XWORLD AFRICA tour diary Stage 15

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Day 1:

 

Start of the fifteenth stage from Johannesburg to Arusha. The guest house begins to fill with our guests. The last participants arrive in the early afternoon and the vehicles await in the car park, ready to set off.

While the daytime temperatures are extremely pleasant, it grows cold as soon as the sun dips below the horizon. This is actually quite unusual for the South African winter. For us, this means we keep our thick fleece jackets on during the preliminary briefing. Participants are allocated a vehicle and begin settling into their “new” home. Camera brackets are mounted and emergency rations stowed. A short time later, we set off for The Butchers Shop & Grill, which is one of the best steak restaurants in downtown Joberg. This is the perfect start for us to begin our journey following in the footsteps of David Livingstone.

 

 

Day 2:

 

Similar to the evening, the morning is also a little cool. The temperature is just 8°C, meaning the shorts stay in the suitcase for now. Today’s destination lies 500 km to the north of Johannesburg, on the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe. We head north along the N1, and appear to have missed the dreaded rush hour. We make good progress and our mood soars. A short while later, we are a little puzzled by slight vibrations in our lead vehicle. We decide to pull over at the side of the motorway despite this being illegal. Upon checking the tires, we discover that all five screws on one of the wheels are about to fall off. Another two kilometres and our wheels would have overtaken us! We change the wheel and are glad to have got away with nothing more than a scare. It could have ended quite differently. The onward journey leads through undulating hills. We cross the Soutpansberg mountain range and reach the border town of Musina in the far north of South Africa. We leave the gate to our lodge behind us and move into our rooms just before sunset, emerging on the terrace a short while later with a gin and tonic in hand to enjoy the final rays of sunshine on this first day.

 

 

Day 3:

 

We leave our lodge at sunrise to reach the border as early as possible and arrive at 7 o’clock on the dot. It takes half an hour to complete the exit formalities and three hours to enter Zimbabwe. This seems rather a long time to all of us and yet every attempt to speed the process up is thwarted. We leave the border with a bushel of paperwork. Our onward journey north progresses without a hitch and we reach the million inhabitant city of Bulawayo at teatime. We cross the town without hitting any traffic and are more than surprised at this little town’s beauty. We reach Hwange National Park and our lodge shortly after sunset. A sumptuous meal and copious gin and tonics sweeten our evening.

 

 

Day 4:

 

As we are still feeling the effects of the long journey yesterday, we breakfast late. After scaring the meerkats off our vehicles, we set off to explore Hwange National Park, which is one of Zimbabwe’s most beautiful nature reserves. Our game drive proves highly successful: we encounter giraffes, zebras, jackals, warthogs, kudus, gnus and elephants. We catch the sunset at the national park’s viewing platform and enjoy the evening glow over drinks. There couldn’t have been a more wonderful conclusion to the day!

 

 

Day 5:

 

We set off in the morning. The ambient temperature has meanwhile risen to a pleasant 15°C so that we can finally get the shorts out. We drive north and reach Victoria Falls after 200 km. We are all impressed by the majestic waterfall. Almost 1,700 m in length and soaring to heights of up to 110 m, it is one of the largest and most beautiful waterfalls in the world. The roar of the water can already be heard from afar, and the closer we get, the more we draw our waterproof clothing close around us. Purchasing a rain cape at the entrance was certainly a smart move! We are utterly thrilled by this natural display, despite the fact that a number of us get extremely wet despite the rain capes. We enjoy a pleasant evening at our lodge.

 

 

Day 6:

 

A long drive lies ahead of us today, including the crossing from Zimbabwe into Zambia. We set off at 7 o’clock and are at the border a mere ten minutes later. This time, the crossing takes just 2.5 hours – so somewhat less than the last crossing. It would have gone even faster too had the internet not crashed briefly. We are still pleased though – after all, a new record time is a new record time! Though varied, the 500 km journey to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia still drags a little. It rapidly becomes clear to us that we will have our first night drive tonight. We reach Lusaka in the dark at 7 p.m. and are lucky to have missed the evening traffic chaos. After a quick shower, we dine out in one of the best restaurants in Lusaka, which fortunately happens to be located directly next door to our hotel. Offering the best fillet steak, kudu potjie and zebra steak, we highly recommend this restaurant that thoroughly impressed us all.

 

 

Day 7:

 

720 km lie ahead of us today. This means that we must set off half an hour earlier than yesterday. Today’s route passes through the Muchinga Mountains and is extremely varied. Initially, the road surface is very good, but after around 360 km the roadworks being. Time and time again, we must detour onto adjacent roads, meaning our average speed suffers. In Chipata, we refuel one final time before leaving Zambia and arrive at the border with Malawi 50 km further on. The border formalities take just under an hour for all six vehicles, including solving the problem with the visa for our Swiss participants. The remaining 140 km to the capital city of Lilongwe is our second night drive and we reach our hotel in the city at 8 p.m.

 

 

 

Day 8:

 

In 1859, the discovery of Lake Malawi was probably one of the most memorable experiences of David Livingstone’s Africa expedition, as it was for us. The journey from Lilongwe first leads us north. We opt for a less travelled route, which means the vehicles further back in the convoy are engulfed in dust. At Salima, we return to tarmacked roads, and reach Lake Malawi just a short time later. With a total length of 575 km and width of 85 km, Lake Malawi is the third largest lake in Africa. We view the lake from the high plateau and are awestruck. At Nkhata Bay, we travel along a sandy trail towards the lake and spend the night at a lodge directly beside the water. The white sandy beach, sunloungers and water temperature of 25°C are reward for the past two days. We couldn’t have wished for a better place to spend the night.

 

 

Day 9:

 

We enjoy the morning beside the lake and resolve to tarry a little today. The sandy beach and sunshine are simply too tempting! We set off at around midday and drive north alongside Lake Malawi. In the early evening, we reach Livingstonia. Founded in 1894, the mission station has survived countless strokes of fate and remains a lively hub for 10,000 people with its hospital and school. We enjoy our dinner at sunset.

 

 

Day 10:

 

We set off for the border, our last crossing on this trip, early in the morning. Our entry back into Tanzania from Malawi goes smoothly and yet it still takes a total of 3.5 hours to stamp the 12 passports and six carnets de passage for the vehicles, and to pay the road tax and purchase insurance for the vehicles. We are able to make good use of the time though by sampling local delicacies offered to us at the side of the road. Our onward journey to Mbeya via Tukuyu leads through tea, banana and coffee plantations. We pass through the exotic-sounding melodically-named towns of Igawa, Makambako and Mafinga at sunset and reach Iringa beside the River Ruaha a short time later. We stay in simple African accommodation here at the River Valley Campsite.

 

 

Day 11:

 

Tea, coffee, omelettes, scrambled egg, toast and marmalade await in the morning. For our East African drivers, this is essentially the same procedure as every day. We continue north with renewed strength. At New Mtera, we cross the largest dam bridge in Tanzania and reach our destination for the day, Dodoma, before sunset for the first time this trip. Established in 1973, the capital city of Dodoma offers very little of the flair of a pulsating metropolis. It is therefore perhaps no surprise that most Tanzanian politicians only come to the city for parliamentary meetings. We decide to go exploring nonetheless. We are only allowed to visit the railway station following a personal audience and lengthy discussion with the stationmaster; in the city centre, we are impressed by the private security officers brandishing home-made pump guns. The city’s streets are lined with traders. We end our exploration tour before sunset and return to the hotel. We welcome in the evening with a gin and tonic and enjoy our dinner in the hotel’s wonderful inner courtyard.

 

 

 

Day 12:

 

Today is our last day of driving. We set off to go see the National Assembly of Tanzania, known as “Bunge” for short, and establish that a stop isn’t really worthwhile. We cross the city with its countless traders again and head north. We make good progress on the new tarmacked road. After covering around one third of today’s route, we have to turn onto a dirt track as the main road is being retarmacked. Upon observing the construction workers more closely, we determine that the work is being supervised by Chinese engineers. The world is getting smaller! In Bonga, shortly before Babati, we return to the tarmacked road, at which point we think we hear cheers from the vehicles behind us. Hours of driving off-road does not appear to be everyone’s cup of tea! The weather take a turn for the worse and for the first time on our trip, clouds cover the sky. In the early evening, we reach Arusha after travelling around 4,800 km. We party hard again on our final evening together.

 

 

Day 13:

 

It has been a fantastic tour – thanks so much for allowing us to be a part of it. We look forward to hopefully seeing you all again soon!

 

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