Now that we had a new truck, s new guide and a bunch of new people joining us, it felt like one trip had finished and now a new one was beginning.
In the morning of the 29th day of our 77-day trip we said a sad farewell to our guide Wawero and our beloved truck Makako and took a group photo. We then crammed into the truck and started our journey towards Kilimanjaro. In the new truck we are now rotating seats everyday, as the last two rows are so close together that it’s very uncomfortable to sit there, so everyone has to take a turn. Luckily we are only going to be 28 people until Zanzibar, after that we can use a couple of seats in the bag for storage, as the storage lockers in this truck are much smaller than in the previous one and there’s no space between seats for backpacks, pillows and food bags. There also was a cooler box on the corridor blocking the way to the back rows, but we swapped it for a smaller box from the old truck that we could cram in the space next to the fridge.
In the old truck I had plenty of space as I had two seats just for myself, from now on I would be sitting next to my tent mate Marie, luckily we are both small people as it was our turn to sit in the back seats. In addition to it being very crammed back there, you also can’t really see outside if you are sitting on the aisle seat. It was clear we would miss our old truck a lot!
On the way to Maranga we stopped in town to do some shopping in the supermarket and then proceeded onto a local market to buy some fruit and veg. It was an interesting experience, previously our guide used to do all the fruit and veg shopping, so it was a nice change to have the group involved in it. I bought some mangos and avocados and paid way more than our guide did when he bought the same stuff, ha ha. Mzungu prices…
We arrived in our camp site in Maranga that was supposed to have a view over to Kilimanjaro, but the sky was completely overcast and it soon started raining very heavily. I handwashed my laundry and hung it onto the line while it was still pouring rain, at least they got rinsed properly. It was then time to start cooking as it was my team’s turn to do the cooking. We had bought stuff to make carbonara, but as we couldn’t agree on the recipe (cream or no cream) we decided to make pasta with bacon and tomato sauce instead. It turned out to be absolutely delicious, easily the best meal we’ve had so far! Unfortunately we underestimated the amount of food needed and we ran out before everyone got to eat and had to make more. Our previous guide was a very good cook and was always helping us in the kitchen, telling us excactly what to do and how much of each ingredient we would need. Now we are pretty much left to our own devices, which takes some getting used to as none of us have never cooked for thirty people before!
The next day was quite uneventful. A bunch of people took the hike to the base camp of Kilimanjaro, but it was quite expensive so I opted for a guided walk to a nearby waterfall instead. However, as the day was very hot and a bunch of us walked into the village to kill some time, afterwards I felt so hot that I decided to skip the walk in the afternoon and instead sit in the shade and write my blog. I managed to finish it but the wi-fi was not working properly so I could not publish it. This was now becomming a recurring theme, every time I finish writing my blog it takes from three days to a week to find a wi-fi connection strong enough to upload the photos. T.I.A. – This Is Africa!
The next morning we left early for an 11 hour drive towards Bagamoyo, and eventually Zanzibar. At the start of our drive the clouds parted for a few minutes and we finally got a sneak peek of the peak of the highest mountain in Africa. It was my turn to sit on the aisle seat and I spent the day staring at the ceiling. It was indeed a very long drive… Soon it becomes clear we are getting close to the coast as it starts getting very humid, and coconut palms start appearing everywhere. At least at the end we were rewarded with a really nice camp site in Bagamoyo, complete with a lovely bar area with a small pool in the middle. I comforted myself after the uncomfortable bus ride with a passion fruit mojito and a rum and cola, before we were served a candle light dinner of chicken and rice in the garden. It was hot and very, very humid, and we spent a very sweaty night, eager to get to Zanzibar the next day!
It’s a couple of hours drive to the ferry terminal in Dar es Salaam in the morning, and then we have to carry our bags for a few blocks to reach the terminal. We buy the cheapest economy class tickets available and are surprised when after lugging our bags through security when we are escorted to the first class lounge. White privilege I suppose…
I didn’t get much sleep the night before because of the heat and humidity so I sleep most of the ferry ride to Zanzibar, which is a win for me as I usually can’t sleep sitting upright! On shore we clamper onto a minibus and are delighted to find it has air-condition! Most of us sleep the whole way through to Kendwa, a village in the north of the island where we’ll be spending three nights. The resort is really nice and located right on the beach. We are put in twin rooms, although the ond that me and Marie get is actually a triple. It has air-conditioning and a big bathroom with a hot water boiler for each room, and when I notice that there is no fridge in the room I go back to the reception and soon one is installed. We get dinner in a local restaurant called Fisherman’s. Service is slow and the fish is dry, but it’s cheap and we have a good time anyway. I mean, how could you be unhappy on a paradise island?!
In the morning I head down to the beach for breakfast and frustrate over trying to get an iced latte. After three different waiters and two wrong orders later I finally get an espresso and a glass with ice and milk. I still need to walk to the bar to get a bigger glass though as there is not enough room in the glass to put the coffee in. I’m convinced the staff there hates me there by now. It’s then time for my optional activity, dolphine cruise. Me and a few others get in a small boat and head out into the ocean. The sea is a bit rough and we go pretty fast and it’s all a good fun! We find the dolphines after a while, and it’s quite hilarious as we try to guess where they are going, speed up to get in front of them and then our spotter yells ”JUMP IN NOW NOW NOW” when the dolphins are coming our way. I don’t go in as I can’t swim and the sea is quite rough, but others report to me that there are about 30 dolphins below the surface, and the water is full of something dlimy which we assume to be plankton. There are also jellyfish that keep stinging us, I get stung as well when I dangle my feet in the water. It only burns slightly for a few minutes, but is an annoyance anyhow. We leave the dolphins to go near a small island to snorkle and eat some fruit, but I can’t eat as I’m feeling quite seasight at this point. We then go back to look for the dolphins and I soend the next hours staring at the horizon, which helps with the nausea.
After the dolphin cruise we have a few free hours, and at four thirty it’s time for booze cruise! We hop on board a really cool wooden sailboat, and spend the next few hours lounging on the sun deck, while some locals entertain us by playing drums. It’s so much more awesome than our last booze cruise in Uganda! Afterwards I’m so tired after the long day that I just eat an avocado salad in the bar and go to bed.
The next morning some of us opt for a visit in a local turtle sanctuary. We spend a few hours in a pool with about thirty sea turtles, feeding them seaweed. A worker in the sanctuary tells us they’re all going to be released in the ocean in a few days, and I hope that it is true. After the sanctuary visit it’s time for lunch, I’m eager to go for a restaurant nearby called Essence, which has great reviews online. Unfortunately everyone else is in mood for Italian, but I’m stubborn and decide to go to Essence even if I have to go by myself. John decides to ho with me, and when we find it we are surprised to see that the rest of the group is heading there as well! Apparently the Itsluan place only served pizzas, and we end up having a nice group meal, and the paneer makhani with rice with fried onion and garlic naan bread I order is the best Indian meal I’ve ever had! Big thumbs up to this place!
I spend the rest of the afternoon hiding in my room being anxious out my mind. I’m bipolar so sometimes this just happens. I guess you can be unhappy on a paradise island! Later I go to the bar as I really need to back up some pictures, although I’m really not in the mood to talk to anyone. The wi-fi is slow and I sit there until midnight, but at least I manage to upload all my photos to the cloud.
Day 35 arrives and it’s time to say goodbye to the tourqoise waters and our paradise beach. We’re a bit sad to leave, it would be easy to spend a few more days, or weeks, or years in here! We head on a nearby spice farm for a spice tour. It starts raining and rains pretty much all the way through our tour, but at least it’s warm and the tour is informative snd interesting. I also buy a small bottle of locally made perfume called Zanzibar Mix for five dollars. We then head to Stone Town for our final night’s accommodation in a guest house in the old town. The options fir optional activities are either a visit to Prison Island for snorkling and to see giant tortoises, or a guided walk in the Old Town. I opt for the latter as we’ve just been spending three days on the beach, and tortoises are not that different from turtles, which I’ve already seen. The tour us really interesting I enjoy it a lot despite it being a very hot day, and I sweat more than I’ve ever sweat before! We visit a local market and a site where slave auctions used to take place. In the evening I go to a nearby restaurant and order a meal, and after a 45 minute wait I inquire about my order and it turns out they forgot to pass the order to the kitchen and that the thing I ordered is actually not available. I’m too tired at this point to order more food so I go back to the guest house and have a pack of biscuits for dinner.
We gather our things and carry our bags to the ferry terminal the next day. It’s a very hot day as usual and our white privilege doesn’t work this time and are one of the last ones to board the ferry, but manage to find seats in the air conditioned area anyway, whew! We have another 11 hour drive ahead of us today, and the first 30km takes us 1,5 hours as the traffic in Dar es Salaam is bad. It’s really hot, the air doesn’t move inside the truck as we are going so slow and the windows are small, and the sun is shining directly to my seat I’m pretty much 99% sweat at this point. It’s already late when we arrive at our overnight stop. I can’t remember the name of the village or the campsite, but I remember the names of the four very friendly dogs resident to the camp, they were Lucky, Whisky, Rusty and Chewy. I’m sitting in the bar and nearly have a heart attack when a gigantic falls on my chest from the ceiling. After the initial shock I decide it’s very cute and we sit side by side on the couch in peace.
The next day is just a driving day, after 9 hour drive we arrive in a campsite in the pouring rain and rent a cabin for 20$ per person. My bed is absolutely amazing and I have the best sleep in Africa and I’m gutted to wake up at 4.30am. We leave at 6am and only after a 30min drive we have to stop because there has been a four truck collision just minutes before and the wreckages are blocking the road. We watch as a petrol truck helps to clear one of the trucks away and one of our group members gives some medical assistance to the injured, as she is a nurse and has a first aid kit. We thank our lucky stars that we weren’t there a few minutes earlier when we could’ve been one of the trucks affected, and that the petrol truck also wasn’t one of them! We later find out that one of drivers died, but that’s no surprise after seeing how badly mangled the cabin of that truck was.
We continue to the border. Getting out of Tanzania is a breeze, getting in to Malawi takes a few hours. We arrive to the camp site 15 hours later and I don’t hesitate a second when I hear that a single cabin upgrade is only five dollars. I go to sleep feeling a bit sad that as the day 38 comes to an end, half of our 77-day trip is already behind us.
Jenni's Africa 