Tanzania Part II (by/por J)

We left beautiful Rwanda and enter for the second time Tanzania through Rusumu falls post. The first part of the road in Tanzania was the same we had gone through. No big deal. We had a slight miscalculation and since we left a bit late form Kigali, we were able to make it only to Kibondo. After a few tries, we found a decent place to spend the night and had a chiapati with egg for dinner and a few beers. Next morning we headed to Kigoma. A place famous for being close to Ujiji, where Stanley phrased the most famous phrase in the 19th century ‘Dr. Livingstone I presume’. Both these men are giants in their own way, and achieved trips hard to imagine in the present day. These men keep inspiring people today to ‘do stuff’. But lets go back to Kigoma. Here we had to set up camp in order to get ready for the next Mexico math. There was no TV in the place we stayed, however that was a small drawback given the perfection of this place. Jackobsen’s beach. Two small private beaches for 2 campsites in  the lakeshore. To sum up, Lake Tanganyika’s Clear water, completely calm at dusk and always clear was an important centerpiece of our trip and will keep beautiful records in our minds. The second night here, we met a german student and her father. We had dinner together and had long conversations about Africa, and Mexico, and Germany. 

The next morning we left Kigoma on our way to a tiny place which seems to appear in many different maps despite its reduced size. We were able to make it only to the half of the trip though, as we came across very bad gravel roads, similar to those in Selous but with more sand at times and more corrugated as well in other sections. Around 4.30 pm, having achieved a mediocre progress though to a flat earlier on, we managed to break 3 of the 4 roof tent supports. Our usual micro stress was followed by a calm troubleshooting and 40 minutes later we had secured the tent to the roof and continued to Mpanda. Once there we started first a search for a place to crash for the night. This took us a while, and once we located a new guesthouse, we commissioned the production of 4 new brackets. Afterwards I wen to fix the 2 flat tires we had and came back to do some prep on the truck to leave it ready for the next morning delivery time which was set to be at 10 AM. After some adjusting we finished the re-assembly of the roof gear, we left behind a bunch of clothes for the kids and continued our way to Kipili through the park whcih resembles Jurassic Park: Katavi. We arrived at Kipili before sunset and went through a fast upgrade form campsite to banda. We were amazed about the combination of the beauty of the place and the lodge itself. We had a few drinks by the shore and waited for the owners to come back from a sunset boat trip. We then met Lou and Chris and their guests and had our firts dinner under the stars by the shore. We rode mountain bikes, ran, walked to the abandoned mission church, swam in transparent water, kayak over transparent water and even scuba in the Tanganyika! Our plan was to stay here for 2 or max 3 nights, but the food was too good, the place too beautiful and the people we shared that time with were something else. We spent time in the o’ring watching worl dcup games and time speaking sense and non sense during long dinners. We realized first hand that people that love what they do have such a great chance to be successful. We left to our next stop, Sumbawanga, and met with Chris and Andy for dinner. We also met the dutch doctor and the doctor from Arizona. We had more than a few laughs and realized the commitment that people like these doctors have for a far away place from their homeland, in order to simply give., help, make a difference. We continued and shared some more drinks courtesy of Chris. Wow. The story of Chris and lou is nice. Cool. Like a dream that with time and effort keeps getting together. Next morning we departed towards Mbea with Andy as an additional passenger. We talked a lot and had a few laughs, however we had to part ways the next day. We did have a nice dinner in the hotel we stayed. A bit of deja vu as during dinner we were discussing how ridiculous are the soap operas, and this hotel appeared in a Tanzanian one! Our next step was to leave Tanzania for the second and final time on this trip. 

Tanzania Part I (by/por J)

The entrance into Tanzania was through the new bridge. Customs was easy and we headed into Lindi and forgot for the next month about 3rd party insurance for the car. In Lindi, we had a standard fish/chicken late lunch and failed to get a room in the place we wanted due to Miss Lindi competition. We also failed to get a room or campsite in many other places and finally camped on the parking lot of an iffy hotel. Next morning we had our first Chiapati, which is something indian, similar to a wheat  Masokoa, arrived late, set up camp  and started cleaning the mess of our new companion, Tino. A mouse that managed to get into the back of our truck in the other sub-standard place we stayed at before leaving Mozambique. The name Tino is the short form of Clandestino, as we did not declared him in immigration. Our first night in Kilwa Masoko ended with a dinner with a Dutch couple we met in the camp: Inge and Evo. We had an interesting long conversation accompanied by good drinks. Next morning we headed towards Selous to try and pass a mud bottleneck 100 km north. We failed and had to come back to the same camp to find not only the dutch but the Swiss family (Fancisca, Peter and the girls Hanna, Leoni and Malu). This time he dinner was livelier with a few more drinks. It was very interesting t hear, compare and learn from other ways of travel. The next morning the 3 families took  dhow and headed to an island in-front of Kilwa Kisiwani. One of these islands that part of the Omani Sultanate with Portuguese taking over later. Mosques, churches, and palaces from different centuries were all there. The following day we said our goodbyes to the dutch and headed north to Selous following the swiss until the detour. The bottleneck was gone. Arriving to Selous was no big deal road wise. We camped outside in a small place in front of the river. Changed a flat, had a sundowner and dinner. The sounds during the night and the following morning were beautiful, the best ones of the trip so far and probably the best ones to come. The Selous Game Reserve felt big probably due to the lack of tourism. We drove for the whole day and sw probably 3 or 4 other cars. We had a siesta in front of  hippo lake and pushed the 4x4 to the limits in non-existing road sections. We left the reserve a bit later than planned due to the decreasing road conditions. We were lucky enough to find the guy in charge of  new place 20 km outside the north gate and stayed there. It was in the top of a hill with serious night climbing on low speed 4x4. The views next morning were amazing and we started heading to Dar es Salam. The road form he park and to the main tar road was the worst in the whole trip. The views were nice though. We made it to DAR a few hours before sunset, had dinner in an ethiopian place and next morning headed out to Zanzibar on the ferry. We decided to stay in stone town which is a melting pot of cultures. The hotel we chose used to be the house were slaves were freed and our room with windows with no glass at the top was flanked by a mosque, a hindi temple and a church, therefore the early mornings on the sunday we woke up there were far from quiet, but very religious. With our faith renovated, we rented a vespa and headed to the beach. Avoiding getting run over by the dala-dala’s was our adrenaline rush for the month.  The beach (Pangwe) was very nice and very alone. We enjoyed that. We came back, did some haggling with the sellers and had dinner sitting in the floor and listening to typical Zanzibari music. Our time there was short and we headed back to Dar next morning. Our next stop was Peponi, in which we got stuck on a ditch in rain and sticky mud. We arrived at night due to n accident on the road outside Dar. Peponi was rainy but beautiful. We did some brais (BBQ’s) and did some maintenance on the truck and found out that our companion Tino had been quite hungry in Dar when we left the car parked for a few days and had to resort to eating our halls pills which maybe left not only his throat smooth and numb, but maybe the whole of his tiny body. Tino decided to leave this mode of transport and abandoned ship in northern tanzania or probbly in Rwanda. Bck to our trip, we headed a few days later towards the Serengeti. On the way there we found the Dutch and ended up watching the 1st Mexico game, dinning and camping with them. We also met  a couple from South Africa (Mike and Tracy) and had more than one drink with them We got some advice as to how and were to ‘do’ the following parks, so we headed to a place just outside Ngorongoro to spend the night there and ‘attack’ the park the following morning. Ngorongoro is one of the biggest calderas (collapsed volcano) in the world. In this part of the world, it means an interesting mix of vistas and high concentrations of animals. To reach it, one first needs to drive up the rim through thick fog with the occasional buffalo crossing with not much notice and then down into the crater. As one descends from the clouds the appreciation of the whole crater with its features becomes clear. After a half day driving around the crater and watching the fauna we headed to Serengeti NP to camp in the middle of the park. Campsites in Tanzania are non-gated, therefore very close encounters with animals are usual.  We only heard the lions and hyenas close by during the night. Serengetis vast plains dotted with granite kopjes (little rock islands) is a contrast to previous parks we had been into. It resembles the Namib desert, however with plenty animals on the move for food. We had two unexpected encounters with elephants and cheetahs. We saw the sunrise with a vast plain with giraffes, hyenas and jackals on the plains and we drove in different parts of the park until arriving to the wildebeest and zebra migration that takes place in the grumeti river before heading into the Masai in Kenya. We exited the Serengeti and headed to Lake Victoria rounding it from the bottom and crossing an inlet of water using a ferry and drove towards Biharamulo were we camped in an old german fort and shared stories, gin&tonics, music and movies with the Mr.&Mrs. Smith (british though). James and Pols (he ex-UK army she ex intellience) were heading in the opposite direction as we were so we exchanged as well tips. Next day we went into Rwanda via the Rusumu falls.

Mozambique (Por/by J)

Mozambique. Ah Mozambique. Comenzamos desde el sur sur en Punta de Oro y recorrimos hasta el norte en la Isla de Ibo. Y que playas! Y que gente! Lo difuso del turismo en este alargado pais permitio una apreciacion de la naturaleza aun mejor. Cruzamos la frontera de Sudfrica a Mozambique y de pavimento a arena profunda. Unos 15 o 20 km despues llegamos. Estar en un lugar de habla portguesa fue familiar. En nuestra primer parada nadamos con delfines y no hicimos mucho mas que descansar. Luego a Maputo. El camino agreste. La ciudad OK. El nombre antes de la indepencdencia: Lorenzo Mrques o LM. De costa y con malecon. Congestionada. Mozambique tiene poco mas de 900 mil km2. En algun momento durante los 90’s fue uno de los 3 paises mas pobres del mundo. Tambien es un pais que en algun momento encabezaba l lista de recepcion de ayuda de gobiernos exteriores y de ONGs. Paises Nordicos y EEUU principalmente. Hay una mezcla de indios, arabes,  portugueses y por supuesto Negros y mezclas varias.

Seguimos nuestro camino [pr la costa a Barra/Tofo. Acampamos en el Faro. Denis cocina camarones y pescados al carbon muy buenos. El sonido del mar durante la noche fuerte. Las estrellas sin luna espectaculares. Saliendo de Barra via Inhambane con destino a Vilanculos, conocimos unos sudfricanos que tienen un programa en l tele de pesca y nos recomendaron ir a Pomene. Seguimos el consejo de otros vijeros como muy regularmente uno hace en este tipo de viajes. Despues de 250km de pabimento, terraceria y arena y unas vistas espectaculares con el sol poniendose, llegamos. No se veia nada pues era ya noche. No se vei mucho. Montmos la tienda de piso en la arena y al Bar. Primera Cuba Libre del viaje para mi y tipotinto/Sprite para Analaura. Al dia siguiente al despertarnos vimos donde estabamos. Al frente, playa perfecta de 6 o 7 km de largo. Detras un estuario de agua semidulce. En est larga playa experimentamos correr con los ojos cerrados. Padre. Hicimos moto, kayak y extendimos nuestra parada algunos dias como tambien uno suele hacer. Flexibilidad! Nos alejamos de la costa via Inhassoro hacia el parque nacional de Gorongosa. Dentro, unas vistas espectaculares, sin embrgo no muchos animales. Razon: Guerra entre partidos de derecha e izquierda. Los unos se acuartelaron en el parque, y los otros los bombardeaba a ellos y a los animales. Los unos mataban animales para comer o para vender y comprar armas y asi sigue la historia. Elefantes antes: mas de 1500. Despues, menos de 10. Zebras: de +10 mil a menos de 10! (si DIEZ) Hienas: de 500+ a ZERO. Aqui no solo es culpa de los militares embriagados de poder, sino de la manera en que los Portugueses se fueron y lo que hicieron para preparar, y bueno, tambien de como los portugueses llegaron, pero eso es siglos atras.  Muy esperanzador es ver lo que agencias actuales mozambicanas con ayuda de un estadounidense (Greg Carr) estan haciendo para reconstruir este pedazo de planeta tierra y su habiat. Ver www.gorongosa.net. Tambien aqui en Gorongosa conocimos a 3 parejas de sudafricanos que nos invitarn a cenar 2 noches seguidas. Tambien conocimos a Nicholas, reportero frances viajando de NY a NY via sud-america, africa y asia. Compartimos historias, preguntas, comida, chiles y cognacs. De ahi seguimos a una zona de montanas: Gurue. Plantaciones de te espectaulares. Por error acabamos en una fabrica de te y el indio encargado nos dio un tourcito bastante informativo. Ya sabemos que la diferencia entre elte verde y el negro radica en el proceso y no en las hojas utilizdas. El primero no se fermenta y el ultimo si. Tambien sabemos la definicion de cucharadita o tea spoon en ingles. Despues de Gurue fuimos de vuleta a la costa: Isla de Mozambique. Pequena de tamano pero con un gran concntracion de historia y culturas. Dos cosas que quedaron grabadas en mi cabeza son 1) el cento de acopio de esclavos y 2) el fuerte portugues. La primera de mucha relevancia en nuestro viaje por Africa del Este respecto al trafico de esclavos comenzando por los arabes y  continuado por los amigos eurpeos de aquellas epocas. Brutal en ambos casos. La segundo que sirvio para repeler ataques principlmente de parte de los holandeses. Fue efectivo. La historia de todo el sur y este de africa pudo haber sido muy distinta de no haber sido por este fuerte. De Ilhia fuimos a Pemba. Ya desde el sur, mas en el centro y mucho mas en en norte la influencia arabe es notable. En Pemba acampamos en un lugar con unos cambios de marea de notarse. Muchas risas, buena comida y nuevos amigos. Los amigos de Schlumberger, los suizos con todo e hijas, los canadienses de Zambia y los sudafricanos ‘optimistas blancos’ viajando en motocicletas chinas y durmiemdo en hamacas. No ibamos a salir de Mozambque sin pasar por una de las famosas islas de los archipielgos. Nos decidimos por las Quirimbas al norte y escogimos Isla de Ibo. Muy interesante, otra vez mezcla negra/arabe/portuguesa. Lugar muy especial. Un dia desayunamos en un banco de arena a la mitad del mar. Nosotos y una pareja de recien casados sudafricana en su luna de miel. Luna llena en la isla y caminar por sus callles y ruinas escuchando voces y risas de las persons y ninos que aprovechasn esta luz natural para socializar mas de lo normal, ya que no hay elecricidad en esta isla. Nuestros dias en mozambique llegban a su fin. Salimos por el puente nuevo  150 km dentro de la costa. Las peores carreteras hasta el momento fueron las del norte de mozambique, pero no sabiamos lo que nos esperaba ee Tanzania. Ahora ya eramos 3 en la camioneta...

Mozambique. Ah Mozambique. We started from the south south at Punta d’Ouro and went up to the north in Ibo Island. And the beaches! And the people! Tourist numbers in this elongated country allow for a better appreciation of the nature. We crossed the border with SOuth Africa nd went from tarmac to deep sand. 15-20 km later we arrive. Hearing portuguese felt familiar. On this first stop we swam with dolphins and did not much more than relax. Then off to Maputo. Rough road, OK city. Congested Before independence the name use to be Lourenco Marques or LM. Mozambique has a bit more than 900 thousand sq km. Sometime during the 90’s was amongst the poorest countries in the world. It s also a country that tops the lists of foreign aid, both from governments (mainly US and Nordic countries) and NGOs.  There is a mix of Indians, Arabs, Portuguese, Black and of course varied mixes.

We continued our way through the coast into Barra/Tofo. Camped in the lighthouse owned by Denis, a good cook with awesome BBQed seafood. The sound of the sea was loud. The stars on the sky bright with no moonlight. A few days later we left barra on our way to Vilanculos, but on a stopover in Inhambane we met these South Africans that run a fishing TV show. They mentioned very good things about a place called Pomene, and so we followed their recommendation as one sometimes does in this type of trips. After 250 km of tarmac, gravel and sand, and with spectacular sundown views we arrived. We could not see much as it was night already so we headed to the Bar. Me I had my first cuba libre of the trip and Analaura had her tipotinto/sprite. Next morning we realized were we had slept. To the front the perfect beach 6 or 7 km long and to the back an estuary. On this long beach we jogged  with closed eyes. Cool. We did quad bikes and Kayak and extended our stay a few days as one also does on this trips. We left the coast via Inhassoro and into Gorongosa national park. In it some spectacular views but few animals. Just after independence, the two main parties , left and right, fought for power. The one headquartered in the park while the other bombed them and the animals in it. The one killed animals for food and money for weapons and so the story goes. Elephants before: 1500+, after less than 10; Zebras: from 10,000+ to less than 10 (TEN). Hienas: from 1500+ to ZERO, NONE, CAPUT.  Not only the military, crazy for power,  is to blame. The way the Portuguese left and the due diligence or lack of for power transfer can explain a bit. Also the way of how they [Portuguese] arrived might throw some clues, but that was long time ago. It is nevertheless a uplifting what some Mozambican agencies with help of Philantropist from the US (Greg Carr) are doing to reconstruct this piece of planet earth and its habitat. Look at www.gorongosa.net. Here in Gorongosa we also met 3 SOuth African couples that invited us for dinner two nights in a row. We also met Nicholas, the french reporter traveling from NY to NY via South America, Africa and Asia. We shared stories, questions, food, chiles and cognacs. From there we continued to a higher zone: Gurue. With spectacular tea plantations. By mistake we ended up in a tea factory and the manager gave us a tour. We now understand what is the meaning of a teaspoon and that the difference between normal tea and green tea falls in the process and not the type of leaves. After Gurue we went back to the coast to Mozambique Island. Small but with a big culture and history concentration.  Two things that stick to my mind are 1) slave holding post and 2) Portuguese fort. The first one relevant throughout our trip in East Africa regarding the horrors of slave trading started by the arabs and then continued by the european friends of those times. Brutal. The second one, the fort, served the purpose to defend the island against attacks mainly Dutch and in a lesser extent Omani. It was effective. Without this fort, the story could have been much different in the whole of Southern and East Africa.

From There we went to Pemba. Arab influence in this part is notable. But it starts in the south. We camped in a place with substantial tide changes. We had many laughs, good food and made new friends. SLB friends, the Swiss, the Canadians and the optimist white south afircans traveling in very ceap chinese motorcycles and sleeping in hammocs. We could not leave Mozambique without stopping by one of the famous islands in the archipielagos. So we decided for Ibo Islands which is part of the Quirimbas. Another interesting mix: black/portuguese/arab. A very special place. One morning breakfast was on a sand bank served for us and a South African couple on honeymoon. At night there was full moon so we ventured to the streets and ruins gearing voices, laughs and people who socialize more than usual thanks to the additional natural light. Our time in Mozambique was reaching an end. We left the country through a new bridge 150 km inland. The worst roads thus far were those of northern Mozambique, but we had not seen what was awaiting us in Tanzania. And this time there were three of us in the car...

Durban, St. Lucia Hluhluwe-Umfolozi & Kosi [Por J]

Durban es no tan grande, sin embargo creciendo hacia afuera como muchas ciudades en todo el mundo. La razon principal aqui y en otras ciudades de Africa del Sur tiene que ver con que el centro no es tan seguro ni bonito como antes era y el gobierno no logra atraer empresas y gente.  En todo caso, cosas interesantes de Durban: 

1. Una mezcla de muchos Indios, Blancos y Negros. Aqui vivio Ghandi un buen tiempo!
2. Super laid back. Podemos caminar y comer en verandas y banquetas. Super! Hy surfers y demas.
3. El clima excelente. La comida igual. Los ingredientes muy limpios y frescos. 
4. Fuimos al estadio nuevo que por cierto tiene techo Mexicano. Yeah! Bastante bien organizado. 
5. Tambien fuimos a comprar algunas cosas que hacian falta para el frio en tanzania y despues de la experienci en Drakensberg a un cenro comercial, aparentemente el mas grande del hemisferio sur hasta hace poco que los Australianos abrieron otro toooodavia mas grande. El mall en un suburbio tipo santa fe o woodlands, todo bien organizadito. Fuera de eso lo mismo que en cualquier otro mall. Excepto por el cosito de olas para los chavos y chavas que estan practicando surf. Estuvimos enbobados viendo todo lo que hacian. Definitivamente un pais con gente (al menos una porcion) que sabe vivir y disfrutar lo que la vida trae, en el caso de durban cosas muy buenas.

Y bueno, despues de un par de dias de comer bien en Durban y de comprar vino, que tambien nos hacia falta, salimos hacia St. Lucia, que se conoce por tener parques de pantanales y playas muy lindas. Aqui acampamos en un lugar bastante tranquilo con sonido de mar de fondo, lejos, y algun chanquito o baboon que se asomaba y hacia ruidos de repente. El pueblito de St. Lucia entre otras cosas es interesante porque de repente se aparecen hipos en la calle y felinos no tan caseros ni tan chicos tambien en la calle y los jardines de las casas. Aqui hicimos kayak en un rio que el guia describia como el mas peligroso del mundo. Un poco exgerado, sin embargo si nos pasaron crocs a menos de 50 centimetros de distancia. A los Hipos no nos acercamos menos de 20 metros porque esos si pueden desestbilizar los kayaks y arrancr la cabeza de un mordizco. Y pues bueno, despues de St. Lucia hacia Kosi Bay via un parque nacional famoso (Hluhluwe-Umfolozi, y se pronuncia shlu-shlue) porque con sus esfuerzos lograron que el rhino blanco saliera de la lista de especies en peliro de extincion hace no mucho. Es el lugar en el mundo con mas concentracion de rhinos. Nosotros vimos uno :) tambien vimos un elefante, y un leon. No vimos leopardos pero si muchas jirafas, bufalos y zebras...  Este parque sera tema de discucion entre la chaparra y yo por un buen tiempo, porque despues de hacer mi investigacion, la convenci de que era mejor que kruger. Si tiene algunas ventajas, como que es con colinas y los paisajes son muy bonitos, pero era todavia verde y los animales estaban muy dispersos. Asi que aqui una noche y despues a Kosi... Llegamos ya noche a un backpackers lodge de un Botswniano (Mad Mike) quie quiere ir  Playa del Carmen a como de lugar. Finalmente pude hacer mi salsa, sin embro no utilice la licuadora del lodge porque era mal plan dejarla sabor a ajo y chile de arbol asi que use otro coso que compre. No salio perfecta de consistencia, peor el sabor muy bueno. Gusto a los locales. Ahi nos quedamos 2 noches y fuimos un dia a la playa. Y wow con la playa. cortada por la salida de una laguna que es alimetaba a su vez por otras 3.  Muy muy bien como antesala a las playas mozambicanas cerquita y del otro lado de la forntera.

En el siguiente post ya comenzaremos a hablar de Mozambique. Un abrazo!

Analaura y Juan

Kuazulu-Natal Province in South Africa (by A... with translation)

bueno, hoy si vamos a aprovechar que tenemos internet para hacer el update del viaje... y como hace mucho que no nos conectamos, pues hay mucho que contar...

Como ya sabían, después de Jo'burg nos fuimos a la provincia de Kuazulu-Natal, donde está Drakensberg. En Drakensberg paramos en 3 lugares distintos: Didima Camp muy cerca de Cathedral's Peak, después en Lotheni Reserve y finalmente en Sani Pass, en la frontera con Lesotho.

Didima Camp estuvo muy padre, fue la primer noche que acampamos y nos quedamos ahí por dos noches. Hacía mucho frio pero muy bonito el lugar... como en toda esta zona, teníamos que tener cuidado con la comida y que no se quedara nada fuera de lugar, ya que en la noche podían venir los baboons a hacer su desmadrito.

La tarde del segundo día fuimos a hacer algo de trecking por la montana y a la manana siguiente empacamos nuestras chivas y nos fuimos hacia Sani Pass via Lotheni.

Realmente no teniamos planes de quedarnos en Lotheni, pero cuando llegamos y vimos esos paisajes, no lo pensamos dos veces, asi que abrimos nuestra tienda de campana y listo! una sopita calientita antes de dormir y hasta al dia siguiente... para mi fue la noche con más frio, pero con mejores vistas. Una vez mas, a la manana siguiente un poco de trecking por la montana, empacar y ahora si, Sani Pass... ahi vamos.

Sani Pass es uno de los puntos a traves de los cuales se puede cruzar a Lesotho. Definitivamente se necesita una 4x4 para llegar hasta la punta de la montana, donde esta el control fronterizo y tiene una altura de un poco menos de 3000 mt... la verdad no me acuerdo bien todos los detalles... pero gracias a Juanito y a su super GPS, pueden ver en los links de este blog una ruta que se llama 09 Lotheni to Sani Pass... y ahi esta la ruta que seguimos y otros datos interesantes... yo me ocuparé de la narrativa. Lo que si les puedo decir, es: Sani Pass: vistas impresionantes, mucho vértigo al subir a la punta de la montana y que los Mexicas necesitamos visa para entrar a Lesotho! no crean que no intentamos...

Al final de la excursion, llegamos a acampar a un lugar super rascuacho, bastante feito a un lado de la carretera, pero era la única opción y para acabarla de amolar, llegaron unos compadres un poco tarde a armar su campamento... como era de esperar, solo nos quedamos una noche, empacamos nuestras dos maletitas y emprendimos camino hacia Durban... pero como dice la nana pancha... pero esa... es otra historia...


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today we have to take advantage of the internet and update you with our trip stories and since it has been a while since the last time we had a connection, well, there are many stories to tell...

As you already knew, after Jo'burg, we went to the Kuazulu-Natal province, where Drakensberg is located. We stopped at 3 different places in Drakensberg: Didima Camp, very close to Cathedral´s Peak, then at Lotheni Reserve and lastly at Sani Pass, with the border with Lesotho.


Didima Camp was very nice and it was our first camping night, we stayed there for 2 nights. It was very cold but a very pretty place... as in most of the places around the area, we had to be very careful with the food and making sure that nothing remained outside, as at night the baboons could come and steal it away. 

In the afternoon of the next day we went trecking on the mountain and the following morning packed up our stuff and went to Sani Pass via Lotheni.

We did not have plans to stay at Lotheni, however when we arrived and saw those views, we did not think about it twice, we set up our tent and cooked a nice warm soup and then off to bed until next morning. To me, it was the coldest night, but definitely, the best views. Once again, next morning off to the mountain for a bit of trecking, then pack up and ready for Sani Pass.

Sani Pass is one of the places where you can cross over to Lesotho. Definitely you need a 4x4 to get all the way to the top of the mountain, where the border control is. It has an altitude of a little less of 3000 mt... I really don't remember all the details, but thanks to Juanito and his super GPS, you can see in one of the links in this blog a route called 09 Lotheni to Sani Pass... and there you will find the route we followed and other interesting information... I will take care of the narrative. I can however, tell you the following about Sani Pass: impressive views, a lot of vertigo while going all the way to the top and the Mexicas need a visa to enter Lesotho! believe me, we tried...

At the end of the excursion, we camped in a crappy place, very ugly next to the road, but it was our only option. To make things worse, some dudes arrived very late to set up their camp, as expected we only stayed one night, we packed our bags and hit the road to Durban... but that is a different story, so stay tuned...


Sobonana,


Analaura y Juan

Photos of Drakensberg

El fin del comienzo... (by A)

Decir adios no es fácil y sobre todo cuando has creado amistades y lazos que han cambiado tu vida (Brits & French... estoy hablando de ustedes).

El 16 de Abril partimos de Luanda, Angola hacia Johannesburg, South Africa... con sólo nuestra ropita y algunos que otros aditamentos que nos ayudaran en la acampada.

Llegamos a un hotel bastante simpático, que aunque estando en Johannesburg, el hotel en sí parecía estar escondido... hacía bastante frio y la cama tenía unos bichitos micro micro que no se veían... pero como picaban.

Al día siguiente fuimos a recoger la camioneta / hogar... y ahora si... el fin del comienzo, tenemos que comprar comida y algunas otras cosas para el viaje... pero ya se siente en el ambiente esa emoción de comenzar la aventura.

Tal cual... la primer aventura fue comenzar a manejar del otro lado, ninguno de los dos tenemos mucha experiencia en ese rollo, pero fue divertido.... cada vez que Juan queria prender las direccionales, prendia los limpiadores y de hecho algunas veces, estuvimos a punto de meternos en sentido contrario. La buena noticia es que ya se acostumbró y es más fácil estos días.

Por supuesto, siendo Juan, no podiamos salir sin un GPS ni a la esquina. Aha! el problema fue que el mapa que teníamos en el aparatejo, decía que estábamos una o dos calles arriba / abajo de la calle donde realmente estábamos... y si, es obvio, nos perdimos... no una sino varias veces y no por una sino por varias horas!

En Jo'burg nos quedamos hasta el 22 de Abril afinando los ultimos detalles... ese día salimos hacia Drakensberg, un zona montañosa super bonita, pero eso si... un pinche frio...

Ese fue el fin del comienzo... después de tanta compra y preparanos para el viaje, por fin comenzamos!

Sobonana,

Juan y Analaura


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(Lost in translation)

Saying goodbye is not easy, specially when you have made friends and created bonds that have changed your life (Brits & French I'm talking about you).

On April 16 we left Luanda, Angola to Johannesburg, South Africa with only some clothes and other items that might help us while camping.

We stayed at a quite nice B&B, that although being in Jo'burg, the B&B itself seemed to be secluded. The weather was pretty cold and the bed had tiny tiny insects hard to see, but we surely felt them biting.

The next morning we went to pick up our car / home and this is it... the end of the start, we still had food and other stuff to buy, however, you can feel the excitement of starting the adventure.

In fact, our first adventure was to drive on the "wrong" side of the road. Neither Juan or I have much experience doing so, but it was fun. Every time Juan wanted to signal left / right, he turned on the wipers and sometimes we almost entered the wrong way of the street. The good thing is that now he is used to it and it is so much easier now.

Of course, being Juan, we could not go anywhere without the GPS. Aha! the problem is that the map we had on such device showed that we were one or two streets up / down the street where we really were, and yes, as expected, we got lost... more than one time and for a couple of hours.

We stayed at Jo'burg until the 22 of April, fine tuning the last details. That same day we headed to Drakensberg, a very nice mountain area... but very cold.

That is the end of the start, after some shopping and getting ready for the trip, we finally started our trip.

Sobonana,

Juan & Analaura

Arrgghhh! the packing...

Painful, very very painful... having to pack a house / apartment every 2-3 years is very very painful. Fortunately this time we decided to only bring clothes and other few things, but being human, we accumulate a lot of junk and now we have to pack and send back to Mexico.


We have managed to narrow down the departure date from Angola to Friday 16 or Saturday 17 of April depending on guess what? of course the visas! We are only missing Namibia and hopefully we will be able to get an on arrival visa for Zambia.


What we can say is that today is Juan's last Sunday at Congo and Analaura's last Sunday at Angola... definitely mixed feelings!


Sobonana,


Juan & Analaura

We are almost ready... are we really?

Time flies and our time in Angola has come to an end. As we are getting close to our departure date, we find out that there are still plenty of things to take care of. A 4-month trip in South and East Africa requires a lot of planning, however we are still very much involved at work to take the time to fine tune the details... like our departure date!

We are not completely lost, we have managed to rent the 4x4 Toyota Hilux that will be our "home" for the next months. 

Visas... hum! So far, only Mozambique and Tanzania! Being Mexican is not easy in Africa, the only country for which we do not need a visa is Botswana. Yes! only a couple of weeks left and 4 more visas to go!

It will be an amazing trip, and we are hoping to share our experience with our family and friends via this blog, we are sure there will be plenty of "adventures" to write about, so keep in touch!

Sobonana,

Juan and Analaura