Last Sunday

We have around 48 hours left before we head home. Today we decided it would be mad to be in Mombasa and not see the beach so, courtesy of the guide book advice, we went 20km out of town on the bikes to Tiwi beach. We caught a quick ferry which we seemed to manage to not pay for and followed the road out of Mombasa. We missed the turn and pulled off the road to ask for directions. The beach we were told was straight down the road. The road led us to a very minor track which led past dwellings and into smaller and smaller paths until we arrived at a clearing where there was a tiny mosque and a well. We followed on deeper into the bush and finaly hit the road we had missed. 

Mucking about

 After some mucking about we went into the Amani resort club where we were told for could have a drink and some lunch and hang out on the beach. Perfect! So that is what we did from around 11.30am-5.00pm 

Indian Ocean

Martin's feet

  

Paul with his new friend

The colours on the beach were stunning and the people around were also so colourful. It was yet another experience of Africa we were glad to have had.

Martin did buy a few trinkets from the guys on the beach. (Remember the Auribeau necklaces?? Does he never learn!). This is the moment at which they asked him - genuinely - if his father would be interested in buying anything from them. 

 He isn't my father he is my grand father

Selling beach wraps

Local Muslim girls

Stunning Colours

We caught the ferry back and popped out for supper into Mombasa town and had an excellent end of trip Chinese. We discussed highlights and disappointments of the last four weeks, we both struggled to find any disappointments and could not single out the highlights as there have been so many. We took a ‘tuk-tuk’ back to the hotel which was great fun.
 

Tomorrow is a down day. We need to contact Humphrey our shipper, sort out our flights home and visit the spice market. Tuesday flights are very late so will go armed with books and ipods to pass the time.

Last Leg

We left the Impala Hotel at 07:30, packing our “boxed breakfasts” into our panniers. The deal is that we will ride to the border at Taveta (estimated at 2 ½ hours), get the paperwork done (estimated at 1 hour), ride to Voi (estimated at 3 hours) have lunch and then decide if we want to continue to Mombasa. 

Having stayed at Voi previously, it is a one horse town, with one very basic hotel and I for one do not wish to stay there; Martin, on the other hand is concerned that it may be too much to complete in one day.

We fill up with fuel at the first available station and are off! Despite a couple of fruitless stops to buy water, we set a reasonable pace, stopping at Moshi for a quick break and for Martin to be sick (although he isn’t). Martin writes…I was actually wretching in my helmet for the first section of the ride, once I had downed a ceral bar and some water and my empty stomach had something to go on I was fine.

We reach the border quicker than we think and have everything completed by 09:53 putting us ahead of our schedule by nearly an hour. Result! Looks like we’re going to Mombasa.

The road from the border at Taveta is truly the worst we have encountered, rough, bumpy and with large patches of sand that snatch the handlebars from our hands which makes steering the bikes impossible. 

 

Just 70 miles of this

 Both of us have a number of “moments” when it looks like we’re going to be thrown off; fortunately there is only one occasion when Martin drops his bike but it is at such low speed that the crash bars do their work, preventing any injury or damage. It is also good that the road is virtually deserted although passing vehicles do kindly check on us when we have a pit stop.

 

We stop at 10:53 to eat our breakfast. Martin is concerned that as we are in the wildlife corridor of Tsavo National Park we may be eaten by lions! (Reasonable thought given that we have just ridden past a wildlife corridor! Why do you think the road is deserted and everyone looks strangely at us when we stop). Paul remarks that it may be the equivalent to having a picnic on the M25. I suggest it is more like having a buffet at Longleat!

  

Here kitty kitty!

"Breakfast Box"

Breakfasted, we resume the ordeal, stopping only when the windscreen and mudguard on Martins bike have lost so many screws from the vibration that remedial action by way of cable ties is required. The one thing we do know about this road is that it will eventually end. And it does. Sand becomes gravel becomes sort of hard bumpy surface and eventually utter tarmac! 

 

We head into Voi on said Tarmac and find the ‘Fine Breeze’ Hotel where we stayed in 2010. Martin particularly remembers the night we had there as he got the most horrendous cramp in the middle of the night and had to empty a salt seller from the restaurant into his water bottle at 3.00 in the morning whilst still in his underpants. It did relieve the cramp which was in a leg muscle he did not know how to stretch!

                                 Cramp Hotel. I don't have cramp in my mouth I am sucking a mint!

I digress…

We both had half a chicken with chips and the ketchup that Africans have which tastes nothing like ketchup. Martin ordered a Coke but the girl who was serving us did not understand so after several failed attempts Paul asked her for a Cock and all was well.

Martin’s earlier wretching is long forgotten and after a brief breather and a ‘just what the doctor ordered’ meal we agree to continue to Mombasa and set off. But not before we told the waitress what happened in the episode of the soap on the TV as we had seen that one in the Continental hotel in Uganda…they must be a week ahead there!

We set off for Mombasa refreshed and hit the east Africa highway. One can never be complacent on African roads but we have got a little better at handling the craziness of this road which includes some of the most unpredictable overtaking decisions ever seen. We make good progress with MP3 players keeping us going. Martin says he felt a twinge of emotion as Mombasa coast line came into view knowing that we were almost at the end of our journey. The bikes were amazing yet again taking everything we threw at them.

Back to the beginning

We hit the Mombasa traffic and start looking for the Lotus Hotel - the one from which we started this journey. Martin pulls over to ask Paul to get two sachets of dioralyte out of the depths of his pannier as he had cramp in that same muscle and could not stretch it any-which-way. It was ridiculous that this should happen but the dioralyte in double dose did the trick and we went back into the traffic. After some canny navigation by Paul and some asking for directions we found the Lotus. Happy Days!

 

 Weigh bridge queue coming out of Mombassa

What was lovely was the huge convoy of bikers from the city who had heard we were coming into Mombasa at the end of our trip and they all followed us through the street beeping their horns and creating a convoy of two wheeled vehicles! (No…not really!)

 

Celebrating with a nice cold beer 

Heart of Africa

We had always planned to have some R&R days during our last week and because we arrived in Arusha slightly ahead of schedule and thanks to Hoopoe Safaris this plan has come together nicely. We had a completely down day at Impala on Tuesday where we caught up on emails to family, some skype calls and some snoozing around the Impala Hotel pool. All very welcome.

Wednesday we set off at 0700 with our driver and guide Elias. We left our non essential items at the Hotel courtesy of the very efficient Philipina who rules the front desk at the hotel with a great sense of humour mixed with genuine efficiency and a ‘can-do’ attitude. She also arranged for us to leave the bikes there for the two nights we are away and to book us back in for Friday. All good. All very good.

 Hat borrowed from William!

We set off for the 2 ½ hr drive back to Tarangire which is re-tracing our steps from our journey to Arusha a few days earlier. It was interesting to review the route which included some very dire road surfaces and road works from the vantage point of a Toyota Land Cruiser. The unmade roads are very dusty so, get this, the African way is to wet the mud roads to reduce the dust. This has the effect of making them like butter.  The 4WD Toyota was sliding all over the place most of the way there and we were very glad we had ridden in dust rather than this. Paul tried to locate the place on the road where he had had his accident in 2010 but the landscape looked very different and it was hard to tell. We will try again when we go back to Arusha on Friday.

Tarangire is spectacular and the landscapes are absolutely vast. The views go all the way to Lake Manyara in one direction, to Kilimanjaro in another and across huge planes to the Masai Steppe on the other. There is not as much wildlife to see as Samburu but what we have seen has been fantastic and the park is stunning to drive around. It covers 245,000 square Kilometres!

Our camp is just half an hour from the gate to the park and is basic but very comfortable thanks to Emily’s ‘budget friendly’ itinerary. The small terrace outside our tent leads straight into the bush and we have a whistle on our room key ring should we need to call for the Masai to scare away an elephant in the night!

As Paul has a terrible cold which we think he caught on the Mwanza ferry his snoring is likely to keep the elephants at bay without the aid of the Masai or a whistle!  That said, if his snoring doesn't, my flatulence will!

 

 Masai!

 We have been right at the heart of the Masai lands of Tanzania and the views have been amazing and there have been very impressive masai everywhere. So colourful and so spectacular.

We have also been in the heart of the Tanzanian part of the great rift valley and again, we have been spoilt by the incredible ‘huge Africa’ landscapes. 

 

 Vast plains still littered with Masai herdsmen

Here are some of our pics from the past couple of days in the wilds of N. Tanzania

 African Sky

 Lord Of The Rings trees. They can grow for up to 2000 years!

 Trampas and the Virginian!

 Looking out from Taragngire to the Masai Steppe....amazing view from our picnic site!

We head for Mombasa tomorrow Saturday for our last leg. Speak soon!

Staples review

Following late night taste-test, Bombay Mix now removed from staples list.

We still have peanuts though...!

Long Weekend

We find the hotel that Paul had stayed in at Nzega en-route to Mombasa before he injured knee his last time. We asked at the police station and they accompanied us there. About a 2 minute drive down a dirt track. To Martin’s astonishment Paul asks the guides if they want some money for their trouble. One of them looks at Paul as if to say… ‘gosh I hadn’t thought of that but now that you mention the idea..YES that would be great!’ notes change hands and we head for reception and separate rooms for the night. 

Note from Paul: So it's okay to buy "Julius" an evening meal, drinks, and breakfast for his 2 minute chat with the Captain, but there's a question mark over paying 40p for guidance to a hotel we would otherwise never have found. I'm learning a lot about the "Christian spirit of generousity" on this trip!

 

We breakfast on what has now become a staple – eggs boiled to within an inch of their lives, stewed tea, stewed coffee and the most vile, sweet jam imaginable made from “assorted fruits”.

"Clothes Horse"

We pay for our washing and leave Nzega at 0830 for the two hour ride to Singida. “Captain Slow” takes a few miles to warm up in the morning as he has to acclimatize to the road conditions and whilst ordinarily I just follow and wait for him to get to full operating speed, today we need to inject a bit of urgency if we are to get there in a reasonable time, so I overtake and set a reasonable speed for the excellent road conditions.

 

After we stop for a brief MP3 re-load Paul makes an aggressive biker gesture at me (Martin) as if he is twisting the throttle off its handlebars accompanied by a gorilla-like grimace. I think this means he wants to go faster.

So there I am, (Paul) spanking it along this great road, Queen pounding  “We are the champions” through my fantastic “Bass” headphones, when up ahead of me I see a couple of guys in white suits standing in the road holding their arms up. It is the Tanzania Traffic Police. I check my mirrors to see who it they are wanting to stop, but as I can only see the feint headlight of Captain Slow a long way behind I assume it must be me.

I pull over and am surrounded by three of them. One is holding a speed gun and is very, very cross. He shows me the speed on the gun which reads “106” (Kph) and then points to a sign telling me the speed limit is 50. Bemused, I wait to hear what will happen next. Very cross bloke tells me that I will have to pay a fine of 1000 Tsh ( 20pence). I tell him I have no money, but will get some from my friend who has just pulled up ahead of us.
 

Martin pulls up behind having had James Taylor delightfully warbling in his earphones to see what all the trouble is about officer. Very enjoyable to watch Paul being butter-wouldn’t-melt with his fellow Coppers as they literally wield a book at him.

Ironic isn’t it, dear listener, that the one time Paul has set the pace and I have followed, in the middle of NOWHERE he gets a speed gun pointed at him by the boys in white!

 

I return with the cash and give it to him, to which I am told, “No, 30,000 shillings”. (£12) Now I realize that this is not a lot of money, but this is a typical Tanzanian trick and these boys are now taking the mickey. I decide I’m not going to play their game and tell them that 1000 is all I have. This throws them, and we have reached an impasse when we are joined by Martin. They ask him if he has any money, but he tells them we have spent it all on fuel so suggests we can pay the fine when we get to Singida. This is not acceptable as Singida is not within their district, so I ask what Police Station is so that we can pay there.

At this, angry cop shows Martin the speed gun, still showing my 106, and points out the sign showing the speed limit is 50. “Not me, him” says Martin, pointing to me. What a true friend and companion he is! This is all starting to get out of hand, so I play the get out of jail card and show them my warrant card explaining I am a Policeman, so can be trusted to pay the fine at the Police Station.

They examine this and determine I am Inspector, with which there is much laughing, handshaking and we are on our way the best of friends without shelling out a shilling. Result, although I make note to self to speak with Martin re loyalty issues.

(Martin) Not before he pushes his luck in characteristic fashion and asks for a ‘all the cops together’ photo before we leave. Martin has already sneakily snapped a couple but the answer from the boys in white is NO!

(Paul) We reach Singida around 11.30 and it really is a dump. We sort of thought it might be quite nice, But no… As we had been riding towards Singida, I had been considering suggesting to Martin that we bite the bullet and continue to Arusha as this had a number of advantages:-

1. It would put us a day ahead and we could find a nice hotel where we could relax for a few days and not be riding.
2. We would be traveling on a Sunday when there would be very little traffic on what is ordinarily a very busy road
3. If we stop now, we will only be hanging about until tomorrow to make the same journey.
4. Martin was now at full operating speed.

After floating the suggestion and confirming with the locals that the road was a new tarmac road all the way to Arusha, we filled our bikes to the brim and began the 230 mile trip.

I (Martin) anticipated that Paul would be up for the whole slog to Arusha as I have got to know him well enough to know that if the planned leg is over by 11.30 no stopping would be considered and the road and scenery really were magnificent.

 

So we set off for the EXTRA 330km towards Arusha not before we check with a guy in a nice little car that the road is tarmac all the way. He assures us it is and then says ‘I want a bike like yours, where can I get one. I will text you my number right now and you can send me details.’ We explain it might cost him $10,000 plus the same again in import duty and he says that is not a problem.

 

We set off for Arusha on pristine road which is less than 3 years old as when Paul last passed this way in 2010 it was mud and grit. The scenery and roads are truly breathtaking and the Yamaha's love the smooth tarmac. These are probably the best miles we have ridden for the whole trip and are truly memorable. 

 

About 30 miles outside Arusha the road became ‘temporary surface’. Very bumpy, sandy, dusty etc. We stood up on our foot pegs, put the visors down and dug in until we finally reached Arusha around 4.00pm. We then took around another hour to locate the hotel we thought would be a touch of comfort for the night and the next few rest days.

 

Reaching Arusha was a key land mark and we were hoping for some creature comforts. We finally found the place which was up on the hillside, stilted lodge rooms etc. We were exhausted and when they told us the room would be $130 we were stunned. HOW MUCH! We negotiated some free internet and as we had neither an alternative in mind nor any energy left we took a view. It was cold in both temperature and ambiance and the food was disappointing. To make matters worse it transpired that in the valley below there was a live concert under way until the small hours of the morning and after that the dogs took over and barked at each other across the neighborhoods until dawn. We got up around 7.30 and we were away by 8.30 slightly ruing the day we put our finger on the details of Karama Lodge in the Lonely Planet Guide. 

 

These next few days are the days we had planned for R&R before the final leg to Mombasa. We drove to the offices of Hoopoe Safaris whom we had been told about by a friend of a friend (way-to-go Sarah Jane and thanks Rupert). After a very efficient hour with Emily and after we had discounted the Ngorogoro crater and the Serengeti as too costly Emily put together a three day package which was what she described as ‘budget friendly’ and we are off to Tarangire park and Lake Manyara mini safari on Wednesday at 0700 returning to Arusha on Friday evening before we ride to Mombasa on Saturday.

 

After a quick visit to the supermarket to stock up on essentials prior to our safari (now includes Bombay mix) we came back to the great hotel we are now in for 48 hrs of rest – The Impala. When we checked in we both looked at each other and said the same thing. ‘We should have stayed here last night’. It has three restaurants so we tried the Indian one for our lunch time SNACK. For £6 each we enjoyed the most delicious curry and freshly baked breads. Puts Bawarchi to shame and all low calories so the weight keeps falling off! 

Our spirits are very much lifted as we have reached a significant milestone in our journey, we have broken the 2000 mile mark, we are within reach of the end and the few days of R&R we had hoped for at this stage end look as if they will be really excellent. The Impala is also a great place to relax.