unURBAN Adventures - Alaska to Argentina to AFRICA!
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Malawi to Tanzania
Border crossing update on our web page:
http://iloapp.unurban.no/blog/blog?Home&category=7
Malawi to Tanzania at Songwe.
Espen
Border crossing update on our web page:
http://iloapp.unurban.no/blog/blog?Home&category=7
Malawi to Tanzania at Songwe.
Espen
Southern Highlands Tanzania
Driving from Lake Malawi at about 450 meters we crossed the border into Tanzania and the road took us up and up. We were soon in the Southern highlands at an altitude of 2000 meters and more. At one point the road was surrounded by tea plantations. Then as we drove a bit higher the crop changed from tea to potatoes. I do love potatoes, but I have to admit that tea plantations look nicer than potato fields.
Our first night in Tanzania was at Utengule Country Hotel. Not in a fancy room, but on the helicopter pad where they let people like us camp when it’s not in use.
Utengule is also a working coffee plantation, and from the Hotel you can hike down through the coffee bushes to the area where the beans are processed.
Late August was the end of the picking season and we could see all the selected coffee beans drying in the sun in airy trays.
After the beans are dried, peeled, and packed into bags, they are shipped off. They do keep some coffee for the Hotel, and Espen, a coffee addict, was really happy with the espresso he had for breakfast.
Beside tea and coffee there was a lot of advertisement for another kind of drink in the Southern Highlands, cola. It seemed like the two brands almost had an advertisement “war” going on. Almost a quarter of all the houses in populated areas were painted with Pepsi logos, and another quarter were painted with the Coca Cola logo. Here is a bridge both the companies were fighting over.
While Espen was lining up at the ATM in Mbeya I was watching the shoe sale on the other side of the street.
Tempting, but I think my sneakers have to do a bit a longer. With a fresh stack of cash we were ready to continue the drive north in Tanzania. More about driving in Tanzania in our next blog.
Malin
Driving from Lake Malawi at about 450 meters we crossed the border into Tanzania and the road took us up and up. We were soon in the Southern highlands at an altitude of 2000 meters and more. At one point the road was surrounded by tea plantations. Then as we drove a bit higher the crop changed from tea to potatoes. I do love potatoes, but I have to admit that tea plantations look nicer than potato fields.
Our first night in Tanzania was at Utengule Country Hotel. Not in a fancy room, but on the helicopter pad where they let people like us camp when it’s not in use.
Utengule is also a working coffee plantation, and from the Hotel you can hike down through the coffee bushes to the area where the beans are processed.
Late August was the end of the picking season and we could see all the selected coffee beans drying in the sun in airy trays.
After the beans are dried, peeled, and packed into bags, they are shipped off. They do keep some coffee for the Hotel, and Espen, a coffee addict, was really happy with the espresso he had for breakfast.
Beside tea and coffee there was a lot of advertisement for another kind of drink in the Southern Highlands, cola. It seemed like the two brands almost had an advertisement “war” going on. Almost a quarter of all the houses in populated areas were painted with Pepsi logos, and another quarter were painted with the Coca Cola logo. Here is a bridge both the companies were fighting over.
While Espen was lining up at the ATM in Mbeya I was watching the shoe sale on the other side of the street.
Tempting, but I think my sneakers have to do a bit a longer. With a fresh stack of cash we were ready to continue the drive north in Tanzania. More about driving in Tanzania in our next blog.
Malin
Dangerous driving
After a couple of days at Utengule we were ready to hit the road again. From Mbeya to Iringa on road A 104 and from Iringa to Dar es Salaam the road A 7. This is the main road from Dar es Salaam to Southern Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia, and it was as much traffic as expected. On the first stretch of 280 from Mbeya to 50 km south of Iringa, we passed 16 police check points and maybe half of them had speed guns. We were lucky and were only stopped twice, and that was not for speeding. They wanted to check driver’s license, car papers and if we had first aid kit, fire extinguisher, safety triangles etc. When we showed them all the right papers, fire extinguisher and first aid kit they realized we were prepared and didn’t want to see the rest. One police officer then pointed to the crack in our windshield and said “this is a problem, so how should we solve this?” He hopes we will give him a bribe to solve the “problem”. Espen quickly told him that this is NOT a problem. The car was inspected at the border two days before and they said it was okay. The Patrol was not really inspected at the border, but a white lie would be no harm. As soon as the officer heard this he waved us on. So a cracked windshield is not really a problem.
We can understand that the police have speed guns to make the traffic slow down through the villages where there is mostly a 50 kilometer per hour zone. Most normal cars slowdown to 50 and so do most trucks, but not the large buses. They drive at least 80 kilometers per hour through villages, and we seldom see them stopped by the police. Do the bus companies regularly bribe the local police so they can keep their schedule? The worst driving we saw on the main road in Tanzania was by long distance buses, and we were really happy we had our own transport. But the most accidents were with trucks involved. Here is collection of accidents we saw during two days on Tanzanian main roads.
“In God we trust” – I do not think it is enough to only trust in God when it comes to safety on the roads.
The main road A 7 goes through Mikumi National Park and we hoped to spot some African wild life again. In Mikumi the owner of the campground we stayed told us that we had to be careful taking photos or stop while driving though the park. Tourists that have stopped or taken photos have been taken in by the park rangers and given a fine to first pay the entrance fee to the park, $ 35 per person, and then a fine of $ 150. Pretty incredible when the main road goes through an area and you are not allowed taking any photos out of your window. We did actually see quite a lot of animals and it was really nice, but we have no photos to prove it.
Besides being threatened with fines for stopping and taking photos, there are also other reasons why we do not always stop along the road. In Africa (except from Botswana and Namibia) there are people everywhere. Mostly this is fine of course; it just depends on the size of the crowd. More populated areas combined with a major road junction often looks like this if you stop.
Next stop Zanzibar.
Apologies to Espen for using the road accident photos in this blog and not in his through the windshield series
Malin
After a couple of days at Utengule we were ready to hit the road again. From Mbeya to Iringa on road A 104 and from Iringa to Dar es Salaam the road A 7. This is the main road from Dar es Salaam to Southern Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia, and it was as much traffic as expected. On the first stretch of 280 from Mbeya to 50 km south of Iringa, we passed 16 police check points and maybe half of them had speed guns. We were lucky and were only stopped twice, and that was not for speeding. They wanted to check driver’s license, car papers and if we had first aid kit, fire extinguisher, safety triangles etc. When we showed them all the right papers, fire extinguisher and first aid kit they realized we were prepared and didn’t want to see the rest. One police officer then pointed to the crack in our windshield and said “this is a problem, so how should we solve this?” He hopes we will give him a bribe to solve the “problem”. Espen quickly told him that this is NOT a problem. The car was inspected at the border two days before and they said it was okay. The Patrol was not really inspected at the border, but a white lie would be no harm. As soon as the officer heard this he waved us on. So a cracked windshield is not really a problem.
We can understand that the police have speed guns to make the traffic slow down through the villages where there is mostly a 50 kilometer per hour zone. Most normal cars slowdown to 50 and so do most trucks, but not the large buses. They drive at least 80 kilometers per hour through villages, and we seldom see them stopped by the police. Do the bus companies regularly bribe the local police so they can keep their schedule? The worst driving we saw on the main road in Tanzania was by long distance buses, and we were really happy we had our own transport. But the most accidents were with trucks involved. Here is collection of accidents we saw during two days on Tanzanian main roads.
“In God we trust” – I do not think it is enough to only trust in God when it comes to safety on the roads.
The main road A 7 goes through Mikumi National Park and we hoped to spot some African wild life again. In Mikumi the owner of the campground we stayed told us that we had to be careful taking photos or stop while driving though the park. Tourists that have stopped or taken photos have been taken in by the park rangers and given a fine to first pay the entrance fee to the park, $ 35 per person, and then a fine of $ 150. Pretty incredible when the main road goes through an area and you are not allowed taking any photos out of your window. We did actually see quite a lot of animals and it was really nice, but we have no photos to prove it.
Besides being threatened with fines for stopping and taking photos, there are also other reasons why we do not always stop along the road. In Africa (except from Botswana and Namibia) there are people everywhere. Mostly this is fine of course; it just depends on the size of the crowd. More populated areas combined with a major road junction often looks like this if you stop.
Next stop Zanzibar.
Apologies to Espen for using the road accident photos in this blog and not in his through the windshield series
Malin
New plans, again.....
Okay!
We have a confession.
Sorry for not telling you this sooner, but here it goes. Traveling through Africa takes a bit longer than we initially thought and we are running out of money. At the time of writing this, we are in Moshi in northern Tanzania, and if you take a look at a map of the African continent, that is about half way up…
Solution: Work... in Antarctica... A bit more info out on www.unurban.no
E&M
Okay!
We have a confession.
Sorry for not telling you this sooner, but here it goes. Traveling through Africa takes a bit longer than we initially thought and we are running out of money. At the time of writing this, we are in Moshi in northern Tanzania, and if you take a look at a map of the African continent, that is about half way up…
Solution: Work... in Antarctica... A bit more info out on www.unurban.no
E&M
Can't get the feeling if that is a "to bad" or a "you lucky bastards"
I am going for the last one...
Will be waiting for more pictures of snow&ice...
B4x4.no
I have to admit it feels pretty good to go back to Antarctica... And this season I'll be working in the mechanics dept, so no more dishes! :-D If I'm really lucky there could be another traverse in the interior. We'll see, we'll see.Still not sure about how we can post pics while on the ice. The blog engine on our website only allows posting via http, and that is a problem. If we have time to figure something out before we fly in, I'll let you know where.
E
Hi Sidebar! Fun to see the start of the A2A Expedition unfold! And thanks for the tip on contacts. We have stored the Patrol in Tanzania. The place we found looked very safe, and there are quite a few other overland vehicles parked there as well.
E
Sorry All for keeping you waiting. It has been a busy couple of weeks after leaving the Patrol in Tanzania, and we even managed to squeeze in a wedding in Italy on our way home. We are now in Norway visiting friends and family, and packing for a season in Antarctica. The flight south leaves in a couple of days. There are still a couple of posts from Tanzania that we want to post before we are at the "Parking", and I'll try to fix this before logging off Internet for three months.
Espen
Espen
Zanzibar!!!
The paradise island off the coast of Tanzania that you find in all the nice and cool travel magazines. I had high expectations, and could even be persuaded to leave the Patrol at a beach resort on the mainland for more than a week. How we were supposed to get out to the island had been discussed for a few days, and the first plan was to park the Patrol close to Dar es Salam, and then take one of the big ferries. Then we got an email from Georg and Andrea (toyotours.com).
At a nice and quiet beach resort a full day driving north of Dar, they had found a way to charter a small fishing boat. Malin was VERY skeptical in the beginning, but after some research we decided to drive up there and take a look. The weather was nice, to trip should take about 4 hours, weather forecast was good, and people arriving back from Zanzibar on this boat told us it was quite nice. We went for it!
We landed on the norther tip of Zanzibar, and it really is a paradise.
But what most people don't know, is that at most of the beaches on Zanzibar swimming is a high tide only activity...
As soon as the tide go out, the locals start harvesting seaweed and dig for mussels.
Another thing that is worth remembering if you plan to go there, is that this is a muslim community, the religion spreading south along the coast of Africa with trading long before the Europeans arrived a couple of hundred years ago. They ask the tourists to respect the local tradition and culture by dressing properly.
After a couple of days on the beach we headed south to Stone Town, the main city (only "real" city) of Zanzibar.
A charming town with lots and lots of small narrow streets. It was really nice to just wander around with no other purpose than just wander....
The decorated doors are a Zanzibar speciality, and you see these amazing doors all around town. I couldn't stop wondering how many hours it would take to make one. Never got around to ask, though...
As soon as the sun went down the night market came to life. I think most of the tourists in Stone Town went here in the evening, to look, taste, and eat.
Our favorite was the Zanzibar pizza, and make another mental note about the lobster. It is not really lobster on those sticks, and we're not even sure the fish they sold as tuna really was tuna... Anyway, it was a fascinating place and the fish (no matter what it was) was fresh!
For our last days on Zanzibar we rented a SUZUKI!!! What can I say... it was cheap...
And it took us to Bwejuu on the south east coast where we spent the last two days on the island relaxing on the beach.
Next, we drive from sea level and almost 2000 meters up into the Usambara Mountains...
Espen
The paradise island off the coast of Tanzania that you find in all the nice and cool travel magazines. I had high expectations, and could even be persuaded to leave the Patrol at a beach resort on the mainland for more than a week. How we were supposed to get out to the island had been discussed for a few days, and the first plan was to park the Patrol close to Dar es Salam, and then take one of the big ferries. Then we got an email from Georg and Andrea (toyotours.com).
At a nice and quiet beach resort a full day driving north of Dar, they had found a way to charter a small fishing boat. Malin was VERY skeptical in the beginning, but after some research we decided to drive up there and take a look. The weather was nice, to trip should take about 4 hours, weather forecast was good, and people arriving back from Zanzibar on this boat told us it was quite nice. We went for it!
We landed on the norther tip of Zanzibar, and it really is a paradise.
But what most people don't know, is that at most of the beaches on Zanzibar swimming is a high tide only activity...
As soon as the tide go out, the locals start harvesting seaweed and dig for mussels.
Another thing that is worth remembering if you plan to go there, is that this is a muslim community, the religion spreading south along the coast of Africa with trading long before the Europeans arrived a couple of hundred years ago. They ask the tourists to respect the local tradition and culture by dressing properly.
After a couple of days on the beach we headed south to Stone Town, the main city (only "real" city) of Zanzibar.
A charming town with lots and lots of small narrow streets. It was really nice to just wander around with no other purpose than just wander....
The decorated doors are a Zanzibar speciality, and you see these amazing doors all around town. I couldn't stop wondering how many hours it would take to make one. Never got around to ask, though...
As soon as the sun went down the night market came to life. I think most of the tourists in Stone Town went here in the evening, to look, taste, and eat.
Our favorite was the Zanzibar pizza, and make another mental note about the lobster. It is not really lobster on those sticks, and we're not even sure the fish they sold as tuna really was tuna... Anyway, it was a fascinating place and the fish (no matter what it was) was fresh!
For our last days on Zanzibar we rented a SUZUKI!!! What can I say... it was cheap...
And it took us to Bwejuu on the south east coast where we spent the last two days on the island relaxing on the beach.
Next, we drive from sea level and almost 2000 meters up into the Usambara Mountains...
Espen
kickingprop
Observer
Where in Norway are you guys from? I was just in Porsgrunn and Trondheim for work for the past two weeks and LOVED it!
Been quietly following and loving your blog for the past year or so...extremely jealous!
Been quietly following and loving your blog for the past year or so...extremely jealous!
Hei Kickingprop
Nice to hear that you liked Norway. We realize that after traveling different places in the world we now have see more of Norway.
We are from Volda and Siljan, and the last four weeks we have been back in Norway visiting family and friends (and packing for Antarctica). Siljan is 30 km away from Porsgrunn and I have been there a few times the last weeks. We could have meet up for a coffee. Maybe next time??
Malin
Usambara Mountains
Usambara Mountains is in the North East of Tanzania not too far from the border to Kenya. One of our reasons to visit the area was because we had heard about Irente Farm and that they produced cheese. Travelling in countries far away you sometimes miss food items that you are used to from home. On the top of our list of food items is good bread. After weeks of eating white toast bread the homemade bread from Irente Farm tasted amazing, and put homemade cheese on that slice of bread and it was even better.
First night in the mountains we stayed at the Irente Farm at their campsite, but for the next day we wanted better view and the moved to the Irente View Point Lodge.
At the lodge/hotel they let us camp at their parking lot in front of the hotel with incredible view over the landscape hundreds of meters below us. The view was breathtaking, but I did not really relax camping there because we were in front of the hotel. I could not really understand why they let us camp there at all, because they did not really make money on us since we paid 10 USD for a night. Quite a few other guests arrived and if they wanted to see the view from the front of the hotel they had to walk past us to get to the garden.
One group was really interested in our vehicles and stopped by Georg and Andrea to have a peek into their Toyota.
Driving through the Usambara Mountais we got a different feeling of the area than other places we have driven through in the low lands of Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. Farms and villages seemed more organized and well looked after. Some people had painted their huts and even decorated them, which we had not really seen anywhere else lately.
Potatoes were harvested in a few fields, but most of the fields were getting prepared for the start of the growing season.
The road was winding through villages, up and down. A couple of places we got out of the vehicle to check a bridge we had to cross, just to make sure it would take the weight of the Patrol, and no problem.
On the northern end of the mountains we camped a couple of days at Mambo View Point Lodge and we had again some amazing views over the low lands below us.
This photo is taken from a view point below the lodge. If you look on the top of the cliff you will see some white buildings, that are some of the huts at the Lodge. The lodge has a spectacular location.
At the Mambo View Point Lodge there was also a few other visitors like these two chameleons. Their camouflage is a lot better than Espens.
The drive through the Usambara was amazing and it must be the best drive we have had since North Western Namibia.
Malin
Usambara Mountains is in the North East of Tanzania not too far from the border to Kenya. One of our reasons to visit the area was because we had heard about Irente Farm and that they produced cheese. Travelling in countries far away you sometimes miss food items that you are used to from home. On the top of our list of food items is good bread. After weeks of eating white toast bread the homemade bread from Irente Farm tasted amazing, and put homemade cheese on that slice of bread and it was even better.
First night in the mountains we stayed at the Irente Farm at their campsite, but for the next day we wanted better view and the moved to the Irente View Point Lodge.
At the lodge/hotel they let us camp at their parking lot in front of the hotel with incredible view over the landscape hundreds of meters below us. The view was breathtaking, but I did not really relax camping there because we were in front of the hotel. I could not really understand why they let us camp there at all, because they did not really make money on us since we paid 10 USD for a night. Quite a few other guests arrived and if they wanted to see the view from the front of the hotel they had to walk past us to get to the garden.
One group was really interested in our vehicles and stopped by Georg and Andrea to have a peek into their Toyota.
Driving through the Usambara Mountais we got a different feeling of the area than other places we have driven through in the low lands of Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. Farms and villages seemed more organized and well looked after. Some people had painted their huts and even decorated them, which we had not really seen anywhere else lately.
Potatoes were harvested in a few fields, but most of the fields were getting prepared for the start of the growing season.
The road was winding through villages, up and down. A couple of places we got out of the vehicle to check a bridge we had to cross, just to make sure it would take the weight of the Patrol, and no problem.
On the northern end of the mountains we camped a couple of days at Mambo View Point Lodge and we had again some amazing views over the low lands below us.
This photo is taken from a view point below the lodge. If you look on the top of the cliff you will see some white buildings, that are some of the huts at the Lodge. The lodge has a spectacular location.
At the Mambo View Point Lodge there was also a few other visitors like these two chameleons. Their camouflage is a lot better than Espens.
The drive through the Usambara was amazing and it must be the best drive we have had since North Western Namibia.
Malin