It’s another long drive day today as we head for  Malawi and Chitimba Beach. The scenery is still mountainous and beautiful but today we are a bit more sociable on the truck, playing poker as we go.  As we exit a small village we notice large rocks scattered on the road and assume there are some sort of road works up ahead. The truck slows down as we approach stationary  vehicles ahead. A small bush fire along the side of the road starts to catch us up and spread. There are more rocks along the road and , as the truck pulls to a halt we notice that the drivers have left their vehicles. Just as we are considering using the opportunity to stretch our legs, a group of young men come striding up past the truck purposefully. They have slingshots and other weapons. Hastily, we lock the truck door. The heat from the bush fire gets more intense but we daren’t open up. Groups of young men pass the truck running on either side. In the fields on either side we can see people running, women and children too. We have no idea what’s going on and things get rather fraught as some of our group start to take photos. We hear the crack of a gun going off not so far behind us and then a police truck goes past us. All those in the back of the truck are holding guns at the ready. Up ahead we can see more rocks being thrown into the road. We are all a bit nervous and with our tour leader and driver in the front cab we have no idea what’s going on or what to expect.

Then we see the bus in front of us  trying to manoeuvre around the rocks. Someone in uniform is guiding them through the debris. Dickson starts our truck and soon we, too, are slowly picking our way through it all. Still, we can see people in  the fields alongside, intent on getting somewhere. Young men with weapons. As the road clears and we pick up a bit of speed, we allow ourselves to relax a bit. Later, Kanyo tells us that a young man from the village had been shot by police earlier and this had started all the commotion.

The border crossing into Malawi  is a relief and there are no further hold ups on our journey. As we drive along Lake Malawi it is windy and there are white horses on the waves. We are late but full of our adventure as we pull into camp, only to learn that another overland truck before us had been right in the thick of the drama and everyone had been in fear for their lives.

Its a sad goodbye this morning to Laura and Sarah , our Scots lasses, as they head back home to Dubai. They have brought so much fun and entertainment to the truck. It’s going to be oh, so quiet without them. On the plus side, with only 12 of us left, we can each stretch out across 2 seats, charge our cameras, laptops, Ipods, etc, whenever we want and have enough space in the fridge for our lunch AND cold drinks. Bliss.  Sure enough, it’s a subdued truck as we set off on our 630kms to the next pitstop. The scenery is stunning as we head through the mountains and the truck crawls up the hills and round the bends. It’s still daylight as we arrive at Farmhouse Camp, but only just. It’s a lovely little site with hot showers. Well, they’re hot as long as you get in first! I’m definitely not last in that queue. Tonight, no-one has to cook as the campsite bring us a huge pot of meatballs. There’s a definite nip in the air but a trip to the thatched bar hut soon ensures we’ll sleep well enough tonight.

We have 3 days in this beach paradise before we get back on the road and we are determined to make the  most of it. A short walk into the ‘village’ confirms that there is little else in Kandwa apart from beach front hotels. Sunset Bungalows is not the most luxurious of those available, but we have beach chalets, comfy beds, warms showers, home made sun loungers, hammocks and a beach bar. Hell, sometimes we even have electricity. What more do we need?

By the end of Day 2 we need some activity, so most of us have signed up for the snorkelling day out in a dhow. I was last in the queue when they were handing out sea legs and it’s well known that I cannot shut my mouth long enough to hold my breath under water. This was confirmed back in Jinja when I shot the rapids without a dinghy and nearly drowned. Nonetheless, nothing ventured, nothing gained so I take the plunge (literally).

It’s a beautiful run along the shoreline of deserted beaches with white sands and little secluded coves to get to coral reef where we will snorkel. Everyone else jumps in the water with gay abandon and no lifejacket. I dive in with gay abandon too and quickly realise that I have completely forgotten how to swim let alone snorkel. Shortly before I drown for the second time on this trip, I get myself a life jacket. But this only makes the situation worse. I’m bobbing up and down like a lifebuoy and still managing to inhale more water than I have lung capacity. Off comes the life jacket again. Everyone has long since disappeared into the reef and I’m still working out which way is up. Finally, I get myself sorted but our boat’s captain has already decided I am a special needs case and dives in to guide me personally round the reef, taking me directly to all the best spots to see all fish. My little waterproof camera is great.... for about 10 minutes. Suddenly an error message comes up. Seems it can’t hold its breathe as long as I can.

Way too soon we are back on the dhow for a short run to the nearest beach where a lunch of barbequed fish has been prepared. After lunch we set sail for home. It’s not an easy run and the water is much more choppy, meaning there are quite a few green faces on the way back. Fortunately we all hold on to our lunch.

Back at the hotel we’re just in time for a few cheeky cocktails before  dinner.  The bar  DJ has been blasting out his tunes and a group of Italians decides they need to show the rest of us how it is done. Now, I don’t want to generalise but one tends to think of Italians as having an appreciation of music and dance and a good sense of rhythm. Unfortunately this entire group must have been last in the queue when rhythm was handed out. Still, it’s good entertainment for the evening.

For our last night, a group dinner has been organised followed by  professional entertainment from a local group of dancer/acrobats. Now I’m not averse to watching the beautifully toned bodies of young men as they perform various acrobatic feats for my attention but these guys contorted their bodies into positions I didn’t think were possible. Don’t try this at home? Hmmm.

We do not have the luxury of a lie in on our last morning. Seventeen of our group leave us today, including my tent mate, Toni. She desperately wants to stay on the trip and, even as we are taking our bags up the steps to load them, she is asking me whether she should stay or go. But it’s too late to change the arrangements and  we are soon waving goodbye and heading for the ferry. I’m looking forward to catching the end of the Karate Kid movie.

Back in Dar Es Salaam, one of our newbies, Hannah  is not well. What we thought was a bad mosquito bite has turned nasty and the doctors at the local hospital think it may have been a scorpion. She needs intravenous antibiotics twice a day for the next few days, whilst we are on the road. This proves to be more challenging than we first thought.

Back at our campsite in Mikadi Beach, a tuktuk is taking us to our first evening appointment. Hannah and I look nervously at each other as our driver goes off road down a dark track and not towards the town centre. I put my arm around her reassuringly. We bump down a dirt track past some  huts and eventually come to a group of small concrete huts. Everything is in darkness but we can just make out a group of people waiting on benches outside one of the huts. Our driver jumps out and leaves us. What are we supposed to do. All the people on benches are looking at us, or so it seems. We can’t see anything in the dark.  I am just about to jump in the driver seat to take the tuktuk back to camp when our guy reappears. Everyone’s still waiting for the doctor but we are assured they are on their way. Eventually we are beckoned in, jumping the long queue. There are quite a lot of people in the room designated ‘surgery’ but it’s not clear who does what. Clearly, we are something of a curiosity. The ‘doctor’ looks at Hannah’s medication and seems unsure what to do. Hannah explains. Then I explain, then Hannah again. And so on. Obviously, it’s not easy to read a doctor’s note at the best of times but by candle light? That is one candle! Eventually, the hunt for a vein starts. By candle light. Fortunately I have my head torch and Hannah has hers. Several tries later, poor Hannah is sick and dizzy and we are about to give up when the electricity magically restarts. By the time she has had her dosage we are seriously wondering how we’re going to get through the next few days..

We only have a short drive in the minibuses from Stone Town to Kandwa Beach, where we will spend the next few days by the sea. No tents to pitch or take down. Chelle, Toni and I have our own chalet, right down on the beach front, with en suite bathroom and only a few short steps to the beach bar. Yay.

White sands, blue skies, turquoise water, sunbeds and a 2 hour Happy Hour for cocktails in the bar. What to do first?

Wrong!

It’s too early for Happy Hour so the beach wins and when the sand gets too hot it’s into the water for a cool off.  Beneath us in the water we can see brightly  coloured fish and, resting on the sand at the bottom, bright red starfish.

As the sun dips down towards the horizon, there’s just time to work our way through the cocktail list before dinner.

The tents are packed early and we say goodbye to Dickson for a few days. Whilst we enjoy a few days R&R in Zanzibar, he has some work to do on Kifaru. Kanyo has organised for tuktuks to take us and our luggage to the ferry and the race is soon on again as we exit the camp and take the rough track to the main road and down to the ferry.  I’m hanging on for dear life as we execute a wheely cutting across the traffic to join the road and I appreciate the signs.” Outside=Danger”. Our driver swiftly negotiates the entrance to the ferry, queue jumping successfully to ensure we are well placed for the race across town to our next ferry to Stone Town. Fortunately, we are taking the fast ferry so it will only take 2.5 hrs instead of the normal 8hrs of the overnight ferry. This is reputed to be a rough crossing so I am feeling a bit nervous despite the bright sunshine. The ferry is crowded and our rucksacks are grabbed from us and thrown over the side to be piled in a heap at the front of the boat. There’s a scramble for seats in the main lounge and anyone not fortunate enough to get one is forced to sit or lie down in the aisle. Today’s on board movie is a remake of the Karate Kid and it provides a distraction for the journey. Lucky for me, it’s a gentle crossing and we are there in double quick time. Unluckily for those watching the movie, we arrive 20 mins before the end and will never know if our hero wins the big fight or not..

We only have a brief time to check in to the hotel before our Spice Tour a few miles out of town. Our guide has arranged for us to have lunch at his home as it is Ramadan and difficult to get served in the daytime.  

After that we go to a spice plantation where we are shown how the spices are grown and processed. After dark, we wander down to the port side where there are all the stalls of the night food market. So many different things to choose from. We are spoilt for choice between the huge seafood kebabs or meat kebabs, pancakes ( called ‘pizzas’) stuffed with anything you want including the biggest bananas I’ve ever seen in my life! . . Half the fun is negotiating the price you’re ready to pay. Cane sugar drinks to wash it all down before heading to the beachside bar.

Another drive day but the rain does not dampen our spirits as we look forward to getting to Zanzibar. By the time we reach Dar Es Salaam, the sun has dried the clouds and we drive past white, sandy beaches on our way to the short ferry crossing we have before reaching our overnight stop in Mikadi Beach. An hour’s queue for a 10 minute crossing gives us ample opportunity to watch the locals in their brightly coloured dresses and suits mingling with local Moslems in full hijab as they trawl the quayside stalls for their shopping. Loading on the ferry is like joining the Wacky Races, engines racing in overland trucks, taxis, cars, tuktuks and mopeds as they wait for the off, jostling for the premium place to get off first at the other end. It’s a tense ten minute crossing as they prepare for offloading, then a stalemate in traffic as those offloading meet those loading for the return journey head on. I’m just glad we make it as I’m sure we were an overland truck or two overloaded.

The camp site is 1km from the quay and the signs on the entry gates telling guests that to venture outside is to take your life in your hands does nothing to reassure us, but it is a beautiful spot with beachside bar, pool and spacious, open air, hot water showers. It’s a race to pitch the tents before deciding whether to go in the pool, the sea, or the hot water showers. The showers win for me and I am not disappointed.

After dinner, we drop down to the beach bar to rock in the hammocks and sip a few beers watching the sun go down. All around the site are signs saying “ Inside= Safe; Outside= Danger”. How dangerous can it be?

Arriving in Arusha, Kim & Zoe just have time to say their goodbyes before they have to be off to catch their flights back home to Egypt. Kim generously hands over all her steristrips to hold  my knee together.

Arusha is the African head office for Absolute and this is Dickson’s opportunity to get the truck checked over, any repairs done and the tyres changed before we’re off for Zanzibar. Apart from losing Kim & Zoe, Peter and Jen will be heading back to the UK next morning and we are collecting another 7 people from another truck for the run to Zanzibar. There’s much discussion over the possible change in group dynamics.

We pitch the tents and head for the HOT (yay!) showers before dinner and the disco heralded for the night after our group meal. Unfortunately by the time I get there, there is no hot water left. A power cut half way through  means that ANY water, hot or cold would be welcome.  The other truck arrives much later than expected as they had had several breakdowns during their game drives in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater ruining their experience and ensuring they arrive tired, hungry and grumpy to meet us. Exchanges between the 2 groups are limited over dinner and it does not bode well for the future.

After dinner its back to the bar for a few cheeky cocktails, games of pool and the much lauded disco.

It’s not long before we’re all up on the floor and dancing round our handbags (well, motley collection of flipflops, tops, drinks, etc). And it’s not long after that, that the Masai boys decide to join us, jumping, bumping and grinding with us whether we want them to or not.

Next morning, we say goodbye to a grumpy Peter (a hungry Peter is an angry Peter and he didn’t get his breakfast!) and to Jen and welcome aboard our new recruits, 2 American couples, one couple on their honeymoon (Camping on your honeymoon? Camping on your honeymoon with a bunch of strangers???), and Hannah. Only Hannah will be with us as far as Cape Town, the others will leave us in Zanzibar along with 6 of our own crew. In the meantime we have to work out how to get 27 people and all their kit into our already crammed truck. It’s going to get cosy!

It’s a long drive day and the views of the mountains would be spectacular. I’m sure, if it weren’t for the permanent haze obscuring everything. Our hopes of seeing Kilimanjaro on the way are soon dashed. We pass through pretty villages with thatched roofed homes and sisal plantations. It’s a good road but it’s still dark when we arrive at our overnight campsite in Kirogwe. And it’s still dark when we get up to pack away our tents the next morning. I’m sure it’s a lovely place.

Just before dawn, we all pile into cramped, decrepit jeeps for our morning game drive in the Ngorogoro crater. Kathryn is a little bit concerned when it becomes apparent the door on their jeep does not shut properly. I clamber into the back of ours, where my still injured knee is bounced against the seat in front as we descend the steep sides of the crater. Down in the crater we can expect to see all of the Big Five and most other wildlife except giraffe. There’s even rumoured to be an elephant’s graveyard. Down by the lakeside the bird life is amazing. Although twitchy by nature I’ve never been much of a twitcher, I don’t even twitter but since starting my African Adventure I can honestly say I find the bird life as fascinating as the animal life. The scenery in the crater is also beautiful and surreal but an hour into our drive we have only seen crown crakes, a few storks and the occasional wildebeest. We game drive veterans are a little disappointed. But not for long. Our driver takes us along a creek towards the edge of the crater. It’s like a mini migration and as we arrive at a crater pool filled with hippos we are treated to the spectacular sight of waves of zebras and wildebeest coming up over the edge and down to the water to drink, before disappearing back over the edge to make room for the next wave. You can almost hear the director in the background. “Ok guys. Group one wildebeest and zebras.. Ready. Take 1. Cameras roll... and action. No.No. No. Unruly mess. Group 2. Get it right. Ready? Action...”.

We are running out of time as we have to be on our way to Arusha but some of the group are still missing Big 5 from their check list. Our driver is on the case. Up another creek where he had spotted lions the day before we get a call. At first, all we can see are jeeps. But there in the grass, we can see a lioness, then 2, then a couple of young males with shaggy manes not quite developed. There is much commotion and jostling of places to get good photos. All too soon we are doing a 3 point turn and heading for the exit, spotting jackals, hyenas and elephant on our way. But there are to be no rhinos for Kim and Zoe who will leave us in Arusha this afternoon

We are getting accustomed to bush camping and the rain but even with our tents in a perfect D formation it’s been a nervous night with lions not so far and the hyenas whooping oh so close. Both hippos and elephants have been known to invade the camp. It’s still pitch black when we creep out of our tents to venture to the toilet, desperation finally overcoming our fears.

Our morning game drive to exit the Serengeti proves to be both the icing and the cherry on top of our game drive cake. These endless plains are so beautiful and oh,  sooo deceptive. Just when you think all the animals are on  vacation in the Masai Mara, you spot a few antelopes in the distance. Then, what’s that? A warthog? Or two... or more.. Screwing your eyes against the haze, there are giraffes in the distance. Easily missed as they amble, looking like the tall trees they are tugging the leaves from, so far away. Even the enormous elephants disappear into the long grass. Spotting lions, their golden pelts melding perfectly into the grass is a real mission. So, how considerate of the lioness and her cub to run along in the channel next to our track, their heads bobbing up from time to time as they peek over the top to take in their surroundings. And how considerate of the three male lions to decide to saunter over to a mound a few metres from our track so they can top up their tans in the sun. Not to mention the hyena, lolloping along the road before turning off the the track beside us so we can get a good  look and a few close ups. And how considerate of the cheetahs who also decide that a rocky outcrop just within camera shot is the perfect place to survey the savannah.

All too soon we have to leave the Serengeti and head for our next stop....

As the truck labours up the stark slopes towards the Ngorogoro crater we pass by remote villages in the moonscape. Children minding goats and cattle far from home with no visible signs of water available, it’s hard to understand how they can survive.

Our campsite to night is perched high above the crater and is again open to the wildlife. There are, however, showers and toilets and after pitching camp I decide to try and remove the thick coating of dust with which my body appears to permanently coated these days. The water is ice cold as it hits my back and it takes me a while to pluck up the courage to put my head under to wash my hair. Little do I realise this is the precursor to the night ahead.

As the sun dips down below the horizon, we feel the chill of the altitude and are grateful for the camp fire round which we gather to toast marshmallows and  look at the clear night sky full of stars.

Later, lying in my sleeping bag fully clothed and still freezing, I wake up suddenly to the clip clop of hooves and the munching of grass right behind my tent. I’m shivering and, of course, desperate for the loo. Hyenas are again calling in the distance, but what is about to trample me underfoot? Maybe it’s zebras? That would be ok. Maybe buffalo? Not so okay. Last time they had an elephant in the camp. No. Elephants don’t go clip clop. Lions don’t munch or go clip clop. The munching gets closer and all of a sudden I feel a body  pushing against mine through the side of the tent. Eek. Please tell me I didn’t leave that apple in my bag. The body moves away and the munching ceases. I breathe out quietly and try, oh so hard, to go back to sleep.

We’re on our way to the Serengeti with a short ferry crossing and an overnight stop in Mwanza down by the shore of Lake Victoria. The roads are rough and we all enjoy the benefits of an African  massage in the truck.

The Serengeti are endless plains of beautiful, empty savannah stretching far beyond the horizon and it does not seem that we are going to spot any animals. But we focus hard and it’s not long before we spot impala and some old wildebeest, then some eland, topi, gazelle.  We even spot a family of lions including a couple of young males.

Leopards remain elusive but passing through a wooded area there is a shout to stop the truck as movement is spotted (teehee) in the undergrowth. He’s moving and disappears behind a tree, then he’s off again. Only one person manages to get a clear photograph