Dar es Salaam to the Malawi Border We arrived back in Dar after a fast ferry ride from Zanzibar. We headed for the campsite south of the city where Thiemo had been camping and looking after the cars. The others had stayed there before going to Zanzibar, but this was our first time there as we had had other things to distract us! The minibus that picked us up was supposed to be big enough for 9 people but only seated 6. The driver insisted that we could inde...

Zanzibar Zanzibar has always seemed like the ultimate exotic destination so we were very glad not to have missed it. Our passport problems could have meant days and days delay and we could easily have spent time cooling our heels in Nairobi instead of cooling ourselves in the Indian Ocean. So armed with a replacement computer and camera, we headed for the ferry in Dar for the crossing to Stone Town, Zanzibar. Instead of the fast 2 hour catamaran, we were st...

To Arusha It was a good road once we left the Ngorongoro Crater - no potholes, a white line down the middle, a yellow line down each side and wide enough for cyclists and walkers! We were still in Africa weren't we?? We descended the western escarpment of the Rift Valley once again past the incredibly beautiful Lake Manyaya shining in the afternoon sun. But the descent was interesting - a speed limit of 30kph, and rumble bars and speed bumps all along the h...

Ngorongoro Crater We left Serengeti National Park and drove straight into the Ngorongoro Reserve as they abut each other. Along the way we saw huge "herds" of ostriches (anyone know the collective noun for ostriches?) on a wide featureless plain with the mountains we were heading for in the distance. The heat formed haze on the desert floor resembling huge lakes, even reflecting rock outcrops and hills, though the dust raised by vehicles in front of ...

The Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. We drove into the park by the western gate and stopped to get our permits. The parks in Tanzania are very strict on the time you spend there and charge accordingly - there is a daily fee for cars, each person and for camping and it amounts to about US$300-400 per day. But getting the permits was like getting a visa at the border - slow and painful. The new computer system was down and each permit had to be done indiv...