Hamba Cairo Travel log

The Team

siteadmin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:50:01 +0200

"When the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land.

They said, 'Let us pray'. When we opened our eyes, we had the Bible and they had the land.

The vehicle

siteadmin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:52:36 +0200

" It always seems impossible until it is done."

Nelson Mandela

The gear

siteadmin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:54:19 +0200

"Greatness is not in where we stand , but in what direction we are moving.

The Plan

siteadmin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:45:09 +0200

"Hamba" - Nguni (language group of southern Africa): to go]

testing

siteadmin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:48:09 +0200

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Potietersrus stop

Peter — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:27:42 +0200

First night stop over.

Accacia-Picasa

Peter — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:57:00 +0200

Travel Blog #2 - First day, Johannesburg to Tshipese in Polokwane

Peter — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:53:41 +0200

"Eat the Elephant one piece at a time"
The first 500kms from Johannesburg to Polokwane,

Tshipese hot water springs Camp Site.

Travel Blog #1 - Send off Party

Peter — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 06:07:37 +0200

Friday night's BIG send off party. Family and friends were all there true to form all the booze was finished.

The

Roy and Jaenette

Travel Blog #4 - Masvinga to Nyanga National Park

Peter — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:05:14 +0200

From Great Zimbabwe we took the scenic route past Lake Mutirikwe to Nyanga National Park. The off road conditions put the Prado through it's first real test and it handled well considering it's load. The new suspension system hung in and the GF Goodrich tyres performed excellent.

Travel Blog #3 - Tshipese to Masvinga and Great Zimbabwe

Peter — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:26:25 +0200

After refueling and stocking up with the last bit of supplies, we left for the Beit Bridge border post. South Africa's side was a breeze but total chaos on the Zimbabwe side. We will have to get out travelling legs quickly because in no time at all we were ripped off by corrupt Zimbabwe officials to the tune of $400.

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Travel Blog #5 - Nyanga NP to Tete in Mozambique

Peter — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 07:09:38 +0200

We left the Nyanga NP early in the morning for Tete in Mozambique. En route we stopped at the Worlds View lookout point.

Worlds View look out point in the Nyanga National Park.

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Travle Blog #7 - Tete to Monkey Bay in Malawi

Peter — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 07:11:03 +0200

We left Tete early on Monday morning to avoyed the mess on the Santa Anna bridge over the Zambezi which is being reapaired. Only one lane of traffic is allowed over from each side at a time and only one truck at a time. Delays have been up to 4 days in the past.

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Travel Blog #10 - From Karonga in Malawi to Mbeya in Tanzania

Peter — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:28:46 +0200

Passing a South African company called Macsteel in Karonga.

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Travel Blog #8 - Monkey Bay to Ngala Beach Lodge

Peter — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:44:08 +0200

From Monkey Bay we travelled north all along Lake Malawi. The road is in excellent condition and beautifull scenery all the way.

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Travel Blog #9 - Ngala Beach Lodge in Lake Malawi to Karonga.

Peter — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:24:45 +0200

From Ngala Beach Lodge we headed for Karonga, our last stop before leaving Malawi. It has been a wonderful experience with very friendly people.

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Travel Blog #11 - From Camel's Foots Camp Site to Baobab Valey Camp Site via Iringa

Peter — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:16:34 +0200

We left for Iringa and could not believe the amount of trucks and busses. They have absolute right of way and you must just get out of the way.

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Travel Blog #12 - Heading for Dar-Es-Salaam via Morogorro

Peter — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:56:02 +0200

We met Kevin, his son Don and girlfriend Maria from Germany and had a good old South Africa braai with chops from our friends Mynie and Theo in Tete and lots of beer. Kevin said he is a member of the Dar yacht club and he will see if he could get us to camp there for 2 nights.

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Travel Blog #13 - Dar-Es-Salaam

Peter — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:23:53 +0200

En route we passed through Mikumi Game Reserve.

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Travel Blog #14

Peter — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:59:19 +0200

Monday we had the whole Dar Yacht Club to ourselves. This enabled us to update our travel blog and just chill out on the beach or at the pool.

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Travel Blog #15- Dar Es Salaam to Msata

Peter — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:34:40 +0200

From Dar-Es-Salaam we decided to take the Old Bagamoya Road to join the A14 at Msata to Korogwe .

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Travel Blog #16- Msata to Mombo (Lushoto)

Peter — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:27:40 +0200

Once again we were on a tar road and headed for Korogwe. We decided to head into the Usambara Mountains as camp sites were not up to scratch on the main road.

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Travel Blog #17- Mombo to Arusha

Peter — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:02:45 +0200

From Mombo we headed for Arusha. We needed to stock up with supplies before Ngorongoro and the Serengeti National Park.

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Travel Blog #18 - Arusha to Ngorongoro

Peter — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:10:51 +0200

We were advised to get a TANAPA, National Parks Card as you can’t enter the Serengeti without it. You can’t pay with cash at the gate anymore. As it turned out, they do accept credit cards and you can pay for the camping in cash.

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Travel Blog #19- Ngorongoro to Serengeti

Peter — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:52:37 +0200

The road from the Ngorongoro Crater to the Serengeti is a bone jarring 100 kms or so but beautiful scenery. Here one passes the millions of wildebeest getting ready for their migration up north.

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Travel Blog #20 - Serengeti to Biharamulo

Peter — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:33:57 +0200

From the Serengeti we were now on our way to Rwanda via Mwanza. We stopped in Mwanza which is a big town to exchange dollars, fill up with diesel and provisions. From there it was a ferry crossing atKikongo and then on to Biharamulo via Geita.

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Travel Blog #21- Biharamulo to Kigali

Peter — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:49:33 +0200

From Biharamulo we were straight on our way to Rwanda, Kigali.

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Travel Blog #22- Kigali

Peter — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:57:51 +0200

We crossed from Tanzania into Rwanda at the Rusumo Falls border gate. We caused a minor stir leaving the border. We let rip for Kigali and saw everyone waving at us only to realize we were driving on the wrong side of the road. They drive on the right side in Rwanda.

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Travel Blog #23- Genocide Memorials

Peter — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 10:18:14 +0200

In 1994 the ongoing conflict between the Hutus end the Tutsis erupted on an incomprehensible scale. More than 800,000 Rwandese were killed in just 3 months mostly by gangs and youths armed with machetes, guns and other weapons.

During the genocide, many horrific massacres around the country took place in churches to which victims fled in the hope of refuge.

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Travel Blog no.24- Gorillas in Rwanda

Peter — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:41:14 +0200

This travel blog is dedicated to our very good friend Meryl Rivers who is recovering from a major back operation in Johannesburg. We hope you enjoy the photos and we wish you a speedy recovery.

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Travel Blog # 25- Rwanda to Lake Bunyoni

Peter — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 06:23:23 +0200

We left the Gorillas in Rwanda and after a painless border crossing at Merama Hill we were in Uganda. Immediately the roads deteriorated and it started raining. To make matters worse we had to get over a mountain pass to get to Lake Bunyonyi.

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Travel Blog # 26- Lake Bunyoni to Queen Elizabeth NP

Peter — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 06:52:55 +0200

From Lake Bunyonyi we headed for the Queen Elizabet National Park next to Lake Edward and Lake George.

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Travel Blog #27- Kampala

Peter — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:48:02 +0200

We camped at the Red Chilli campsite not far from the centre of town in one of the leafy suburbs. Very busy with lots overlanders and tour oprators and goats that keep you awake at night. We took the time to settle down, change money and stock up with supplies. We managed to do all this in a mall pretty close by with a Game & Shoprite. Like shopping back home in SA.

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Travel Blog #28- Murchisons Falls NP

Peter — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 08:03:49 +0200

After 2 days in Kampala we headed north for Murchison Falls NP via Hoima.

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Travel Blog #29 - The Falls and NP

Peter — Fri, 14 May 2010 09:15:24 +0200

We booked the afternoon ferry which is a 3 hour round trip up the Victoria Nile to the falls.

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Travel Blog #30- UCOTA camp site

Peter — Fri, 14 May 2010 10:09:50 +0200

We left the Murchison National Park in the afternoon and had to find a camp site not too far away. About 500 meters from the main gate we stumbled upon the cutest little camp site with traditional bungalows and a little restaurant. UCOTA is an initiative which involves the local women and profits get distributed amongst the local community.

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Travel Blog #31- Jinja

Peter — Fri, 14 May 2010 10:38:13 +0200

We headed back towards Kampala as we were advised it is the best route to go to Keny. We didn’t want to get stuck in Kampala again so we headed straignt for Jinja, the source of the Nile.

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Travel Blog #32- Jinja to Nakuru (Kenya)

Peter — Fri, 14 May 2010 10:58:58 +0200

We left Jinja early as the pull to Nakuru in Kenya was a hefty 400kms with a border crossing.

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Travel Blog #33 - Great Rift Valley

Peter — Fri, 14 May 2010 12:35:34 +0200

After a lovely breakfast at Nakuru Tented Camp we left for Isiolo. En route we crossed the equator a few times again. We are pretty tired of the regular thunderstorms in the morning and afternoon just to make sure nothing dries out.

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Travel Blog #34- Isiolo to Moyale

Peter — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:45:48 +0200

We left Isiolo to tackle the notorious northern Kenya road to Moyale. We were ready for the worst roads in Kenya.

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Travel Blog #35 - Nairobi

Peter — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:29:40 +0200

In Africa one has to keep on moving and adapt. They can stick Ethiopia up their arse and fortunately Africa has 39 countries. We picked up the pieces and mapped out a route back to South Africa, passing through some of the countries we did not get to see on the way up.

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Travel Blog #36 - Marsabit

Peter — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:57:52 +0200

Once we had mapped out our return route we left Moyale and started our return trek to Nairobi.

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Travel Blog #37 - Isiolo

Peter — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:30:42 +0200

We were getting quite used to Isiolo as we stopped there twice during our taxi expedition to Nairobi and back.

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Travel Blog #38 - Arusha

Peter — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:44:29 +0200

Making our way back to Zambia we unfortunately had to cover areas of Tanzania we had seen on the way up.

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Travel Blog #39 - Morogorro

Peter — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:58:13 +0200

The next stop over in Tanzania on our way to Zambia was at Morogorro.

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Travel Blog #40 - Kisolanza near Mbeya

Peter — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:11:31 +0200

Making our way towards the Zambian border we stopped at Kisolanza Camp between Iringa and Mbeya. Everyone we have spoken to raved about the place so we were looking forward to seeing it as we missed it on our way up.

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Travel Blog #41 - Tunduma Border between Tanzania & Zambia

Peter — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:21:32 +0200

Another mad border crossing. This one was definately one of the worst we experienced.

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Travel Blog #42 - Kings Highway Lodge & Camping

Peter — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:44:51 +0200

Our first stop in Northern Zambia was a lodge & campsite called Kings Highway Lodge & camping right next to the T2 between Tundoma Border Post and Isoka. This is an initiative whereby South Africans get involved with the local people to establish income for them. They have helped to refurbish the lodges & camp sites and there seems to be also agriculture training etc.

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Travel Blog #43 - Kapishya Hot Springs

Peter — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:07:17 +0200

Our next stop in Northern Zambia was Kapishya Hot Springs. Kapishya is a quiet secluded 6 chalet lodge with 12 beds (families can be accommodated 4 in a room).

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Travel Blog #44 - North Luangwa

Peter — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 19:51:45 +0200

After a refreshing 2 days at Kapishya Hot Springs, we headed for Buffalo Camp in North Luangwa. Mark also owns that camp and they were in the process of building it for the 2010 season.

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Travel Blog #45 - Kariba Dam, Zimbabwe

Peter — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:06:07 +0200

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Travel Blog #46 - Karoi, Zimbabwe

Peter — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:39:52 +0200

We were so looking forward to doing the ferry thing down Kariba Dam from Kariba to Victoria Falls. An ‘old salty dog’ we spoke to said that ‘in the good old days’ there were two ferries on the Lake every day, one going up and one going down, every day the year and one had to book 3 months in advance.

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Travel Blog # 47 - Zimbabwe, Gweru

Peter — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:56:37 +0200