More about Mozambique

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Day 342
37030 km from the beginning of the journey.

Written in Maputo.

One of the attractions of Maputo is a house designed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel in the center of the city. The same Eiffel who has designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Except that this house in Maputo is unfit for living, and because of a very simple reason.



Namely, the whole house is made of metal. Eiffel himself had never been to Mozambique, and so he could not foresee how hot it could turn inside. And this kind of a house will not suit to our climate either.

Mozambique

Day 340

Written in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. I went to the Vodacom agency to buy myself a local SIM card for internet. Having my Huawey USB modern , that was repaired with a tape, in hand. There were 3 people waiting in front of me there. And they all had an iPad in hand. And soon there were two more persons in the queue waiting behind me. With iPads in hands as well.

So I silently pushed my device into the bottom of my pocket. And an hour later I had the card and could communicate and this post is the actual outcome of the issue.

For the start some pictures of the Maputo. To make the long story short - it is a beautiful city and the salespeople in the street are not intrusive.



Cathedral of Our Lady of Conception - Nossa Senhora da Conceicao.

Great Zimbabwe Ruins

Written in Harare



Great Zimbabwe Ruins, or the Great Zimbabwe National Monument is the largest stone structure in Africa outside Egypt. The subject is a national monument and UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986.

The city was the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe that existed in 1100-1400. It is believed that there could be up to 18,000 inhabitants then.

Zimbabwe, Khami Ruins and Matobo Hills

Day 332

Khami was the capital of Shona (Torwa) civilization in the 15-18 century. The ruins of the abandoned city of Khami are located 22 km from Bulawayo. The place is the National Monument since 1937 and the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986.



The road taking to the historical site was decently marked starting already from the downtown of Bulawayo. Only the GPS showed the existence of the route only the first 15 kilometers and then the road came to an end for this instrument. A few more kilometers, and then a sign directed to turn right, and further on it was already a sandy cattle path.

Zimbabwe, Bulawayo

A view of the Zambezi River from Zimbabwe`s side. The riverfront is suspiciously empty, normally in a place like that visited by tourists there is always somebody offering a wide range of local production. But there is nobody here. I take a couple of pictures and return to the car and within a few minutes f the souvenir sellers have appeared like from nowhere. At first two, then some more.

Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls

Day 325

Victoria Falls, a view from Zimbabwe's side this time. And if to come to this area - it is worth to have a look at this special attraction from both sides - Zambia and Zimbabwe. Otherwise the picture is still incomplete.



And a decent overview could be achieved probably only on board of a helicopter flying just above the waterfall, but I missed it. Instead I found from the display an aerial photo, which gives a pretty good overview of the 1.7 km long magnificent sight.

Zambia, Victoria Falls

The morning of the 321-st day of the journey in a camping site near Livingston began with the issue that the monkeys stole all the white bread meant for my breakfast. Again. I guess I was about 5 meters away But my own fault, there is no need to leave something out. And last night the guards had advised me to take everything edible and also inedible - such as the camping table and chair, into the car, because the elephants were known to linger around in the dark. It was very polite of them to warn me because on the road and also on the lawn there were odd dark piles. And not of unknown origin.

The number one attraction in Livingstone and in Zambia is definitely Victoria Falls, located on the River of Zambezi (known in the local language as Mosi-oa-Tunya, The Smoke That Thunders). The Zambezi River is Africa's fourth longest (2674 km, the first three are - the Nile, Congo and Niger River). Tonga Zambezi means "Great River" in the local language.

The height of the Falls is 105 meters, it is higher than Niagara Falls, which is 51 meters. Impressive is the length of the cascade - 1,707 meters, or nearly two kilometers.



The waterfall is located at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Here you can see a small part of the waterfall and the pedestrian bridge, which is located in the Zambian side. In the top left there is the big bridge connecting Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was designed in England, the construction took 14 months and the bridge was ready by 1905. One can see a small part of the waterfall in the right side.

Zambia, Evening guests

Wildlife - this time smaller specimens that are moving and flying around everywhere. The earth is full of ants, they know how to bite and up from the trees some kind of smaller creatures are falling down between the collar. Usually the first reaction is to get this "somebody" quickly out from between the collar before the stinging or biting, or some chewing begins, and only later the idea that a picture of the insect should have been taken comes to the mind , but it is usually too late then.

Some, however, are captured. This one looks out like an advertisement of Lipton tea, but never mind.

Zambia, Kalimba Reptile Park

Day 316
Lusaka,
Pioneer Camp


At the camping both WIFi and internet of variable speed can be used and so I made a search in Google to find out what else is there interesting and worth to see here in Lusaka .
Basically, of course, markets and a few bigger shopping centers and Munda Wanga Park (already visited ), the National Museum (also visited). And then there was something unvisited - Kalimba Reptile Park, located 10 km north of Lusaka. Finding the place was no problem because already entering the city at the intersection a sign "Reptile Park," caught the eye, never mind that GPS showed another and a longer route.

In Africa it is generally safer to follow the signs and signposts, and if necessary, ask the local than to trust the GPS data on maps. So it was this time as well. Twenty minutes of driving along the red dusty African road - and there they were.

The place was like a usual reptile zoo with a picnic site and separate swimming pool for guests. The residents were the crocodiles of various sizes and ages, and there were indeed many of them , and also snakes, turtles. The ticket was 20,000 Kwacha or 4 USD.


The main inhabitants were the Nile crocodiles, the guide said that there were about 6000 of them of different ages and sizes. And they are raised primarily because of their skin.

Zambia, Munda Wanga

Day 313.
Written in Zambia, Lusaka.

Munda Wanga is Wildlife Sanctuary, Botanical Gardens, Educational Centre and much more - as the label below informs us. It is located 15 kilometers south of Lusaka just by the big road.

Basically, the Botanical Gardens and the Zoo, but Zoo not in the usual sense, but for this kind of animals that are confiscated from poachers and also for injured animals and birds to be healed before the release to freedom.



Both places can be visited by the same ticket. The ticket cost 25,000 kwatshats or 5 USD. And yet - there is no special price for local residents and a different price for tourists. All are equal. During half a day I saw there probably 5 visitors.

Zambia, Lusaka

Day 310
Written in Zambia, Lusaka

In fact this post could be titled as "relationship with wildlife , as probably there is much more wildlife here than in Europe.

Some examples:
I am about 100 meters away from the car and suddenly I hear a very familiar signal, the signal of my own car. Well, the driver's side window was wide open, and someone gave the signal. We all know who that someone is. Anyway it is the someone who briefly stepped on the signal button, hastily came out of the window again and climbed on the roof. I took the camera out of the car and turned the window up so that the monkeys could not get inside again. Then I walk around the car and see that my guest is engaged with the window again.



The antenna has been bent as well. The trouble with monkeys is that they are a kind of big thieves. Edible things will be stolen within seconds even when you are only a few meters away and sometimes something is left in return.

Zambia – South Luangwa National Park

Day 308
32989 km since the beginning of the journey
Written in Zambia, Lusaka

More details about the crossing of Malawi-Zambia border, visas and other procedures will be described in the next post. Because right after crossing the border I made my way to one of the most famous natural park of Sambia, 150 km away.

It is now this kind of a post that has lots of pictures of African animals and little other issues. And no "Action".

Retrospectively sorting images it comes out that, as always, the zebras are leaving the picture and so are guinea fowls, and in this park the wart hog can`t not tolerate any shooting at all, but otherwise the elephants didn`t run away from the camera and I managed to have some other animals in the picture as well.



Some differences in visit-regulations – in most East-African parks the ticket is valid for 24-hours, but here the ticket is valid just that day. So you can enter park in the morning at six o'clock and a drive around till six o'clock p.m.

Malawi

Before leaving from Tanzania to Malawi it was essential to fill the tank properly, because Malawi had been suffering from the fuel crisis for a long time already, which means that occasionally there is fuel at the stations and most of the time there is not.

If we look at the large map of Africa, Malawi is a small country, it means that small in Africa's scale, but from top to bottom along the roads it still is more than 1,000 kilometers, which is the same distance as from Tallinn to Warsaw. And to cover this distance of 1000 km , one must have a minimum of 100 liters of diesel and plus twenty more liters, because there will be driving in the mountains again , and just in case of emergency there must be some reserve as well.



Kaporo border crossing, the Tanzanian border to Malawi. In Tanzania`s side, the clearance formalities were normal, the biggest difference was the big number of money changers and already long before the border. In the last gas station there were about 5-6 of them around the car offering their service and they were just at the right place. So having bought the fuel I could change the last Tanzanian Shillings into Malawi kwatcha. Even metallic money was accepted.

Tanzania - Kimani Falls

Day 296
31406 km since the beginning
Written in Malawi.

Kimani Falls was supposed to look like in this picture.



The place itself is about 150 km southwest of Sao Hill, and then a dozen miles of less–used road. So back and forth quite a day`s journey . So I`ll load back everything on the car again and make a day`s test trip to see the Kimani Falls. Then return for one more night , although I have been visiting Estonians for two weeks already .

Estonians in Tanzania – Sao Hill

Day 293
30585 km since the beginning of the journey



It took me 11 hours to reach Sao Hill, the place that is 600 km from Dar Es Salami, although it was said that it could be covered in 9 hours. Usually the typical "lying policemen" will take the speed off . And driving over them in great speed can end sadly . Namely, this kind of a barrier exists in Africa not only in the town streets but also in most settlements, and the height of the barrier is about twenty centimetres and usually they are marked. Emphasis on the word "usually". So it is essential to decelerate the speed.

Tanzania, Dar Es Salaam

Day 282.
30367 km since the beginning of the journey.



The Tanzanian road from Arusha towards east was decent and with little traffic.

Tanzania - Olduvai Gorge

Written in Arusha, on the next day after visiting Ngorongoro Conservation Area .

Young Masai by the side of the road.



In contrast to the cities around, here it is much easier to take pictures of local residents , as they almost demand having been photographed, and of course for a small fee.

In any case, tourism is an important source of income for the residents of the region.

Tanzania - Serengeti

Day 270
28,708 km since the beginning of the journey.

Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is one of the world's most famous natural parks, the area is 14,763 km2 and it is probably one of the world's most filmed National Park.

The word Siringet means Endless Plains in the local Masai language.
 


The western entrance - Gate Ndabaka. And as this park is really huge - the planning of this visit needed more time than usually. The ticket is valid for 24 hours since the moment one has passed the gate entrance and entered the territory. Before the onset of darkness, it is necessary to reach the overnight place, which is nearly 140 km away from the entrance. There are certain places to stay for the night and after 7 p.m. moving around in the park is not permitted (in fact, it happened that I could not reach the overnight place before dark).

So when to start moving at 11 a.m. then 8 hours should be enough to cover 140 km, but as it turned out - if one still stops and watches and takes pictures - it is not enough.

Tanzania – Mwanza

Tanzania, Mwanza
Day 265.

Kobero a small town, the border of Burundi - Tanzania. By far one can see the red and white barrier. There is no queue, no large or small cars. And this time no "action", because all around this afternoon is somehow a sleepy and dizzy. I parked the car next to the barrier, only slowly comes a local moneychanger. Jambo, Change Money?? I will let him know that with him and with the money I will deal when all the other formalities are completed and begin to look for the necessary persons. I find the Immigration and they are surprised to see a white person entering the room. But after the exchange of greetings I am directed to a back room to the next officer, who , without having a closer look at the passport shortly announces - "$ 40".

'I am astonished and I declare that I am still trying to leave Burundi, and it should be free. The officer checks the passport, finds Burundi transit visa and says that all is ok, and I can get the stamp of departure from the previous room. And so it was, without further ado.

Next – the formalization of the car for leaving the country. It took only a few minutes. As usual, some questions about the whereabouts of Estonia are required. But if you point upwards and explain, that in Europe, between Sweden and Russia, then they get it . That`s all, no messing with personal things, or checking the engine number of the car. No thoughtless wasting of time. It was just nice, courteous and accurate service.

Return to the car, and already five or six money changers have gathered around. After briefly trading over the swap rate, I change the remaining Burundi money into Tanzanian money.



View back to Burundi.

Burundi Summary

Back in Burundi, Bujumbura

The plane landed half an hour after midnight. The flight was half-empty, there were four white people of us who arrived at the state. The new visa was a transit one and it was given to me at the border at midnight. Three days should be enough to travel to Tanzania. Compared to Estonia - Burundi is a smaller country and all the border stations are within 6-8 hours drive from the capital.

In the dark everything seems the same as before leaving , only the weather is warmer and more humid. After all the rainy season has begun.



The car was in the same place I had left it – the parking place of the hotel Du Source – and untouched. This secure parking place for two weeks was found in the last moment, when less than two hours were left until the departure of the plane.

Briefly in Estonia

Day 262
28 108 km since the beginning of the journey

In fact this post is written in Tanzania, Mwansa, by the lake of Victoria. As there was a two-week break of the adventures in Africa and first it included the flight : Bujumbura – Kigali – Nairobi - Amsterdam – Tallinn.



It meant sitting on an airplane for 18 hours . First – Kenyan Airways.

Burundi Drummers

Burundi, Gishora

If you visit this small African country and can visit only one place or one event , then as to my experience – I will recommend to watch the show of Burundi Drummers in Gishora.

While arriving at Burundi in the evening the first place that the ethnic drums were heard, was the beach of Saga and it lasted probably less than 10 minutes. As I reached there by the time that most of the show was over already. And as the reason I was at that beach was looking for an overnight place so , of course , the cameras were in the car and no pictures.

The next day, having spoken about drummers in BurundiTour tourist company, their suggestion was to visit the drum-players in Gishora, those drummers were said to be the most original and the most true ones. And having the best show. The local players and imitators were said to be met at every town.

Burundi, Source of Nile

Historic sites in Burundi - first - Livingstone-Stanley Monument, located in Mugere, 12 km south from the capital. It is a large stone with these two names and the date 25-XI-1871.

But this is not that place where the historic phrase was said „Dr. Livingstone, I presume?“ The first meeting of the two great explorers was actually two weeks earlier in Tanzania, Ujiji, in November 10, 1871. Here in Mugere they spent together two days and then moved on to the northen tip of Lake Taganjika.

As they were the first Europeans around here their arrival was such a memorable event that this place was considered to be their first meeting point.

Burundi, Bujumbura

Burundi is left behind. A few hundred meters further is a next African small state. This time it is Burundi. Burundi is situated southwards from Rwanda. The area of Burundi is 27.834.km2, ( the area is the 145-th in the world), the estimated number of population - 10 million. The neighbouring countries are Rwanda, DR Congo, Tanzania. Burundi has also been called the „Switzerland of Africa „ because of its mountainous nature.

Burundi is like a small dot in the map of Africa. Located in the heart of Africa and shaped like a heart.



For clearity – here is the map of Burundi.

Rwanda, Nyanza and Butare

Street Pictures. Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.



Unlike in Uganda and Kenya, the motocycle and moped drivers wore helmets here. And the traffic red lights were accepted as well.

The salesmen of phone cards were rather obtrusive, although you say – thank you, no, - five minutes later, while passing the same spot, they make their offers again and again.

Rwanda, Gorillas

Mountain gorillas.



Those wonderful animals can be met only in three countries – Uganda, Rwanda and Democratlic Republic of Congo. By now there are less than 800 of them left in the world.
The impuls to visit Mountain Gorillas came from the film „Gorillas in the Mist“ (watched a long time ago), in the leading role starring Signourney Weaver.

Rwanda, Kigali

Or just,  “Le Pays des Mille Collines - Land of a Thousand Hills”.
 


Rwanda is a mountainous and green country in the middle of Africa , smaller than Estonia, the area is 26. 338 km2. But according to wikipedia the population is 11,4 million and so this makes Rwanda the most derisely populated country (419 inhabitants per square kilometre) in Africa.

Uganda, Summary

Kabale, southwestern Uganda, a small town before the border of Rwanda . Driving around Uganda has ended. Particulary green country , it means that as the ground is vertile and the amount of the rain could be in some places 2 metres a year, then everything grows well. The trees are probably four times higher than in Estonia and some leaves are the size of A4. The grass is not greener, it is as green as in Estonia, mentioning it just in case.

The issue of internet here is as usual. This „usual„ means that as there is no electricity in town since morning, then there is no internet either in most of the places.

While driving have taken a few photos of banana – transportation - first bananas on a bike.



A bit later it turned out , that this stick was used while making a stop. So that the bike will not turn over.

Uganda, Fort Portal

Still in Uganda. On the whole the circumstances here are such as whenever you plan yourself a kind of administration , then at least half of the day is filled with it. And so for several days. The application of Rwanda visa was a good example. The country is so far advanced , that the visa application can be submitted over the internet. You fill the required application, , add annexes to the documents - either invitation or hotel reservation and in a few days you should receive the response. It was said that it was not possible to get a visa at the the border standing in a queue. ( It is generally, real life shows that without any preliminary application it has been received at the border as well.).

But since the Rwandian Embassy was situated next to the Uganda Museum, then it seemed better to get the visa from the Embassy. Besides - there was nobody to give me an invitation and not the slightest idea to make a hotel reservation. And if you go to the Embassy and ask properly , then it happens, that you do get it. The proper asking means that you don`t ask for a visa but you ask how soon you will get the visa and if it is possible to have it the same day. Internet and Lonely Planet gave different information about the time of receiving visas. But it was not a great surprise , the main thing was that the address of the Embassy was the same on both - Kampala paper map and GPS maps.

The first day was the following - I thought that I would reach the place in two – three hours and ignored the basic rules of movement - use only the main streets. And so I spent two hours in such a traffic jam that the visit to the Embassy was over for that day. Completely my own fault – do not trust blindly the GPS route, as this time it went through the local taxi park in the centre of Kampala. Kampala taxi or Matatu is not a car but a Toyota mini-bus. Those who have been to Kampala know about the speed one can move between the other cars. The next day I reached the Embassy in time, the questionnaire was relatively normal and probably one photo was needed. You fill it out, hand it over and ask if perhaps you could get it by the evening already. In respone a paper on the wall is pointed out. It says that applications for visa will be reviewed within 72 hours. So back on the second day.

The Uganda Museum was a few hundred metres away.

Uganda, Jinja

217-th day of the journey



This size of birds were on the table in the morning.

Adventures in D.R.Congo, Part.2

The previous part ended with the situation that in the morning we were sent away from the gold mine parking place in a hurry. At night we were promised to spend the next day there and have a rest, as the same security team was said to be for 48 hours at work. We could even use the tap to rinse off some mud.

Before sleep we had a longer talk with the guards and in the end they figured that I could give them my patchy trousers, but the answer was a kind smile and words no-no-no. This thing is out of the question.
And in the morning at 6 o`clock there was knocking on the bus and we were said that the boss had arrived and does not want to see any strange car inside the yard.

We left towards Uganda, in the direction of the town Aru, because other roads were said to be not drivable. When you get within 10 kilometres two times stuck so properly that you need out-pulling then - there is no desire whatever to drive along for a couple of hundred kilometres along a road that resembles to a low , extremely poor river.

We drive on and in front there is again a kind of a barrier. Another road tax collection place wanted to get 50$, but in the long run we agreed to 8 $ and it was paid in Congo money. For some reason they didn`t want to accept it. Dollars were wished. As it turned out later - in this region it is Uganda`s money that is widely used , because most of the goods are from nearby Uganda. And cell phone network and internet are from Uganda. It reminded very much the period when the Finnish television, that reached Tallinn over the bay, was watched .

Prior the town of Aru another road to south towards Bunia was supposed to be, at least a yellow line on Michelin map showed this. Could not succeed driving very far, because the road – nice and decent in the beginning in succession turned more Congo – like and at last we were stuck in the mud again. And no wish to drive in the knee-deep water. But still, beside the road was so soft that one side of the car sank in.

The locals had a lot of fun again seeing white people stuck in the mud, more and more people gathered, and it was made very clear that now money should be paid. But this time we could get off quicker, because lifting the car with Hi-Lift jack ( by which it is possible to lift almost a meter high) , took less time this time. The locals` laugh turned quieter and quieter until they realized that we could get out ourselves. And we did got out and drove a bit on , and then still – some money was asked! Could not make out why, perhaps because it is their mud pool and and is in the in the land of their village.

And gradually the road turned more holey and watery and in a few kilometres the pools were already this kind that I decided to turn back.



Waiting ahead was about 200 km Congo roads of unknown condition. But the determining factor was that I had not seen any car on the road, only a few days old truck tracks from time to time. Had there been any kind of traffic the situation could have been different. I said that now we turn back, take some time off and figure out how to drive on.

Adventures in D.R.Congo, Part.1

This long story has been written in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the town of Aru, near the Ugandan border. I am trying to write down the adventures and occurances before forgetting something important. Internet here is worse than in any other visited countries. Even in Ethiopia – there was something - but here is possible to use Uganda mobile communications as my present location now is near the border of Uganda. Some internet cafes in the town of Aru also use Uganda mobile network to offer internet service. I think now, that is 6 days after having arrived at Congo , that alone I probably could not have got here. Too much bureaucracy and DRC is French speaking country and as to me – I don`t speak French.

The idea to go to Congo has been in my mind for a long time already, but to make up a more precise route needed solid information and that was relatively difficult to find. And the internet in South-Sudan is not among the fastest ones. And Congo is not this kind of a country that just you go there and look around – to find, what`s interesting here. And it is said that traditsional tourism as that does not exist in Congo.

One reason for visiting Congo was Boyoma Falls. Almost in the centre of Congo the town of Kisangani is situated near which is Boyoma Falls ( named Stenley Falls before) and it is one of the water-rich falls in the world. Altogether the three water-rich wateralls in the world are on the River Congo. The bigger ones – Inga Falls and Livingstone Falls are on the west coast, near the mouth of the river.

To explain a bit – a map of Africa. The journey is figured by hand. The more precise route is in the blog on a separate page LOCATION.

From South Sudan to DRC

Road from South Sudan, Juba to DR Congo border.

South Sudan Independance Day

 
Juba. 
Dialogue with a plain – clothes security officer at the celebration ground.
Press??”
”No, I am tourist”. Appearantly didn`t sound very convincing.
”Terrorist?!”
“No, I am not terrorist, I am turist”



This is another example of how Africa can always surprise.

Uganda

Day 183,
Gulu. Northen Uganda
Internet cafe

The crossing of Kenya-Uganda border was a few days ago. Already from a distance a line of trucks , some kilometres long, caught the eye.

Of course, it was o.k. to drive over, because of the separate customs and border check-up for passanger cars. You drive as far as you can and then as always at the border – all kind of money-exchangers and other busy-bodies will gather around the car. Someone tries to make me clear that he is the one to assist and help the border-crossing And points out the direction of the customs. My reply – that I can manage myself – doesn`t matter and he enters the customs with me, settles down comfortably like at home there and starts to fill in some forms for me.

Life has shown that there are several kinds of assistants – some of them just point out the house and door and just wait outside. This kind is of no much use. And then there are those who march in everywhere and organixe a fast border crossing without any queue or problems whatever.

Which means that they , indeed, have got a service to offer and it helps to save time and nerves. And it was really fast - the car formalities ready and the stamp of leaving Kenya in the passport. And the arrangement of the documents for Uganda was also included to the service. So here it was necessary to fill in visa application, It was a post-card – size form and the necessary information was – name, date of birth, passport information and the number of the car. And then fingerprints were taken from both hands. Some more minutes and the passport was returned and it was said that everything was o.k. Not any page-size stick added to the passport, just a stamp in the passport and that was it. So it was. Nobody wished to see the passport any more. Can`t compare to the border-crossing in Egipt. Like day and night.
 

The first impression of Uganda was positive in every way. And it caught my eye, that the sides of the roads were cleaner than in some other African countries. Usually there are terrible amounts of black transparent thin plastic bags everywhere. Road ditches and cacti and shrubs and trees are covered with them. And more carbage on the roadside means approaching populated area. But these are the first impressions. Time will shower what further.

Sipi Falls near Mount Elgon.

The Lonely Planet says that Sipi Falls is one of the most beautiful in Uganda. Made up of three separate watefalls. To be far enough it is possible to have all the three falls in one picture.

Ruins Of Gedi and Kikepeo

Day 177

Ruins of Gedi – one more coastal attraction of Kenya – the ruins of Swahili ( Suahili) city close to Malindi in the rainforest. Built in the 13.-14. century. The population was estimated to be over 2500 and the town was abandoned in the beginning of the 16th Century



This kind of a view opened from the viewing platform. And the platform itself was built up in a big tree.

Kenya Mombasa

Day 169
21524 km since the beginning of the journey

Mombasa is like an African city, but on the other hand it is not, in a way.
One of the biggest attractions is fortress Fort Jesus , built by Portuguese explores in 1593.

Kenya–Hell’s Kitchen

Looking for information about Marafa from internet I found this description –

According to the Lonely Planet, Marafa is "the most underrated site on the coast (if not Kenya)" and if you, "put this geographic phenomenon anywhere else on earth, families would plan vacations around visiting and a glut of shopping malls would surround the approaches." http://www.mydestination.com/kenya/things-to-do/111066/marafa---hells-kitchen

So I made up my mind to visit the place. As the place was away from major roads so while looking for the right road a thought came that perhaps this road is only for local residents and domestic animals as there were no car tracks in sight.

In any case I asked for a couple of time over if that was the road to Marafa. The answer was that it would take there.

And the recent rain had done its work – no dust on the road but instead brown mud – stucking to the wheels. By the next mud pond a local was standing and looking with interest how a „mzungu“ with his white bus comes through. He confirmed that this was the road to Marafa, and as he was going to the same direction and asked if he could come with. Of course he could, unquestionably. The mud ponds lasted about 10 more kilometres, then the road crossed a bigger one and moving forward went easier.

And here it is – Marafa Hell`s Kitchen.

Tsavo West NP

The road to Tsavo West National park. I had heard several stories about this road. It was said that this area was not very safe and a „security“ should be taken with. I tried to find out what kind of the events were the reason to consider this road an unsafe one and the answer was that at the beginning of 90`s there had been some problems. Nice. Twenty years have passed and still a guide is needed.

Anyway at first I could peacefully drive on without any accompanist and take pictures of cloud-free Kilimanjaro.



Kilimanjaro early in the morning.

Most of the pictures of this post are about nature, because no „action“ took place during these few days. And particulary I didn`t look for them either.

Amboseli NP

The attempt to avoid driving through the downtown of Nairobi ended with two hours of messing around on the so-called side-track, or to be more exact – by the side of the side – track , as some part of the road was not drivable because of the holes.

It was said that to visit the Ambosel National Park the most suitable solution was to drive from Nairobi southwards. As far as to the border of Tanzania and from a border town called Namanga a smaller road will take to the Ambosel National Park.

Reaching Ambosal an idea came to my mind - why not stay here for overnight as there is an hour left to the sunset . Anyway – a border town. But after visiting a couple of places I gave up the idea and drive on with the standpoint that when it gets dark it is necessary to turn either left or right and find a place to stay for the night. Because the human population in Kenya is much less dense compared to Ethiopia.

A road with local importance, the left side of it is even quite decent, but the right side has been driven into a typical „ladder“.

Kenya - Nairobi

Day 140
25-05-2011
Kenya, Nairobi

Moyale – Marsabit – Isiolo Journey – the second part.

In Marsabit it took almost half of the day to have the the car of the Dutch to get repaired ( muffler welding, tire patching ). So our plan is not to drive any further that day. One can`t reach very far in half a day and it`s more reliable to drive in this way that the next place will be reached by the evening. The place – that is Isiolo. This area was said to be not very safe for riding at night.

We find the camping



The place is a surprise in a good sense. Cold and hot water, electricity, fridge with Coca and Sprite.

Kenya - Marsabit Road

Day 135
20-05-2011
Nairobi, Kenya
Jungle Junction Camping

There is left-side traffic in Kenya. Fortunately the change from right – side traffic to the left – side was not too abrubt, because ever since Egypt it was possible to practise driving on the left. When needful even on the highway opposite direction was used, not to speak about Kairo.

And one more observation, planning to drive from Europe to South Africa or for example From Namibia to Netherlands – then the most fundamental issue is the intention and wish to make this classical Cape-Cairo route. The make and the age of the car is not very important.
Some examples:
Volkswagen of 1970, 41 years old. From Namiibia to Netherlands.

In Ethiopia again

Day 125
10-05-2011
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.

It was said that the condition of the road from Djibouti to Ethiopia is really good. And so it was. It took two days.



Marabous by the road – or to be more accurate - Marabou Stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus

Djibouti - Lac Abbe

Day 121
06-05-2011
Written in Ethiopia.

Lac Abbe is a salt lake situated on the border of Djibouti and Ethiopia. It was said to be a place of unearthly scenary, because the first „Planet of the Apes„ is filmed there.



This kind of a view on the spot. The photo was taken shortly after the sunrise this morning.
But the whole story started this way: The plan was to visit Lac Abbe and then drive back to Ethiopia.

Djibouti - Lac Assal

Day 112
27-04-2011
Djibouti,
Since the beginning of the journey 16597 km

The first obligatory attractiom in Djibouti – salt lake Lac Assal



Roadside scenary

Somaliland - Road from Hargeysa to Djibouti

Day 109
24-04-2011
Djibouti City
16262 km since the beginning of the journey.

It was said that the road from Somaliland to Djibouti would be poor. In retrospect one can say that it is not true, because in some places thare is not any road at all. There are kind of wheel trails going in the direction of the neighbouring country.

Between the two countries the passangers are taken over by 4x4 LandCruisers and the big lorries carry the goods. Considering that a lorry can pass through - then the distance should be driven because usually fully loaded trucks don`t drive along sand dunes.

So the case was decided. The first bit of road.

Somaliland – Berbera

Day 104
19-04-2011
Somaliland, Hargeysa
15838 km. since the beginning

Interestingly in Africa when travelling in the same direction you meet the same people several times. The reason is very simple of course – while driving from Cairo southwards there are certain places you have to pass inevitably. In Egipt this kind of place is Aswan, because further on to Sudan only by ship could be reached. The fact that there is a road from Egipt to Sudan on the map does not mean that by this route one can reach Sudan.



Just the route, but in real time the movement can be followed on the blog page „Location-NEW“.

Somaliland – Laas Gaal

101 Day
15-04-2011
Somaliland, Hargeisa

In order to visit the Cave paintings in Somaliland it is necessary to drive from Hargeisa about 50 kilometres in the direction of port city Berbera .



Just like in Ethiopia one can see here tanks by the roadside, from the time of war.



And of course – big turtles.

All kinds of signposts that could introduce the way to this kind of rare attractive place are completly missing.

The right way could be found this way – the road goes through a small village. On the right there are two mountains (called Naasa Hablood) and on the left there is a track which is very little used and difficult to find. And the best solution is to ask guidance from the locals.



Laas Gaal (in Somali language Laas Geel) is not in the UNESCO World Heritage List only because the state itself is not recognized internationally.

There is a guard present who checks the visitors permits and directs the visitors to the cave paintings.



Laas Gaal itself became known to wider public at the end of 2002.



And now the paintings themselves.













Even giraffes can be seen here.



Watchman. Thousands of years ago this was very likely a sleeping place covered with skins.



Outside view.



Read more on Wikipedia Laas Gaal
Further on the road took to port city Berbera.