After a few long-haul journeys and some internet problems (first time on the trip, mind you) we’re something like two or three weeks behind on the blog!
What that effectively means is that, while we’re currently at the end of our time in Malawi (in Blantyre and heading over to Mozambique), I have yet to start blogging about everything we saw in Tanzania. I’m not sure exactly how to handle this yet, so I’ll give a brief overview, hopefully with some more interesting stories to follow.
In all honesty we didn’t do Tanzania justice this time around, partly because we couldn’t really afford the big game parks in the north (Serengeti, Ngorogoro), and partly because these are ultimately better explored using your own transport.
We did manage to spend a whole week on Zanzibar, by far the longest stay of the trip, and definitely one of the highlights. And yes, I braided my hair and took photos of how ridiculous it looked 
One thing we DID do in Tanzania is take the Tazara express train from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya – after doing a 16 hour bus drive to Dar, I can tell you 30 hours on a train is pure luxury! We even managed to spot giraffes, wildebeest and what we think were impala from the train on our way through the Selous game reserve…so we had a budget Tanzanian game drive after all.
A few bus and matola (new name for matatu around here) rides got us to Nkatha Bay in time to catch the MV Ilala ferry that runs on Lake Malawi. We chose to take it all the way down to Monkey Bay, sleeping out on the first class deck for a total of three nights.
Maybe it was because it was one of the things I knew I wanted to do all along, but the ferry trip will always stand out for me, and also deserves a separate entry with all t he details. Let me say for now that it was quite beautiful, very comfortable and kind of romantic (even though we didn’t shower for 4 days) to be out on the water so long – we even had a full moon to light the way.
In the end I’ll probably be blogging about the last two or three weeks of our trip from Cape Town, making myself sick with nostalgia while I’m looking for work…but who knows, maybe it will ease the transition into the ‘real world’ For now we just wanted to confirm that a) we are alive and b) we are still really, really enjoying the trip (and wanting to share that with you)…
Yay!!! (about you being alive) and double yay!!! (about you still enjoying everything). i have been moving the pennetjies along according to your itinerary – you are currently in Tete – incase you didn’t know…;) I miss you maatjie!!! Kannie wag om die foto van die braids te sien nie! xxx
By: minette on May 2, 2010
at 4:48 pm
Your recent non-communication turned my hair grey-er! EVERYBODY asked “what do you hear from the travellers?”, and I could only stand there with “WORRY” etched on my forehead!
So I am totally delighted to finally hear from you. Your epic adventure will be over in the blink of an eye….make the most of the last days!
By: Val on May 3, 2010
at 4:39 pm