journal entries

Jul 05: [DW] Land of Pharaohs

Jun 05: [TS] Crazy Cairo

May 05: [TS] Sudan

Apr 05: [DW] Serengeti

Apr 05: [TS] Bandit Zone

Mar 05: [DW] Rwanda

Mar 05: [TS] Zanzibar

Mar 05: [TS] Into Interior

Mar 05: [DW] Ethiopia

Feb 05: [TS] Nile Challenge

Feb 05: [TS] The Pilgrimage

Jan 05: [TS] Mtwara

Jan 05: [DW] Tanzania

Jan 05: [TS] Wheel Clamped

Dec 04: [TS] Madagascar

Dec 04: [DW] Malawi

Dec 04: [TS] Mozambique

Nov 04: [DW] Okavango Delta

Nov 04: [DW] Zimbabwe

Nov 04: [DW] Botswana

Nov 04: [DW] Sesriem & on

25 Oct 04: [DW] To Sun City

22 Oct 04: [TS] Etosha Nat Park

18 Oct 04: [TS] Namibia

2 Oct 04: [TS] Lesotho

28 Sep 04: [DW] Wild Animals

24 Sep 04: [DW] Wild Coast

16 Sep 04: [TS] Garden Route

9 Sep 04: [TS] Arrival

Aug 04: [TS] Intro

tanzania

Crossing the Ruvuma river into Tanzania at night, on a mostly out of control car ferry, we managed to dock into a steep embankment which took about 20 blokes half an hour to excavate it enough to get our car off but this wasn't quiet enough. It took a 4x4 truck pulling, as many as could, pushing, the kombi at full revs and a few attempts, but we did it! We thanked all the opportunists looking to be paid for their help and pushed onto border control over the roughest of roads 5 kms away.

It was about 9 o'clock at night at this stage and the first bloke we run into in this village was the immigration officer dressed in tee shirt, shorts and thongs. He opened up his office, lit a couple of candles and stamped us through for 50 US$ each. The customs guy was a different story.

Someone had been sent off to look for him but after 3/4 of an hour of patient waiting, I
decided to see where he was. I found a guy who took me to his house and we knocked on his door... every few minutes... to the response of a few grunts. We both thought this meant he was coming but after about 15 minutes realised he kept going back to sleep. I called out to him and told him we needed to get through but he said come back tomorrow, that the office was closed. I told him the immigration guy had stamped us through and we had nowhere to stay. He eventually got up, stumbled over to his office and under candle light filled in the forms to get our car legally through. Infact he was so tired, Tom filled in the forms, I held the candle and he stamped them. He then apologised for his tiredness and
wished us well on our journey.

We arrived into Mtwara just before midnight having just 2 warm beers to keep us awake and needing a place to stay. But the fun had only just begun in Tanzania. Having used up all our American dollars with the
ferry crossing and the border (they only accepted US$), we were flat broke, relatively speaking. We had South African rand but no bank would change it. Also our trusty visa card was not recognised in these parts of the world. We befriended a policeman who took us around the black-market to change our rand but no one wanted them no matter how much
commission we offered them.

The road to Dar Es Salaam, about 500 km north, was impassable and had been for some weeks. Floods had washed away bridges and parts of the road. This was the road we were hoping to use (on the slimmest of margins ), even though at the best of times it was rated a 4 wheel drive track only. The alternative was a 2,500 km detour and apparently the road was
just as bad. An attempt was made to fly to Dar to get money but the airline wouldn't take credit cards. We managed to book passage on a ship called MT Mapenduzi, arriving in a week, for us and the van, convincing them we would pay when we arrived in Dar Es Salaam.

As the days moved on while waiting for our ship to arrive, two people offered us 100,000 Tanzanian shillings each, (our copper mate and a bank manager) to be repaid into bank accounts in Dar. This was enough to settle our accounts and get us to Dar. At the same time a truck had gotten through on the road north so with 3 days before our ship was supposed to have arrived, we decided to try the road to Dar having our ship to fall back on if we couldn't get through.

We started out on the road to Dar taking with us Bruce, an English expat with cancer who had traveled the world and wanting to spent his days in Lindi, a town about 50 km north. We used this section of road as an assessment and although wet, sticky, boggy, rutted and with many dodgy detours, we finally got through about mid afternoon. After a quick look around this beautiful old coastal town and dropping Bruce off, we wanted to strike while the engine was hot so to speak, and aimed for Kilwa Masoko, a further 200 kms along. We made it but with the barest of margins. We got in after midnight having driven one of the roughest roads I've ever encountered. Every kilometre was an achievement.

Because trucks mainly use this road to get supplies to Mtwara, they create ruts about 18 inches deep so our only chance of getting through was to balance on the ridges. This took full concentration and
was only half the battle. There were boulders galore to negotiate, huge, and just the right angle had to be used so we didn't rip the guts out of the van. Abandoned and bogged trucks scattered all along, had to be maneuvered around and the detours were extremely makeshift
to get through the numerous places where the road had been washed away. It was wet and slippery to boot. About 11 o'clock at night or there abouts, there was a fuel blockage. Dirty fuel was the suspect. We were carrying 100 liters additional fuel to make the trip and there's no choice where you get it from. We unloaded the back of the van to get at the engine and under the van to get at the fuel line and blew the line clear, clear enough to get us going
again.

Buggered when we got to Kilwa Masoko, we found a bar still open for one well earned beer. The motel across the road had a rat the size of a small dog in the first room. I asked for another, then crashed. Tom woke with ants crawling all over him. He found another room and was just asleep when there were more ants. He moved to the van but the mosquito's were so fierce he had to find refuge somewhere else, another room somewhere I think. Day one of the road to Dar was completed and estimated to be just under half way. There
was no turning back.

The following morning after a look around town and also Kilwa Kivinje, 10 kms away, Which incidentally are beautiful paradises on the Indian ocean that attract tourist who fly in not drive, we square up to the road again. It was at least as challenging but with a village in the middle that sold beer so we stopped for a couple and managed to pick up a teacher wanting a lift out of there. It was about 11 o'clock at night when we broke through onto a tar road with only 150 k's to Dar. We'd done it!!!

Meanwhile in Dar Es Salaam the headlines were all about the MT Mapenduzi, the boat we were meant to get. It was detained by authorities in Dar for overloading. Licensed to carry 1750 passages, It had over 4500 and this was a regular event. The story gets better as the days move along with the ship sneaking out of port at night and authorities looking for them everywhere. There was speculation all around about what would happen to the captain and
boat owners when they were caught.

A few days later they were located at Mtwara 10 days after we were meant to board it there. Surprisingly there were no charges laid. We suspect that being the main transport service to the south, no-one wanted to disrupt it.

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tom@stuckintoafrica.com.au | damien@stuckintoafrica.com.au