02-03.2011 Uganda and Tanzania

Tsiklonaut

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The border crossing to Uganda was one of the easiest we've ever had, and we were through the procedures on both sides in an hour. The officials were friendly and efficient, and did not ask for any bribes, although the USD 50 that we each had to pay for Ugandan visas, and USD 20 for stamping the Carnet (all receipted!) did hurt a little.

Uganda was strikingly different from Kenya from the very beginning. There was much more vegetation - where there was no jungle left there were lush plantations - and the roads were just a bliss. By now we can say that Kenyan roads (and I mean principal roads, not offroad tracks such as the one we "indulged in" on the shores of Lake Turkana) must be ones of the worst in the world. Or at least of the parts of the world we have already been to. Getting to the Ugandan border was nothing short of a slalom between the potholes.

So once we had cleared Kenya, we celebrated with a bottle of South African red - we were finally on the move again!


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South-African wine.














.


Not that Kenya was all bad, but it is not quite an idyllic backpacker destination. Safaris would be great, but bikes are not allowed in most national parks, and even if they were - entry to the famous Masai Mara NP costs USD 60 a day. And that is per person! However, the best memories we have from Kenya are relating to people, and Kenyans left us a very warm and friendly impression.

We thought of having a good look around in Ugandan capital Kampala, but already the traffic jam we got stuck in when entering the city made us change our minds. Amazing how much pollution and noise a city of 1,5 million is able to create! So our only memorable sight was a giant pig we met in Kampala.



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100+kg (220+ lb) Ugandan pig taking a nap in the street's shade in Kampala.














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Soon after Kampala we had to stop for another mandatory shot.






Later on we rolled through Queen Elizabeth national park, the most popular in Uganda, and from the highway we could get a glimpse of a few horned creatures and a backside of an elephant. Better than nothing at all.

We tried a couple of trails on the border of the national park to avoid paying the entry fees (USD 30 per person), but other than a lone warthog and a buffalo no animals were to be seen. The grass was so tall we realised the advantage of an open-roof safari truck - both for the views and for the protection. An elephant or a lion pride jumping out of the bush could mean trouble. So we tried to keep moving and to stop for brief moments only.


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Tracks through Ugandan savannah...














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It started to get dark and we needed a place to stay the night. At a roadside village, a local guy recommended a hotel called Kingfisher. The track to the hotel was rough and passed between dilapidated buildings, so we wondered what kind of a ****hole was ahead. But once we arrived our jaws dropped open. A five-star resort with atmospheric huts, magnificent pools and the sky-high view over the plains of the national park. This is gonna blow our budget totally, we thought, and were prepared to turn around, but surprise, they allowed us to pitch our thent on their manicured lawn for USD 20 and enjoy all the benefits.


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Ugandan man who showed us to the Kingfisher's place...














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Swimming pool in Kingfisher high above savannah.















Panoramas from the resort (click to enlarge each one)































From there on we moved in amore relaxed pace. We had come far enough from Nairobi ;) Or maybe it was the landscape - hills, tea plantatons, small huts, people doing their daily chores…


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Tea plantations in West Uganda.













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Green Ugandan fields.














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Typical Ugandan landscape.














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Village market in Uganda.






Ugandan music from local restaurant:





..:: LISTEN ::..












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Local boy checking the bike out - most of the stuff is carried on the head in Uganda.













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Women transporting stuff from the fields.















Panorama from Lake Bunyonyi - one of the deepest lakes in Africa - over 1900 meters (6233 ft) deep (click to enlarge).







In one place, once we stopped we were surrounded by a bunch of boys. But once we got the camera out thet yelled No-No-No! Somehow, a few minutes alter they were all happily posing for us with what was their version of a football. If there is will, there is a way! Even in a poor country such as Uganda, people mostly seem happy.


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Young Ugandan man.














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A home made football...














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...that works like a threat!














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Toss me a ball...














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Ugandan child.














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Boy returning from the fields with a machete and sweet sugarcane at the end of a work day.



As soon as we had entered Uganda, we had filed the online applications for Rwandan visas. Normally they are processed within three days, which, considering the relatively small size of Uganda, was just about the time it would have taken us to reach Rwandan border.

But once we were in Kabale which is almost at the border, and went to an internet cafe to check if the visa confirmations had arrived (and we were pretty sure we'd get them without problems like everyone else we know), instead we found a letter by Rwandan immigration authority asking for hotel bookings. Of course we do not have any bookings and do not intend to arrange them (we did it only once on this trip, and the hotel managed to lose it), and that is what we politely said in response.

So we figured we'd have to wait a little more, and so we relaxed for a few days at Laker Bunyonyi. The campground that we stayed at offered the opportunity to go canoeing dirt cheap, so that is what we did to kill our time, and to be honest, gliding on the surface of a lake believed to be, in places, almost two kilometers deep, in a dugout canoe, was just like meditaton.



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Canoeing on Lake Bunyonyi - it's hard to believe it's 1900 meters deep for such a small lake!














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Crowned Crane - national bird of Uganda - immediate 7 years of jail if you kill one.













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Flora on lake Bunyonyi...














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Flower above water...



But after a few days of meditation we had had enough, and still with no answer from Rwandans we decided that if they did not want us there, so was it to be. Who cares about tourism indeed if you've got all that foreign aid flowing in… So we turned around and headed straight towards Tanzania. USD 50 for the three month visas, and we were greeted with open arms!

Tanzania is a hell of a huge country. More so because in compensation for the mishap with Rwanda we decided to pay a visit to the legendary island of Zanzibar, meaning we had to ride from West to East. But we did it, and in fact it only took us three days (but the bums were sore, that's for sure). The roads are in good condition, but we still did manage to get off the road in places, and were hit by some rains, so it wasn't all the same.

The people are friendly - there are of course guys who run asking for money as they see us, but mostly the reaction is thumbs up. And there seem to be lots of Muslims - the women are wrapped up, and in the mornings we get waken by Quran.





..:: LISTEN ::..









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Tanzanian biker.














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Two on a small scooter.














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Local children checking us out.














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Red dirtroads in West-Tanzania...














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Dirtroad through one of the national parks.














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And soon the weather got rainy - can't even remember when we had to use our rain suits last time.













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Tanzanian muslim boy.














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How many bird nests do you see?














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Woman with daughter.














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After the rain Tanzanian landscape.















Panorama of the landscape (click to enlarge).





After we arrived in Dar Es Salaam and had sadly left our bike with some Estonians living there, we got onto the ferry to Zanzibar, where we were greeted by its crew - "Welcome to Paradise!" they said. To be honest, going to Zanzibar had been Kariina's long time dream, and now it was coming true.

It is not impossible to go to Zanzibar with your bike or whatever vehicle you may have, because there are car ferries operating too, but since it is a semi-autonomous state of Tanzania, it involves quite a lot of money and paperwork, just like it is the case with international sea shipping.

Zanzibar (which is actually an archipelago consisting of two bigger islands - Unguja or Zanzibar and Pemba, and a bunch of small ones), is believed to have been inhabited some two thousand years ago, but the first written records date back to the times when Persian merchants from Shiraz created their settlements here. A little more than a thousand years old, what remains from that era substantiates Zanzibar's claim to be the oldest functioning city in East-Africa (Zanzibar is also the name of the biggest town on Zanzibar island). Later on the Poruguese came, then the British, and then the Omanis, who made Zanzibar famous all over the world for its spice plantations and slave trade. Zanzibar claimed independence in 1964 shortly after which it joined Tanzania (or Tanganyika as it was called back then).

Spices (mainly cloves) are still one of the main exports of Zanzibar, but tourism is one of the main sources of income. So no wonder that as you step off the ferry and are stamped in (they really like to show here they're independent), you are surrounded by a bunch of touts trying to get you to the hotel of their choice, to sell a tour or a t-shirt with a writing "Mzungu" (call sign for the "white guy" in most of the East Africa) on it. But this is more or less just how far the attention goes. Interestingly, or rather obviously, the locals leave the impression of being cold and indifferent towards tourists, if only interested in their cash. Perhaps they're just utterly tired of the constant flow of insensitive Westerners who, regardless of Zanzibar being a strongly Muslim society, come here in their mini skirts and sleeveless tops? Or perhaps it is the hectic history? Our previous experience in the Middle-Eastern Islamic countries (sure, geographically Zanzibar is far-far away from the Middle-East, but culturally they seem to be close enough) is of hospitable people who feel pride in you visiting their home, but not here… Maybe it is because when we speak about Pakistan, Iran and Oman for example, all of them are quite isolated from the outer influence, the people thus being more curious about you. But here, you have to look really hard to find it.


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Architecture on a dim Zanzibar Stonetown street.













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Knock-knock...














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Arabian style doors in Stonetown...














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Windows...














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Promenade...














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Life goes on strong and well around half-sunken ship in fishing harbour.














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Fresh catch...














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All sorts of stuff for food...














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Busy morning in a fishing harbour...














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Cutting octopuses...














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Want some shark man?














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Sorting fresh stuff...














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Calamari goes to the market...














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Zanzibar's fishermen...














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Zanzibar Stonetown street.














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Beauty salon.














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Young Zanzibari man.















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Minaret of the oldest mosque in Zanzibar.














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Kabab with chips in Zanzibar - one of the cheapest food you can find on the street.













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Boy returning from swim...














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Jump into the Indian ocean...














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Backflip into the Indian ocean...














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Zanzibari street life...














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Woman in burqa…














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Bone powered transportation...














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Door...














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Indian girl - Indians are probably second biggest community in Zanzibar.














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Afternoon heat in Stonetown street...














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Clocktower in Stonetown.














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Muslim man in a street...














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Going for a swim...
















Panorama of the sunset (click to enlarge)





Since we had left our GS behind, but we still wanted to see the island, we rented the small Honda XR 250R (25US$ per day compared getting our GS to the island for between 250-500US$). Surely we had come without our trusty helmets, so we had to make do with the "egg shell" helmets provided by the hire company which barely stayed on our heads. And the painful seat… we've been spoiled on our two-wheel couch...

Surprisingly, even at 80 km/h I never got the feeling of the engine being tortured (as is the case with many small displacement single cylinder bikes). The suspension was a little soft and gear shifting was rough, but in the small road conditions of Zanzibar it was good enough, and lightweight too. But still this 250cc consumed just as much petrol as our 1100cc GS.

And, by the way, Zanzibar is the first place ever where I've had to show my International Driving Permit - there are many checkpoints on the island, and they do even check if you have the right category!

We first headed to the northern part of the island, which had a more everyday ambience - women were working on the seaweed plantations while men were repairing nets, boats standing on the sand, waiting for the high tide. Slow life under the baking sun.




Live from a Tanzanian band:



..:: LISTEN ::..






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Man on the beach.














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Low tide.














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A crab on the pole.














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Fishermen preparing their boats - high tide is on the way.














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Sunken dhow on dry land during the low tide.














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It was quite a big sunken dhow (wooden ship).














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But it had completely rotten bottom end.















The same dhow from behind.












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Low tide.














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Finally the water is coming in.














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Soon there'll be open spaces for the boatsmen again.














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Discovering Zanzibar island with our rented Honda XR250R.














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In front of a local restaurant.














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XR and a muslim woman on the beach.














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Traditional Zanzibari boat.














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Women working at the seaweed plantation.














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Seaweed plantation.















Panorama from the Zanzibari seaweed plantation (click to enlarge)













Longer panorama without polarizer filter - seen as with your own eyes (click to enlarge)











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Discovering Zanzibari beaches with Honda XR.














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Boat during the low tide.















Panorama of Nungwi beach (click to enlarge each panorama)













Panorama of Matemwe beach.







Then we checked out the southern part of the island which was even quieter, actually very relaxed - blindingly white sand ending in turquoise waters glowing on the horizon, wind playing with palm tree leaves. If this isn't paradise, I do not know what is. Despite the low tide we undertook the walk through the warm water pools to the ocean's edge and got a decent swim.




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Crew of local fishingbasket makers in Ras Kizimkazi.














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This is how they hand-make the baskets.














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Local worker.














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Discovering small tracks around Zanzibar - this track led to a lighthouse.














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Beneath the lighthouse.













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Zanzibar island's village kid.













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Traditional sailing boat on the move.














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Traditional sailing ship seen from deeper water (about chest-level) - white reflective sand below really makes the water glow.













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Kariina going for that exotically tropical type of a swim.














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Traditional sailing boat anchored.














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Local boy who calls himself Coco Boy - he's a fruit seller when he isn't at school.














Panorama from near Jambiani and the track that leads there (click to enlarge each panorama)













Panorama of Jambiani beach.













360 degree panorama of Jambiani beach "bottom" during the low tide.





Zanzibar does have a distinctive atmosphere if you dare look further from the tourist traps.

To celebrate Estonian independence day on February the 24th I treated myself to a bottle of beer, which on Zanzibar is more than double the price than on the mainland. Tasted good!


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Swimming during the dusk.













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Our humble independence day celebration on Zanzibar.







Then we went back to Dar Es Salaam but did not spend much time there - it was hot, humid and expensive. So as soon as we had obtained visas for Malawi, the next country on our trajectory, we were off.

Although the process was relatively quick and painless, the cost for Malawi visas came as a bit of shock to us - USD 100 per person, so at first we thought the consul was following the African tradition of trying to fill his pockets with some welcome extras. We were wrong, however, as receipts were issued, together with assurance that we will love the country. We'll see!




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Modern building in Dar Es Salaam



Dar Es Salaam, the biggest city in Tanzania, is nothing to rave about. And as said - relatively expensive compared to the rest of the country. For example, a double with a shared bathroom at a youth hostel (YMCA) cost us 25 000 Tsh (USD 17) per night, whereas in smaller towns it is no problem to find a decent place to stay for as little as 12 000 Tsh (USD 8), or to camp for even less.


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YMCA - no, it's not what you think!? :ymca :huh














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Yes, it's Young Men's Christian Association - but they offered safe parking and one of the cheapest accomodation in the area :deal





We headed out of Dar Es Salaam, but instead of taking the direct route towards the Malawi border, we made a small detour through Bagamoyo - once a major dhow port on the East African coast, but today nothing more than a sleepy town. After the noise and pollution of Dar, it was a welcome change for us and we spent a day relaxing under the palm trees. Not quite Zanzibar, but not bad either.


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Bagamoyo beach.













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Huts on the beach.













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Cosy architecture.














Panorama from the beach (click to enlarge)












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Palm leaf.














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Pool...














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Who's in the pool?














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Chillout place...














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...and chillout in palm shade.














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Looks like paradise?














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Yes, it definitely is!














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There's pizza even in Africa!?




As we're not beach people, one day was enough, and we once again hit the road. Coming to Dar from the west we had passed through the town of Morogoro which had a friendly vibe, so we decided to break our journey there once more. I am not quite sure what it is, but if I had to recommend places to visit in Tanzania, Morogoro would surely be there in the list together with Zanzibar. There is nothing to see there really, and the flies hanging around your plate of chicken and chips are simply ferocious, but the waitresses at the side bar just giggle as we do not speak any Swahili and they dont speak any English. There is something there.


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Typical handwash before entering a local restaurant.














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Life in one of the random Morogoro's restaurants.



Our next stop was Iringa, another provincial capital, but with a different vibe altogether. It was a lot cooler, as Iringa sits at some 1600 meters, and no one was giggling. Maybe it was the weather - it is the rainy season here after all, so the skies are grey. But not all is bad. We heard music and followed the sound through the drizzling rain. Before we knew, we were part of the audience at the local church service, with loud music, singing, dancing and clapping hands. THIS is Africa, there is no mistake!



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A home made candle on the table.














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Christian dancing/singing/religious-teaching-discussing event in Iringa.







Recording from the same spot:




..:: LISTEN ::..













Our next stop, Sao Hill, is a village that is off any tourist trail, and rightly so. The only reason for us to stop there was a couple of our compatriots who are working at a Norwegian-owned saw mill there. Now one would think that if Estonians met they would rave about sauerkraut and blood sausages, and bash the politics, but that was not the case. It was much more interesting to talk about Africa, although in the end we all had to agree that this continent is too tough to figure out.

I mean, all of us have some sort of idea of what Africa is like, but it seems that no matter how much you read about the continent, or travel, or live here, there will still be some hazy areas in its psychology. We've been brought up in a society that values objectives, efficiency and results, but here those words seem to be irrelevant - the stress is on the word "seem", because this is the way WE see it. It may seem absurd to us, but things do work out in Africa, some way or another. It is like a microcosmos with its own rules and equations. Why else would one need five guys to lift a hammer, or why else does one water the lawn even if it is pouring like no tomorrow. But it works.

Local radio plays:


..:: LISTEN ::..






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At maize factory.
















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Stuff going into grinder.














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Local repairing my worn out trousers.













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Going fishing with canoe.















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Working on the tea plantation.















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Caterpillar.














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Coal fatory - material for barbeque comes from her.
















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Workers at the coal ovens.















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Coal goes into bags.
















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The surrounding is just like a scene from Tarkovski's movie "The Zone".






We spent a whole week in Sao Hill - relaxing, visiting the tea plantations, maize mills and coal kilns, the latter of which were like straight from "The Zone", a film by Tarkovski - the air filled with smoke, pools of water on the ground, and the sense of stopped time.

On weekends, the expats go to the golf and yacht clubs, and we were no worse. Imre, our host, is a sailor, and so he gave us a lesson in sailing. I even managed to fall over twice, trying the top speeds. Good entertainment.



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Prepping for our first-ever sailing.














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Prepping the boats. No pics of the process - thankfully we didn't take the camera with us to take pics of sailing - the camera would have been drowned by now :p






Sure enough we took time to try out some local specialities in terms of food. One of Tanzanian staples is ugali - a thick porridge made out of maize flour, which is pretty tasteless but quite edible nonetheless. Expats normally keep away from it.






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Fish with ugali.














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A very nice surprise came in form of Castle Milk Stout - dark beer with some lactose added to it. Very good indeed!













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…and the local ginger soda - tangawizi. Like all things with ginger it was damn good.






We also did some tourist things, such as climbing the rock on the edge of the town of Iringa. In the old times a local chief used to summon people on that flat-topped rock, but nowadays it is a popular chillout spot for the locals. As always, the initially camera-shy kids put on a show in the end, fighting to be photographed.



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Big rocks above Iringa - a place where the local tribe used to have their meetings.














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With locals on the rocks.















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Iringa kids.

















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Students...

















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Our friend Heiti takes pics of locals.
















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Locals posing for a pic.


















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Boys sort out who's about to get on the picture.

















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Get off mate, my turn.


















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On the rock of Iringa.

















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Stare.



















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Pineapples on Mafinga's market.

















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Mobile phone and electronics shop in Mafinga.
















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Local weird guy greeting for the pic.



















Panorama of South-Tanzanian landscape with our friend Tiit taking a pic of it as well (click to enlarge)






Our hosts thought there was a thing we should not miss in Southern Tanzania on the way to Malawi border - Kitulo Falls, a little-known waterfall that is not on any map, neither is it mentioned in any guidebooks. Sounded very tempting, so we tipped in the coordinates and set out to find it.

The track that led there was the kind you would normally think to be a dead-end track as it was so overgrown it was obvious it did not see much traffic, if any. The tall grass emitted a sweet scent and if not some light breezes that saw the leaves on the trees sway a little, there was an absolute silence. There was no one around.

As we approached our target we were stunned by the scene of the roaring, bubbling waterfall surrounded by untouched forest, and surely enough we could have it all to ourselves. We left the bike on the hill side and hiked to the bottom of the falls where we could swim in the refreshingly cool waters, and even have a wild jacuzzi. What a pearl tucked away in the forest, just some 10 km away from the highway!


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Trail leading to the little-known waterfall.














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In some spots the track condition was very good.














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Till it was visible through the bush...













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It's really a stunning sight considering it drops from very high plateau above and it's hard to judge from the picture how big it actually is.













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Kitulo waterfall from below - absolutely nobody around within some 10 kilometer radius - you can go swimming naked if you like!












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Nice to cool down in the pools that are naturally formed on the cliffy steps where the water falls.













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Kariina swimming directly below the main waterfall - it almost ended badly swimming that close to it since the water started to suck her into the circulation - she got out in the right time.












<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zwBU7NXu8F4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
A helmet cam video from the track that leads there.




Next stop: Malawi.
 
Well worth the wait :clap:clap:clap
The colours are fantastic
But I have a WARNING for you both...:eek:




























Ive just brought meself a Nikon D70 :eek:
wait till this time next year.... :cool:
just need to figure out how to use it now :blast

Keep it coming, cant wait till the next update :bounce1:bounce1:bounce1
Ride safe
joe
 
As always, an excellent writeup and superb photos capturing the atmosphere all the way :thumb2
 
But I have a WARNING for you both...:eek:
Ive just brought meself a Nikon D70 :eek:
wait till this time next year.... :cool:
just need to figure out how to use it now :blast

Keep it coming, cant wait till the next update :bounce1:bounce1:bounce1

Hi Joe,

D70 is sure a decent dSLR - make sure you buy a decent set of travel lenses for it accordongly since it's the lens that "draws out" the picture for the sensor in the body, so try not to save too much on buying lenses compromizing picture quality - rather buy one more high-end lens than 3 low-end cheap lenses for it would be my recommendation to get the very best out of your camera. :thumb
 
Tanzania seen through HDR

Adding some HDR pics for a change.



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Some Christian thing in Tanzania.














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Sunken dhow "Al Burag" in Zanzibar.















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Zanzibari version of the tower of Mordor (lighthouse).














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Portrait of local.














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Kitulo waterfall.














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Colour HDR from South-Tanzanian landscape (spot a place on the picture where it rains).














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Just a funky reproduction of colour-infrared picture from Indian ocean beach in Tanzania (or is it on Mars :eek).




Ride safe,
Margus
 
Kariina sounds nice. Even when she is tell you that you are a stupid ass for coming that way!:D

Great Pictures I changed the background on my computer three times while looking through this thread.
:thumb2
 
I am a jealous man (except in the loo). Your pics take us with you on your great adventure. Thanks.:bow
 
A fantastic insight into East Africa,This part of your trip reminds me of where I was born and lived for many years, (Tanganyika as I knew it ), My father was a road engineer at the time and i suspect you have driven down some of the roads constructed by the (PWD) Public Works Department when Tanganyika was part of the British Empire.
Keep up the excellent Journal David.
 


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