Back into South Africa

We slowly packed up at Big Five Safaris Lodge and headed south for Nata, we were just out of town when I saw a huge kudu bull alongside the road, it was going to be a good game viewing day.  We had hardly left the town when we started seeing elephants and saw them constantly for the rest of the day.  Although lovely to see these gentle giants we have been told that they are a major problem to the country since the hunting in Botswana has been closed.  The total destruction of huge tracts of land is a very real indication of this.

We had decided to spend the night at a camp called Elephant Sands and we arrived at the turn off and headed to the camp, the gravel road was ok but not great and eventually it turned into thick sand, I managed the loose gravel and some of the sand but when it got really thick I decided to slow it down.
We arrived at the camp to find a very different camp from the last time we had been there in 2008, where there was a large number of trees and grass we were greeted by a desert! Not one tree in sight and white thick sand everywhere, apparently the elephants have destroyed every tree and blade of grass.  We walked around and looked at the barren landscape and decided that with our little tent with no shade we would carry onto Nata Safari Lodge, so back down the sandy track and onto the tar heading to Nata and Nata Lodge.  We arrived there to find a great shaded camp with good facilities.  We had a fairly late start because it was cold and decided that we were not in a great rush.

We had been warned that the road south of Nata was very bad and we encountered small sections of badly potholed road, slowing the traffic down a lot but on the whole it was plain sailing.  Ralph had phoned us to say that he would try and arrange for us to spend sometime on his family-in-laws farm along the Limpopo  River, the border between Botswana and South Africa.  He sent us co-ordinates for the gate and the camp and we set off.  We stopped in Francistown to buy food for the next two days, I battled to find decent meat and went from the Shoprite (South African brand) to the Spar, I eventually found enough food for the next two days.  We squashed everything into the panniers and bags on the bikes and hoped that it would not be too badly squashed.

New roads around the shopping area in Francistown had our GPS’s confused and we went around and around and we eventually spotted the more upmarket shopping centre with a Woolies Food! Too bad everything had been bought.

Good roads led us to the farm and we turned off the tar road onto a two track gravel road, luckily Ralph knows his mothers capabilities and and the road was sandy but good, about 6km to the next gate of good farm roads.  As we arrived at the camp the the sand was extremely thick and soft and I slowed down for the last 15m.

We arrived at the camp and we were met by Petrus, a wonderfully welcoming Zimbabwean managing the Kwalata Camp.  We were blown away by the beauty and tranquility of the camp and we had the whole place to ourselves! Five star luxury! A warm comfortable CLEAN bed and a wonderful shower.  The kitchen was made available and we cooked a very simple meal and sat outside listening to the night noises and then headed for bed and a good warm nights sleep.  We were starting with the real cold, the next morning was 6 degrees!

We had a wonderful slow start to the morning and a walk on the farm, Larry was thrilled with the number of birds that were moving around the area.  During the afternoon Petrus took us on a game drive and we saw lots of animals, the farm was dry but still plenty of grazing.

The next morning Petrus told us we could take a short cut through the next door farm and we would come out at the Martins Drift border post.  Fairly straight gravel farm tracks and 6km later we were at the border post, no-one else was awake yet and we were the only people there and then onto out final border crossing into South Africa at Grobler’s bridge.  The customs official said they hardly ever get people crossing with a Carnet, so I helped him complete the forms and 25 minutes later for both border posts we were back on home ground.  A good feeling but also a sad moment as we knew our journey was coming to an end.

We had made arrangements to meet with Larry’s brother, Shaun and his girlfriend Ingrid,  just outside Rustenburg.  Good roads and well sign posted made the trip a easy run until just outside Rustenburg where we met with the first of three long Stop / Go.  This held us up by about 20 minutes, but we arrived just in time for the braai, Shaun and Ingrid fed us really well and we spent a pleasant afternoon with them and then headed to Hartebeespoort to our daughter in law.  Ralph was coming home for about 24 hours and we were thrilled to be able to see him the next morning.

We arrived at Winandi and Ralph's home and Mr and Mrs Fokker joined us for a very pleasant meal out. The next morning we went with Nandi to Lanseria Airport to fetch Ralph, we had a quick breakfast with the two of them and packed our bikes to head to Bloemfontein.  It was wonderful seeing both of them, Larry had last seen them in November last year in Dubai.  At 11am we climbed back on our bikes and had a smooth trip to Bloemfontein, we had booked into Bain’s Game Lodge because we knew it was going to be very cold and it was, when we woke the next morning there was lots of frost about.

Our next destination was Hammonds Farm, Fort Beaufort, to visit Amy and her family, we only left Bloemfontein at about 9am, trying to evade the bitter cold.  With layers of clothes on we set off, after about an hour and a half we stopped to put our rain gear on, not because of rain but to try and stop the cold, it helped but we were still bitterly cold.  The wind was horrible with us riding at a 45 degree angle at times and bouncing around like champagne corks when a big on coming truck was level with us.  Eventually when we got to Queenstown it started to warm up, going to the Nico Malan Pass we could feel a distinct difference and coming down the escarpment meant that the wind got less and less.

Amy and Charles had been forewarned that we were close and we met Charles and Matty at the top gate of the farm, Matty decided that he wanted to ride with Larry and there was only just enough room for him between Larry and the black bag containing our camping gear.  Much excitement as we arrived at the house!

During the night there were a few rain showers (not much, the Eastern Cape is suffering one of the most severe droughts in memory) and the next morning spots of rain were still about so back on with our rain suits and the last 100km to Grahamstown and home.

28 June. 2017
We were in luck, we didn't get wet just cold and as we arrived home the gate opened, Murphy rushed out to meet us and nearly bowled me off my bike, what a welcome home.  Granny Eth and Kitty Fat gave us a much more sedate welcome, Granny was thrilled to see us and Kitty Fat was terrified of us in our biking gear.

It is always great to be home but it is also sad to finish a long planned trip and we have a sense of what now???????????

Bikes have been washed and cleaned and parked in the hanger and will be taken out on regular runs for the next few months…… until our next big adventure!!

Thanks to everyone who helped us logistically, emotionally and just followed us on the blog, it is always great knowing that people are out there interested in what we are doing.  Until next time.

Larry and Sharon

Botswana

We spent three nights in Russell’s camp, the camp is really great, lots of big trees and very comfy chalets with en-suite bathrooms and plenty of hot water.  We also had three meals a day which is unusual for us on these bike trips because it is so difficult to carry food and often difficult to find food in remote villages.  Jo and Calvin,  the camp managers were fantastic and went out of their way to help us find accommodation and even sent food with us when we eventually left.
Russell took us for a long drive around the concession and there is lots of mopani bush and huge trees, it is hilly and very remote.  Larry is determined that a runway has to be built in front of the lodge so that we can fly over the area.  Russell did his trike license a few years ago but has not maintained it, so that is a good job for us in July when we get home.  We are looking forward to a trip up there with a microlight!!
We saw lots of animal spore but very few animals and Russell assured us that this was normal, this is proper hunting and not culling or shooting.  Plenty of birds and he is keen to get some birding safaris going there.
At one stage we landed up on the old national road, a twee spore track leading to the closest village of Zumba, the negative side of things up there is the corruption of the local leaders, they want meat all the time and expect the hunting camps to provide them with this.  Hippo is a firm favorite and there are plenty of them.  The river is teaming with hippo and huge crocs.
Elephant, lion, hyena and hippo often move through the camp,  unfortunately we didn't get to see them while we were there.
After all our laundry was done for us and our tummies were filled we had to head back to the village of Zumba to clear immigration and then onto Luangwa, to re-enter Zambia and collect our bikes.  Lesley was at home when we arrived at their home and we loaded the bikes and got into our newly laundered BMW suits and headed out towards Lusaka.  The road was an easy run and we got into the city at about 2pm so traffic wasn't too bad, we stopped at one of the large shopping centers and managed to get something for supper.  Our next overnight place was called Moorings and we had stayed there in 2011 and had the worst meal ever so were not going to repeat that.  I decided that bangers, mash and mixed veggies were on the menu, we have a small gas stove and two pots and a tiny frying pan so it was quite a feat to cook a meal like this and serve it hot, pots and pans were juggled on the stove and we had a wonderful feast.
The next morning we headed for Livingstone and we decided that we would like to try and camp somewhere near there.  We looked in the actual town, but didn't find anywhere that grabbed us, too many people and traffic and loud music. So we headed towards the Kazungua border, thinking that we would find  a place along that road, the first road that we went down lead to a very fancy resort, about 2km from the actual resort we came across a herd of elephant, a couple with huge tusks.  We stopped and Larry took some photos and while doing that two game guards ambled up to the elephants and started walking among them! Obviously a tame herd used at the lodge.  We had some sand and I managed it fine with my newly acquired skill of lots of power, got to the main road long before Larry!!
So the next road down had a sign for a lodge and so we ventured down this one,  after two gates and lots of horses we arrived at the fancy lodge and were told definitely no camping, back up the sandy track and the lodge owner told us that down the next track there was a campsite, so we set off again.  We arrived at the third turn off and a nice gravel road greeted us, great stuff! This didn't last long and it turned into thick deep sand, Larry said another 4km and we would be at the camp, hmmm 4km of sand!!  I was doing ok going fairly fast when I must have hit a root or a stone in the road and landed up with my helmet filled with sand and the bike lying next to me.  Larry came back and we decided to turn and head for the ferry.
We had to pick the pace up a bit to get to the ferry and clear immigrations and customs before dark.  We arrived to the normal African chaos and I managed to push and shove to the front and get our passports stamps and Carnets done.   There were a huge number of large trucks lots of them carrying copper waiting to board the ferry, we pushed our way to the front and the bikes were loaded first and then all the foot passengers and one huge truck behind us, five minutes and we were in Botswana.  Last time we were there we thought it would be our last trip on the ferry as the bridge was in the process of being built, the progress is about the same as in 2013.
We headed into Kasane, towards Chobe River Lodge which has some great camping, sorry we are fully booked!!  Oops all the South Africans have invaded up north, maybe that Put Foot Rally?! So we headed back down the road we had just come on.  We went into about five different camps and no-one had space for us, Larry asked the one lady, not even a tiny piece of grass and she replied we don't have grass just ground!
At about 6.15 we landed up at Big 5 Camping and Safaris and they had plenty of camping, it is a very pretty lodge set on the banks of the Chobe River with a very nice restaurant and bar, the camp site was at the back and each site had they own little bathroom and to top it all it was cheaper than any of the other camp sites and better!  We set up camp in the dark and decided that a meal in the restaurant was called for, Larry went across to our neighbor and asked if we could put our illegal meat into his fridge.  This was a Hollander by the name of Peter and we was waiting for a client who had a ticket booked from Holland to Johannesburg and then to Kasane, but he managed to buy another ticket and landed up in Windhoek!  We had a delicious meal of pork ribs and steak and crashed in our tent with our brand new PEP blanket straight after supper.
We had been told that the road to Nata was closed and so Larry set out to find out what was happening further south, it transpired that the road between Nata and Gweta was indeed closed but that was on the road West, we later found out from other travelers that this has been under water since February but there is a very poorly sign post detour.  We will see tomorrow.

S

Mozambique

We spent two days at Mayoka Village, had a good rest and some laundry done, they managed to loose two socks in the process, one of Larry’s and one of mine, so effectively 2 valuable pairs. We are now heading south to northern Mozambique to spend sometime with a friend, Russell Lovemore on his hunting and fishing concession on the Zambezi River, near Cabora Bassa Dam.
We headed to Senga Bay and a campsite called Cool Runnings, lots of lovely grass and ok ablutions.  We had our steak and chips that we had bought further back and had been frozen at each lodge and then carefully put into the cooler box with plenty on frozen waters to keep everything cold, this has worked really well and it is great to have home cooked meals.  The steak was rump but didn't look great when we pulled it out of the packet, but once it was cooked it was really great meat.
The next morning we packed early and got ready for the sandy tracks out of the village again.  Just before we left a family arrived with a young boy of about 8 who had been burnt down one side, badly burnt arm and a little burn on his side and face.  The lady running Cool Runnings is a retired nursing sister and she helps villagers with this sort of injury, the burn looked horrific and it was carefully cleaned and bandaged, not one tear from the little boy, really brave!
The road was good leading to the border between Malawi and Zambia and we were stopped at a road block just before the Zambian border, two officers came over and asked for our licenses and I gave them my international drivers license and Larry took his license out of his wallet.  They then demanded to see our insurance, we had to get off the bikes to get our document wallet out of my pannier and give them the Comesa Insurance documents, one stood next to my bike and the would not let me get on the bike and the other did the same to Larry.  After a little pushing and shoving we managed to get on the bikes and then the reason became clear, what are you going to do with the money that is in your wallet?  Larry carefully explained that we were going to buy petrol with the money and we were not going to give it to them, after a few minutes they realized that we were not going to be intimidated and they eventually waved us off.
When we arrived at the border post it was plain sailing, immigration and customs is getting easier the further south we get.  While I was inside doing the paper work Larry was keeping an eye on the bike he met up with five British cyclists, we exchanged information about road conditions and places to stay. They were heading north and I don’t envy them the Great TanZam Roadworks!  We are definitely doing it the easy way.  Our bikes are heavily laden but at least we have a motor to keep us moving!  They were all very sunburnt and fit looking!!  They suggested that we stay at Dean’s Hillsview Camp in Chipata, I had already found this on the GPS, they told us that there were two motorcyclists in the camp and so we decided to try that camp.
Shoprite was again in the village and we stopped to stock up on a few fresh goodies before heading to the campsite.
We arrived at the campsite and it looked ok and there were the two bikes that we had been told about.  Two Husquavanes 690 (apparently the same at the KTM690) both with very uncomfortable looking seats!!  Tom and Caroline are two journalists traveling the world and writing about their experiences on motorbikes, unlike us they go looking for the gravel rough roads, the longer the better!!  It was great to meet another couple and we stayed up much later than normal chatting about our different travels, they are heading south eventually when they will ship the bikes to South America from Cape Town.  We hope to see them in Grahamstown towards the end of July.
Dean's Camp was a huge disappointment, they have tried to combine a farm yard with a campsite and it doesn't work, we had chickens, ducks, geese, goats, turkeys and three puppies in and around our tent all day, doing what animals do!!  The stench was terrible and the puppies chewing on the tent and eventually one managed to get into the tent and chewed one of Larry’s socks, so he is now down two pairs!!  The owners are a very young Italian couple, she has just had a baby, just over a month old.

Tom told us about an app to download called I-overlander, it is a mapping program but also gives you places to stay, shop, internet and general over landing information.  It also gives you reviews on all of these and we have so far found it to be extremely accurate.  Our next destination was The Bridge Campsite, the review said that it is overpriced and the campsite is very run down – spot on.  The only problem is that it is the only campsite in the area and so has a captive market.  We had just chosen out campsite when a land cruiser and a Ford double cab bakkie pulled up, the most obnoxious fella and his family climbed out of these two vehicles, the swearing at his staff was unbelievable!  Eventually he came down to us to apologize, but it did not stop the swearing and screaming.
We packed up early and headed to the village of Luangwa,  where Russell told us to meet his staff at the filling station and they would show us where to park the bikes in a safe place.  We arrived 10 minutes early but they were there waiting for us, we headed into the village were we met Kenny and Lesley, an American couple working as missionaries for the Baptist Church.  We parked out bikes in their yard and left most of our gear in the laundry. We cleared immigration in Zambia and then headed to the Mozambique side via boat on the very fast flowing Zambezi River and to the village of Zumba to clear immigrations on the opposite side.  Three countries meet at the confluence of the Luangwa and Zambezi River, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, the locals move freely between these three countries with only a exercise book that is sometimes stamped at the border posts.  This was the most efficient border post into Mozambique that we have ever experienced.  Just a 20 minute trip by boat down the river and we arrived at the camp, it was really great seeing a friendly and familiar face again.  Thanks for inviting us Russell.
After a delicious lunch Russell loaded us into a boat and we headed into the different channels on the Zambezi river, lots of hippos and crocs.
We will be here for a few days and will then head towards Lusaka and Vic Falls, then into Botswana.

Tanzania to Malawi

7- 9 June 2017
We left Singidha fairly early the next morning knowing that we had over 500km to ride to Iringa.  It was a long slow ride as the area as far as Dodoma is heavily populated with villages roughly 2km apart, there are police at every village with little handheld radar speeding guns just waiting to catch us.  We eventually manage to find a local hotel with “very good very fast internet and good restaurant”.  We settled into our room and discovered that the internet only works from reception and is so slow that we could only download emails one at a time, the restaurant served us the most peculiar pizza that we have ever eaten.  But the good new is that we managed to get hold of Raymond Theron and have arrange to meet him outside of Ruaha National Park.  Raymond is in the park busy building high end luxury timber lodges.
The next morning we set off fairly early out of the madness of Iringa, we asked at the hotel about a good supermarket and we were pointed to the main one, I went in to see if we could find any food to take with us but it was so limited that we set off with a couple of cans and bottled water.  Raymond arranged to pick us up from a campsite called Chogela Lodge just outside of the park.  We knew that we had about 80km to do on gravel road and we had heard that it was a rough road, we were in luck and found that the road had recently been worked on and was a pretty simple run to the camp site.  We set up our tent in one of the prettiest campsites with lots of trees and quaint ablutions, the staff were extremely friendly and only too pleased to help.  Supper options were limited and so we decided that we would open our tin of sweetcorn and two slices of salami each, just enough to keep the worms away.
We packed and parked the bikes next to a lock up room where all our gear was stored and Raymond and Rex arrived to fetch us.  It was really great to see a familiar face and we headed back into the village for Rex to do some shopping.  Rex is in charge of shopping and feeding everyone in the lodge and he really does a good job.  Most produce is bought from the local villages and is completely organic, lots of veggies, potatoes, onions, butternut, a local spinach, meat and eggs.  After stocking up we headed into the Park, it took a fair while for us to register and pay, but the staff where extremely friendly and helpful.  Our first sighting was of a large chameleon in the middle of the road as we arrived at the main gate.  Larry picked him up and put him into a tree just in time as a local car came speeding into the area.
Driving through the park, it was dry and lots of tall grass.  Rex told us that it had been a green wall two weeks before that.  Game was plentiful, lots of dikdik, giraffe, kudu, impala, buffalo (huge herds) and lots of ellies.  And of course lots of birds for Larry.  After about 45 min drive we arrived at the construction site, we were given a comfy room, with two single beds and an en-suite bathroom which had a hot shower and everything that we needed.  Lunch was delicious, fresh homemade bread and lots of goodies to put onto it.  Raymond took us for a tour of the site after lunch and it is a huge operation with over 70 staff members.  The lodge is really going to be spectacular, large wooden units with the most beautiful slatted windows and wooden decks, unit number 1 was almost completed and Raymond showed us the renderings of the lodge which gave us a very good idea of was the completed project would look like.
We had three nights in the Park and every evening, Raymond, George and ourselves would go off for a evening game drive.  We saw lots of animals and some most spectacular sunsets. The second evening we were lucky enough to see a large young male leopard, it was next to the road and was completely unconcerned about us.  Each morning Larry and I would set off in Raymond’s Landcruiser, it was a real privilege to be able to self-drive in the park, thank you Raymond!!  Larry ticked a large number of new birds and we both relaxed and had a wonderful time  The last evening, while sitting around the fire there was some excitement near the kitchen, we all jumped up and there was a large spitting cobra.  It moved around the building and eventually went in under the door into Raymond’s office.  Larry couldn't help himself and went in armed with a broom and sunglasses to help it back into the bush.
Our last morning and Rex drove us back to our bikes, parked near the village, everything was as we have left it and we re-packed the bikes and set off back up the gravel towards Iringa and heading to Kisolanza and the Old Farm House.
It was an easy run and a short ride, we have stayed at the Old Farm House twice before and we were looking forward the excellent meal that is always served there.  When we arrived the lady at receptions said sorry they could not help with a meal as they had 25 people booked and they were at capacity!!  She came back about half and hour later to say that 7 people had cancelled and we could have a meal, expensive but well worth it.  We had supper with a South African, named Zack who is in the avocado pear industry and we know a number of people in common, what a small world.
There were two overland vehicles and the one set off for Chitimba Lodge on Lake Malawi at 4.30am, we had a late lie in and headed for the same place at 8.30 we eventually caught up with them and overtook them at the border.  Both border crossings were ok, very friendly staff on the Tanzanian side.  We rode through the entire length of Tanzania without being stopped once by the police.  It seems that the Tanzanian people have elected a president that is determined to get the country back on track, he has a zero tolerance to corruption and fired most of the revenue department because they were on the take, maybe this type of governance will filter down to the rest of Africa.
Nine and a half hours later we arrived at the turn off for the lodge, we had ridden on the Great TanZam highway which turned out to be the Great TanZam road works, lots of traffic behaving badly, in particular the bus drivers, detours and bad dusty gravel roads which took us over four hours to do the first 200km.  I was then greeted with my first bit of sand and because the bike is so heavily laden I decided to try and paddle my way through the 650m of thick deep sand, lots of kids in the road, Larry was ahead and kept telling me to go faster, I just didn't have it in me!! I fell over once much to the delight of our entourage running next to me.
After we pitched our tent and had a cold shower the first overland vehicle arrived, they had had a 16 hour day and still had to pitch tents in the dark.  This group is not the normal group of youngsters but an older group made up mainly of couples.
The next morning we decided to head off to Livingstonia, a mountainous pass just off to the right of our track.  I had already told Larry that I was going to stand and use lots of power over the sand, I pulled off and stood immediately and powered through the sand, what a difference, Larry had a little wobble in front of me and I had to slow, so back to the paddling but once I got onto the slightly harder sand back to what David had told me and I managed to get out of the sand quickly and with no spills.
We then headed to the rough gravel track to Livingstonia, it was horrible and we had a revolution in Malawi! After negotiations we decided to keep heading south and we managed to get our first speeding fine! We each had to pay MWK10 000, about 14usd, not much but it still hurt especially as we were the only people in her receipt book to have paid MWK10 000, everyone else paid MWK5000!
In Mzuzu, we found a good Shoprite supermarket, and managed to find some reasonable looking food to cook! Steak and chips soon! We then headed back to the Lake and we are currently staying a Mayoka Village, Nkatha Bay, a lovely lodge which tumbles down the hill onto the lake, our ride here was great, lots of twists and turns through indigenous forest, some near road, some road works and some potholes!!
A few days here, then back on the road again!

30 May to 6 June 2017

We left early for Nairobi, knowing that the traffic going into Nairobi was going to be a nightmare, to make matters worse our GPS’s were set to two different destinations!  I was in front and Larry was following which is unusual as I like to ride behind Larry. My GPS said get off the main freeway in 14km and Larry’s said 6km and so the chaos started, we eventually landed up in downtown Nairobi with traffic at a stand still and chaos all around, we got into a huge traffic circle and and Larry managed to push in front of a bus and I couldn't get past the bus and we became separated, I eventually just saw the go-pro camera ahead of me now and managed to catch up to him.  We pulled over in a bus stop and looked at the two different GPS headings, we decided that mine was the correct one and re-programmed Larry’s to be the same as mine.  The destination may be the same but the routing was different (Me: go left in 600m, Larry: No go right in 750m, Me: Ok lets go right, Larry: GPS not happy, Me: mine says go left in 200m, Larry: Ok ) we eventually arrived at the correct waypoint to find nothing familiar from our last trip.  Eventually a local guy on a bicycle came past and said the place you want is behind you, we turned and found Jungle Junction.  The confusion was that they had moved three years ago.  If anyone has driven through Nairobi you will know the chaos that we encountered!!
Chris welcomed us to JJ and Paolo, anItalian doing a round the world trip on a Dakar 650 with well over 260 000km on the clock also came out on his bike to find us in the street.  A well run good stop for overlanders.  Chris promised that he would look at my bike as soon as he got the chance but he was overloaded with repairs.  Uwe Schmidt was also in camp, a South African who rides professionally up and down Africa with clients.  Uwe was a mine of information about which routes to take and places to stay.  We also shared with both of these bikers the route crossing the Gulf of Aden to salalah, as this is not a known route.
Chris eventually started on my bike and found that all was well, just that our friend Jalal had not bled the radiator when adding coolant, this sorted, Chris changed oil on both bikes and gave them both a well deserved wash.  We did a test drive to a very smart shopping centre called The Hubb, bike was running smoothly but once we arrived at the entrance we realized that the Kenyans are taking no chances of a trigger happy gang of terrorists entering the shopping centre.  All cars and the bike were searched and I had to get off the back and was patted down.  The lady doing this was very confused about all the protection in the BMW jacket.  We had the same once we had parked the bike and walked to the entrance.  We managed to do the shopping that was needed and headed back to JJ.
We spent 4 nights there and managed to catch up on some general repairs and I managed to get some work done.
We left Nairobi heading for Arusha, Chris pointed us to the pipeline road and once again we were back in the thick of traffic.  Chris promised us that this was the best way to leave Nairobi and I believe him but it was still horrible, the road was narrow and potholed and chaotic traffic. Once we had cleared the city the roads were not as busy but in shocking condition.  So a slow exit from Nairobi.  We eventually got onto the main highway and it was plain sailing to the border.
We cleared immigration and customs on both sides and on very quite nice roads headed for Arusha.  An uneventful trip and we passed the entrance to Wayne and Brigette’s home and wished we could have spent a night with them.  We headed to Meserani Snake Park for a night of camping. The camping was fine, just a bit noisy with traffic noise and the loud music from the local tavern.  The next morning we met up with Ma and BJ, friends of Ian and Wayne Henry.  We had a very pleasant hour with them.  Also met with Danny McCullem, an old salt in the hunting industry!!
Our next destination was Dodoma, the people that arrived at the Snake Park told us that the road was terrible, Ma quickly gave us the correct route and we set off.  Traveling in Tanzania is slow because of the villages, you have to slow down for each village, some of them only 500m apart, 50km per hour and there are normally police at either end of the village with radar guns waiting to catch us speeding.  Eventually at about 3.30pm we arrived in the city of Singida and decided that we would do well to spend the night there, we went back to the Stanley Hotel, parked our bikes in exactly the same spot as we had in 2011.  Our room once again was basic and clean and we took the top of the range with hot water, but pressure was so low that we had to have a bucket bath.  Early to bed after a long day, but the local shebeen was having some sort of talent contest and the music was thumping! That lasted until about midnight, only problem was we could now hear our neighbors channel surfing, after a thump on the wall that stopped and the night of passion started!!  I started giggling loudly and that stopped that noise, some chemical assistance in the form of sleeping pills and we woke at about 8 for breakfast.
We loaded the bikes and set off for Dodoma and then onto Iringa, over 500km!!  It was a long slow day and we eventually arrived in Iringa at about 4pm with very sore backsides.  We have found a nice hotel and going to have pizza for supper and early into bed.
We managed to get hold of Raymond Theron and will meet with him in two days time and will go into the Ruaha National Park, he is currently working in the park, building lodges.
More soon

Entrance gate to Awash National Park

Vultures eating in the rubbish that is found around the towns

Awash Falls Camp

Stopping for Larry to do some birding - Ethiopia

The truck that they wanted us to load the bikes into just before the town of Awash.  I got into trouble for taking the photos, look at the big gap that the bike would have to have been lifted into the truck

Strange rock formation in Ethiopia

Riding between Berbera and Hargesia

The bikes safely parked at the bottling plant in Hargesia

Some of the wild life in Somiland, we saw three Salts DikDik and tiny chameleon and dozens of brightly coloured lizards.  The dorcas gazelle were in the hotel grounds in Berbera.

Pictures

We have lots of pictures to post but battling to get them to download!!

25- 28. May 2017

25 – 28 May 2017
We left Awash National Park with a little bit of a sour taste, after having asked how much everything would be we were suddenly told that we have to pay $40 for the transfer from the gate to the camp and back, a total of 22km. We had met with the manager at the gate when they were collecting water.  The car that they were going to transfer us back to the gate was really a sight, no back seat, cushions were placed in the back for me to sit on, four bald tyres and bellowing clouds of black smoke and disgustingly dirty, we don't mind paying for a service but really hate to be ripped off to that degree.  Eventually Mohammed the manager agreed that they had not made a special trip to the gate to fetch us so would charge $20 for the transport back in the worst rattle trap that we have ever seen.
We had some great birding, walks, and some game viewing.  Great to see some wild lesser kudu!!
Once we reached the main gate suddenly we were told that we had to pay Br200 for someone to guard the bikes!!  White mans tax in Africa (a phrase learnt from Reynard and Katrina, German travelers that we meet in 2011).
My bike has been getting hot whenever we slow down to go through a town or village, so Larry spent some time removing the radiator protective cover.  It was hot and getting hotter each minute.  Our cooling vests were in a plastic bag soaking and we eventually put them on and headed for the main road.  The road runs straight through the middle of the National Park and has lots of slow moving heavy trucks on it from both directions and a horrible speed hump every 500m.  These eventually did get less and we were able to pick up the pace behind the big trucks.
After about an hour of slow moving traffic we came to a scene of an accident where a large truck had gone off the road and there was a crane busy removing its load, the crane was across the road and so the traffic had backed up for a fair distance.  We managed to get past all the cars and get back onto the road ahead of the accident which made for much more pleasant riding as all the trucks going south were now behind us.  So for the next 50km we had a good run before we got to the next town which was lined with more trucks.  The road was tar all the way to Hawassa, just made unpleasant by the very heavy traffic.
We arrived in Hawassa at about 17.00 and went back to the Oasis International Hotel near the lake, we had stayed there in 2011 when they were busy building it and it has had 6 years of hard use since then, the shower was just a trickle and walls were in dire need of a coat of paint, typical of Africa where no maintenance gets done.  We walked to town to try and draw some money and eventually the 4th ATM was working.  Walking back to the hotel down one of the side streets we meet a local man who started to chatting to us and once he heard we are South African he asked us if he looked like Nelson Mandela and he really did! We continued to the lake were someone has spent lots of money setting up a really nice cobbled walk way the only problem is that there are taverns and pubs with loud music thumping along the length of the path.
26 May 2017
The next morning we were packed and ready to go fair early on our way out of Hawassa we decided to re-fuel.   There are plenty of filling stations but not all of them have fuel and eventually we managed to find one that did.  The cost of fuel in a land locked country is a lot less that in South Africa!! About R10,90 a liter.  As we were leaving Hawassa the roads started deteriorating with long patches of really badly potholed gravel with little sections of tar.  We hoped that this would be for a very short section just going out of town but it got worse the further we went, the road just about disappeared at some stages with small single lane tracks.  There clearly had been rain in sections as the road was wet and muddy at times which made for interesting riding.  The dust at other times made visibility very bad.  Riding through the Ethiopian villages is crazy, cattle, goats, dogs, chickens, donkeys, camels and people throng the main road, none of them looking for traffic.  People herd their stock down the main road and the traffic just winds its way around everything.  The villages can be seen ahead by the vultures that circle them waiting for something to be hit by a truck.  The going was really slow, it took us just over 4 hours to cover 160km.  I needed a spot to stop for a call of nature and there was no-where that we could do this without a crowd gathering around the bikes.
Suddenly we got to a new section of road, Larry said that he thought we were out of the dis-integrating road and just before each village we would go back to the dusty muddy tracks.  Eventually we got to the real new Chinese built road and we picked up the pace.  We were heading to Yabelo National Park, where we had thought of staying.  I had a tumble off my bike when trying to overtake a truck that was loaded with poles, with one particularly long pole sticking out the back, as I came to overtake him he swerved for something ahead and the long pole hit my right pannier.  The bike must have just about come to a stand still and I was knocked off to the left.  Larry was about 500m ahead and heard me give a little scream.  The piki piki drivers helped pick me and the bike up and started getting very aggressive with the truck driver and his very illegal load of poles.  One bruised elbow and sore left side but all fine.
We eventually arrived at our marked position on the GPS but found nothing that looked like a camping site so continued to the town of Yebella.  We rode through the town, but found no accommodation establishment that looked like we would be able to stay in, eventually at the filling station we found the Yebella Motel which I went in to find out a price.  The woman at reception was decidedly unfriendly and said for foreigners it would be $75 per night.  The place looked really suspect so we decided to continue a further 200km to Moyale.  While I was trying to find accommodation Larry was trying to get the bikes re-fueled but there was none in town, one local told us that there would be fuel 70km down the road so we decided to take the chance. We have been getting about 25km/l on the bikes, at the slow speeds we have been forced to ride.
We arrived in Moyale at about 18.00 and decided to look for a hotel, after we rode the length of the town we decided to try to the same hotel that we stayed in during our 2011 trip, The Koket Hotel, the same has taken place as the previous hotel, 6 years later not much cleaning and we were shown a similar “beehive” type room that had a terrible stink and then a huge room with a double bed and the sales pitch for this room was it doesn't stink!  Being late and no other hotels in sight we decided to spend the night, but neither of us were brave enough to attempt a shower!
We had supper at the hotel which was a hamburger sandwich which consisted of a huge roll with a kofta on the roll covered with an omelette which was covered with spaghetti and then lots of tomato slices served on a bed of spicy rice and French fries, enough to feed a small army.  I battle with the local food so a colony of cats got a lot of mine!
The next morning, after having slept in the mosquito infested room, we were up nice and early to get through the border posts nice and quickly.  Larry did a bit of remodeling of my right pannier and we packed and headed to the filling station, petrol now for us is Br25 a liter! But apparently the piki-piki’s also pay this.
No where is the customs and immigration buildings marked, so we arrived basically at the Kenya side before turning back and eventually found the immigration building off the main road behind a pile of rubble, we were quickly through immigration and then went looking for the customs which we eventually found down a small little alley way.  I handed in the Carnet de Passages and was asked for the permit, I told them I didn't have a permit.  Problem, he called his boss who was out and about and we waited, I went back to tell Larry that there was a problem and by this stage he had been invited to have coffee at one of the local stalls.  To cut a long story short the customs official eventually went and fetched his boss, who arrived extremely aggressive but we landed up having a friendly chat about African politics.  He admitted that it was not my fault and phoned the border post at Wajale to find out if they had the first portion of the Carnet then he phoned his boss in Addis, who never phoned back and just as before suddenly decided that he would make a note of all out details and stamped the Carnet and came and checked the VIN number on the bikes and our electronic equipment and we could go, about 2,5 hours later.
We arrived at the Kenya side for all the officials to tell me how poorly equipped and slow their Ethiopian counterparts are flew through immigrations and then to customs.  Their system was down so after three attempts they told me to go with this piece of paper to the bank but I must be very quick as the bank closes in 5 minutes, I rushed outside and gave the paper to Larry and he managed to get a lift to the bank, 5 minutes later the doors closed and he was 27th in the queue!  Nearly two hours later I managed to find a young guy on a pikkie-pikkie and asked him to find Larry (one of us always stays with the bikes).  Larry was just coming out of the bank when the young guy called him and Larry handed him some money and asked him to buy some bread a two Cokes for us, he came back with these few items and the change and Larry packed these into the cool box on the bike while I went into the customs office to collect our Carnets.  Over 5 hours hours at the border post, I think a record for us.
We headed off on the beautiful tar road, when we rode this section of road in 2011 it was the toughest section of road for us, approximately 360km and it took us three days.   We rode along side the old gravel road and we were pleased that the road was tarred.  We arrived in the small town of Marsabit after 3 hours with a lunch stop using the bread bought at the border post and the salami that was bought in Dubai.
We decided that we wanted to try and stay in National Parks and so headed to the Abdul Gate for the Marsabit Park.  We spoke to the guard at the gate and he showed us the camping sites, these looked ok but there were no facilities and a huge troop of baboons were all over the camp site.  We decided to have a look at Marsabit Lodge.  We had to leave out bikes at the top gate and a local taxi came to fetch us.  We drove through the most amazing lush forest into the crater where the lodge was situated.  The lodge was built in 1974 and unfortunately nothing has been modernized or even maintained, having said that it is one of the most beautiful places that we have been to on our travels, the lake at the bottom of the crater is unbelievably tranquil and the surrounding forest teaming with bird life and as we arrived a huge herd of buffalo emerged from the forest.  The bedrooms are clean and the linen sparkling white, a generator is run at times that are convenient to us.  This runs the lights and two small power points for charging and a direct heater for showering.  There is an armed guard at the lodge at all times.  The staff is small but always friendly and helpful. The food is basic but plentiful, lots of starch and some very tough goat meat but ok.


27 May 2017
We have had a wonderful rest and enjoyed the beauty of this place.  Larry did lots of birding and we went for a walk around the lake and met a friendly buffalo bull, he was very gracious and moved back into the forest.  Tomorrow we will pack up here and head towards Nairobi, we would like to have our bikes serviced and generally catch up.
29 May 2017
We left Marsabit National Park in very wet and misty conditions.  We were told that the mist would clear up with 50km of Marsabit.  As we arrived in town to fill the bikes up it started raining, we decided not to worry with rain gear as we could see the sky's clearing in the direction we were heading.  This was the right decision as the rain gear makes riding very uncomfortable and we managed to skirt most of the showers of rain.
We had a very pleasant ride, seeing a number of different animals alongside the road, reticulated giraffe, beisa oryx, grants gazelle and one lone ellie.  Nice to see some game.  The road is new and a pleasure to ride on with very little traffic either way.
We were heading to Nanyuki and with about 30km to still go we could see that we were not going to be so lucky with the rain and we were heading into a big storm, we stopped and put on our rain gear and headed into the storm.  It was really bucketting down and got really cold, 11 degrees was the coldest I saw on my bike, the traffic moves slowly but with no lights on in very bad visibility.  We slowed down and rode like drowned rats, crossing some strong flowing water which was washing across the road.
We arrived at a large set of gates just before town, Kongoni Lodge.  We were immediately made to feel very welcome and although a bit out or our budget we decided to spend the night. A nice hot shower and a clean change of clothes made us look almost respectable.
Now to try to catch up on the blog, pics, friends and family etc.  its hard work, this traveling!!!!!
Tomorrow we'll head for Nairoberry.
Once we reach Nairobi we will have travelled 1200km by dhow over fives and 3700km by bike.
S

Our armed guard from Berbera to Hargesia

Looking at the rock paintings

The stark beauty of the Somiland country side

27 May 2017

We are currently in Moyale, the border town between Ethiopia and Kenya.  Wifi has been shocking, we will get the next report -typed up and posted as soon as we get decent wifi.  Hope to spend the next night at the Marsabit National Park, not sure if staying in the lodge or camping so won't have any comms there.  We spent one night at Hawassa and then we were heading to Yabela National Park, couldn't find any accommodation so headed for Moyale.  First 160km took us 4 hours.
Want to get through the border post so chat again from Kenya.
Sharon

20 - 24 May 2017

20 May 2017

We arrived at Berbera Port, Somiland on 20 May slap bang in the middle of the Independence Day weekend, 3 days of celebrations!!  Somiland is an autonomous region of Somalia, not recognized by the international community, but has its own government, police force, parliament, etc.  The Somiland passport is issued but not accepted by the rest of the world.  They are currently celebrating 26 years of independence and the country is working, but hey let’s keep them basically excluded from the rest of the world.

Once the bikes had been unloaded we thought that we would be able to start with clearing them from customs, but customs was closed because of the public holidays, so with a fond farewell to all the crew from all three boats parked at the quay Nafaar took us to our hotel, a place on the beach just outside Berbera called Maan Soor Hotel, clean rooms very basic with a functioning bathroom.  Larry and I had a wonderful cold shower, the heat and humidity was unbearable. 

The following morning Nafaar collected us from the hotel and the clearing process started, backwards and forwards from one official to the next.  Apparently because our bikes were not commercial cargo they were not on the ships manifest so they could not give us a DOD (Document of Delivery) eventually out of the port back to Berbera and the manager of the shipping office made a plan and we had our custom stamp, back to security, they weren’t interested in letting the bikes out of the port, back to the safety office and eventually we seemed to be making headway.  We rode through two of the three controlled check points and at the last one we were told to park over there and we needed another piece of paper, Nafaar started getting hot under the collar and next thing we knew the bikes were clear and we exited the port and headed for the hotel. 

21 May 2017

We re-packed the bikes and soaked our cooling vests, had something to eat and we were ready to head for Hargesia.  Our biggest problem has been with our Ethiopian visa, we had to apply for it in Dubai while we both still had residency there and so the visa expires on 29 May.  We had hoped to visit Djibouti but believe that the road is really bad with a section of deep sand!  We set off behind our security escort, Nafaar in his Land Cruiser with an armed security person.   There are approximately 16 security check points between Berbera and Hargesia and as soon as they saw us coming wanted to pull us over, but our escort ensured that we sailed through them all.  The road is basically good, with some patches of bad potholes.

We stopped at a local tourist spot near Las Geel, where we were shown some very interesting rock paintings in some caves dating back about 4500 years BC (apparently).  On our way to the caves we spotted 3 different dikdik, a new species for us called Salts Dikdik.  We also spotted a tiny little chameleon,  some very colourful lizards and a large tortoise.

The ride to Hergesia was hot and relatively un-eventful trip with some starkly beautiful scenery.  As we arrived in the actual city a policeman on a Honda motorbike was waiting for us and rode with us to the bottling plant for Coke where the bikes spent the night.  The policeman had a wonderful time escorting us through the city, sirens blaring and riding next to us chatting away.  There was a large group of people waiting to meet with us at the bottling plant which was a really great welcome. We each took a small bag and we set off for the Hotel.  We were put into a bedroom and I had an icy cold shower and then reception phoned to say that they need to move us, as that room was occupied, after two attempts at different rooms we eventually settled into our room.  A clean bed and a decent en-suite with hot water, if you switched the geyser on.  Osman, another contact from Gavin, collected us from the hotel and took us to a restaurant across town.  The streets in Hargesia are horrific, dusty, potholed and collapsing, we crawled across town.  We met with Jay (Gavin’s nephew) Fred and Muhammed.  We enjoyed a wonderful evening of chatting and joking and some serious conversation.

22 May 2017

The next morning we were once again escorted to the border between Somiland and Ethiopia, road conditions not great and lots of security check points.  The roads through the city were horrific, we can’t even call them gravel because that has long since disappeared and so they are a mixture of dust and animal droppings and litter.   Once we got to the border town of Wajale, and had been stamped out of Somiland, our security escort left us and headed back to Hargesia.  The litter within the towns was unbelievable, it was piled alongside the road in places to above head height!  We continued to the Ethiopian immigration section and then I headed to the customs to try and get our Carnet stamped.  I was lucky that I managed to find one official there and he phoned and called the entire office back to help with the stamping of the Carnet.  Eventually there were 6 men, all scratching their heads and sucking their gums, un-sure of what to do with a Carnet.  I had left my specs in my tank bag and was battling to read the fine print but eventually managed to tell them where to stamp and what to do.  Larry and I were now on our own in Ethiopia, we had been warned of some check points further ahead.

The landscape changed as soon as we got out of town, there clearly had been some rain, as the ground was wet and the grass had just started growing.  The road improved, a long straight section of tar with just about no imperfections crossing the plateau.  We passed through two check points where they checked out passports and then arrived at the customs check point.  We were pulled over and an official ran off to call some-one to help check our bikes.  A suspect looking character with dirty dreadlocks and scruffy dirty part uniform, part casual clothes, came across.  He one started with Larry’s bike and the more reasonable looking one started on mine, they were extremely unpleasant and aggressive.  They unpacked my clothes pannier, so I had my bras and knickers lying on the road and then they found the Sat Phone and it was with great triumph that he pulled it out and place it on my seat.  Meanwhile on Larry’s side, they found the SD cards for our cameras and wanted to bite them to see what they were!! He didn’t have a clue what he was looking for.  They then both started on our tank bags and pulled out our cameras and binocs, once again was clueless to what the binocs were, looking into the wrong end, etc.  All these items where place on the seat of my bike and we were told we were not allowed to touch them.  In the meantime we were trying to re-pack our panniers (when traveling with such limited space everything has its place and is neatly and tidily packed in order to get everything in) everything was shoved back in and they were trying to pull our tank bags off the front of the bikes, by this stage we started getting angry and told them it was no way to treat tourists!!  The guy with dreadlocks  went off and suddenly the other official told us to pack our bikes and we could go.  Much grumbling we managed to squash everything into the panniers and headed off. 

The road was still good as we got into the mountains, but the villages became more frequent, people, goats, cattle and donkeys seem to have right of way.  The villages are small and the poverty is unreal as is the filth and litter that infests the entire area.  The natural beauty of Ethiopia must have been amazing before the radical over-population.  The main crop of the area is Chat, the green leaves chewed by most of the male population of Somiland and Ethiopia, apparently it is a aphrodisiac and some men eat up to 10kg of this a day.  They walk around with rotten brown teeth and green slime around their months, the other side effects must be horrific.  This is one of the biggest sources of income for this area and it is exported to Somiland and other neighboring countries.  This is a legal drug and legally exported all over the region!

After lots of twisty and winding roads, riding slowly because of the villages and obstacles in the road we eventually arrived in the city of Harar and managed to find a very nice hotel called Grand Geto.  We had only just settled into our room when a vicious storm started, the wind blew over power lines and trees (luckily I had just finished a nice hot shower, Larry decided to check his GoPro footage and so missed out on the shower) and then the rain started, not lots but a good downpour.  The generator eventually came on and water was restored to our room.  We had supper in the hotel restaurant which left a lot to be desired, hamburger patties tasted like they had been made from afval (tripe).  We went to bed very early and had a good 12 hour sleep!

23 May 2017

The next morning we set off in very cool conditions, which made riding a pleasure. We had lots of mountain roads ahead of us and an extremely populated area.  Because of the very slow riding and some birding en-route our progress was slow.  We only had about 340km to ride to our next destination of Awash.  Finding fuel in Ethiopia is also not guaranteed and when we do find a petrol station they are normally grubby affairs and the locals swarm around the bikes.  We rode through the tail end of a storm, changed into our rain gear, rode through a lot of heavy rain and wind, this made visibility very bad and our progress was slowed down even further.  We saw evidence of a really violent storm, trees had blown over and were lying across the road, there was a river of water on each side of the road.  My fancy Garne Italian made leather boots which are advertised as water proof are about  as water proof as a tea strainer!!  As are the BMW rain gear.  We soon had wet places where we would rather be dry.

We eventually were about 15km from our turning point when we arrived at another check point.  This time is was a bridge which is not allowed to be crossed by foot, bicycle or motor bike.  Very quickly the customs official organizes us a truck for BR500 (about 30 USD)  to take us across this bridge.  Larry was having none of this and said how are we going to pickup 400kg of bike and put into the back, we all traipsed across the road with the truck and he backed up to a bank and said ok we must load it onto the back.  Larry would not budge!  We are not loading the bikes!!  So that driver gave us back the money and the next vehicle was stopped and told to load us, this was a mini bus, and the bikes much too tall to load into the back.  Eventually they phoned Addis and got permission for us to ride across, nothing wrong with the bridge and road!!  This took about an hour and a half of negotiations on Larry’s behalf, I said let’s turn around and go back and find another way across.  Same thing - suddenly we can go.  The reason for this debacle is still unclear.  All traffic was stopped, and given slips of paper.  We initially presumed the road crossing the gorge in front of us was damaged, but once we crossed, we realized it was highway quality. So, this is possibly a population control, as no bicycles or foot traffic is allowed??  We never did find out the reason!!! Certainly a load of BS, and obviously not much tourist traffic passes.  The road is through the Awash National Park and is used by heavy truck, we think from Djibouti and other ports, maybe Sudan, every 500m there is a serious hump in the road so the traffic doesn’t move steadily.  We arrived at the gates of the park just before 6pm and were lucky enough to find a mini bus from the privately run Awash Falls Lodge at the gate, after paying our entrance fee we loaded all the gear into the bus and headed for the lodge, the quoted rate for a bedroom is $80USD and it is very basic.  We decided to camp and make use of the restaurant and ablution facilities.  There are government camping sites which are really pretty but they have no facilities at all.  The ablution blocks are all there but completely derelict!

Apparently hyenas are common in Ethiopia and so far we have see 4 dead ones alongside the road, one right in a city.  We have also seen plenty of vultures around each village, both eat carrion and must find this in and around the villages and towns.  There is plenty of road kill around here.

24 May 2017

The privately owned camp is rustic, but we have everything that we need.  Electricity is down because of the storms that we rode through and the falls are flowing very strongly with chocolate brown water.  We counted 8 large crocodiles lying in the pool and on the rocks at the pool at the bottom of the falls.

Tomorrow we will leave here and head for Hawassa Lake and then hopefully onto Yabela National Park, this will take us to 28 May and we will then head for Moyale and get into Kenya.

We have zero comms or internet, so blog reports and pics will be a bit behind.  In the meantime, we go for walks, always with camera and binocs, birding!! And resting.  And Laundry.  Beautiful spot.

S & L

18 May 2017

18 May 2017

We have been travelling on the dhow since Monday, 15 May, nearly 3 days now,  and still have nearly 450km to go.  We have stopped for about an hour while the engineer does a repair to the main diesel pipeline, the captain came to ask if we had any tubes that could be cut up to effect the repairs.  Larry went down into the engine room with some duc tape and between them they have got it running.  Good old duc tape.   We will use the tube if we really have to but we won’t be able to find another tube until at least Nairobi and then we may have to courier it up so that is our last resort. While stationery a call comes over the radio, the first one that I have heard in English : Security Security – Code Red – pirate activity in the area of XXXXXX and co-ordinates.  Please report any suspicious activity on channel 16.  Larry told the captain and the Indian flag was un-ceremoniously raised at the back of the dhow.  We have seen lots of ships on the horizon and one military looking boat with a huge helicopter on the back, hopefully the pirates stay down south of us!  We only started seeing ships today, before that we saw the occasional Yemeni fishing boat.

The food is very basic and fiery hot, my lips and belly burn for about 2 hours after eating it. It is prepared in the most basic of conditions by a young Indian guy.  Always has a pleasant smile.  The crew have all gone out of their way to be kind and treat us like royalty.  I have found the lack of ablutions to be difficult but once again the crew have been great.  It is hot and sticky on the dhow so a good bucket bath after dark is great.  Fresh water is limited, two large containers strapped to the deck and a cup to get it out, the level is dropping quickly and you really have to lean in to reach the water.  There is more fresh water below deck that can be pumped into these two containers.  The captain speaks very little English and the owner slightly more, so lots of hand signals to try and get ourselves understood.  Dominoes and cards are played by the crew most of the day and we taught them how to play spoons, Larry played while I showed them how, lots of laughter all around.  All the crew chew beetle nut, this comes in a tin and looks like a large nutmeg  and they chop it up and mix it with some other tinned stuff and then I think they use it like snuff, lots of spitting overboard and badly stained rotten teeth.

There is nothing for us to do on board, so lots of reading and playing silly games on our cellphones, Larry has done some birdwatching, seen a few new birds.  A couple of pods of dolphins have been seen off in the distance, the first pod the dolphins looked very small while the second pod they were huge.  There has been little to no wind which has made the sea extremely flat and it looks inky.  It is a brilliant blue and looks crystal clean.  Humidity is very high but we have been lucky with slightly overcast skys.

The crew run fishing lines behind the boat, where they supplement daily fresh meat, with fish.  In total, 5 fish were caught, 4 large dorado, and 1 tuna.  There was also a live goat on board, which was slaughtered on day 2 of the voyage.

20 May 2017

We arrived in the port at about 4.30am, just as the sky was turning pink. We were told that we would be tying up next to some other dhows, when we arrived at the designated place we would have been dhow number 4, but the captain who we were to be next to was having none of that, lots of shouting and eventually he pulled a knife out and threatened the crew on our dhow.  He started up and moved to next to a large container ship. Good riddance to bad rubbish and lucky for us as well, the dhow right at the wharf was a Dubai registered dhow and the one in between was a Pakistani one.  Much fascination to see two expats on board.  Now the waiting game started, nothing could be done until our clearing agent arrived, we phoned Satish at about 6.30am and he was at the port before 8am.  This was more of a wonderful favour that Gavin (a South African living in Djibouti) had arranged for us.  We now had the problem of getting the bikes off dhow number three (thank goodness rubbish had moved) to the wharf. There were cranes on both of the other dhows, and the bikes were lifted from dhow number three to dhow number one by dhow number two and then dhow number one lifted them onto the wharf.  Lots of help from all three dhows and we had to scramble across all these dhows.  Grannies are not made to do this and I was a lot slower than everyone else, but had lots of encouragement and help – hold on here, pull that, put your foot here!

Once both bikes were safely on the ground we had a group picture with the crew that helped, port security arrived and I was shouted at and told to get back on board, lady must be fully covered.  Larry and I were called by the immigration people and I descended the ladder with bottles of waters and my camera and was once again told to get back on board.  Nafeer, once again thanks to Gavin, took us to immigration where a fully covered lady helped us, we were given a 30 day visa for Somialand.  Nafeer then drove us to the Maansoor Hotel on the outskirts of Berbera, very simple accommodation but clean with an en-suite bathroom and an air-conditioner.  We have been planning on riding to Djibouti but believe that the 420km journey will take more than 16 hours in a Land Cruiser, not sure if we want to do this on bikes so looks like we will head to Hargeisa once we have cleared the bikes through customs tomorrow, apparently there was a three day holiday here.  (Without the amazing help from Gavin I think that we would still be stuck on the dhow  until tomorrow).  So we may skip Djibouti and head straight for Ethiopia, about 160km to Hargeisa on a good road and then 90km to the Ethiopian boarder.

Good internet has allowed us to catch up with family and friends and I know that there was particular concern about out crossing of the Gulf of Aden, so thanks for all the well wishes.

S

Every time we saw these fishing boats the owner of the dhow would chuckle and tell us there are the pirates!!

The main front deck

The open air toilet with the hastily added privacy shield

The open air toilet tied onto the back of the dhow

Most of the crew

The improved fishing!

Playing cards

The first tiny fish, fish size improved after this one

The bikes in the front of the Dhow

The main cabin 

The cabin we slept in, very kindly given to us by the Captain

The cook making chapati

The kitchen

Spectacular sunsets