from Mpulungu at the south end of Lake Tanganyika in Zambia to Kigoma in the north part of Tanzania was our biggest problem because of the uncertainty of whether it departed on Friday, Saturday or Sunday or even whether it would come at all! We had to have an alternative plan to get to Kigoma, whether a cheap train journey on ‘Tazara’ from Kasama in north-west Zambia to Dar-es-Salaam combined with a moderately expensive flight from Dar to Kigoma or a very expensive charter flight from Kasama directly to Kigoma.
We also had to decide whether to book and pay for these alternative routes and lose the cash if they weren’t necessary or run the risk of not being able to book them at the last minute and then missing the chimpanzee trekking in Gombe Stream National Park. In order to cover all possibilities we had to leave buffers of several dead days between episodes in the holiday. Fortunately in the end it all worked out, we made the MV Liemba trip and then had spare days to allow us to recuperate and we didn’t waste any money booking the alternatives, a good decision.
Flowers on the walk to Kalambo Falls in the heat of the day.
Friday 18th to Sunday 20th September 2009
We had to start our holiday earlier than planned to do our exit interviews at the VSO Office in Lusaka on 18/9/09. This at least meant we had a free ride up to Lusaka in hospital transport and saved the bus fare, all of 120,000 Kwachas or £20!
The exit interviews went very well and complemented our feed back for the whole year from the people we worked with in Monze. The interview in Monze with Dr. Ngalula, Mr. Mazabuka, Mr. Banda and the Medical Director Dr John Mvula with flattering remarks all around was very civilised in spite of our concerns. We were expected to agree a final exit report with our colleagues in Monze for the VSO office in Lusaka before we left but this didn't happen. I hope most of their comments will be as perceptive and as truthful as ours!? It would be nice to see the hospital's final appraisal on us.
So the long journey home started well. We stayed in Jacinta and Kristen’s flat in Lusaka, two other mature VSO volunteers from Australia. They were away from home but had planned to return to join us on Sunday evening before we left. However their car broke down in Livingstone and all the food Judy had bought to cook when they returned had to be left cooked but uneaten. They were very grateful for all that we left apart from a broken bedroom window MRT had achieved.
Monday 21st to Friday 25th September
We caught the Post Bus
They don't look very smart but they were fit for purpose, comfortable and punctual.
from Lusaka to Kasama in north-west Zambia at 0600HRS and arrived little worse for wear at 1730HRS. We posted a book back to Michael Breen, which arrived the following day!!! The 12HR journey cost £15 each.
I had a long chat with a young, well-educated government employee whose father, a Professor of Political Science criticized him for taking public transport. His father felt the government should have arranged a car. He felt that this was wasteful of public money, a good and hopeful example of changing attitudes. He had a good understanding of the countries problems, why a lot of his friends had left Zambia for richer rewards, the so called Zambian brain drain but was also optimistic that things will improve although he felt it would take time. He was also intrigued about us as a couple and asked me what was the secret of a long marriage; perhaps he should have asked Judy! He was a very committed Christian so the answer I gave, ‘luck’ was not the answer he wanted!
It’s through meeting guys like this, who are beginning to free themselves through education and affluence from the tribal cultural ties that still affect the behaviour of virtually all other Zambians, that you can believe that Africa will change to a more modern society. The question of why their cultural heritage is so different from that of Asia and Europe is still not clear and I think understanding the reasons for this would provide a much sounder basis for solving sub-saharan Africa’s problems.
We were told by text while still on the post bus that our plans to stay one night at Thorn Tree Lodge, a large B+B in Kasama run by the Powells, ex-pat teachers who had settled permanently in Zambia, had to be changed. We were now to stay with Claire Powell their daughter because the staff of Zambia’s President Rupiah Banda had booked all their rooms for a political meeting. We agreed to change as long as we had dinner with the President!
This didn’t happen but we were looked after very well and as a result of very many exchanged text messages and emails. Claire also booked three days at Mishembe Lodge on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. This had originally been run by Luke Powell, Claire’s brother and was described as being in Robin Crusoe territory. It was a great place to wait for the MV Liemba. Claire also helped us with back up plans if Liemba arrived very late or not at all!
We were taken by motor boat from Mpulungu, having travelled there from Kasama in a 4x4 arranged by Claire. Mishembe is about 40 mins along the shores of the lake and our three night stay there was wonderful.
We visited a village
in the next bay with a lovely setting on the lakeshore and did 2 consultations with most of the village joining in, including one very unhappy small boy with either a phimosis or a hypospadia, either of which can result in a spray rather than a stream, which was his fathers main concern. He had to display his twig and berries in front of half the village!
We climbed 250 metres up to the famous Kalambo Falls,which is on the Zambia/Tanganyika border. It was a real physical challenge, up early in the morning and then walking back in the midday heat from which Judy nearly succumbed! We looked across the falls to Tanganyika, where Emma and Tom had looked to Zambia after an incredibly gruelling climb.
It was fascinating seeing on the way how casava
is cultivated, harvested,
peeled, dried and finally made into a paste to eat! It is their starch or potato!
A girl cutting the thick brown skin off the casava root.
Mixing the paste after cooking, a man's job!
We were the only people at Mishembe so we had its white sandy beach to ourselves with just Vic and Karen Williams the managers looking after us. We did a lot of swimming in the warm waters of the lake and snorkeling looking for ‘cichlids’ tropical fish many of which are now exported. We didn’t see many but it was fun looking.
It was all very relaxing, a good start to our holiday and we would like to have stayed much longer but had to get back to Mpulungu (Ummmpoolungoo) to wait for Liemba’s arrival.
The view from our open thatched rondavel on the shore of Lake Tanganykia of the fishermen's boats and the setting sun.
Saturday 26th to Monday 28th September
MV (Motor Vessel) Liemba arrived a day late on Saturday which meant we had to stay one night at a down market lodge in Mpulungu. It was well worth the discomfort to wait for Liemba, one of the great African journeys that should be done but only once!
Liemba is a German World War I boat, which the Germans sank soon after it was launched. The British refloated it after they defeated Germany and took over in Tanzania. It has been in use ever since and transports an amazing variety of things from
cement
to maize, dried fish to motor bikes and personal household goods including furniture and beds between Mpulungu in Zambia and Kigoma in Tanzania.
You can only book as a passenger when it arrives which it announces with a short hoot on the ship’s horn. This is heard all over Mpulungu and brings half the village to the dock and edge of the lake most of who just love to watch the transactions of selling and loading and enjoy the general carnival atmosphere. It is the social event of the week.
We had to get Tanzania visas on board, which were as expensive as the fare for the three-day two night trip; fare 60 US dollars (£45) each 1st class and visas 50 USD. We settled well into our small but clean cabin with bunk beds.
Judy sitting outside our first class cabin watched by some children
The communal male toilets were dark holes in the floor you squatted over. However they were not very smelly and were next to good hot showers into which you could leap straight after performing which made cleaning easier and more acceptable! The woman’s showers were better.
Liemba can only tie up to a quay at three places during the journey including Mpulungu where we boarded and Kigoma where we disembarked. The only other docking was the first stop at Kasanga; for all other of the 12-15 stops at villages along the eastern side of Lake Tanganyika the boat moors just off the shore and boats of varying size from those rowed by children
coming just for fun, through to large motor boats crammed with people and goods invade the Liemba.
People at these stops scramble to climb aboard
together with their bags, live chickens and small babies
which are passed up to other passengers. Emotions get quite heated in their attempts to get themselves and their luggage safely aboard
Numerous children get on board just to look around, especially at the Musungus, and then get off as the boat’s hooter announces its departure. The stops occur at anytime in the 24hrs and the frenetic activity around the boat is undiminished at night. By the end of the trip the boat was overflowing with people and goods mostly but not all destined for Kigoma. Through all the chaos the crew managed to make sure everyone paid for a ticket.
I met and talked to on many occasions to a young Hutu AJ from Rawanda whose mother and father had been killed by the Tutsis. He had left Rawanda with his younger brother leaving an older sister and two younger brothers in the Congo. He only recently re-discovered his sister and had been told another brother was still alive and probably back in Rawanda. He has subsequently sent me a description of his appalling experience which I hope to include in an appendix. He initially had been looked after in a Catholic mission in Kigoma and then had obtained a waiter's job in a hotel, which he had recently lost because of the world recession. He spoke fluent English, French and his native tongue. He also spoke Swahili so well that he could remain unnoticed in Tanzania as an illegal refugee. He was clearly very bright and now determined to make some money buying fish in the villages and re-selling them in Kigoma. Our chats made it clear to me that given the opportunity he could be very successful but also how limited his chances were and he was very aware of this. His best opportunity would be to get out of Africa!
The restaurant on the boat shown below was clean and tidy, the food OK but limited and there was beer!
It was difficult to sleep although we did have sheets and a pillow over a plastic mattress. The main problem was the heat and humidity from the lake although the intermittent activity and noise through the night didn’t help. I usually got up to join the mayhem. Hopefully the photos show most of the activities during the day!
It really is one journey everyone should do but only once!
Monday 28th September to Friday 2nd October
We arrived late afternoon in Kigoma to be met by Kigoma Hilltop Hotel transport, which we had to refuse. There was a question of whether the costs for the hotel were reasonable, and also and more importantly to check we could get some cash from an ATM. The hotel would only accept cash even for accounts amounting to over £1,000. They and the tours would not accept credit cards in this part of Tanzania. We were very worried that if the ATMs wouldn’t accept our cards it would mean travelling to the nearest ATM that would or a bank, which might have been at least a 2-day train ride!! To our great relief the cards did work but we were restricted to 400,000 Tanzanian shillings (TS) per withdrawal, which is around £200 and we needed over £2000 over the next week or two. We were also restricted to 2-4 shots per card per day so had to use 3 cards using 10 shots! We felt very rich but vulnerable when we walked out of the ATM laden with millions of Tanzanian shillings in stacks of paper notes with fortunately only a short walk to our taxi. All the ATMs have guards sitting outside so I think it is fairly safe. However once we had made these large withdrawals we always tried to get rid of the money by paying the bills as quickly as possible.
We had one night at Kigoma Hilltop Hotel with zebra grazing on the lawns around the hotel and fantastic views out to the lake with motor boats leaving white trails as they crossed the water. We managed to squeeze in a visit to Ujiji (see above and below!) and met the curator whose high spot had been to meet Michael Palin on one of his travels. It would have also been the same Tanzanian that Emma and Tom had met years before.
A large motorboat laden with mattresses going north to who knows where.
The next day we were transferred, also in a very large boat but all to ourselves,
to Gombe Stream National Park to do some chimpanzee trekking.
The boat trip took 1.5hrs, we had great views of the park from the lake and were travelling the same route as Livingstone and Stanley had in 1860. This was after their famous meeting at Ujiji where Stanley said he said ‘Dr. Livingstone I presume’. It was their only journey together and was around the shores of the northern part of the lake hoping to prove that the river Nile’s source was from Lake Tanganyika, the big unanswered question of the day rather like which team will win the English Premier League!
In Gombe Stream National Park we stayed at an up-market lodge with good food, wine and company. We had an excellent very well informed enthusiastic guide and got some great views of the chimpanzees the mammals genetically closest to man.
We share 98% of their genes. Jane Goodall continues to study them and the group we saw had all been named, their interrelationships were known and their life histories. They knew which mother had bred the alpha males, which became the leaders of the group and that she had brought them up quite differently. It would have been much better if we had read Goodall’s books before our visit. This part of the journey was very expensive including 500 USD just for transport between Hilltop Hotel and Gombe Stream and back. We met a young English couple and some noisy travel agents who were good fun and interesting to talk to
Drinking our gin and tonics on the shores of Lake Tanganyika close to where Dr.Livingstone and Henry Stanley once passed together on the lake soon after their famous meeting.
We had one more night at Hilltop after Gombe before flying to Arusha.
Friday 2nd to Sunday 4th October
We first flew from Kigoma to Dar and then on to Mt Kilimanjaro National Airport and had a taxi to nearby Arusha Coffee Lodge, arriving mid evening, after having to wait for our mislaid luggage fortunately arriving only 40 minutes later on the next plane. The lodge was in a coffee plantation and was run by a South African couple. It was excellent.
We shopped and caught our breath in great luxury in one of their new 3rd millennium houses with amazing bathrooms and showers. I organized my Mount Meru climb, which initially was going to cost £1,000 but eventually was reduced to about £800 and we also arranged our transfer to Ngorongoro Crater.
Sunday 4th to Monday 5th October
As the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge’s transfer costs were excessive we hired a local taxi but this was not a wise decision. Part of the road was unmade and very steep up to and then around the rim of the crater and the taxi wasn’t up to the job. It really should have been a 4WD as all other cars were that we saw on this difficult stretch of the journey. We wondered whether our car was capable of getting us there in time for the evening safari as it had to stop on several occasions to allow the engine to cool and to re-fill the radiator with water begged from a truck stranded at the roadside.
The young taxi driver had clearly never done the journey before and was more excited about the views from the crater rim than we were, probably because he was less anxious about us missing the afternoon/evening safari and lunch at 1300hrs!
We didn’t and after a magnificent lunch we descended into the crater and watched some amazing animals and birds.
We did a second trip the next morning, equally entertaining with a young American couple from New York and stopped for a great brunch at around 1000hrs with an eagle and exotic starlings swooping to take food from our hands.
The Lodge was the most expensive and luxurious we have ever stayed in. There were individual hobbit type houses
all with high ceilings; bedroom, bathroom and sitting areas with log fires lit every night.
Judy by the log fire enjoying a gin and tonic.
The bathrooms were luxurious with the baths filled every evening before supper.
There were rectangular deep but small porthole windows through the thick walls giving great views of the crater floor and rim. The bathmats were sprinkled with red rose petals
and the bath had a direct view into the crater through long floor to ceiling windows.
There were balconies overlooking the Crater with birds flying from all directions and grazing Zebra immediately below.
We paid resident rates, which were 25% of the normal rates and it was still the most expensive hotel we stayed in. We could only book 2 weeks before arriving. It is perhaps not surprising that our fellow guests were all Americans. We had our breakfast and lunches outside on high balconies overlooking the Crater
and in the evening dined in a room
in the style of Versailles with log fires on all around after a dry sherry sipped while talking with the guides.
Another great African adventure.
We decided not to trouble our young taxi driver to take us back to Arusha after 2 nights at Ngorongoro. The maitre de arranged for one of his friends to take us back to Arusha Coffee Lodge in an old but capable 4WD at a higher price but still half the hotel’s initial quote and perhaps a little more reliable than the local taxi!
Tuesday 6th to Saturday 10th October
We had one more great night at the coffee lodge and after a conducted tour of the coffee plantation,
which grew only Arabica coffee bushes (originally discovered by Monks in Ethiopia to keep them awake and at prayer) in contrast to Robusta tree coffee (first discovered in the Congo), our young friend with the town taxi took us to Hatari Lodge this time without any problems. The tour of the coffee plantation was very instructive
and we will never brew coffee again without remembering the excellent Tanzanian guide who clearly was hard-wired to taste coffee. He was now recognized to be an exceptionally talented taster and was consulted by the company on difficult tasting problems. He had started life in a poor village but had always loved coffee.
He took us through the whole process including recording every intimate detail of the coffee beans growth and ripening including the field they were from, the part of the branch they were plucked whether they were picked green or dry and the prevalent climate as they grew. They stored and sold all the beans according to these definitions, which enabled them to offer buyers a consistent product. The buyers would then decide whether or not to roast them before grinding and only then mixing to create the flavour they required.
Hatari Lodge was quite well known, built and initially run by a German film star Harvey Kruger. It has grandstand views of Kilimanjaro to the northeast and Mount Meru to the east. If it is a good sunrise over Kili they call all the guests outside to admire it. Monkeys, giraffe and zebra wandered across the lawns in the grounds of the hotel and Judy was kept fairly well occupied for the next 2 nights and three days while I climbed Mount Meru.
We were rather put off the hotel initially by a young, very plump, boisterous female hostess who dominated the conversation at dinner with how she was going to make another younger female member keep to a weight reducing diet that she clearly required more than anyone else at the table.
The Mt Meru climb was a bigger challenge than I anticipated.
There were 2 overnight stops in wooden cabins at Miriamba and the Saddle. We had to take porters, catering staff including the chef, a guide and finally a gun carrying ranger
with who I had erudite conversations including the effectiveness of the French President Sarkozy as well as detailed discussions about the merits of the Premier league and African politics. It is not surprising that it was an expensive trip, the cost usually being shared by 3 other climbers. However at least it meant I could go at my own pace!
The afternoon of the second day was spent climbing Little Meru
at 3,500 metres, 200-300 metres above the night stop, the Saddle and 2,000 metres above Marabella Gates the starting point of the walk.
The final days walk to the top of Mt Meru started with a mid-night call so that we arrived at the top to watch the sun rise over Kilimanjaro. We started walking at about 0045hrs and arrived at the top just after sunrise at around 0600hrs
In retrospect the greatest difficulty was the altitude which meant that I could only do three steps at a time without resting for the last few metres even when within sight of the top 4,500 metres (15,000 feet) above sea level. The views of Kilimanjaro
from the top were well worth the effort although I don’t think I will do it again. I was absolutely shattered and feeling very sick with the prospect of going the 3,500 metres down the same day which seemed unachievable. I realized why they suggest taking 4 not 3 days to do the climb.
I really didn’t think I would get down in one day and was hoping I could get transport down from the lower stop at Miriamba. However going down was definitely easier
than going up and the nausea began to wear off so that I was able to eat a very small brunch at the Saddle our first stop on the way down. After this and as we descended to higher oxygen pressures I recovered very well, the nausea disappeared and I was able to progress fairly quickly although constantly sliding down in my shoes onto my toenails. I was greatly relieved to get back to Marabella Gates at 1730hrs, be presented with my certificates and then to my surprise was presented with a bottle of champagne which was mainly drunk by my companions.
My guide had been great and very encouraging constantly telling me near the top that I could do it. When we got to the bottom he told me he had never failed yet to get his customers to the top and he clearly had no intention of me being the first. He lived in a village near Arusha and may have known the family that Tom had stayed with in his gap year. I was really pleased to have done it, suffered surprisingly few aches the next day and was probably as fit as ever I will be again. Living at 1,500 feet and walking 2-6 miles a day as we did in Monze, and the trial walk to Kalamo Falls 2 weeks before probably helped. Judy hadn’t been too bored and had had one walk partly up Meru.
We spent one night together at Hatari and the next day flew to Zanzibar to spend 3 nights in Stone Town and 5 at Fumbo Beach Lodge.
We were surprised that we weren’t getting tired of all the change and sleeping in different beds and although we were getting very excited about getting home the thought of spending a few days on a tropical beach in the sun was very attractive. We hadn’t yet got our skin tanned!!
Sunday 11th to Tuesday 13th October
The transfer from Hatari via Arusha Airport to Zanzibar was painless and this time we didn’t lose our luggage with our irreplaceable presents for home. That was yet to come!
We took a taxi arranged by Clove Hotel from the airport to Stone Town for £10. The hotel seemed fairly down market but was in a great position in the centre of town and had a roof top room for a self help basic breakfast plus boiled eggs with great views of the sea front.
We got to know the town well over the next few days, me better than Judy. While Judy had a siesta in the high heat of the early afternoon after a leisurely lunch always with win,e I went to check out the restaurants for the evening meal all within walking distance of the hotel . We selected three restaurants all quite stylish and although the food and wine were excellent they were very quiet. Most of the tourists went to cheaper restaurants on the sea front or the large five star beach hotels.
We did 2 tours one of the historic town including the slave cellars and the sultan’s palaces and a spice tour, which was mainly on a government farm just outside Stone Town. It was very interesting to see pepper, cloves,
nutmeg,
cardamon, cinnamon, vanilla and jackfruit
growing in their natural forms. The whole three days were very leisurely although not as much as the next 5 at Fumbo Beach Lodge which we again had at resident rates.
Wednesday 14th to Sunday 18th October
We transferred to Fumbo Beach Lodge in a town taxi at very reasonable rates and saw a little of the countryside which was the most tropical and fertile land we have seen since arriving in Africa a real garden of Eden. It is clear why the Arabs stayed and ran the island for many years until the 1960s and why it now has a largely Muslim African population. It seems a more casual form of Islam and although most of the women were in traditional clothes they were all very friendly and did seem to be very open and relaxed .
Fumbo Beach Lodge in the Baobab Suite with its open air bathroom
was a great place to spend our last week after a year in Africa and couldn’t have been in greater contrast to the real Africa. The seas were coloured a wonderful mixture of turquoises, blues and greens
and the small islands we went out to were surrounded by white sands. We did a day trip to a reef over which we snorkeled with four Americans and had a delicious lunch with wine on an island beach we had all to ourselves. The Indian ocean was very warm but still refreshing in the heat of the afternoon and we had great chats with the Americans about their jobs running a company from California selling systems for producing cleaner energy mainly solar panels. We talked a lot about the difficulties of helping Africa and it was interesting that discussing this from two very different experiences our conclusions were similar.
Two days later we left Fumbo Beach Hotel and Zanzibar for Da es Saalam.
Monday 19th to Tuesday 20th October
We crossed the stretch of water from Zanzibar to Dar in a new high-powered Catamaran with good views of Zanzibar and Dar from the sea. We stayed at Kempinski Dar es Saalam with spectacular views from a great roof bar and amazing mirrored walled lifts.
When we arrived, as we sat down to a tasty lunch Judy realized we had left 2 carefully chosen prints, one of a typical Arab door for Emma and Tom and a lovely water colour of a Dhobe sailing boat. Just when we thought we had nothing else to worry about the last great worry and adventure was about to unfold. When we bought the pictures I thought they were for ourselves because we liked them so much and they were virtually the only pictures in the shop we would have bought. So although they hadn’t been too expensive they were irreplaceable. It was time to do a parody of the Cadbury chocolate advert and rescue us from this painful dilemma. The 5 star hotel ran me back to the dock with little hope of ever retrieving the situation. To my great surprise, using mobile phones it was established they had found the brown-papered parcel on the ferry on the way back to Zanzibar. Although the ferry was returning the following day unfortunately it would not arrive in Zanzibar until our plane would be flying back to UK. There appeared to be no viable solution until again they were unexpectedly helpful and said it would be put on another ferry which would be arriving at 0630hrs the next day only 30 minutes after we were supposed to be leaving the hotel for the airport. A small problem to overcome except it was making things very tight. I arrived at the dock at 0630hrs and the man who was supposed to get the paintings off the boat initially couldn’t be found and when he was he wasn’t interested in helping. He claimed the paintings weren’t on the boat he either didn’t understand or wasn’t interested in rechecking. I persuaded another guy to take me aboard the boat with time running out to get to the airport. To my delight we found our contact on the boat and after disappearing for a few minutes he re-appeared with the package, which made Judy’s day and for a very short time made me very popular.
We arrived at the airport in good time, the plane left on time and we left the African continent in high spirits with lots of magnificent memories and greatly excited about returning home and seeing all 9 members of our ever expanding family. 8hrs later we arrived home to be met by Hannah and Finn, Emma, Tom, Joseph and Celina the end to a great year and beginning of another quite different life?
