Firstly, sorry for the horrid delay with the blog posts! Turns out African Wifi isn’t particularly reliable, or even available when you’re overlanding! As a result, I’ve a backlog of blogs to post so will catch up day by day!
Todays the day I get to meet the rest of the group joining me on our overland expedition. They’re all on different itineraries but the most recent stint sees them heading from Nairobi, Kenya, through Tanzania to meet us in Stone Town.
I definitely feel like I’ve got lucky with the group so far with a great mix of interesting people!
First up is Mike from Brighton; a 77 year old ex London cabbie/ex lingerie salesman. I can tell immediately that Mike and I are going to be great friends as he’s got this wonderful and inspirational zest for life and only live once mentality, which I adore.
Next is Amber, a 21 year old student from Southampton. She’s already exceptionally well travelled and has recently spent a years in Budapest whilst studying. She also has the job of inevitably making me feel old, which in fairness is to be expected!
We then have Jodi, a super cool Aussie from the northern beaches of Sydney (think Manly for those familiars with that area, and if you haven’t been, go as you won’t be disappointed). She’s a teacher who works with challenging children so as you can imagine, has a strong, yet practical head on her shoulders. She is also exceptionally well travelled having already done a couple of Dragoman tours, one most recently through Ethiopia which sounded utterly incredible.
Last but certainly not least are Jona and Dani. They are German, and Spanish respectively, both currently living in Stuttgart. Both are around my age (31) and I can already tell they are two people I’ve definitely keep in touch with when this trip comes to a close. Jona also conveniently works fort STA travel (who I booked my trip with) so has already shared some great insider info and tips.
As I type, the remainder of the group are boarding the passenger barge at Dar Es Salaam to come and join us.
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They’ve arrived!
The rest of the group arrived early afternoon into Stone Town and I mentioned earlier, have been doing a 14 day Nairobi to Zanzibar tour, via the Serengeti at the foot of Kilimanjaro to enjoy some safari time. There are 17 of them and only a handful of us and although they’ve already bonded (which is to be expected), they’re super welcoming. Some are on some amazing extended trips (think 6-12 months travelling) and others are simply taking time off work and doing this as a 2 week holiday. We’ve Brits, Aussies, Germans, an Austrian, one from the Netherlands and a couple of Americans. A great mix of nationalities which is exactly how it should be.
This afternoon, I decided to join them on another snorkelling trip! The snorkelling at Nakupemba sand bank earlier in the week was good, but todays trip was far better as the rickety old boats dropped us in the middle of the ocean near a reef and there was definitely far more to see in the deeper water. There were all kinds of colourful fish, giant clams and a rather large intimidating looking jellyfish which just about edges the huge prawn I saw the day prior. Unfortunately, the masks weren’t the greatest quality, and my flippers a little on the large side, meaning treading water and trying to rid my mask of salty water was a nigh on impossible task. What didn’t help, was the fact they decided to moor the boats a good 100 metres away so it was quite a swim in deep water to get out of the water. I also manage to swim, and haul myself out onto the wrong boas, resulting in my needing to dive back in and swim to the right one!
After arriving back on dry land, we had drinks that evening at another rooftop bar and another fabulous dinner at the night-market (yet another chicken Shawarma and sweet Zanzibar pizza for me!).
The group were in high spirits, especially those finishing the prior trip as they’ve been solely camping for the past two weeks and were desperate for hot showers and a proper bed. We headed to a bar on the seafront called Mercurys (aptly named dude to the Freddie Mercury connection here) where a healthy number of Kilimanjaros were consumed. Talking of beer, there are some good local brews here. So far, I’ve sampled Kilimanjaro, Serengeti and Safari which despite being lagers, are surprisingly tasty, unless its the holiday vibes kicking in resulting in my drinking absolutely anything as long as its cold and wet….
The night took a rather interesting turn…. Jona and Dani had read somewhere that there was an African nightclub nearby which played traditional African music. Daniel (our guide), had told them earlier in the day that it wouldn’t get busy until midnight so around 12 of us headed over to check it out.
The place looked suspect before we’d even got in and the fact it cost us 2000 Tanzanian Shillings each to get in should have been the warning sign we needed (less than £1!). The place was entirely outdoors, and it clearly had seen better days. Whether or not it even deserved the title of nightclub was questionable. It was a concrete jungle, with an empty space where I can only assume a swimming pool once existed which as now cordoned off. A few drinks too many could easily see someone run and take a dive, potentially doing some seriously damage upon hitting the bottom. The gin tasted of paints tripper (a couple of quid for the whole bottle) and the bar had a cage around it, presumably to prevent people helping themselves to either the booze or cash from the till.
As for the music, the less said about that the better but after being asked for photos and propositioned, we decided it was time to go.
Thats it for now but due to wifi, I’ve a few days behind on the blog front so more to come!
Luce x
Finding Freedom 