Rohan and Cands

Kruger National Park

2007-12-04T06:34:00.000Z

After crossing the border at Giriyondo which was by far the friendliest border we had been through we found ourselves back in SA. Was a very weird feeling as it, in a way, marked the end of the adventure.
We had only planned to spend around 2 nights in Kruger, but when we found out how cheap it was, we decided to spend 4 nights. We stayed at Oliphant’s Camp, Satara Camp and Skukuza Camp. It was really strange for us as in all the other parks it was really rustic and here were had petrol stations at every camp. The fuel was not even over priced, there were restaurants and shops....very very strange...even an ATM!!!
We really enjoyed our time and managed to do around 700km’s driving around the park. Managed to see a leopard in broad daylight, found lions on the hunt, an old male who did not look like he was going to last much longer, Rhino, Elephant and cutest Hyena pups. It was all round and amazing end to a truly epic adventure.

Inhambane

2007-11-26T06:33:00.000Z

We spent 3 nights at Mango beach on just up from Tofu beach which was a really awesome quiet location. My mom arrived safe and sound although said she nearly decided not to get on the tiny plane with pilots younger than my youngest sister.
We had 2 lazy days and then headed across to Barra where we stayed in a little chalet at Barra Reef. It was right next door to Barra Lodge which is where I decided to do my Open Water One. It was the most tiring 4 days. Considering I had hardly done ANY physical exercise for probably this year it really took it out of me, then I still had to head home every night to do my theory. But I loved it. Rohan was there for my first dive which was really special. Although with all my nerves I got seriously sea sick after the dive. The wind was pumping and my stomach was not loving the motion of the ocean. The next day I was dreading my dive as I did not want to get on the boat, but this time I seemed to manage much better. The dives were just awesome. I could rattle on and on about what I saw. Lion Fish, Scorpion fish, crocodile fish, Flute Fish, Stone Fish...it was so awesome better than diving in an Aquarium. Rohan did dive with Manta Rays. There was a guy on his dives that had a camera, so check the site out for Pics and a pic of me on my first ever dive....lucky!!
While I was off trying to exhaust myself my mom explored the mangroves and generally relaxed. Besides diving, there is not really much else to do around inhambane besides go walking and lie on the beach. Unless you are of the type to bring you 4 wheelers and jet ski’s and harass the locals and tourists with no respect for anything or anyone. It is unbelievable to see. Makes you angry and how they are going to stuff the place up....
After an awesome week and loving the fact that we could unpack and stay in one place for a while we got on the Road back to SA via the Transfrontier National park into Kruger.

Gorongosa National Park

2007-11-16T06:33:00.000Z

We finally arrived at gorongosa national park so find that we did not really have enough fuel to actually drive IN the park, so made the 200km round trip to Chimoio to get fuel. This town is about 100km from the Zim border and we saw plenty guys there doing their shopping. As for a place to see is was really a non event so we fuelled up and headed straight to Gorongosa.
Gorongosa is in the process of being re stocked and re developed. During the civil war it was in fact the base camp for the frilimo forces and the unsuspecting game were the main course. An American by the name of Greg Carr has injected something like $40 million to reinstating the park to its original glory as a premier African game park. The people working here are very proud of what is being done and a pleasure to talk to. The park has already employed around 1000 locals and as the park progresses this number is sure to grow.
Granted we went on a game drive and never saw any big cats but the park is still in its very early stages and where the animals are not in quarantine, they are still very shy due to previous poaching. Gorongosa has an agreement with the Kruger National Park with animal exchanges. It was really something to see a game park being rebuilt in this way and we would definitely love to head back in a few years to see the transformation.
Unfortunately due to the rain that arrived with a vengeance quite a lot of the park was closed due to the roads being flooded, so we only spent 2 nights before heading into Vilancoulos.
On arriving in Vilancoulos we drove around, I managed to get the wrath of Rohan as I thought I would park under a nice shady tree and forgot the height of the cruiser and almost manager to remove the roof rack with the trunk of the tree. Mmmm....enough said!!
We stayed at a place called Blue Water which was an amazing location on the beach away from the bussling little town and had the most awesome swimming pool just before the beach. In the next year is going to be flattened and there is a developer coming in to build a hotel. Will be interesting to see.
The next morning we took the road to Inhambane where my mom was flying in to meet us...

Northern Mozambique

2007-11-10T06:29:00.000Z

Enthusiasm for the website began to wane just as we arrived at some of the most amazing beaches we have ever seen. Southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique has really been more than what we expected. White beaches with turquoise water and spectacular snorkelling. Rohan has already been for a beach entry dive and just loved it. After speaking to some divers and a doctor they all said that shallow dives on Larium/Mefliam is not a problem as long as you wait a few days after taking your tablet.
From Dar we drove to Kilwa in Southern Tanzania. Kilwa’s history is in line with that of Zanzibar as being a port dating back before the slave trade. The ruins there are something to see. Forts and palaces with a campsite for the traders. From there we drove towards to the Rovuma to Mtwara. We decided there was no real reason to spend the night and drove to the Rovula Marine Reserve and camped there for 2 nights. It was awesome. The campsite is right on the beach under the palm trees and snorkelling was amazing. First time I have seen coral like that close to the beach. The place is run by a Belgian and his wife, from the Congo. Very interesting people.
Crossing the Rovuma was quite an experience. It was only an hour’s drive from the campsite and we got there for 9 sharp as the ferry is tidal and 9 was high tide. Customs was a breeze; they were rushing us through so we could get to the ferry. Anyway we got down there and found that you basically drive down the river bank and onto the ferry. The ramp of the ferry did not sit exactly plush on the sand, so we managed to get a little stuck. In fact the chassy was pushing the ferry deeper into the Rovuma. Check the photos. Not a problem though, after 5 min of digging, and a tree trunk, the car was safely on the ferry. Then we waited about an hour as the guy realised he was out of fuel and we had to wait for another car to come to bring the diesel from the border post. Why they could not have just sent it with us is beyond me. Anyway around 10 we finally get moving and started the 45 min sail to the other side. Unbelievable how wide the river actually is. Then it was time to drive off and once again it was up and over the river bank again. This time the guys got off and at least dug a bit of a ramp. Lucky for us this time it was quick and easy. Getting to the Moz border, which we nearly drove right past as it is just a hut about 20km from the river. The guys spoke no English and would only deal with Rohan; I had to wait outside while the legalities were dealt with. It was the first border post where they searched the car. Lucky they just checked the cab and we only had to open 2 ammo boxes. Then drove through a dry river bed, which was the road out of town. Not sure why that surprised me. We spent the night at a terrible campsite called Chez Natalie at Mocimeoa da Praia. It had the basics but the shower was literally a bucket and jug. We would have been better off bush camping. Exchanging money was something of an adventure though. The bank was owned by ABSA, but only after all the paperwork was filled out and every note we wanted to exchange was photocopied and Rohan had to sign next to each note were we then sent to another teller who then checked each note under a scanner and did the exchange. This entire process took an hour. To think we usually just draw from an ATM. Crazy. And if you are wandering why we did this was because there are no ATMs before Pemba in Northern Mozambique.
From there we headed to Pangane. We stayed at a campsite at the tip of a palm lined peninsula. It is run by a local who works at a fish factory which comes in handy as they cook you the most amazing fishy meals. We spend 2 nights there, meeting 2 couples. 1 from Sweden and 1 from Zim. The zimbos were sussing out Moz, wanting to buy some land and build a lodge. We really had a great time with them. We hired a dhow and went snorkelling on a reef nearby. Again it was really amazing for me to see. They told us about a really good lodge in Nacala called Bay diving, so it became our next destination.
Bay diving was everything we expected. Really awesome campsite owned by 2 South Africans. They have established the bay as a marine reserve after some serious hard work and when you dive there you can see the benefits. It has become a nursery for so many fish. Snorkelling there is something I doubt I will see anywhere else. I felt like I was in an aquarium. Just seeing everything imaginable, I actually got the fright of my life when a huge bat fish just suddenly appeared in front me. It was here that Rohan did his dive. The wind was pumping so they just went off the beach as the bay is protected. He said it was totally amazing. This is definitely a place to I would recommend to anyone passing through. It has amazing views of the bay, the best food and great company. Sundowners on the veranda of Mary-Ann’s cottage (the chef) was just the perfect way to end a day.
Together with Mary Ann and Wouter who we met at Bay divers, we headed to Ilha da Mozambique. We had a great day wondering around the town seeing the fort and museum. In the fort is the oldest western structure in the southern hemisphere, a church. If you did not already know, Ilha is actually an island with a very long bridge that connects it with the mainland. An amazing little trip if you ever get the chance. There is only a very small channel that looked deep, but besides that you could almost walk right across at low tide. From there we drove to a dreary town called Mocuba where we spent the night before crossing the Zambezi at Caia. We got there exactly at 12 which is the exact time they stop the ferry for 2 hours to have lunch. As usual our timing was impeccable. We met a guy from Maputo while waiting it out and he recommended this place we are stayed at. By the time we got through the ferry it was 3:30 and too late to even attempt to get to Gorongosa National Park. It is in a forest about 30 min from the ferry and cheaper than our hotel room last night. They are in the process of building a bridge across the Zambezi which is ahead of schedule and due to be finished in 2009. Apparently this bridge is going to really unify Mozambique as there is a definite north south divide like they were 2 separate countries. It will be interesting to see.
From here we are heading to Gorongosa National Park towards Beira then onto Vilancoulos and Inhambane where my mom is meeting us for the week. From there we will probably head into SA via Kruger and from there is still undecided.
Till next time.....

We are the Champions!!!!!!!

2007-10-27T16:06:00.000+01:00

Enough said about that :o)

Well Dar is quite a mixed bag. I cant quite decide what I think yet. We have been really fortunate in having Andy to show us around. Initially it felt like we had entered a maze of tracks in the middle of suburbia, but amoungst the chaos there does seem to be a little logic...and I mean a little. Where else in the world will you see guys working on the roads, while everyone is still driving on it. If there is a roller in the way, just drive around it and be on your way. It is quite something to see. We seem to be getting used to it. The worrying thing is the amount of cable that surounds where the guys have been digging....

Well after singing the cars praises we have hit a few snags. The other battery decided to konk out on us and just so that it did not feel alone, the alternator also decided it was tickets. So a day of poor rohan running around to get it sorted. Lucky for us Andy's has some "fundies" at the office to help us out. Well everything seems sorted, although we are now running 2 normal batteries. Visions of our 2 brand new deep cells sitting at home still taunt us in ur dreams....but alas akunamatata as they say over here!!

Today Andy took us to a little town north of Dar called Bagamoyo. Bagamoyo was where a lot of the slave trade in east africa operated from. There are ruins there of the oldest mosque in East africa erected by the persions. Made from Coral and Limestone, it is quite amazing. Simular to stone town on Zanzibar. The coast line there is also quite spectacular. It is the closest point to zanzibar, about 15km coast to coast. We really enjoyed our tour around with Andy. Check out the album for photos.

Our week here in Dar has really flown. It has been great to have a break out from the car and the road. But we are both quite looking forward to the next leg of the trip. From here we will head to Kilwa, which seems to be masked in even more history as a trading port than Zanzibaar. So we will go and check it out for a few days before heading to Mtwara and then into Mozambique via the Rovuma River Ferry.

I am really looking forward to Mozambique. I have got my mom joining us for a week so very excited about that. Going to be great to have some family around again. Was so nice having Rohans folks with us in Zambia. Hoping they might still surprise us and join us in Pemba(**hint hint**)

Anyway, heading out to dinner with Andy and Jenny tonight for a our last night in Dar...although there is small chance we might be sticking around tomorrow for some sailing....Watch this space.

Ngorongoro Crater

2007-10-18T09:12:00.000+01:00

Yesterday Rohan and I braced ourselves for the almost extortionate cost of going to Ngorongoro Crater. After waking up at 5am to be at the gate for 6am and paying $340 for the privilege, we started our accent to the rim of the crater. It was a very misty windy road to the top. We think we saw a lion on the way but cannot really be sure...then nearly drove right into some of the biggest buffalo I have ever seen. After an hour we made it to the rim and took in the most breathtaking view I have ever seen. I can honestly say it is one of the most unique sights to see. As we started our 600m descent into the crater we just gawked. You could see black shadows of wildebeest, Zebra and Buffalo. The Lake Magadi in the middle of the crater with Hippos and flamingos was another amazing sight. All the animals seemed to be heading that way for their morning drink. I just cannot describe how amazing we found the crater. We have been warned by so many people that we would be disappointed due to the number of other cars in the crater. Well there was about an hour where it got VERY congested can’t see the cars for the animals, but this seemed to ease off quite quickly. Seemed most of the safari vehicles do the crater in the morning, then head into the Serengeti for the afternoon. We did find the driver much more friendly and willing to pass information than in the Serengeti where you got the feeling that everyone was in such a rush.
Once we got over the spectacular scenery we got down to some awesome game viewing. Huge herds of buffalo, zebra and wildebeest, birds, groups of Hyena’s just lying in the swamps, elephant grazing in the long reeds in the swamps, then what we have been looking for, a male lion just lying in the grass conserving all his energy. Then if we thought we were lucky we got luckier and saw another male about 600m down the road also just basking in the sun. Unfortunately they were not that close to the side of the road so we could not get the best pics, but it was just amazing to just sit and watch them. We both found it strange to find 2 males in such close proximity with not regard for each other. But all the same it was lucky for us. So thus far the only animals eluding us have been the wild dogs and the Rhino....although except for Ngorongoro crater and Serengeti there are hardly any Rhinos in Tanzanian and Zambian Parks.
After driving just about every track on the crater we started our accent back out of the crater and again just taking into the view. This time minus all the mist.
We spent the night in Arusha so that we could get the car serviced today. Working out to be a very expensive week. From here we will hopefully spend tonight in Moshi, which is at the base of Killi. Then start heading towards Dar Es Salaam to meet Andy and watch the final. There are some mountains in between where we plan to spend tomorrow night to break the trip.
A quick one on campsites. For those heading to the crater, we recommend you stay in the town of Karatu which is about 15 min from the gate. There is a really good campsite called Kudu Campsite and it was great. We would have stayed there last night if it were not for the car. We spent last night in the Masai campsite in Arusha which was recommended to us by many people and our guide book, and to be honest we did not think much of it at all. If you can skip the town of Arusha all together you will not have missed much. Looking forward to packing up and heading out once the car is done. Can’t believe we have already done 10 000km’s. We were going to maybe chance it and have it serviced in Dar, but thought we would rather have the peace of mind that everything is in working order for the trek to Dar and then home.
From Dar we are going to be following the coast down to Durban. We are toying with the idea of heading to Kruger then home through JHB, but still not sure.
Anyway, we hope that Sat turns out to be awesome and wish we were with everyone to see England come seriously short....until then!!

Photos

2007-10-15T06:40:00.001+01:00

Hi
Just a quick note to say we have finally uploaded some new pics. Check them out here

http://www.candicescholtz.com/Albums.aspx

Till next time.....

Halftime

2007-10-15T05:34:00.000+01:00

We arrived in Nairobi this afternoon. We are staying at the Holiday Inn, it was the only hotel we could find with DSTV. The boys certainly made us proud considering what we went through to catch the game it was all worth it. Now we need to plan and see where we will be next sat....

This town is seriously scary to drive in, they think the Arc de Triomphe(?) is bad they should try EVERY roundabout in Nairobi. You just have put foot and go and hope that someone slows down to let you in.

Must say it feels like we are staying in 5 star luxury here. First time I have had a bath and could just soak and relax. Totally awesome. We felt we needed a little pampering considering we have pretty much reached the half way mark of the trip. We are only staying here last night, then heading to a campsite from today for 2 nights. The budget won’t allow much more. We are heading off tomorrow to get the car serviced and hopefully cleaned with a high pressure hose. The car looks like it has been mud coated. Will also stock up on some more supplies then head out for the next leg.

Serengeti National Park

2007-10-15T05:31:00.001+01:00

Well we finally made it to the best game park in Africa. Although it was a VERY long day it was well worth it. We got to the gate just before 7am and made it back to the gate at 18:50. 10 minutes later and we would have had a $50 dollar fine to pay for being late out of the park.
We took a guide with us as the park is vast and we wanted to get as much out of the experience as well could. About 1 hour into the drive we came across 4 lioness’s straight off a kill just chilling in the shade of a tree. Was magic to sit and watch them. From there we drove on saw plenty plenty wildebeest. Groups of about 100. The migration is still up in the Masai Mara, so these must be groups who either stayed behind or came back early. Was still awesome to see them in those numbers. There seemed to be as many zebra and Gazelle’s. After driving to the Seronera Plain which is the biggest plain in the park, we came across another female lion, she was across a river so we could not get a great view of her. We then stopped for some lunch, with what was about another 20 game vehicles. Was quite chaotic with the amount of people in the park. Until then we had not really seen more than 2 other vehicles. From lunch we came across a cheetah checking the view. This was crazy as by the time we left there were about 6 cars there. Driving back to the gate, which is a good 3 hour trip, we saw about 4 cars looking at something, which turned out to be a leopard in a tree. Except for the 8 cars watching the leopard it was amazing to see. It did not seem the slightest bit phased. Whoever spotted him must had the best eyesight as we battled to see him properly without binoculars.
From there we had to make the rush for the gate, like i said it is a $50 dollar fine if you are found in the park after 7, so all was going very well until the heavens just opened and we had to slow right down to about 20 as the car was sliding all over the place which was quite hairy for Rohan. But lucky for us we made it by the skin of our teeth. We were totally shattered when we got back to the campsite which luckily was about 1km from the gate. We had dinner and headed straight to sleep.
This morning, we came into Kenya. Like I have said before the more north you go the more chaotic it seems to become. We are staying in a small town called Kisii for the night and heading to Nairobi early tomorrow morning. Still about a 5 hour drive from here. Would like try get there around lunchtime so we have time to find a spot to watch the rugby.
Anyway will be in touch again soon, hopefully we will be needing to find a place again next week for the Final...

Mwansa

2007-10-15T05:30:00.000+01:00

Today we drove from a little chaos town called Kahoma to Mwansa on Lake Victoria. For once we only drove for about 4 hours and it was ALL on tar, a welcome change. Although we still had to contend with the CRAZY bus drivers going a hundred miles an hour down the road and cyclists and pedestrians with death wishes. This is doing my head in. It seems the more north you move that faster they drive with no regard for anything or anyone else. Tanzania definitely has the worst drivers on this trip so far.
Getting to Mwansa we had thoughts of staying here to chill for a few days to recover from all the driving we have done in the last week only find it is the most chaotic town we have been in so far. We managed to find a place to stay for the night and are heading out tomorrow to the Serengeti Stopover Camp where we will stay till Sat morning. We actually planned to head there straight today when we arrived, but went to a lodge for lunch and decided to stay the night and head out tomorrow. We can only take so much of the drivers in one day. The first people we saw today where South Africans, a guy who works on the mines out here, and the girl who managers the lodge. Not a bad place. It is right on the lake and we had the best food for lunch than we have had for a long time. Not being able to camp really puts you at the mercy of the kitchen in these little places. Usually the food is cheap and not that bad....but not something you want to have too much of. Last night, neither Rohan nor I could actually cut the meat off the bones of our chicken so settled for rice and sauce...
Saturday we are planning to get to Nairobi to catch the rugby, we have been told it is tar all the way up, so we hope it all works out. From there we not too sure yet. We still plan to head to Hells Gate National Park; we will then see what else we can afford in Kenya before heading back in Tanzania.
We are finding that we need to outrun the rain a little. It rained for most of yesterday and last night and tonight is looking to be the same. We are starting to worry a little about Northern Mozambique and if we will make it through in time...so might actually have to shorten the trip a little or come through another route. Hoping to get a feel for it by the end of the month and see what is happening. On the one hand the rain is the nice change from the heat, but it means wet roads and mozzies (malaria) so makes us a little nervous. Problem is that everyone who sees our cruiser tells us we are worrying for nothing and it will get through anything....but we are still would like to stay on the safe side as much as we can.
While I was writing this Rohan headed out for a walk and just to prove how small the world really is, he ran into an old family friend of his dads who is staying in the room right next to us. They have not seen each other in about 15 years, so it a surprise that they even recognised each other. We landed up having dinner with Andy and will be meeting him later in Dar. Was really good to spend some time with a friendly face. Although Rohan had a few too many beers and was feeling quite sorry for himself the whole of the next day.....

Gombe Stream National Park

2007-10-08T19:16:00.000+01:00

Well the pic speaks for itself. We got there and within 15 minutes we found them and spent around 4 hours following them. Cant explain how awesome it was. The did not seem to even notice us there...except when i got between 2 and he threw a stick at me for good measure as he ran past.

Don't have much time to write. The SA UN guys have let us onto their wireless so quickly updating. Changed my admin password to website so can upload pics again.You know you have been on Holiday too long when you forget passwords.

We are leaving here tomorrow and heading towards the Serengeti then into Kenya. Will send an update as soon as we have one.

We caught the Fiji game yesterday...crisis...we thougtht we were nearly gonners!!! We are trying to work out where we will be on sat....thinking Nairobi will DEF have something somewhere....cannot miss it!!

Chat soon.....

The Road is long...

2007-10-08T19:02:00.000+01:00

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......

A Month of Sundays

2007-10-08T18:59:00.001+01:00

Well it is a month almost to the day that we set sail on our little adventure. While some parts have seemed tougher than others, on a whole it has been something special.
The last few days in Malawi were very chilled. We stayed at a campsite called Makuzi Beach which was run by South Africans. Deon the guy who managers it is an ex Ixopo guy. Bruce he knew you and we gave him your details. Besides that fact we got infested with spiders of all colours (lumo white, green and yellow) we had a really great time. Went kayaking and snorkelling on the lake, caught up on some housework (washing etc) and just chilled. From there we headed to an awesome spot called The Mushroom Farm. It is run by a very laid back Aussie called Mick. It is built into the cliffs in livingstonia and the drive up there was an experience in itself. Narrow windey road going straight up with a sheer drop on one side. The campsites and bungalows are built into the cliffs so sleep walkers might do some rap jumping without the wires if they don’t watch out. But it was very chilled out, saw the most amazing sunrise over the lake...breathtaking!! We then headed to our last night down at the lake before heading to yet another border post. We had been warned that is was going to be a tedious one so we braced ourselves for the worst. Surprisingly enough it was as quick and easy as all our other crossings. Expensive (see below) but it means we can head to Kenya or Uganda without having to pay again within 90 Days. The only pretty crappy thing about these border crossings which makes it so unpleasant are the Money changes. No matter how much you say no thank you, they just become more determined. The Carnet and the Comesa have made our lives very easy. The minute they see it they smile. All we can figure is that it is less work for them. But all in all borders are not the nightmare I had prepared myself for.

At the moment everything has been a little more than what we anticipated from our research we had done. Amounts had been doubled since recent prices in Bradt guides. At the moment we are just have to pick and choose a little more so as to get the best out of the trip and fit in everything we really wanted to do. With regards to park fees, Tanzania is about as bad as it gets...so we are bracing ourselves for it.

In Tanzania

2007-10-04T08:10:00.000+01:00

Hi Guys
Just a quick one. In Tanzania in a town called Sumbawanga near Lake Tasnganyka...were wanting to stick the car on the ferry and head up the lake but just found out the water levels are to low to unload the car in kigoma...so will drive up the lake instead. Looking to go play with the chimps....
besides that all good...missing you guys
will update soon with more news.

keep the comments coming. we love reading them.....
send RUGBY updates.....

25 September 2007

2007-09-29T11:00:00.000+01:00

We are staying at the steps campsite in Senga Bay. Last night we have the whole place to ourselves. Unfortunately for us, there is a hotel next door and they had a loud party for most of the evening, so it took away from the seclusion.
We went snorkelling this morning which was really nice. Went to Lizard Island which is visible from the beach and just chilled there most of the morning. We got some fish for tonight....really looking forward to the change from chicken ;o) called something like Jumbo....I think...will see how it tastes.
This afternoon about 4 cars arrived in the campsite.all german (no surprise)...will see if tonight is any better.
I have finally finished ready Harry Potter...Rohan is soooo happy....I have had my nose in the book since we left SA...I have read the last 3 books (thanks Tam). Glad I managed that before I actually heard how it ended. Not sure what I will do with my chilling time now as that was when I was doing all my reading.
Tomorrow we are heading from here up the lake to Nkhotakota from there we plan to head to Nkhatha Bay.
Almost forgot, we had our battery checked in Lilongwe and it was indeed kaput so we decided to buy a new battery and move the batteries around (we originally had 2 deep cells). So far so good, although they have electricity here which helps. Bleak as we have 2 brand new deep cell batteries sitting in rohans folk’s garage. Besides that the car is going great, we have done close to 5000kms now and we had to put in 1 pint of oil in Lilongwe before we left. Diesel here is much cheaper that Zambia which is a relief, around R8 a litre. Although from here we won’t be doing as much mileage week as we have been. We are expecting to do most of Malawi on 1 tank.
We have noticed quite huge changes from Zambia to here. Not once did we see begging or child beggars in Zambia and in Lilongwe we saw them on every corner. I had always thought Malawi was better off than Zambia...when you look at the infrastructure here you would also think so, but we have seen so many people on the streets. Really sad. We have bought big bags of apples as I would rather give something of sustenance than money. Maybe I am wrong...but it is better than nothing. Wondering what it will be like further north.
Talking about the north, rohan’s dad informed us about the floods in Kenya and Uganda. Going online tomorrow to find out more details about it. Not sure how it will affect us, but I know a few places we planned to go have had their roads totally wrecked. Will see.

23 September 2007

2007-09-29T10:58:00.000+01:00

3 weeks on....
This morning we arrived in Malawi. Never paid anything to get in....still can’t believe it. Showed them our comesa and our carnet while the guy chatted to us about Durban as he stamped us in...What a pleasure!!!
Amazing though, as you drive through the border there is suddenly all this infrastructure and road. It felt like we were floating in comparison the road back from south Luangwa which is about the worst corrugated road we have ever been on. Although about 1 hour down the road we had our first really scary moment of the trip. I was driving and a guy just jumped into the road...well I got the fright of my life and swerved....and nearly rolled the car, the back just slid right out. Rohan and I were pretty shaken. Especially Rohan as he was reading and as he looked up he saw the guy right in front of us. What an idiot. Felt like stopping and beating the life out of him....
Anyway....
We have spent the last week with rohan’s folks who flew out here. It was really good having some company for while. Feels strange now that they have left. But we had a great time. We were lucky enough to catch the SA v England while we were in Lusaka....all I can say is GO BOKKE.....awesome stuff. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send us updates on the rugby (CALVIN!!!)...we are really trying to catch the games....but this is Africa and DSTV is bit maar min....I saw the final is on the 20th October...let’s hope I get a belated birthday pressie from John and the boys
We went down to the lower Zambezi National Park, and under estimated the drive through the park and landed up having to head back to Lusaka. From there we drove to Chipata where we stayed the night and left the next morning for South Luangwa National park where we camped at the wilderness camp. It was awesome. We all went on a night drive. There were loads of cars out and all you could see where lights and spotlights and the guys radio was bleating...we did however get to see a hyena and another leopard just at the end of the night. But the poor thing was surrounded by 4 cars all trying to get the best snapshot. Nothing like Kafue where we felt the guys was really tracking and we never saw or heard another car. Next day we took a drive through the park looking for wild dogs...but they evaded us and so did the cats. But we saw plenty elephant, hippo, Thorneycroft giraffe (only found here), puku, impala, waterbuck, warthogs, zebra....it was really amazing....
The campsite had a nice pool and lapa right on the Luangwa River so we spent the rest of our time there, swimming, reading and watching for game. Last night we heard a herd of elephant crossing the river and one came within about 10m of our tent grazing. Was really awesome to see. He was totally oblivious to us there.
Rohan’s folks left yesterday lunch time to drive back to Lusaka and we headed this way into Malawi today. At first we thought we had killed one of our deep cell batteries as it was dead. But we found electricity in the campsite, plugged in to keep the fridge going and decided to head to Lilongwe to have it checked. We have been running the fridge as a freezer so had not noticed this before.....
It was recommended to us to head to Salima near the lake, so that is where we will be heading for some sun and snorkelling tomorrow. Zambia was amazing in every sense of the word, but it has been unbelievably dry. The Looking forward to some swimming....
Till next time.....

16 September 2007

2007-09-16T20:20:00.000+01:00

As you can see, we have finally updated the blog. Sorry if it is a little boring as we have not really had much time to sit and write really. Up early and to bed early has been pretty much our day thus far.
All I can say is that we have really been having the most fantastic time, I can honestly say I was not sure what to expect, but if the rest of our trip is anything compared to what we have already experienced, I think we are really going to have the trip of a lifetime.

I hope everyone is well and PLEASE keep us updated with all your news as well.

I have uploaded some Pictures check them out at www.candicescholtz.com

10 - 13 September 2007

2007-09-16T20:09:00.001+01:00

From Kafue we headed to Lusaka where we stocked up on supplies and Rohan’s folks flew out to meet us for a week.
Was very surprised to see that Lusaka had all the south African chains, down to a Mr Price and Woolworths...good for us as we could stock up on some home comforts before we head north.
We stayed at Pioneer Rest Camp which was very nice and friendly. Yesterday we left Lusaka and came to Wildtracks Camp on the lower Zambezi. Very quiet and remote. This morning we went out on the boat to do some game viewing and only managed to see birds. Rohan and I once again tried our hand tiger fishing. This time I got a strike and actually brought the fish to the boat, but he swam underneath and broke the line. Was so bleak and it was about 5 pounds....we are heading out again this evening, determined to land one now....

10 - 13 September 2007

2007-09-16T20:00:00.000+01:00

This picture wraps up our experience of Kafue National Park. This leopard was hunting so it was extra special to see him in action. He did not seem to be fazed by us all clicking away. Before we saw him we also saw a lone lioness.
We stayed at Lafupa Lodge at a campsite right on the Kafue River. Although it was our first introduction to the Tsetse fly (National bird of Zambia) it was so amazing. We spent 3 nights at the lodge and could have spent another week. On our first night we heard lions across the river. It was amazing to hear. We could drive around the park in our own vehicle so we spent the days driving around the park and went on a night drive with the scouts. On our last day we drove up to the Basinga Plains where we saw 2 cheetah brothers shading themselves under a tree. We also saw plenty buck, zebra, wildebeest, warthogs and a pride of lions. 2 lionesses sitting above a river bank and about 7 adolescent lions lying in the riverbed.
All in all our time in Kafue was just awesome and were sad to leave. Defiantly somewhere we would like to go again.

9 September 2007

2007-09-16T19:57:00.000+01:00

Sioma Falls was amazing. We crossed the Zambezi in a mokoro and walked up to the falls. Amazing to get that close…did not want to really leave, but we had a long drive to senanga and pontoon to cross.

7 – 9 September 2007

2007-09-16T19:55:00.000+01:00

After Livingston we headed off to western Zambia. We planned to head as far as Luiwa Plains, but decided the cost ($100 a day) was too much. The roads through western Zambia are terrible... you could see everywhere where people had come unstuck in the rains...our winch paid for itself as we had to help a mad Chinese man who had got stuck. Weirder still was the Zambian man speaking Chinese!! Helped them out and carried on to Kabula Lodge. It was amazing as there was no one else staying in the camp, so we had it to ourselves. Went on our first Tiger fishing trip...we both got some strikes but never managed to land anything. Was very disappointing. But we are now determined to catch one...lower Zambezi here we come....

6 September 2007

2007-09-16T19:51:00.000+01:00

White water rafting on the Mighty Zambezi.
This was absolutely amazing. We did from Rapid 1 to 23, bar 9, which is called commercial suicide...walking past we could see why. We had a good group on the boat which made it that much more fun. The rapid we swam on was our own choice, there was an easy route and a tough route...you can guess which one we chose. The boat flipped everyone out which at first is frightening, then once you relax it is quite fun...Swam through one the rapid which was also fun. All in all it was exactly what I expected it to be. Next mission is getting down on a Kayak one day ;o)
Our fun was short lived as when we got back from the day we found that baboons had ripped open our tent to get to our veggies and had eaten everything edible...we even found some chewed blitz(hope that baboon was sick for days)...was bleak as the tent was ripped was one side to the other. Never realised baboons could actually do it. Lucky for us there were permanent tents in the camp, so they had a tailor, so he came and fixed it for us...almost as good as new. Was to angry to take pics...but I will tell you it was not the best thing to come home to...needless to say Rohan got to test out his catty!!!

5 September 2007

2007-09-16T19:48:00.000+01:00

We are currently in Livingston. Staying at a campsite called Maramba. $10 each per night. It is 5km’s from Vic Falls and the zim border.
Coming through the Botswana border was painless. We managed to make it through to Nata and spent the night at the Nata River Lodge. Can’t really say much as we arrived 1 hour before dark and left at 9am for Livingston. The road from Nata to Kazangulu was terrible. Between the HUGE potholes and the crazy traffic system of slowing traffic to 60km/h whenever you pass a small village, it was tough going. We arrived at the border around Lunchtime and got had by some eager locals who wanted to “help” us through the border. Big Mistake...think we paid close to double going through....can’t be sure as they paid everything for us and we to refund them. We only had rands on us, so they gave us their own exchange rate. Won’t be doing that again. Very frustrated with ourselves, but I guess you live and learn.
As I said, we are in Livingston and we went to the falls this morning. It was amazing. The river is flowing but nowhere near like when it is in flood. It def did not disappoint.
We are off White River Rafting tomorrow. Can’t wait....something we have always wanted to do. Will let you know how it goes.
As far as the car and camping goes, it is great. We obviously will have to tweak out system a little, but we are getting there. Car is running well. Were surprised at the number of land cruisers we saw in Botswana, all the official cars seem to be land cruisers...gave us more hope that we should be ok ;o)

2 more sleeps....

2007-08-27T12:45:00.000+01:00

Looks like we are heading out on wednessday now. As I write this Rohan is up to his neck in grime learning how to service the car with his dad's mechanic :o).

Insurance is now sorted, tomorrow we are getting the last of our Jabs and last Friday we started on our course of Mefliam(larium generic) for Malaria. No hallucinations yet so hold thumbs. Just means no deep diving on the trip...pretty bleak about that as we will be going through some amazing places in Tanzania and Mozambique. But rather safe than sorry I guess.

We spent the weekend doing a test run of the packing. The good news was everything fits....the bad is that I just hope it does not take 4 hours to pack every time ;o). We are thinking of taking it to a weighbridge to check the weight...not looking fwd to the ferry in Zambia hehehe!! Also found some good hiding spots for the cash...our biggest worry at the moment. There is nowhere to easily fit a safe...so lets just hope luck is on our side.

Had a bit of a nightmare with tires last week. We landed up bucking and going with the BFG's( BF Goodridge's), was not tooo bad, but rather safe than sorry. Spoke to some peeps last night who used BFG's and did simular milage to what we are about to do and never got one flat. A guys travelling with them with tires with about 50% tread got about 3...

The plan from now, is to head to JHB and get our Ugandan visas as you cant get them at the border and we dont feel like getting them in Tanzania. Then head to Thabazimbi so see my dad for a night or so, then head to the Bots border. My dad is about 200km from there so plan to get there at 8 when it opens...

We will spend about 2 days getting through bots going straight into Zambia. Spend some time in Livingston, then head west to Liuwa Plains and Kafue. From there head back to Lusaka, buy our comesa(3rd Party Insurance document so you dont get nabbed at every border) and then down to Lower Zambezi National Park. From there we will head to South Luangwa, then into Malawi.
We are planning the above route to take 3 weeks, but will see.

Anyway, till we have more news...

Almost on the way...

2007-08-22T11:56:00.000+01:00

Well, we are now back very sunny SA. Cant really say how it feels as we have been running around like headless chickens trying to get our little beast sorted for his long voyage north.

It looked like we were just about there, when today we were suddenly reminded that we are back africa. There has been a national tire strike and we need 2 tires and nowhere seems to have stock..NICE!! Hopefully we will come right, we have a few days to kill.
We are looking to leave Sat 25 August....but watch this space...