We're back in DC.

After staying in Nairobi for a month to get settle things there, (especially selling the cars) we traveled through Europe for a month and arrived in DC late in October. Now we're setting in at home but still haven't received our big shipment from Nairobi. The other day it snowed which was the first time we've seen snow in a long time, besides Will's hike up Mount Kenya.

Overland vehicle for sale (BOTH CARS NOW SOLD)

Now that we're back in Nairobi we have to sell our cars before heading back to America. If anyone is interested in our range rover here are the details:

Range Rover Classic 2-door 1979
In 2009 this car was rebuilt from the ground up with over-landing across Africa in mind. There are many extras, 3.2 liter Nissan Diesel Engine, Turbo Charger, Intercooler, Land Rover Discovery Dashboard, Limited Slip Differential, Heavy Duty axles and Brakes, R380 5 speed Gear Box and Transfer Case, aluminum alloy rims, Air Conditioning, Roof Rack, Custom Bull Bars, Custom Rear 2 tire carrier with two mounted jerry cans, side rock sliders, roof hatch. Mountings for large roof tent also for sale. Two batteries and wiring for refrigerator.

Also for sale
Land Rover Defender 90 1989
Perfect car for the adventurous couple. Handles well in town and is great on safari. Good power from the turbocharged inter-cooled
2.7 liter Diesel engine with good fuel economy. Two Roof hatches and roof rack. Upgraded transfer case, shocks springs, auxiliary fuel tank and bull bars. Mountings for large roof tent which is also for sale. Best offer. email: hoffman.will@gmail.com

We made it!

We're in Nairobi. We may do some traveling within Kenya in the next few weeks but otherwise we're done with our travels in Africa, at least for now... Hopefully we'll be taking advantage of the better internet here and post some more photos on our flickr page.

Nairobi here we come.

We're at the Northern Tanzanian Coast now at a nice lodge for a couple of days before driving back to Nairobi.

In the last 3 weeks we spent a lot of time at remote beaches or driving long distances in bushy areas on sometimes terrible roads. After Tofu, we stayed at Pomene, which was a lovely beach resort with great camping. Here we saw sea horses in the estuary. Then we went further into Northern Mozambique.

Let's just say the roads definitely get worse, and dusty. We got off track a bit by trusting the official tourist map which showed a paved "national road" from Malawi to the coast. It's not. We continued our trend of being the first guests in new establishments by staying at an old B&B in Gurue that's being remodeled by some Austrians that just bought the place. Renovations are still needed but the food and location were great.

We next stayed on Ilha Mozambique which can be reached by a long one-lane bridge. It was the capitol of Mozambique, and a major port until the suez canal was built. There are building dating back to the 1500's. Most buildings are crumbling now. There was a school holiday so we saw lots of kids. They were mostly hooligans but it was beautiful and everyone had a great sense of humor.

About 5 hours drive from the ilha was Pemba. We stayed at a nice camp/lodge which was beautiful but the staff at the resort were embroiled in some personal disputes with each other, which put a damper on the whole experience. We were also surprised to learn that the United States started whaling from the resident naturalist guide.

We escaped to Pangane in Northern Mozambique which was supposed to be a remote place where guests are thoroughly taken care of by caring staff according to the Lonely (lying) Planet. This place is basically Hashim's house at the edge of the beach with very basic facilities and no place to sit or stand in the shade if you're camping. Dinner was also very basic and served a bit late due to Ramadan. Next morning we hit the road bright and early following Hashim's large truck that was transporting bricks and as many people as could fit on our way to Tanzania.

We crossed into Tanzania over the new Unity bridge at Negomano after a very rough and dusty road. Seriously, Will and I were both orange with dirt. This is a new post, and customs officials are stuck at these remote outposts with a beautiful new bridge and 5k of tarmac on either side of the bridge, surrounded by not much. The border staff on both sides were very friendly and it was a nice crossing, even though we did have to wait for the customs official for about 2 hours in Mozambique.

Once we reached Tanzania, we were so dirty that we looked for a guest house with a shower, and promptly covered their parking lot, bathroom, all linens, etc. in fine red dust or mud. The good news is that Will and I changed back to our natural color but we did miss our savage tans.

We ended up starting a trend of staying in hotels over camping while on the Tanzanian coast. We have thoroughly spoiled ourselves in a couple of really nice beach resorts which is restoring our courage to hit the road again and making us a bit more civilized. Unfortunately, we couldn't work out a visit to Zanzibar and the fees for Ngorongoro crater are so ridiculous that we can't bring ourselves to pay at least $500 for a quick visit.

The diving has been great and I'm sure we're spoiled with what we've been able to see - big and small. The small resorts have great dive masters with lots of experience up and down the coast and great knowledge of their reefs. It's been a pleasure to dive with people who have as much fun diving as anyone on the boat rather than being fixated on selling dives.

Mozambique

We're in a town called Tofu on the Southern Coast of Mozambique. We just went for a dive which was good but the boat ride to the reef was rough. We should be used to it now that we're "Advanced Scuba Divers".

That's right, we went from virtually no scuba experience to advanced in a 4 days and 8 dives in Sodwana Bay South Africa. There were lots of nice dives as well as training. We snorkled with the bigest fish on earth (Whale Shark), and saw many eels and mantas. It also was nice hanging out with Marrisa Rebecca's friend from Sudan.

We went quickly thru Swaziland to Maputu and stayed two nights there. It's an interesting city with nice people and good food. Now we're looking forward to a lot of beaches of Mozambique. We may take a dow ride to Bazzaruto Island for some snorkling and then we have to do a bunch of driving to get back accross the Zambize
river into Northern Mozambique which is meant to be fabulous.

We may not have many chances for internet so don't worry about us if you don't here from us for a while.

We're in Durban

Since the last post we've moved up the coast to Durban. First on the Garden Route then the Wild Coast. We missed out on shark diving because a cold front caused too much wind for safety and visibility. We did do a zip line in the rain forest near Tsitsikamma which was fun but wet.

The Wild Coast was more like what we're used to in Kenya. Less development, poor road conditions, livestock on the road and police road blocks with friendly policemen to shake us down for some extra cash.

Next up is St. Lucia, warmer weather and ocean, and meeting up with our friend Marrissa for some water sports.

Table Mountain, it’s a mountain that’s flat on top, like a table

Here we are in the thick of soccer madness by accident. When we first arrived in SA, we just drove till about 4pm then consulted the travel oracles (lonely planet and GPS) to find a place to sleep. We’ve gotten lazy and possibly quite good at this approach. This time, we pulled into a lovely guest farm and were welcomed by two guys named Peter, who were moving in that weekend to re-open the B&B (did I mention our oracles a bit old?). We ended up staying with them for two days they were so welcoming and charming – it was also fun to be their obvious guinea pigs. We highly recommend “Peter’s Place”, formerly Cozy Mountian.

Then we stayed at a hot springs called the Baths and we splurged on a nice room (only one they had left and it was a cold night). They had a big tub on the enclosed porch than ran directly from the springs – it was heaven. Then we wandered into Cape Town and decided to stay along the coast on the rail line. We’re in Muizenberg and it’s really charming with other coastal towns with different flavors within walking distance and along the rail line – Kalk’s bay is particularly nice.

We’re hitting the road again tomorrow and are just enjoying the Germany/Spain game on TV. Hopefully we’ll find a pub to watch the finals and we’ll try to be on best behavior. By the way, if anyone stays at the Canon Roadhouse in Namibia, buy Franz a drink for us. Several, in fact.

We’re starting out with a Stellenbosch tour, then going to the coast for an oyster festival and possibly diving with great white sharks. I’m thinking it’d be good to hit some wineries before diving with sharks. After that, we’re planning on the garden route. However, best laid plans and all that. We ended up skipping the park crossing into SA as we were really tired of desert and dust but we ended up with an equally wonderful surprise experience.

Will added more photos to the flickr account. http://www.flickr.com/photos/photos_by_will/sets/72157624346262464/