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!
