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
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
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.
Friday, August 20, 2010
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.
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.
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