dressed in green, wearing his burgundy barrette and armed with a rifle which is rather intimidating!

We throw Francis’ few belongings and his tent into the car and head off towards Stiegler’s Gorge. Even though Francis has been working in the reserve for over two years, he has never been to Stiegler’s Gorge and to my annoyance we drive around in circles for a while trying to find the correct turn-off. We eventually get to the long closed and now dilapidated Tambo Safari Lodge which I thought should have stunning views into the gorge, but it wasn’t at all what I expected. The view is obstructed by the dense bush and even after picking up the left-to-his-own-devices security guard there who guides us on a rough track to the old cable way (Which during its time of operation used to haul game viewing vehicles and their passengers to the other side of the gorge!) we can only catch a glimpse of the Rufiji River by standing right on the edge of the sheer drop. The security guard helps us find a nice bush camping spot a few km away from the lodge and is more than happy to join us at the campfire.

· Tuesday, 24th of June, bush camp in Selous Game Reserve

Back north again past the beautifully situated Beho Beho Lodge and the Selous Grave we visit Lake Tagalala and the ‘Maji Moto’ hot spring which cascades out of a rocky outcrop into a natural pool amid a patch of palm trees. I refrain from jumping into the water as we rather want to carry on to Sand Rivers Lodge where I am hoping to get onto a boat trip on the Rufiji River.

After a lengthy drive on a shocking road we arrive at the posh lodge, only to learn from the Aussie manager couple that the boat rides are exclusively reserved for paying guests and that they shouldn’t have told me otherwise at the Matambwe Gate. I must have looked quite disappointed because after reflecting for a few seconds the manager Steve says: ‘I think I can make a plan!’ He sends my guide Francis (still walking around with his rifle!) into the kitchen to be fed and says that he could put me onto a boat which had a new engine that needed a two hour run-in at half throttle. He shows me around the amazingly located lodge and after the guests finished with their lunch, sits me down next to their office (behind the ‘scene’) and puts a plate of delicious leftovers from the lunch buffet in front of me.

Not to make my illegitimate presence too obvious, he introduces me to his river guide as being a ‘researcher’ who wants to see this part of the Rufiji River! So the guide takes me onto the small aluminum boat (so ‘ne ‘Zwiebackfräse’ for those who knowJ) and upstream we go at leisurely speed. We get to see giraffes, elephant, crocs and especially heaps of hippos. It’s amazing to see these huge creatures up so close! Since Steve had introduced me as such, the conversation shifts inevitably towards my ‘research’ and I make up that I do my private research in amphibians. Ooops! Bad choice I realize quickly, since the river guide proved to be pretty knowledgeable! He wanted to know what my findings were and what the outcome of my research has been so far, so I had to wiggle a bit to get away from that topic and prevent my nose from getting even longer…! After a free two-hour boat ride I thank the manager couple for their generosity, collect a filled up Francis from the kitchen and head north again, away from the Great Rufiji River.

It’s late in the afternoon and the vast barren area between Lake Tagalala and Lake Manze is just awesome to see in the twilight! In the setting sun the short, golden glowing grass stands in contrast to the low hanging, almost imposing blue grayish clouds and is only interspersed by long, scurrile shadows of the many dead trees standing guard resisting the elements. We try to cross one of the tributaries to Lake Manze on a badly hippo-trampled dirt track to get to a designated ‘public’ campsite, only to end up at a marshy area with too much water to cross. We turn around, drive a few hundred meters back and decide to bush camp at a beautiful spot encircled by fan palm trees in the shade of a big acacia tree. Not far away we find numerous scattered bones from a buffalo kill… like I imagined it was a night full of noises from the bush! Elephants trumpeting, lions roaring, hyenas howling!

· Wednesday, 25th of June, Selous Game Reserve to Selous River Camp

We go on a 3 hour walking Safari which is a great experience! Feels quite vulnerable being so exposed and trying to walk silently, alert about any beast that could possibly be lurking in the bush, waiting for the right opportunity to chase us down! Treading through the denser vegetation, Francis is especially cautious about buffalos which are known to be very aggressive and not as easy to spot as elephant. We get a close look at impala, waterbuck, wildebeest as well as elephants (from the distance!).

We take a detour which we found during our walk, avoiding the marshy section that stopped us yesterday and cross over towards Lake Manze, another one of the lakes that get fed by the Rufiji River. We disturb two buffalos which gallop across our track. Before reaching the sheltering bushes the second one stops abruptly, turns around (a handbrake u-turn couldn’t have been quicker!) stands there in all is might about 50 meters away, just staring at us with disapproval for what seemed an eternity and eventually, after a loud condemning blow disappears into the bush. Thank god we didn’t have this encounter on our walk this morning!

After passing Lake Nzerakera where we wake up what we thought to be a dead hippo (must have fallen fast asleep half-way out of the water!) we make our way to Mtemere Gate. A few kilometers short of the gate I spot some lionesses with cubs in a shady spot of a dry river bed, apparently their all time favorite location as I found out later (not from my ‘ranger’ though!).

I drop off Francis at Mtemere Gate, leave the reserve around 2pm and pitch my rooftop tent at the nearby Selous River Camp where I meet Alan and Andrea, a friendly New Zealand couple who rave about the Usambara mountains.

· Thursday, 26th of June, Selous River Camp to Kipepeo Beach, Dar Es Salaam

I still chat a while with the Kiwi couple and drive north east on the sandy track which finally meets the tar road in Kibiti.

With the help of Priscilla’s (almost) never fading voice I find my way safely to Kipepeo Beach, about 10 km south of Dar Es Salaam. It’s quite amazing experiencing the sandy palm tree lined beaches and the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean after a lengthy time in the bush! I join a crowd from an overland truck for drinks.

· Friday, 27th of June, Kipepeo Beach

After taking the crowded ferry from the Kigamboni Peninsular in the south, I hit the center of Dar Es Salaam to get some spare parts and a new battery for Anse. For a new battery I supposed to go to a place specialized in dry batteries in the outskirts of the city so I first run around doing my other errands in town: Getting gas bottle refilled, trying to find replacement for depleted watch battery, buy extension cable, new gas cooker top… It’s exhausting asking hundreds of people to find out where to get stuff but also fun to run around and explore the hidden corners of the city.

This city is buzzing with people and its Arabic influence apparent everywhere. I can’t resist eating in tiny Moslem lunch joints where I stick out like sore thump amongst the locals. The food here is superb! I’ve never ever eaten tastier samoosas before (no offence Jasmine!) served with a fresh coconut coriander dip and washed down with the strongest masala chai my already burning throat can take!

At the place recommended by Land Rover I get a new battery but my battery charge indicator shows that the new battery doesn’t get charged properly. Back to Land Rover but it’s already 5 pm, they are about to close, it’s better if you came back on Monday!

Thinking I could get some free wireless, I park off at the Mövenpick Hotel for a cup of coffee, unfortunately without the free connection I’d hoped for. At least the parking is secure and free so I head off a few blocks up the road to attend the weekly performance of traditional songs and dances at the Nyerere Cultural Center. I meet some German volunteers there who offer me joining them to go to this Casino in town where one gets free food as long as one spends some money gambling. So off we go stuffing our faces on a very delicious hot buffet only to loose more than the meal’s worth in roulette!

I have to wait a dreadful 1 ½ hours at the Kigamboni ferry before I get back to the camp that night.

· Saturday, 28th of June, Kipepeo Beach

Pretty much a laundry and cleaning day!

· Sunday, 29th of June, Kipepeo Beach to Kendwa Beach, Zanzibar

Hoping that Anse will be safe at the campsite, I strap my backpack stuffed with some basics to the carrier rack of my mountain bike and pedal the 10 km to the ferry then on to the meeting point of the guided Dar Es Salaam cycling tour I have booked. Quite a nice informative tour exploring some of the poorer areas of the city and combining it with having local chow in different places! The lunch after the 4 hour tour takes longer than planned and I speedily pedal to the other side of the city again in time to get the 4 o’clock ferry to Zanzibar.

Reaching Stone Town at 6 and leaving immigration about half hour later, it makes it a bit of a late start for my mission: Cycling to Kendwa Beach 60 km further north where I promised to meet Nacho, a Spanish guy I got to know among the overlanders in Kipepeo, in time to watch the European Soccer Cup final Germany vs. Spain!

The ride is surely a bit of a crazy idea in genuine Koch (Kirsty would’ve said ‘Volkernator’) style, but turns out to be truly amazing! I leave the hustle and bustle of Stone Town on the one major main road leading north, racing with daladalas (local taxis which on Zanzibar are trucks with benches) and competing for road space in between cars, motor bikes, Vespas, hand pulled carts, pedestrians and cyclists. No map, but I knew it was north and just short of Nungwi.

Even way outside Stone Town the road is still busy. Not so much with cars anymore but with lots of locals on their bikes or walking. The sun sets quickly and soon I am riding in the pitch dark, no streetlights. Only in the villages I pass the diffuse shine of Kerosene lamps show that there is still activity. I put my dim headlamp on. Seemingly not enough light for an oncoming cyclist without lights who almost crashes into me. To avoid him I pull both brakes as hard as I can and come to a standstill – only to hear the alarming screeching of non-gripping, worn-out brake pads and then the abrasive slithering of flip flops on the rough tarmac from another cyclist behind me! I carry on more cautiously, riding ‘by ear’! Some dry chain squeaking coming towards me, I bear more to the left – oops, there I can make out some people murmuring leisurely in front of me so I better keep to the center of the road again! Every now and then approaching cars’ brights produce long shadows of every road user, giving me a chance to adjust my path for a few hundred meters. To prevent another crash I start whistling a tune because my bike doesn’t squeak. Occasionally somebody shouts out of the darkness ‘Hey Mzungu! Jambo!’. No idea how they figure that out! Maybe it’s my pace or my strange looking headlamp. Or my silent bicycle?

Sometimes between the villages there is nobody. Not a soul on the road. Just me riding along past shadows of palm and banana trees under a beautiful starlit sky. There are some patches where I ride past a multitude of fireflies, flickering joyously on both sides of the road as if to brighten up my way. It’s like they are extending the starlit sky and embracing me in it! I get a sensation like I’m sitting in a roller coaster at lightning speed. And that without even smoking a joint J!

Some ‘squeak clank, squeak clank, squeak clank’ and the purr of a dynamo approaching from behind. Linked to two Zanzibaris pedaling hastily towards me, the one’s erratic front light creating my own shadow on the tarmac. ‘Jambo! Where from? Where to?’ The two set a fast pace and we chase each other for a few kilometers until they have enough of me. A few kilometers further I catch up to another cyclist. ‘Jambo! Kendwa?’ I ask pointing straight ahead. The guy doesn’t understand, but I follow him anyway. Should be on the right track here or maybe not? At one of the villages he suddenly stops and points left towards a turn off, then calls another chap from the street who makes me understand in broken English that this is the turn off I have to take to Kendwa!

3 ½ hours after leaving Stone Town I make it pretty exhausted to the Sunset Bungalows on Kendwa Beach, just in time to meet Nacho and the overlander crowd for the European Soccer Cup final. Too bad but the strong Spanish team wins deservingly!

· Monday, 30th of June, Kendwa Beach, Zanzibar

I do a refresher course in diving at the dive school next door.

· Tuesday, 1st of July (My birthday!), Kendwa Beach, Zanzibar

As a birthday present to myself I go for a dive at the north eastern part of the island. It’s amazing to see the underwater world here and amongst many beautiful fish and anemones we are also privileged to spot a turtle which is more curious than scared and lets us approach her closely.

With the present of my dive also comes what seems to be an infection of my right ear! So I hop onto my MTB and ride to the neighboring village Nungwi 6 km further north. Miraculously there is a tiny pharmacy and the ear drops kill the pain at least for now.

· Wednesday, 2nd of July, Kendwa Beach, Zanzibar

A chill day. I would love to rent one of the Hobie Cats which I spot in the resort next door but at Euro 30 per hour I don’t feel like supporting their business plus my right ear doesn’t need more water right now. Instead my dive master gets me hooked onto a local drink called ‘Dawa’ which literally translated means medicine! With a double shot of local ‘Konyagi’ spirits, lime and honey it definitely makes the pain in my right ear more bearable!

Talking with a few true Zanzibaris I learn how unsatisfied they are with the fact that Zanzibar has formed a union with Tanzania. They are still proud Zanzibaris even if their home country has only a pseudo president but with no real power.

· Thursday, 3rd of July, Kendwa Beach to Stone Town, Zanzibar

I leave around noon and cycle the 60 km back to Stone Town. The air is humid with some showers. After riding for a few kilometers and scrutinizing other local men on bicycles, I decide (despite the heat) to zip my pant’s legs back on again so that I don’t offend the local Moslem community. I somehow feel more comfortable that way and it also seems like the locals are less reserved towards me. It’s great and again different to see in the daytime what I went past in the dark. Now there are crowds and crowds of school kids on their way home in their uniforms, the girls all in long dark dresses and white veils. And I can tell that on Zanzibar every inch of soil gets used for growing something!

I arrive on the outskirts of Stone Town and stop at a street vendor who serves me a delicious drink of sugar cane, ginger and lime freshly squeezed through his hand operated press. It totally reminds me of my favorite juice bar on Union Square in New York, where I had tasted this yummy drink for the first time. Weird to be sipping the taste of Zanzibar combined with memories of New York in one drink!

After looking at the rooms of the very nice but pricy Malindi Guesthouse, I decide to look at the close by Bandari Lodge. As I stand at the reception desk enquiring about the price I bump into Eva who Kirsty and I had met at the Ruaha NP picnic spot!

Together we walk the maze of Stone Town, have a freshly brewed cup of Arabica at Jaws Corner and later meet up with Eva’s travel friend Nick and Lori to have delicious street food at the Forodhani Gardens market. We later on go for drinks at the posh, sea facing Africa House Hotel and hear apart from the solo background musician also all about Lori’s relationship misery. Our attempt to find a cool local joint with a life band later on ends in a dodgy bar where we can bear it only for one Kili.

· Friday, 4th of July, Stone Town, Zanzibar

I have breakfast in the street in true local style: Freshly fried chapattis wrapped in islamic newspaper and a thin, sweetish spicy porridge, I guess made of maize or millet. When paying the old veiled lady it takes her a while to get a plastic bag of change out of the hiding place in her baggy bra...! Then I go onto an organized spice tour which really gives an amazing insight about how spices look in their growing form! By our very knowledgeable guide we get shown ginger and turmeric (curcuma) roots, pepper corns, vanilla pods, clove flowers, cardamom seeds, nutmeg and cinnamon bark. We also get to taste jack fruit, star fruit, Seville and navel oranges, mandarins, flesh of the cocoa fruit, ruby grapefruit and numerous other weird but wonderful tasting fruit.

Back in Stone Town I hit the maze of streets again. This time I am on the hunt for a locally made batik shirt. I find a great one, but it doesn’t fit, so the shop owner drags me to another store where I try another one that fits, but I don’t like it! A local chap, one of the many ‘leeches’ wondering around in Stone Town, had been watching me and latches on to help me find a batik shirt. After visiting numerous clothing stores unsuccessfully he suggests looking for batik fabric and giving it to a tailor to have a shirt made. Having a shirt made for me sounds a bit extravagant but I am curious to see what fabrics are available here and after all a custom made shirt would indeed be a unique souvenir of Zanzibar! Before heading off for the fabric hunt we have another cup of Arabica at Jaws Corner where I can’t resist ordering 30 of those delicious diamond shaped peanut/coconut fudges (sweet and yummy with coffee!) with the lady that makes them, hoping that I’ll find my way back to her door again tomorrow in this labyrinth of alleys!

Once I have visited the slave cells and the slave market on which the Anglican Cathedral was built, I follow my guide to the ‘real’ local market where the Zanzibaris shop for fabrics. Browsing through bundles and bundles of beautiful batik fabrics, I still can’t find the one I was looking for. Instead I find another really interesting one in dark brown with a yellowish glowing tie dye pattern that reminds me of flames in a campfire. After bargaining the price I buy the fabric and before I know it my guide takes me to three of his tailor friends all of whom say that they’d love to make a shirt for me, but because of a planned power outage tomorrow morning they would not finish it in time for me to collect it before my ferry departure back to Dar at noon. I leave it at that, had enough of shopping for the day, remunerate my guide and head for a sundowner up onto the roof top restaurant of the Hurumzi Hotel which boasts the most amazing views over Stone Town. When ordering a dawa I notice that the barman is wearing a nicely cut shirt and ask him if he knows where it was tailored. Two minutes later I put a piece of paper in my wallet with the name of the Hotel’s own tailor scribbled on. ‘Be here tomorrow morning at 8! He’ll sort you out!’ says the barman. Power outage? He grins about my concern and says: ‘This hotel has the biggest generator in Stone Town! You don’t need to worry!’
Two German volunteers Sophie and Jan from Münster who I’ve met at the spice tour join me for a drink up on the rooftop. When the fancy crowds arrive for their pre-booked dinners we leave and walk to Forodhani Gardens devouring one of the delicious ‘Zanzibar Pizzas’, a concoction of chopped onions and tomatoes, spicy ground beef all mixed with an egg, wrapped into a thin, square pizza base and then fried from both sides – delish! The same afterwards with a sweet filling for desert (banana and chocolate), all washed down with fresh sugar cane juice, it’s a feast! With our stomachs lined we head for the Livingstone bar where we can sit right on the beach.

· Saturday, 5th of July, Stone Town to Kipepeo Beach

At 8 ‘o clock I enter the Hurumzi Hotel and ask for the tailor at the reception desk. He’s not there yet so I go find my 30 diamond shaped fudges and after some challenging navigating in the maze collect them successfully from the woman’s house. Back to Hurumzi where I finally meet the tailor. It’s almost 9 ‘o clock, my ferry leaves at 12! No problem, he can make it and confidently takes my measurements in his tiny workshop. Zap! The power goes off as predicted and we walk to the Hotel’s courtyard watching the guys getting the generator going. 15 minutes later diesel fumes fill the court yard and the power is back on. Some final discussions with the tailor on how to place the tie dyed part on the sleeves, back and front and then I leave him to it.

One last time I explore the main local market. Fruit, vegetables, spices neatly presented to the crowds of eventual buyers. Passing through the fish market makes me sad as I see two huge beautiful marlins and a manta ray cut up. The meat market is pretty much like watching a horror movie! Half cows still dripping of blood, a goat’s head just sitting on the counter, a cow’s head with the skull pealed backwards revealing brain and all! By 11:30 I am cured of exploring the markets and after a quick lunch at one of the local joints next to Mercury’s I head back to the Hurumzi Hotel’s tailor who is already ironing and folding my new shirt! Wow, am I impressed! After all things do get done here as promised! I quickly try it on. It fits and looks pretty eclectic but beautiful and definitely not ordinary! Once I also get my torn fleece mended, I pay the tailor for his excellent job and hurry to the ferry on my bike, new shirt, fresh spices, yummy cookies and all!

Zanzibar! I am missing you already!

· Sunday, 6th of July, Kipepeo Beach

One of those cleaning, washing and diary days!

· Monday, 7th of July (Traders Day in Tanzania), Kipepeo Beach

I had planned to go into Dar to have my alternator checked by Land Rover, but it is public holiday, so everything is closed.

· Tuesday, 8th of July, Sunrise Beach

I head to Land Rover where my alternator proves to be okay, but according to their digital battery gadget my new battery seems to be faulty! So back to the battery place, to have battery changed, back to Land Rover to find the same result! We find it odd, change some of the values in their digital gadget and all of a sudden the battery is fine! Must be a typo or wrong sticker on the battery! I am not convinced but leave it at that anyway. I also bump into Andy Weller (www.AnAdventure.info) again who is waiting for his Defender to be finished which gives me some time to hear about his travels through Ethiopia.

That afternoon I change campsite to the Sunrise Beach Camp next to Kipepeo which is quieter, has a friendlier staff and comes at only 4000 Tshillings a night! This place seems to entice everybody longer than planned (including me!) with its beautiful palm lined sandy beach, neat facilities, good Indian food and cheap bar!

I also meet plenty of other overlanders there, amongst them Uwe and Nicole who came down through Tunisia and Libya from Germany in their converted Merc truck (www.karifa.de). Then there are Chris and Leon George from the UK (www.traveleor.com/chrisleongeorge) who are going north on a similar route like me in their Defender as well as two South African girls Stacey and Tina who are backpacking north!

· Wednesday, 9th of July, Sunrise Beach

Back into town to have Priscilla (my GPS) seen to. She keeps on freezing on me and my friend Bessie seems to have a contact in Dar that can sort it out! Unfortunately the GPS doesn’t get fixed, but I get quite a few other things done including getting hold of a new road atlas and a rechargeable spot light. My right ear seems still blocked since my birthday so I drive to the Aga Khan hospital to have it checked. Their ear, nose and throat specialist is gone home so they refer me to another clinic on the outskirts of the city. By that time it’s getting dark and I am lucky to have a helpful driver of a delivery truck lead me the way all there! After a long wait I can see the Masai Dr. Ole who looks at my ears and prescribes me some nose spray and tablets that come in folded recycled paper sachets. At least he says my eardrum is not ruptured, which is good news!

Back to the campsite after another dreadful wait at the Kigamboni ferry. On the way there Kirsty calls from Cape Town and has decided to join me again this time all the way to Europe! She will fly into Dar on July 26.

· Thursday, 10th until 15th of July, Sunrise Beach

The next couple of days I feel pretty exhausted. Not sure if it’s the medication, my ear or just this place that makes me mellow.

Stacey and Tina got a nice fish from the market and invite me for a braai. The girls get the fire going, salad prepared, the fish gutted and stuffed in no time – impressive! Soon the table is laid on the beach and we are munching away on a delicious feast! The super friendly security guard appears out of nowhere with a heap of firewood and we sit around the camp fire playing a couple of rounds of Uno. The pleasant evening gets rounded off with coffee and biscuits. The next day I bid the girls farewell as they leave to catch their train to Mwanza.

Wednesday, 16th of July, Sunrise Beach to Bagamoyo

For the last couple of days I have now rested enough and want to see some new things before I head back to Dar to fetch Kirsty. I say goodbye to Uwe and Nicole (www.karifa.de) who are also packing up to spend a few days on Zanzibar.

After updating my blog at the main post office in the center of Dar, I drive to Bagamoyo where I stay in one of the many beach resorts.

Thursday, 17th of July, Bagamoyo to Amani Nature Reserve, East Usambara Mountains

Bagamoyo has a bizarre feel to it. Dilapidated ruins, remains from the German East African era, an arty side by craftsmen showing colorful contemporary paintings and wood carvings in the streets mixed with the tranquil charm and filth of a working fishing town. After paying tribute to eight German soldiers of the colonial ‘Schutztruppe’ who all fell in 1889 during the uprising of the Abushiri rebels and are buried at a neglected cemetery right next to the beach, I get back onto the road, heading north to the Amani Nature Reserve in the East Usambara Mountains where Rene, who I met a few weeks ago as part of the casino crowd in Dar Es Salaam, is doing research for her masters by interviewing villagers. Amani supposed to be one of two diversity hotspots in the world (the other one is somewhere in Uganda), boasting the highest density of endemic plant and animal species per sqkm!

At Muheza I follow a dirt road which takes me up the Usambara Mountains to the Sigi Gate where I pay a once-off $ 30 entry fee. From here the track through the rain forest gets surprisingly muddy with deep ruts and it takes a hair raising low-range maneuver to pass an oncoming sugar cane truck. After Rene introduces me to her house mates I pitch my rooftop tent at the camp site of a nearby guesthouse where we both sit down for dinner.

Friday, 18th of July, Amani Nature Reserve, East Usambara Mountains

In the morning I go for a long guided walk with one of Rene’s friends. Even though the weather is not playing its part with the odd shower pouring down, I enjoy walking through the tranquil village of Amani and the dense rain forests, past many exotic looking trees and waterfalls. Pretty pooped from the walk, I spend the late afternoon reading in my tent. After dinner I go for another guided walk, this time armed with torches on the hunt for tree frogs and chameleons!
It takes some time to spot these buggars though! After an hour of getting to see the odd frog but no chameleons, my guide’s skills finally prevail and within a short time he spots three different species of chameleon in the dim beam of his torch, one of which is a male of the three horned one which is endemic only in this area (it doesn’t even exist in the West Usambaras!). On our way back to Amani village we walk past the research center where I had already seen a bunch of busy researchers in the afternoon. Now it was almost 10 pm and they still seemed intensely busy, hovering around like a bunch of bees! I find out from their coordinator that they are young biologists from all parts of the world, participating in a project organized by some Tropical Botanical Association. They formed nine teams each of which took on a different topic for their short research in Amani NR. Today is their last night before their presentations, I am invited to sit in tomorrow if I am interested says the coordinator!

Saturday, 19th of July, Amani Nature Reserve

I am pretty curious what each team’s 15 minute presentation will be about so I follow the invitation and learn about how light and slope affects the distribution of invasive plant species, how the throat’s brightness of a certain frog species affects their built and strength, how butterflies react to different color flowers of the same plant, how moth’s camouflaging adapts to different environments and about the growth of tree plants on local and invasive trees…only to name a few. Totally fascinating what these guys have come up with in their time-limited research! Some results turned out like predicted while others in turned out quite unexpectedly, triggering topics for possible further research.

It’s nice to hang out with the biologists and they kindly sort of adopt me for the day. After lunch I meet them down at the community soccer field where they play against the local league. The biologists win 4:3!

Rene invites me for supper at her house and I get introduced to her friend Theron, who has done a feasibility study about butterfly farming in Amani NR a few years ago, set up the project and then handed it over to the community. It has now being running profitably for a couple of years and basically involves farming butterfly pupae and exporting them to Zoos and ‘Butterfly Worlds’ in Europe and the US. Theron invites me to come and see the collection and dispatch of pupae from the different farmers tomorrow.

We finish up dinner and after a wild ride on the back of Theron’s motorbike, I get dropped of at the research center where the biologist’s party is already in full swing. Free drinks and good music (after organizing the proper cable for the many students’ ipods) gets everybody dancing and for once awakens this otherwise so sleepy place.

Sunday, 20th of July, Amani NR to Tembo Camp, between Same and Korogwe

I meet Theron at a small village some 5 km drive through the thick forest where they collect and dispatch the butterfly pupae. Two guys arrive on a motorbike, one of them with a cooler bag over his shoulder. The bag gets opened and out come numerous containers with different species of butterfly pupae, embedded in cotton wool. The different shapes and colors of pupae astonish me, they are really one of the most extraordinary natural things I’ve ever seen! Each species has its own weird and wonderful shape. Some have a camouflage look and totally resemble a little twig covered in moss, other pupae of the same species have different colors because they take on the color of different backgrounds which they attach themselves to, and again others have strikingly beautiful gold metallic shells which could well be put into a jeweler’s showcase if they didn’t wiggle every now and then! An assortment of pupae gets put together for each client and neatly packed into DHL boxes with layers of cotton wool in between them. I am glad I witnessed this amazing experience, say goodbye to Theron and Rene, make my way back onto the tar road again and stay at the not very spectacular Tembo Camp between Same and Korogwe.


Monday, 21st of July, Tembo Camp to Arusha

I head to Arusha, where I have my rear springs replaced for heavy duty ones at CMC Landrover. In the evening I meet up for drinks with Wieke and her boyfriend, whose contact I got from the Dutch mobile workshop mechanic Henry I met in Iringa. Wieke started her own business making colorful lamp shades made of wire and parchment goat skin which look really stunning and create a cozy atmosphere (www.kiwieke.com). We have dinner at Masai Camp where I also stay that night.

Tuesday, 22nd of July, Arusha to Alan’s house 25 km outside Arusha

I try to get onto an organized tour into Ngorongoro since self driving is way too expensive for a foreign registered vehicle (a whooping $400 for two people to get down to the Ngorongoro Crater!), but abandon the plan after calling a couple of tour operators. It seems like joining a group that has the same route plan is not that easy while hiring a vehicle just for me is too costly.

Besides that I decide to change my front springs to heavy duty ones as well since Anse looks a little bit like a tuned-up stock racing car with only the rear raised! At both, Land Rover and Bosch I try to sort out my battery discharging problem without much of a result. At least Anse looks and feels more stable now with the new springs fitted and I spend the night at Alan and Andrea’s house (a couple I have met outside Selous) 25 km outside Arusha. We have a fabulous evening and get pretty wasted on the local spirits concoction called ‘Dawa’ (made of sugar cane spirit Konyagi, honey and lime).

Wednesday, 23rd of July, 25 km outside Arusha to Lushoto, West Usambara Mountains

I have breakfast with Alan and Andrea and am on the road just after 7. In Mombo I turn off the highway and take the windy road up into the West Usambara Mountains past Soni to Lushoto, but not before buying some cheese, banana wine and jam at the Montessori Training Center of the Usambara Sister’s Convent. At the Tourist Information I book a guided hike for tomorrow, combining the Irente View Point with a walk to the Magamba Rain Forest. Having quite a few options between guesthouses, I decide to stay at the campsite of the Lawns Hotel and have dinner at the Tomaini Restaurant where I meet Bernd, a German researcher doing his PHD in agrarian change here. His topic is actually related to my in Amani staying friend Rene, so I get the two hooked up.

Thursday, 24th of July, Lushoto, West Usambara Mountains

At 7 am I meet Jonathan, a German fellow, and our guide Kevin at the Tourist Information. The hike takes us into the lush and mountainous surroundings of Lushoto, past some real German looking houses reminding us of colonial history, through vegetable patches into the Magamba Rain Forest. If it wasn’t for the banana trees one could well think to be in the German Alps! A highlight is definitely the lunch at Irente Farm where they serve home made German style rye bread, cheese, ‘Quark’ (cottage cheese) and yummy passion fruit jam. Breathtaking sweeping views from the escarpment at Irente Viewpoint round off the awesome hike.


Friday, 25th of July, Lushoto to Sunrise Beach, Dar Es Salaam

I am on the road by 7 am and give Jonathan a lift to Segera from where he will make his own way to Tanga. Around 2 pm I reach Dar Es Salaam and see the German mechanic Frank who has a look at my battery problem. He doesn’t really find anything but thinks that the old weaker battery sucks the new battery dry overnight.

Back at Sunrise Beach I see Uwe and Nicole’s truck parked under the palm trees again, but they seem to be gone out, so I say hello to another overlander couple (www.onewaysouth.com) who are on their way to their home country South Africa from the UK. I join them for dinner and listen to their epic travel experience in Libya.