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Rediscovering Tanganyika
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  • Michi, derRediscovering TanganyikaMichi, der
    View over bamboo forest from camping spotTypical breakfast in Ruvumu region with beef stew and chapati

    Kipengere Range

    12 января 2022 г., Танзания ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Too grey and too rainy for Kitulo, Tanzania's famous flower national park. Is it already in full bloom with the delayed rains? I doubt that and we decide not to spend 100+ Dollars just for peeking into it. Anyway, the whole Kipengere Range around here is already beautiful enough! Soft, juicy, herbily smelling, green hills, at some places with commercial forests, at others untouched. We sleep at a crazily cold viewpoint overlooking a bamboo forest from 2880 m. The wind eats our last energy while we prepare a light salad dinner outside. The misty morning makes us move onwards without breakfast 🌧.Читать далее

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  • Michi, derRediscovering TanganyikaMichi, der
    Toilet walk between Njombe and Songea
    Another typical Ruvuma breakfast with african bell pepper2Photo by Sanda

    Somewhere along the road ...

    13 января 2022 г., Танзания ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    ... with Italian-style Mozzarella in my fridge from Njome milk factory. I have to start growing a new sour dough soon for adequate Brotunterlage!

    We fall in love with Songea and in general with the Ruvuma Region in this southern part of Tanzania. You get rich beef soups with aromatic African bell peppers and a hint of lime for breakfast, accompanied by chapati. The people are somehow different, even friendlier and just natural. Everything is colourful. Nobody bugs us. We feel the first chunks of Mozambican influence with sporadic "obrigado"s from the left and right while strolling along the markets. Yum!Читать далее

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  • Michi, derRediscovering TanganyikaMichi, der
    Our bay
    Sanda spotting Nyasa lake fliesLake pigs with distant lake fliesThe morning catch

    Lake pigs

    14 января 2022 г., Танзания ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    The beautiful lakeside road meanders up the steep hills with sharp corners, reveals wide views of the lake and comes back down to flat bays with small villages. Over and over again! While the evening progresses we spot a promising path towards the beach and ask the smiling locals.
    "Can we follow this narrow path with the car?"
    "Yes."
    "Does it lead down to the water?"
    "Yes."
    "Can we camp there?"
    "Yes."
    I'm not sure if they understood our questions and if they are aware of the consequences of their answers but we proceed, as threatened 😋.

    Down at the waterline we find a small soccer pitch and ask again. The shy boys enthusiastically gesture that we cannot drive on the sand with the car and that sleeping here is not possible. Damn. As we are about to turn back, one of them is pushed forward by the others in our direction. He speask some English, yay! He wants to show us a different place for the night and jumps into the car while Sanda crawls onto the bed in the back. Just around the corner he guides us to a tiny bay with a perfectly flat spot at the beach, two log-boats and a mother pig with three black youngsters. Still, he insists that it is not a good idea to drive onto the sand with the car. The goal is so near! I check the track's condition and convince him of the contrary. Finally we build camp. Hurray!

    We share some beers with our guide and the two fishermen around their boats. They disappear with the falling dark. While we prepare curry for dinner three small boys watch fascinatedly. And they eat our watermelon. And all our bananas.    Читать далее

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  • Michi, derRediscovering TanganyikaMichi, der
    3Ruhuhu River with old ferryNew Ruhuhu bridgeTraces of past and presence in Lituhi1Road along the shore of Lake NyasaAdventurous bridges

    Huhu Ruhuhu

    14 января 2022 г., Танзания ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    I am pretty angry on the police officer whom we asked yesterday about the road condition of a shortcut from Njombe into the Livingstone Mountains: "You cannot drive it, the bridges are washed away". Bla bla bullshit! I will never again listen to route recommendations from random locals. Later I will learn from a Belgian motorbike traveller that it was indeed very well drivable 😡

    Anyway, after taking the main road to Songea we at least turn onto the northern dirt road towards Lituhi at the lake shore. The first half is full of ugly Chinese trucks transporting tons of stone coal from the surrounded mines. But the second half degrades to a curvy, narrow and joyful ride through light natural forest down to Ruhuhu River. Oooh, what a relief!

    Ruhuhu is supposed to be crossable from the north only by ferry but wait! We encounter a newly built bridge and a rather resting ferry. After a short break in the low sun and nice conversations with welcoming locals we continue south along the shore of Lake Nyasa into the colourful dusk.    Читать далее

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  • Michi, derRediscovering TanganyikaMichi, der
    Highway to fish

    Around the bay of thunders

    15 января 2022 г., Танзания ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    A few weeks ago I learned from Bernhard in Singida the true meaning of the Swahili word "mzungu" which is used by the Tanzanians to label white people. It literally means "people who go in circles". In early times the white explorers and discoverers arrived at the coast, went into the mainland to search for this and that, returned to the coast and left again. Roads did not exist. By then the locals did not understand why the hell anybody would go all the long way to lake Tanganyika, then to lake Victoria, then up some mountains, just to return and to leave again. They did not see any purpose in this. In fact, nowadays little has changed when looking at the common tourist from a Tanzanian perspective. But after today I strongly believe that the locals play the major role in this circleification game! In Mbamba Bay we ask five guys for the location of the new beach restaurant and get seven different directions. Three times we pass the actual access road where we would have had to take the turn. The most ridiculous direction we get from a police officer exactly opposite of this very access road from where he points us to the other end of the town. Half of the day we spend in the nearby roundabout going to and fro. People already start dancing for every new circle we drive. Finally we find the fish. And the beach. And the sunset.Читать далее

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  • Michi, derRediscovering TanganyikaMichi, der
    Omelette factory
    Old German bomaThey forgot to put a crocodile

    No diving with us

    19 января 2022 г., Танзания ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    After two full days of driving through pouring rain we arrive at the calm south-eastern coast with less rain. Pretty good timing, huh? Still, the following wet morning Mikindani keeps us in its cosy quarters and we concentrate on our internal well-being by implementing an adequate veggie omelette processing station. This is where my previously acquired Mozzarella finally pays off. The good-looking French owner of our hostel-like accommodation runs a diving school and eagerly tries to lure us into starting a new hobby. We are strong and lazy and can withstand his charming mightiness.

    Around Mikindani town we find a restored old German boma from colonial times which is now converted into a vocational training centre, museum and luxurious guest house with beautiful botanical surroundings. It also features a pool. Sanda loves pools. I don’t see a purpose in pools. Especially not next to the ocean. And whenever I enter the pool naked, somebody screams or complains. Oceans in turn never complain.

    In the search of tasty chipsi mayai as afternoon snack we end up in Mtwara at a non-tasty chipsi beach bar with drunk locals, and ugly, loud, yodelled Tanzanian music. We survive. On the way back we stop at a traffic intersection where tons of people gather for the night food market. Hell yeah, let’s jump out of the car! It is dark and we squeeze into the masses. Flying termite swarms hatched after the recent rains and enrich our biomass conglomerate. We survive. Tiny stands offer freshly boiled octopus and squid in a rich broth flavoured with pili-pili and lime. Grilled mussels and smoked sea snails lead my way to paradise! Grilled corncobs are served with yellowish chilli salt which you scrub-in before you start nibbling. Your lips will appreciate! Colourful fruits, flamed chickens, fried somethings, sun-dried fish and stinky entrails ... we survive. In small tents some locals watch soccer and sip their evening coffee from tiny cups. Everybody is welcoming and grinning. This is Tanzania.    Читать далее

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  • Michi, derRediscovering TanganyikaMichi, der
    Frangipanified
    WeatherMore weatherUltimate weatherColonial ruinsLara Croft grew up here

    Redefinition of “home office”

    20 января 2022 г., Танзания ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    We have to hurry in the morning to get from Mikindani to Lindi in time because Sanda has an important video call scheduled for 1100 and I suggested that she should be sitting at the beach with a flower in her hair for that. I think it’s the first time that we start a new day reasonably early and stick to a pre-developed plan. More or less. We arrive at 1055 at Makuti Bay Bar and Raymond the owner welcomes us warmly. Sanda sits down, opens the laptop and enjoys best internet connection via 4G while I make plans with Raymond for an enriching breakfast. Home-made bread he offers and – hold on – pan-fried, salty, smoky pork bacon! Probably the only place in Tanzania to find pork! He obtains it from a friend in Mbeya. In my opinion, Tanzania’s future prosperity lies in this trade connection. Everybody should have such a friend. Bacon for president!Читать далее

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  • Michi, derRediscovering TanganyikaMichi, der
    Dhow maintenance
    Mornin'!Setting sail on a DhowCamping beautyWading beautyMaritime beauty

    Low tides are the better tides

    23 января 2022 г., Танзания ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    We got many recommendations for places to visit along the southern coast. The primarily used buzzword was “beach”. In fact, all ocean beaches are unique and fancy and great and wonderful and bla, but are totally different from sweet water beaches. You are very spoiled when coming from Lake Nyasa back to the coast. Probably due to the strong inshore winds during rainy season, the Tanzanian beaches along the Indian Ocean feel rough, dirty and wild whereas the lakeside beaches appear tender, soft, clean and calm. Heavy clouds, misty air, grey and diffuse sky, salty breeze and carpets of mangrove leaves. Welcome to the Indian Ocean in January, a special beauty!Читать далее

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  • Michi, derRediscovering TanganyikaMichi, der
    Found the gateway to Mecca

    Searching a gateway to Mecca

    23 января 2022 г., Танзания ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    We grab a wonderful guide, jump on an authentic Dhow sailing boat and find on Kilwa Kisiwani (Kilwa Island) what we are searching for. The first East African mosque was erected here on this very island, allegedly. Arabic ruins from different decades are intermixed with historic evidence from Portuguese colonisation activities. Most of the remnants are mosques and each ruin features at least one intact Mihrāb – a recess in the wall indicating the direction of prayer towards Mecca. The perfect playground!Читать далее

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  • Michi, derRediscovering TanganyikaMichi, der
    Hart am Wind

    Catch of the day

    23 января 2022 г., Танзания ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Here, today’s fishing villages blend nicely with former artefacts. Coral stones were the primary building material during the Arabic era and are also found on some facades of the current village houses. Sanda’s stomach rebels with the morning pancakes but she pushes for the longer eastward hiking route, yeah! The air is thick, hot and moist with strong onshore wind. The whole day we are in expectation of a thunderstorm but get burned by cloaked sun instead. We bounce around on paths full of biting ants while our guide leads us through farmland and villages where we visit several abandoned and intact deeeeep wells. It’s the first time I get to taste wild Marula fruits which are used to flavour the renowned Amarula Liqueur of South Africa. From the elevated ruins of the Palace of Husuni Kubwa we see our Dhow taxi approaching. It’s afternoon when we descend to the mangrove shore and get picked up by our sailing captain. Before departing on our relaxing ride he and our guide buy freshly caught fish from a nearby fishermen who is wading around in waist-deep water.Читать далее

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  • Michi, derRediscovering TanganyikaMichi, der
    1
    1Souvenir of the roadFun with black cotton soilCampsite

    Dirty Michi

    25 января 2022 г., Танзания ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We start early and rush through Dar es Salaam to Mikumi National Park. The traffic could have been worse and we are optimistic to arrive in time for a sunset game drive. It’s the perfect ride to listen to Jonas Jonasson’s audiobook “Der Massai, der in Schweden noch eine Rechnung offen hatte”. Bam! Something big hits the car’s windscreen on Sanda’s side. Arrrr! What the hell was that? No car passed us so it must have flown off from the truck in front of us. Shit. The first huge crack in my windscreen. What a nice start of our adventure 🤪

    We manage to enter the park late in the afternoon. Gathering around the huge map at the gate we get the recommendation of a route for our sunset drive from a friendly ranger. I ask about the road conditions and about potentially muddy sections but do not get a clear statement apart from a confirmation that the way back to the campsite should be drivable.

    Together with the hazy air, the low sun transforms the landscape into a mystic scenery with vaguely distinguishable hills in the distance. We drive around north-easterly with lowered windows and enjoy the fresh air. What a contrast to the coastal climate! And we made it here within one day! With approaching dusk, we turn back and take the first possible track to the campsite. It turns out to be a bad choice because of muddy stretches, getting deeper and longer the further we go in. We reverse and take the second option further south. Ups, the same situation and it starts to get dark. Not a good idea to continue. Hmm, so, those were meant to be the “drivable routes” which I asked for? Thank you for the advice! We return – nearly back to the gate – and go for the third option which is roughly the direct route to the camp. Bad road as well! I manage to cross the short section of an unfinished drainage channel (with just softly hitting the ground) but directly afterwards the car slides leftwards into deep tire holes from “someone’s previous attempt”. Bam! The car rests on a ridge with its full length from engine to rear axle and all 4 wheels are spinning freely. And it is dark. And we are in the national park. And there are all kinds of “things” around us. This must be living the overlander’s dream!

    What next? Sanda wants to mobile-call for the ranger but I want to get dirty first. Haha! Yes, digging with a shovel quickly reveals to become a project for the whole night. The infamous black cotton soil is greasy like soap where it is wet but hard like cement where it is dry. And it is rather dry everywhere around the muddy tire holes. And, when working with a headlamp in swampy surroundings, sufficient protein intake from flying biomass is guaranteed. I give in and we call for the ranger who appears in a Series 70 Land Cruiser with two scouts. Their first idea is to pull me out backwards with a chain. I protest but they seem to be very dedicated in pursuing their plan. To no success. This is definitely not material-friendly, they nearly ripped off my rear towing eye! I convince them to drive around and to retry in the front with my bungee rope instead. Bingo! After two attempts and without further damage they guide us through further deep mud and drop us at the campsite somewhere around midnight. It’s Sanda’s first time on an unfenced campsite in the middle of a national park, surrounded by all evil of her dreams, without any sight of life nor of light. Good night.    Читать далее

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  • Michi, derRediscovering TanganyikaMichi, der
    Coffee break"Leave me alone ..."

    Dirty cat

    26 января 2022 г., Танзания ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    It is still dark when we break camp to pick up our guide for this day. Woah, how wasted I am! Near the park’s headquarters we already cross ways with a lion. After collecting the guide, we choose a tricky path which nobody has driven yet this day and … wake up a leopard just next to the track. Wohooo! Without the guide we probably would not have noticed in time. We are so surprised that we forget all things around us. Camera? Binoculars? What are these? … Still, I manage to get a shot of this prettiest of all animals! In the southern part of the park another lion is dosing behind a bush without caring about us. And we wake a shy spotted hyena which quickly disappears. Obviously it didn’t like to be spotted. Sorry for all the disturbance, dear animals! We are just stupid tourists. But thank you very much for being here with us!Читать далее

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  • Michi, derRediscovering TanganyikaMichi, der
    Adam's friend picking up my boots

    Ups, time is over!

    28 января 2022 г., Танзания ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Before switching Tanzania's hot moistness for German cold moistness I put my glorious plan of gifting my hiking shoes to Dr. Adam into action. Adam works at Haydom Hospital where I met him after my Hanang hike. He will wear my boots for his climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro!

    Shortly after having given the shoes into the hands of his friend I realise that walking around at the airport back in freezing Europe with just flip-flops might become just another adventurous undertaking ...

    Road summary
    Driven kilometres: 5638
    Police controls: plenty
    Fines paid: 0
    Bribes paid: 0    Читать далее

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  • Окончание поездки
    29 января 2022 г.