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Tanzania

Wednesday 9.5.07
Today is a long drive from Campe Chitimba Beach on Lake Malawi to Iringra in Tanzania. At the border, we all get visas quickly for US $ 50, but it still takes about an hour, as any insurance for the truck must be presented. After ten hours we reach the camp in Iringra at sunset. The camp is located at 2500m altitude and I first thought that it would be very cold in the tent, but the night was quite pleasant.

Thursday 10.5.07
Today we drive to Dar Es Salam, the road is very long again and for this reason we leave at 6:30 in the morning. Dar Es Salam we reach around 15.00 h. The city is not pretty and we stop at the port to buy tickets for the Fast Ferry (US $ 60) to Zanzibar. A short visit to an internet café that was so slow … that it did not work out. From the port we wanted to take a short ferry (10 min.) Translated, but this was unfortunately broken, so we had to go to the other side of Dar Es Salam again. The drive to the camp then took a good two hours and across the slums. So many hours in the truck, that’s annoying, but what I see is a filthy city where people live in miserable dwellings. I find it awful and you only learn to appreciate being at home when you see such conditions. When we arrive at the camp it is already dark and after the meal we go to the bar for a beer test. After undergoing the three varieties Safari camp, Kilimanjaro camp and Serengeti camp, my choice falls on the Serengeti camp. Of course, Kings is played again and that until about 0.30 h, because the alarm clock is already set to 5.00 h.

Friday 11.5.07
4.00 h the night is over, the mosquitoes and the preacher from the mosque next to make sleeping impossible. Since today it goes to Zanzibar, I pack my things in my little daypack and wait until breakfast. At 9.00 h the Fast Ferry stops and shortly after 10.30 h we reach the harbor of Zanzibar. JAMBO everywhere it says JAMBO! The first night I spend in Stonetown before heading north to Nungwi. In Stonetown you can move around freely and it’s not dangerous, even as I discovered in the evening in the dark. After booking the spice tour and transfer to Nungwi for tomorrow, head to the city. First an hour in the museum and then all the sights such as the old fortress, the old slave market, the church, etc. expired and viewed. Unfortunately, the rainy season started here and it sometimes rains really hard – but it’s not really cold at 29 ° C. At Sunset we all meet at the Africanhouse, where we enjoy this with some cocktails. For dinner we go to the fish market opposite the old fortress, where the fishermen offer their fish fresh and prepare on the grill. That’s just delicious! Today in the old fortress there is a music contest for “Zanzibar Sound”, the entrance is free and I enjoy the music and the mood of the locals. There may be at most 20 tourists here. At about 10 pm I’m so tired that I go back to the hostel and after almost a week I can sleep well again for seven hours.

Saturday 12.5.07
At 9.00 h we start the Spice Tour including transfer to Nungwi (US $ 20). The Spice Tourist class and with just about every fruit there is a taste. From the Golden Apple to the vanilla tree you can find it here. After about 2 ½ h there is still lunch, rice with two different sauces and the food was the best on Zanzibar. After we reach Nungwi we first drink a cocktail in the bar of Paradise Lodge, play some cards and wait for the rain to stop. As I said, the rainy season had started, but that does not stop me from bathing. The water will be about 24 ° warm and the air about 30 °. For tomorrow a snorkeling tour is booked (US $ 20). The evening is still spent in the beach bar, before it goes in our Dorm.

Sunday 13.5.07
At 9.30 h we start with a small ship to the Mnemba Atoll. On the way there, we rescue a fisherman who wanted to catch a fish with a snorkel and a lock. But the fish was so big that he pulled the fisherman out to the sea and swam away with the barrier and the fisherman had no more power to swim ashore. After leaving the fisherman on land we reach the Mnemba Atoll after about 1 ¾ hours. There we snorkel for about 1 ½ hours before lunch and we save a sinking motorboat. You can see lots of fish and corals, but I have to say that snorkeling in Mozambique was more beautiful. In Mozambique it was not that deep and the corals were bigger. After we towed the motorboat on Mnemba Island we went back to Paradise Lodge, where I spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach, before I went to dinner with the others in the evening.

Monday 14.5.07
At 12.45 h the Fast Ferry leaves the port. We ordered our transfer for 9.30 h. For the Dorm, we’re supposed to pay $ 15 per person per night, but we think that’s too much. We only want to pay US $ 10 for it and I hand the money to the owner just before the departure. He probably did not like this, but after about 15 minutes he was gone and we with our taxi also. At about 13.00 h the ferry leaves and it goes back to Dar Es Salam. The journey takes less than two hours this time and the sea is not exactly calm. I estimate the waves to be 2 to 2 ½ meters high and so some use their bags on the seat. I found the free roller coaster ride super. In Dar Es Salam it was terribly humid and hot, just disgusting. In addition to these many mosquitoes, I only know that I will not come here in my life anymore. At 17.00 h personally I am getting worse and the food is almost nothing. The night in the heat and humidity is already hard, but I still got 38.5 ° fever, so that night was the horror. Luckily the next morning’s fever was gone and my stomach was just crazy. I assume that the last restaurant on Zanzibar was not exactly clean and I got something there.

Tuesday 15.5.07
At 3.30 – 4.00 h the preacher sets off from the neighboring mosque, so that one is woken up before getting up. I’m still feeling sick and the ride in the smog from Dar Es Salam takes another 1 ½ hours. After Dar Es Salam is behind us, the air is better again, the humidity has disappeared I feel better. The ride is tough again and after eleven hours we reach our camp at Arusha. Here only the tent is set up, showered, eaten and played a two round darts at the bar.

Wednesday 16.5.07
Actually, I wanted to book two nights and three days through the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater for US $ 340, but we are only two people, so the trip does not come off (at least 4 people have to be). So it’s off to Ngorongoro Crater this afternoon. I spend the morning in the Snake Park of the camp, where you can see many snakes from the Anaconda to the black Mamba. The black mamba is feeding today, so I could see how fast the poison works and so a snake consumes three guinea pigs. At 14.00 h we are picked up to Ngorongoro Crater, the drive to the camp lasts about 1½ hours and is constantly interrupted because the driver stops at some overpriced Masai shops. You can not do much at Bushcamp, we all watch news on the BBC and then play cards. In the evening, a local band comes over to do some music and a few acrobats show their arts for a bit of money.

Thursday 17.5.07
In the early morning we go to Ngorongoro Crater, the drive from the camp to the gate takes about 30 minutes. From there it takes another 45 minutes to get into the crater. At the bottom, I think after 20 minutes, hey … so many people have written on the internet there are so many animals, but where are they? And suddenly herds of buffaloes! Zebras, elephants, hippos, flamingos, rhinos and lions. In addition there is the particularly impressive landscape, which makes the experience unforgettable. A dream, I’ve seen four of the big five in just 4 hours, that’s already record-breaking. A visit to the Ngorongoro Crater worthwhile in any case. In the evening at the camp in Arusha we celebrate Paul’s birthday with some springboks, savannas and wine, so that at 0.30 h nothing works and the sleeping bag calls.

Friday 18.5.07
Since unfortunately the Serengeti trip has failed, we drive today to Arusha and there to walk around something. First, I copied a few pictures of someone from the group and then retrieved half an hour more emails. Afterwards I walked a bit through the city, there is not much to see and the flying dealers are a nuisance here and very intrusive. After a good three hours we go back to the camp. In the afternoon I visit the Masai Museum, which is right in front of the camp. A Masai briefly explains the rituals and habits of the Masai. The rest of the day I spend packing my backpack, as it goes directly to Nairobi tomorrow and in the evening the plane home.

Saturday 19.5.07
The last way leads to Nairobi. For the 286 km we need eight hours. The road is so bad that sometimes it only goes with 10 – 20 km / h. Furthermore, the road is so narrow that any overtaking or “coming to terms” of a truck makes it “very interesting”. Ok, I survived it, but I do not want to look at Google’s accident statistics for the last countries. In the evening we go all together again very good food, before it goes by taxi to the airport.

At 23.35 h it’s still Dubai and at 14.00 h on sunday I will be loading in Frankfurt again and could actually continue to travel around the world to see when it will go away again!

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Christina Cherry
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