Friday 11 February 2011

Wednesday 9 February 2011

Well we have eventually arrived in the real Africa!  We had to drive on a gravel road for 62km and it was the worst gravel road that we have ever had the misfortune to ride on, not going to complain about the roads back in SA again!!  Lots of corrugations, loose stones and sand, the best thing is that I did not fall off once!!  We rode from Dar to Bagamoyo  and then near to a small village on the north coast of Tanzania call Pangani. 

We only managed to leave Dar at about 1pm because my bike had had the front fork seals replaced.  This was done by a mechanic in Dar, he came to fetch my bike and I promise you Ringting does not normally get ridden like that!!  There are very few places further north for us to stay and so we started chasing the light and travelling in Africa is very slow because of all the little villages.  We eventually arrived at a small village called Pongwe at about 6pm with still about 30km to go and sunset at about 6.30 (remember we changed to a new time zone and we are 1 hour ahead of SA) and 30km of really bad dirt road again.    We arrived at Peponi Beach Resort just as the sun was setting, chased around and found a camping site just off the beach and a wonderful cooler sea breeze.  Our German friends, Katrina and Reinhold in the overland truck were in the next door site!!

It took us less than half an hour to set up our tent and head down to the beach to wash off the dirt from the gravel road!!  The water was way too warm, must have been a least 30 degrees and lots of seaweed and rocks.  Larry and I both get very dehydrated when riding for a long time like that although we try and stop as often as possible and drink lots of water.  We sweat terribly with the heat here and the riding suits are really hot to wear but it is something that we can’t take a chance on.

We had already contacted Ron Barnes Webb about his lodge that we knew was somewhere up here only to discover it was about 30km away.  Ron very kindly offered to let us stay in his lodge so we set off at about 11am on Wednesday morning to move to Ron’s lodge.  Travelling was all on gravel roads and we had to cross the river at Pangani on the ferry.   We were stopped by the police just outside of Pangani and it is really weird how they want to see our drivers licence but can’t read so they spend about 10 minutes staring at the cover of the international licence which gives them no info at all!!  Since we have left SA we have been stopped a number of times for our licences and the bribery in Africa is getting better as we have not been asked for a single bribe (touch wood) but then maybe we are happy to sit on the bikes and watch them for 10 minutes stare at our licences!  The touts at all the tourist hotspots (including the border posts) are really bad.  We arrived at the lodge after navigating some small patches of thick sand and it is really beautiful here and the lodge (still in progress) is really comfortable.  Thanks Ron. 

Tomorrow or the next day,  we plan to set off early for Arusha - 460 km - to visit Wayne Hendry. It is at least an 8hour trip and apparently the traffic in Arusha is just as bad as in Dar.

S

The area up here is very dry, apparently the’ big wet ‘ starts in March.  Hopefully we will be north by the time that starts.  We have been through vast plantations of sisal – probably the only crop grown on large scale, since leaving SA – apart from sugar cane in Moz.  One of the pics should show this.

From here on, we should start seeing more of a Wilder Africa – hopefully!  Hopefully we will get to see the migration in Serengeti – apparently still in the South – and Ngorongoro crater.  We are also hoping to get away from the coastal heat and humidity!

I eventually succumbed, and bought a bird book –no room or space for a big book -  but this has been a bit frustrating, as they have vastly more species than we do, and up to now I haven’t seen many new species, although have seem bohms and northern carmine bee  eaters.   Bohms seems very scarce but there was a resident population at Cape Maclear, Malawi.

We bought a small action video camera before we left home, and I have been trying to record as much as possible on that.  Sometimes I have used it in my hand, other times it has been mounted on my helmet, trying to show the terrain that we are traveling through, the place we stay etc.  Hopefully someone will have the time and energy to sort through the hundreds of short clips once were home, and make something useable out of it.

11 /2 / 11 – Friday

We decided to leave the beach yesterday morning, - mainly because we wanted to see Wayne Hendry before he starts a safari in a couple of days.

Mikey’s Beach lodge- where Ron Barnes Webb has an involvement is very nice, although not open officially yet.  All the permits and paperwork is in place for them to open in a few weeks.  Right on the beach, this will have 5 air conditioned en suite bedrooms, with a very nice bar / dining area, and will be a great place to fish from, as Mike seems to love his fishing, and will be concentrating on that.  There is an airstrip nearby, that one could fly into.  Hopefully we will be back!

So, we left at 8 am, and arrived in Arusha, at Wayne’s house, at about 4.30.  8.5 hours, to do the 460 km, although the first hour and three quarters was spent on gravel, and the ferry, which was a lot quicker this time.  Still, our butts were very sore by the time we got here, with all the stops and starts, speed bumps in the villages, and traffic, which actually wasn’t too bad.  Temperatures were once again very hot, and Sharon looked like a polecat again, with all the dust on her face.  Not sure of the smell, but we had a nice swim, then she was sent off to go and shower!

Wayne has very obviously settled very well in Arusha.  He and Birget have built a very nice house on the outskirts, where they have about 6 acres, plenty of place for the 2 kids, Sean and Ciara to play!  Wayne works for one of the big Safari companys here, and has done very well!

Today we will hopefully try to make plans to visit Serengeti etc, and hope to visit Mesarani Snake Park.  And get some laundry done, clean bikes, and do a bit of maintenance.

L