week 39 - 41 - a transit that turned into an amazing extended stay in Tanzania

Our next destination was Malawi, the first country in southern Africa after spending 7 months in East Africa. From Rwanda, we “had to” pass through Tanzania again, the country where we already have spent 2 months when we climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and went on a family and friends holiday to Zanzibar back in Fabruary and March. Since this country is huge, we still only had seen very little of it. We discussed different options, which route we should take to Malawi. We considered driving all the way to the beach again in a big loop in the south of Tanzania, we also debated whether we should go back to visit some people we met along our travels but in the end, we decided to skip the extra miles and just drive straight from Rwanda to Malawi along Lake Tanganyika, the second deepest lake in the world. We figured, instead of making many short stops along the route, it would be nice for a change to drive straight to a camping spot midway, and spend more time at one place and then continue the trip straight to Malawi. After stocking up on some very nice cheese from “La Fromagerie” and meat from “the German butchery” in Kigali, we headed off and we were both very sad to be leaving Rwanda. It took some time until our mood lifted again. A lot of times it is hard to leave a beautiful place behind, but this time it felt even worse after we made some new friends and had to say goodbye to them as well. It took us 2,5 days of full driving to reach from Kigali to the Lakeshore Lodge in Kipili, the lodge we chose for our travel-vacation. We spent the two nights in basic guesthouses along the way to save time and money.

After this very long drive, mostly on gravel and dirt roads, we finally reached Lakeshore Lodge and couldn’t have asked for a better welcome. The place was absolutely stunning. There was a big open restaurant overlooking the lake and the owners, Lou, Chris and Thomas warmly welcomed us. Thomas, a guy from Germany and an overlander himself, just recently joined and helped Lou and Chris, the founders of Lakeshore Lodge, to run the place. He showed us around the place and asked some staff members to clean our car (it really needed a wash after driving on these dirt roads, the dust was EVERYWHERE) while we could enjoy an tasty lunch (fish from the lake and veggies from their garden - I was amazed how they prepared such a delicious dish out in nowhere since this place was very remote, the closest town is two driving hours away).

The next big surprise was waiting, when we met the only other campers, Karin and Daniel from Sweden, who we met back in October last year when we had just started the trip and spent some days in Austria. They were our neighbors on a campsite in Styria, where the weather was horrible, and we barely spent time outside and just quickly talked in the morning while cleaning our dishes and trying to hide from the rain and wind. Their route went up to the UK, from where they shipped their car to Capetown, and they were doing the exact opposite route from ours, driving from south up north to Kenya. We didn’t exchange contact details back then, and we couldn’t believe that our paths crossed just like that at Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania - what are the odds?! It was so lovely to have company on the campground since, for the previous months, we’ve mostly been the only campers wherever we would stop. We spent some amazing days together and barbecued at each other’s campsites; even Chris, Lou, and Thomas joined us for some nights (they told us in 14 years it was only the second time for them to have dinner at the campsite instead of the restaurant). We truly had a blast. Tom went on a dive in Lake Tanganyika, and Karin and I joined him on the boat and went snorkeling. In the morning, we could take the kayaks from the lodge and paddle around the bay; Thomas (the owner) joined us and brought some coffee which we enjoyed on one of the islands. The campsite was quite busy too, some Overlanders from South Africa came and joined in on our nightly barbecues (they really do know how to braai) and every night we had a beautiful bonfire and watched the sunset, one night the owners even invited us to a sunset cruise on their boat - there was one highlight after the other.

Unfortunately, after a few days, Karin and Daniel had to continue their trip; we had to say goodbye but not before exchanging all the top secret spots along the route since we literally just came from the opposite parts of Africa. Tom and I were in no rush and decided to spend some more nights. Our new camping neighbors were a family from Switzerland who had lived in Africa for years so we had again some nice company.

After our rather unhealthy lifestyle in Rwanda (all the dinners and drinks minus the skipped workouts, lol), we wanted to get back in shape. The beautiful yoga platform Lou and Chris built was perfect for that. It almost felt like having a new routine after walking to the platform in the morning, doing a workout or yoga session, and walking back to our campsite to make a nice breakfast. I could have stayed there forever. But to top everything up, Lou and Chris invited us to stay two nights in one of their beautiful bungalows. Tom took the drone with him on the boat tour during the diving trip, and since he started to like making short movies during our travels, he made a short clip for the Lakeshore Lodge, which they could use on their channels and, in return, we got to spend two nights in paradise. I’m afraid we cannot top this stay even for our honeymoon, the bungalow was built into the water with a private little beach and the most giant and most comfortable bed I have ever slept in - it was heaven!

For our planned last night (after ten days!) at Lakeshore Lodge, we had one last barbecue with Chris, Lou and Thomas on our campsite and we planned to have a movie night with our beamer, but it got too late, so they invited us to stay another night in their bandas so we could make a movie night there and leave very early the next day. Yes, it indeed was hard (once again) to leave this little paradise.

On our way to Malawi, we planned to stop at Utengule Coffee Lodge, a coffee farm and lodge run by Swiss. The farm was huge, and we met the manager, the owner’s son Lui, who offered to give us a tour the following day. After walking through the coffee plantations and buying some coffee, he introduced us to “cupping” the tasting of coffee, which was a lot of fun.

We continued our trip to Mbeya, where Chris and Lou insisted that we should go and visit their friend Paul, a guy from the UK who has lived in Tanzania for years and started a butchery. We met him, and he immediately offered us to stay at his place in the guest room. We were treated to amazing burgers and hospitality; he is a true legend! We stayed for two nights and climbed up to Ngozi Crater Lake, a short hike up a mountain nearby. Paul introduced us to many of his friends, and everyone advised us to drive down to Matema, a place at Lake Malawi but on the Tanzanian side. We took their advice, and after filling up our fridge with the most excellent meat (1.4kg of beef filet, burger patties, and five chicken legs), we continued to the lake and stayed again at a place called Lakeshore Lodge, but this time at another lake. The drive was very scenic, and the lodge was beautiful, too; we enjoyed two last nights in Tanzania reading books, keeping up with our workouts, and enjoying delicious barbecues at night. What a great time we had “transitting” through Tanzania :)

week 25 - mountain climbing, family business and a huge lake

After two nights on the incredible Plantation Lodge it was time to drive on. We headed towards Lake Babati and decided to take the more direct way which wasn’t a paved road but a dirt road through beautiful sceneries. It took almost 6 hours for roughly 120 km to get to the Royal Beach Hotel in Babati, which wasn’t actually a running hotel anymore but we were told that it was possible to camp there directly at the lake. We arrived just in time before it got dark, and two locals welcomed us as soon as we parked the car and showed us where we could camp fo the night. The spot directly at the water was beautiful, but unfortunately, the mosquitos liked it, too. We quickly cooked something simple and easy, watched the beautiful sunset and ate dinner inside the car, hiding from all the insects that were flying around. The next day, our two hosts came early in the morning to greet us and offering us some tours. We told them that we didn’t want a tour but were looking for a car wash and they were able to help us too :) They brought us to the car wash place of their friends and our Defender received a well deserved shower after the offroad action. After hanging out with half of the village while waiting we still decided to go with the two guys on a short little tour on the lake in their canoe to maybe see some hippos - the tour was only a few dollars and we were lucky, we spotted a hippo-mom with her baby in the water.

Our next destination was Katesh, from where we intended to climb Mount Hanang. After Kilimanjaro, we were keen on some more hiking, but unfortunately, most hikes in Tanzania cost a fortune due to the national park fees that usually come with them. Luckily, there was another nice mountain on our route which did not lay in a national park. After some research, we found Thomas, a local tour guide who was also able to rent us a tent and sleeping bag, so we could do the hike including spending a night on top of the mountain. Thomas lives in Katesh at the foot of Mount Hanang, and he invited us to camp at his house the night before and after the climb.

He met us at the Summit Hotel, the place where tourists usually stay before they climb the mountain. We had a drink and then drove to Thomas’ house, which was an adventurous route which definitely required a 4x4. As soon as we arrived at the house, we were warmly welcomed by Lucy, Thomas’ wife as well as their 3 children and even the neighbor’s kids came to say hi. While everyone was amazed by our Defender (the kids couldn’t get enough climbing in and out and in and out) Tom and I were stunned by the hospitality we were experiencing, seeing how little they had. We couldn’t believe how well behaved the kids were, they never argued or fighted with each other nor with their parents, they were never complaining, even though they didn’t have a sinlge toy - nothing! The house was built of mud, it had three small rooms, one was for cooking/eating/chilling and one bedroom for the parents and one for the three kids (they shared one bed!). There was no running water and no electricity, for washing, they took a bucket and went to the backyard, the same for using the toilet (for number two, they shared a pit toilet together with the neighbours). Our Defender with a 130 litre water tank was pure luxury, we emptied our whole tank into bukets for them and offered to drive down to fill it and up again but Thomas and Lucy refused, they said they had enough water. Lucy cooked an amazing dinner for everyone and we were playing with the kids while the dog and the little cat and the chickens were running in and out of the house. An older man stopped by, asking for some food, and Thomas invited him to stay for dinner. He explained to us that he knew him back from school and that his wife had left him and now he didn’t have a real home, so he would come by every now and then and they would invite him to eat with them. Also the neighbor’s daughter (she was maybe 3 or 4 years old) stayed for most meals. Her parents had a little baby to take care of, so Lucy and Thomas took care of the older one who was about the same age as their kids -simple as that. It was so nice of Thomas and Lucy to open their home to us, so we would actually get a chance and see into their life, something we definitely wouldn’t experience at any camping site or nice fancy tourist lodge. From the Plantation Lodge to Thomas’ house, the difference couldn’t have been any bigger but it was probably exactly what made it so powerfull and impressive.

We started the hike up Mount Hanang the next day after Lucy made sure we had a big breakfast and enough energy to climb the mountain. Besides the two of us and our guide Thomas, there was also a porter joining, who helped us carrying the tent and sleeping bags. The hike only took around 8 hours in total but it was a very steep climb, we started from 2,000 meters up to 3,423 meters in only 7 kilometers. After three hours, we reached the camp at 3,100 meters where we set up the tents. After a small lunch, we continued to the summit, which took another hour and a half but it was do-able after the break. We walked back down again to the camp, the last bit we had to use our head torches because it was already getting dark. The night was quite windy, we ate our pre-cooked dinner in the tent and went to bed, tired but happy. We woke up the next morning just in time to watch the sunrise above the clouds. The hike back down was an easy one after the previous day but we were still happy when we finally reached the gate again.

Lucy was already waiting for us with a nice lunch. After we ate, we washed our clothes and gears and Lucy was already starting to prepare dinner again. I asked her to show me how to cook the nice spinach she always prepared and in return we told her we would show her how to prepare some meat balls. Tom therefore went to town together with Thomas to get some minced beef, which was a mission on itself. They went to a butcher, explaining him what kind of meat they needed. However, the butcher did not have a meat grinder, so Thomas called at the summit hotel to ask if they could use theirs. They agreed, but only for beef meat and not pork. In the end we had our minced meat and we were able to prepare some meat balls for everyone and they really loved it :)

After 3 days at Thomas’ and Lucy’s house it was time for us to say goodbye and continue with our trip. We were heading towards Lake Victoria, the biggest lake in Africa and the second largest fresh water lake in the world, its size is 1.5 times the size of Switzerland! Unfortunately, you cannot swim in Lake Victoria, due to the risk of catching bilharzia, an acute and chronic disease caused by parasitic flatworms.

To Mwanza it was still 533 km, so we decided to stop in Shinyanga on the way for one night. Since this is not a very touristy area, we couldn’t find a camping site and therefore got ourselves a room in a hotel for 15 dollars for the two of us including breakfast. The road was a tarmac road, however, it had tons of wholes in it, which made driving quite exhausting. Our first stop at Lake Victoria was at Rocky Bay Resort & Camping, which was a beautiful spot at the lake, unfortunately, the “camping site” was only the parking lot of the resort and they wanted to charge 40 dollars for that, the same price they charged for a bungalow. We were a bit disappointed but decided to sleep in the bungalow anyway, since it also started to rain and there was no other camping site close-by.

The next day, we left and drove into the town of Mwanza, the second largest city in Tanzania. We both didn’t know what to expect from this city but it was a nice surprise. On iOverlander we read that it was possible to camp at the Yacht Club directly at the lake, so we headed there and were warmly welcomed. We were the only campers (like so often) so we could choose our spot wherever we wanted. There were many restaurants close-by, the peninsula, where the Yacht Club was situated, looked like a very nice neighberhood. We went for a walk through the city and it was very refreshing how it was not touristy at all. No one asked us for money or wanted to sell us a tour, we could jsut stroll around the city and check out the shops. We had an early dinner at the Rooftop Restaurant & Café, which was a great choice. They served amazing Indian food and fancy cocktails without alcohol and the view over the city was nice as well. On the way back to the Yacht Club we decided ot go check out the sunset at the Bismarck Rock, which turned out to be a very beautiful spot as well. We then headed back to the Yacht Club and went for a “Absacker” (last drink) at the Hotel Tilapia right next to the Yacht Club, which was a very nice place, so we decided to come back the next day to hang out and write our blog and edit pictures.

On the second day, we also got company, Christine, a Solo-Overlander from Malta joined us after we told her in the Overlanding Groupchat where we were staying. Christine is enjoying her early retirement by traveling through Africa for six months each year. She therefore bought herself a car with rooftent in South Africa and has already done various trips through Africa from there. However, since Covid, there are not many Overlanders around anymore. I think Chrstine was quite happy to have some company, and we loved hearing all her travel stories and receiving recommendations for where to go. We enjoyed dinner at the restaurant of the Yacht Club all together and had a lovely evening.

The next day, we had to drive a bit further up north, since our visa was running out and we had to cross the border into Kenya soon. We decided to make one last stop at Lake Victoria for two nights, before we would leave Tanzania again. Christine was heading into a different direction, so we had to say bye again. We drove to Tembea Mara at Balili Village, another place we found on i Overlander that looked nice. We were greeted by a friendly lady and after some bargaining about the price, we decided to stay and set up our camp. We enjoyed a day of doing not much and cooked ourselves a nice dinner, before we drove towards the border very early the next morning. The border crossing went very smooth, the border was not busy at all and it only took us 1,5 hours to cross. We already held our E-visas and also the health check procedure was very easy since we were vaccinated and therefore didn’t need to show a PCR test result. Driving on Kenyan roads again did feel a little bit like coming home :) It was a lot more buzy than Tanzania, but also it was not a problem to speak in English to anyone on the street. We headed straight towards Mara West, the camp we chose to spend our first nights back in Kenya again, another great decision of ours :)

week 21 - 24 white sandy beaches, family & friends and Tanzanian hospitality

After our 7-days adventure on Mount Kilimanjaro, we returned to Simba Farm, where our Defender was patiently waiting for us. After some rather tough nights in a tent up on the mountain we were desperate for a good night’s sleep and even more important, a shower! Since it was my birthday the next day, Tom decided to surprise me and instead of sleeping in the car, he booked a cozy cottage at Simba Farm and we really enjoyed the luxury together with a delicious dinner and a bottle of wine. The next day, we were served a nice brunch and a birthday cake. The next morning we had a very early flight from Kilimanjaro airport straight to Zanzibar, where we spent 2 weeks together with Tom’s parents and our friends Martin and Tamara. They came to visit us and Zanzibar was the perfect spot to enjoy a few nice days together on the beach as well as to recover from Kilimanjaro. If you are looking for white sandy beaches, an ocean in every shade of blue with the temperature of a bathtub, sunshine, delicious restaurants, nice bars and good vibes, Zanzibar is definitely the place to go. We enjoyed the time with family and friends and exploring the island together, which included a trip to Stone Town, the spice market, the Rock (a delicious famous restaurant), Changuu Island (with a tortoise sanctuary) and many days at the beach or in and on the water when scuba diving or stand-up paddling.

After two weeks it was time to say goodbye again. Our visitors had to fly back home to Switzerland and Tom and I flew back to Kilimanjaro airport, where we picked up our Defender, which we could store safely at the Airbnb place we booked for the night before and after our Zanzibar trip. We started back into the overlanding-life with a car wash the next morning and then drove to Arusha, where we stocked up on food and other supplies, like filling up our gas bottle for cooking. We then headed a little bit outside of town - we received a tip to go check out the Blue Heron, a restaurant run by Beate, who’s grandparents originally moved to Tanzania from Switzerland in the late 1920ies. The Blue Heron does not have an official camping site, but there is plenty of space to set up a tent (or tent on a car) and the hospitality we experienced from Beate and her family was beyond words. We got to stay there for free and for as long as we wanted, and since we really liked it a lot, we ended up camping there for a whole week. Beate’s parents invited us to their home, her mom baked a delicious cake for us with raspberries from her backyard, and they even brought us some freshly baked bread in the morning. The pizza’s at the restaurant were the best we had eaten so far in Africa and the happy hours were tempting to taste all the great cocktails on the menu. Since Beate didn’t have a website yet for her restaurant, we ended up building one for her. We therefore took some nice shots with the camera and drone, you can find the result here :) In return for our work, Beate waived half of our bills from the restaurant and on top, she tailored two dresses for Tom, since she also runs a store and an atelier where she produces beautiful African-inspired fashion as well as decoration.

We also met with our two Kilimanjaro-Guides Gasper and Edward, who both live in Arusha too. They came to pick us up in their Tuk-Tuk and after taking us to the market in town to help us find the best fruits and veggies we spent a fun night out at various local bars, restaurants and clubs. On the way home, we got some Chips Mayai (Fries with eggs, which is a local meal and an amazing “I’m-drunk-and-need-some-food-before-bed”-dish, we can highly recommend).

We must admit, there were a few mornings during that week when we woke up and swore not to drink again but we had a lot of fun with “old” and “new” friends and it was quite hard to pack up and leave this lovely place behind. But there was more of Tanzania waiting for us to be explored.

We headed towards Lake Manyara further west. We were told by various people we have met on the way that we should go and check out Migombani Campsite, since it was supposed to be very nice. So we did, and weren’t disappointed, the showers and toilets were modern and sparkling clean including great water pressure (which is a rare find) and furthermore, they had a nice bar with infinity pool, definitely a place worth staying for a couple of nights. We met some nice fellow overlanders from Germany and enjoyed exchanging experiences over a cold beer at the pool.

Tom and I didn’t have an actual plan where to go next, the only thing we knew was our direction towards Lake Victoria, so we started discussing different options (which usually ends in having even more options and sometimes, this can get a bit overwhelming). We talked to a tourguide regarding a hotair balloon safari over the Serengeti (the wild migration was just passing in the southern part) and we also considered to hike up an active vulcano, Mount Ol Doinyo Lengai, but all these activities cost a fortune due to the horrendous national park entry fees for non-residents in Tanzania. We decided to move on and check out the Plantation Lodge, a place Beate and her friends recommended us to vist, since it was supposed to be a beautiful place and they had a nice wine cellar, this would for sure help to make up our mind. What a great idea this was!

The Plantation Lodge was only a short drive away, located in Karatu. When we arrived at the gate, the security guard however informed us, that they were closed that day since they had no hotel guests. He told us to make a reservation for the next day, when they would be open again. So we looked for a camping site close-by and cooked ourselves a nice dinner instead. The next morning, we called at the Lodge again and made plans to come by for dinner that day (an overnight stay exceeded our budget unfortunately). In order to make use of the wine cellar, we arranged for a “taxi” to drive us there and pick us up later. Our driver arrived in an old, lowered Toyota and knowing the bumpy dirtroad to the lodge from the previous day I was already a bit concerned if we would get there after the rain from last night. But we did, eventhough it was a slippery drive, and got to enjoy an amazing afternoon and evening at the lodge. Jackson, the receptionist, showed us around on the 17 acres property including their fish pond and their fields where they grow their own fruits and veggies. During dinner (and the second wine bottle) it started raining like cats and dogs, I have never seen that much water coming down from the sky at once. We were just discussing, how on earth we would get back again, when Renate, the owner of the lodge, appeared at our table. “Ach, die Schweizer”, she said, explaining that Beate already informed her that we would possibly stop by. She joined us for some wine and quickly told us that there was no way for us to get back to town and that she would prepare a room for us to stay. So unexpected, we ended up spending the night there anyway. Renate added, that she would have to go to Arusha early the next day to run some erands but she would have one of her staff drive us to the campsite to get our car and we would be invited to stay for another night and to have dinner with her again. We couldn’t believe our luck, the Plantation Lodge was definitley a “small” piece of paradise on earth!