Well we have had one of our most trying days travelling and still have a few more to come to get to the Serengeti. The road from Katavi National Park to Kigoma is the most scenic but very long and very tiring. It is marked as a main road, the B8, but it is nothing more than a track which is about 400km long. This took us most of yesterday to drive up here. And once again something which we plan to never do again, we drove about 60km in the dark arriving here at 9pm.
It was a spectacular drive as you are driving through thick thick forests and over mountain passes with breathtaking views. We are just about on the Burundi border here and you could see the forest just continues north. We were a little worried as just before we took the turn to Kigoma we went through a police check, which is usually a few guys carrying AK47’s asking where you come from where you going to and wanting your email address for when they come to SA. But these guys told us that there have been a few armed robberies from guys coming from Burundi in Tanzania. The look on my face must have said it all because he very quickly added that we would be fine as they are targeting businessmen. So the last few kms in the dark had a little added stress to it. Like I said...something we don’t plan to do again soon. At the least the hotel (there is no camping) is pretty cheap at R150 a night, so will spend tonight here as well. It is right on the lake. A bit run down but we are right on the beach with and amazing view.
There does not seem to be much camping at all along the west of Tanzania but the hotels we have stayed in have been really really cheap and the service is really amazing. We spent a night Sumbawanga where the room we chose was Tsh15000 (R92) but the manager thought we would want a bigger room so bumped us up at the same price. The next day we found out he is the chairman of the chamber of commerce for the region. It was at his office that we sent the last blog. He was very proud to show us his office and the internet cafe he ran.
Another interesting character we have met along the way was the manager of the Toyota dealership in Mbeya. Took our number and has phoned once or twice to see how we are going. Was very proud we were doing the trip in “The car of Africa”. Made us promise were going to service at 10000km’s and told us we would have NO problems with the Toyota and if we do to call him and he will make sure we come right. He even came and met us at our hotel that night to have dinner with us and help us get information about the ferry...amazing people!!
Anyway the reason we have tracked to hell and gone is to go to the Gombe stream national park. Because of the rains and having to cut out Uganda we thought we would come here as they have a chimp sanctuary and the in your face experience with the chimps is meant to be the best you can get. A bit of a mission as you can only get there by boat. The hotels want to charge about $250 to get you 25 min up the river. If you catch a local river taxi it is $1 but takes about 3 hours. You can guess the option we are going for. You have to stay in the park for 2 days (taxi times), but don’t pay park fees at the camp. So you still only pay for 24hours in the park. 2 nights at $20 each with the park fees sitting at $200 for the 2 of us, you can see why spending $250 to get there is just crazy!! A very expensive experience you might think, but it is still cheaper than $500 ahead Uganda is charging for gorilla trekking.
From here we plan to head across to Mwanza, which is right at the left of the Serengeti Plains. This will take 2 days of driving. We are not sure if we will head straight into Kenya from here or do the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater first. We heard the migration is in the Masai Mara...so will see. In Kenya we plan to head to Hells Gate National Park, Nairobi to get the car serviced and then back into Tanzania to Killi. Whether we climb we are not sure yet. Budget is dictating this one at the moment.
Well that is the general plan at the moment but things seem to change all the time so will update you.
We just found out that that the hotel up the road is showing the rugby so we are heading up there just now to do the internet update and watch the game. We heard about Aus and NZ going out which is quite a shock...going to be very interesting from here as I think that leaves us again England for the semi?
GO BOKKE......
It was a spectacular drive as you are driving through thick thick forests and over mountain passes with breathtaking views. We are just about on the Burundi border here and you could see the forest just continues north. We were a little worried as just before we took the turn to Kigoma we went through a police check, which is usually a few guys carrying AK47’s asking where you come from where you going to and wanting your email address for when they come to SA. But these guys told us that there have been a few armed robberies from guys coming from Burundi in Tanzania. The look on my face must have said it all because he very quickly added that we would be fine as they are targeting businessmen. So the last few kms in the dark had a little added stress to it. Like I said...something we don’t plan to do again soon. At the least the hotel (there is no camping) is pretty cheap at R150 a night, so will spend tonight here as well. It is right on the lake. A bit run down but we are right on the beach with and amazing view.
There does not seem to be much camping at all along the west of Tanzania but the hotels we have stayed in have been really really cheap and the service is really amazing. We spent a night Sumbawanga where the room we chose was Tsh15000 (R92) but the manager thought we would want a bigger room so bumped us up at the same price. The next day we found out he is the chairman of the chamber of commerce for the region. It was at his office that we sent the last blog. He was very proud to show us his office and the internet cafe he ran.
Another interesting character we have met along the way was the manager of the Toyota dealership in Mbeya. Took our number and has phoned once or twice to see how we are going. Was very proud we were doing the trip in “The car of Africa”. Made us promise were going to service at 10000km’s and told us we would have NO problems with the Toyota and if we do to call him and he will make sure we come right. He even came and met us at our hotel that night to have dinner with us and help us get information about the ferry...amazing people!!
Anyway the reason we have tracked to hell and gone is to go to the Gombe stream national park. Because of the rains and having to cut out Uganda we thought we would come here as they have a chimp sanctuary and the in your face experience with the chimps is meant to be the best you can get. A bit of a mission as you can only get there by boat. The hotels want to charge about $250 to get you 25 min up the river. If you catch a local river taxi it is $1 but takes about 3 hours. You can guess the option we are going for. You have to stay in the park for 2 days (taxi times), but don’t pay park fees at the camp. So you still only pay for 24hours in the park. 2 nights at $20 each with the park fees sitting at $200 for the 2 of us, you can see why spending $250 to get there is just crazy!! A very expensive experience you might think, but it is still cheaper than $500 ahead Uganda is charging for gorilla trekking.
From here we plan to head across to Mwanza, which is right at the left of the Serengeti Plains. This will take 2 days of driving. We are not sure if we will head straight into Kenya from here or do the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater first. We heard the migration is in the Masai Mara...so will see. In Kenya we plan to head to Hells Gate National Park, Nairobi to get the car serviced and then back into Tanzania to Killi. Whether we climb we are not sure yet. Budget is dictating this one at the moment.
Well that is the general plan at the moment but things seem to change all the time so will update you.
We just found out that that the hotel up the road is showing the rugby so we are heading up there just now to do the internet update and watch the game. We heard about Aus and NZ going out which is quite a shock...going to be very interesting from here as I think that leaves us again England for the semi?
GO BOKKE......
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