Zanzibarrrrrr!!!!!

Hello from the island of Zanzibar! but I'm rushing ahead already let me catch you up on all that has happened so far in 2011!....

2nd January 2011

we left South Luangwa and drove down the potholy road back to Chipata where we stopped briefly to restock supplies then it was a short drive of about 30km along the (much better) road to the Malawi border (that's right I'm squeezing two countries into this post!) we sailed through with the entry stamp not costing a penny (i love it when that happens!) whilst hanging about the border post i had my first real encounter with a grim toilet! and it cost me! i asked the man standing guard of the dunny if i could use it and he charged me 200 kwacha (around US0.20cents) so i told him i better be getting a good service for my money he grinned at me and said "its the best" well the best what id say the best gross toilet at a Malawi border post the "toilet" turned out to be a hole in the ground in a wooden shack! oh well part of the adventure hey! we then drove to our campsite for the next few nights a beautiful spot with a lovely sandy beach right on the shores of lake Malawi with a stunning view of lizard island...bliss...

3rd January 2011

woke up to the sun streaming in through the open flaps of our tent it was before 7am and the sun was already scorching hot! we put on our swimmers and stumbled half asleep straight into the lake it was so strange the lake is so vast that there are waves and yet its fresh water! i kept expecting a mouthful of saltwater...after brekkie we headed into town to check out the local craft markets and of course support the local trade! a man even offered me a carved wooden table for my shorts! (although i suspect that had i changed on the truck and offered him my shorts the deal would have been off!)....later that arvo we took a boat out to lizard island where we snorkeled to see the cichild fish that populate the lake tropical looking fish in fresh water! the lake continues to impress and amaze me! we also walked all over the island to see monitor lizards but all we saw was the lighthouse! we had to make our return journey in high winds and huge swells as a storm approached which made for a most unhappy Georgia i may not go on a boat again any time soon...

Tuesday 4th January 2011

drove all day we covered about 500km which is baffling when the lake is only 365miles long (and 52miles wide which gives it its nickname the calender lake) but the road twists and tuns goes up and down hills and goes in and out land constantly the day was largely unremarkable except when we stopped in Mzuzu for a shop and got chatting to a really interesting guy called Lusunga he was selling handmade cards (which we brought) to raise money for uni he had studied to diploma level paid for by a trust set up by an English women the idea being study to diploma get a job in the Field and work and save to fund your own further studies only with only a diploma (in comminty development) he couldn't get a job and so was selling cards to raise money i could have talked to him all day but we had to hit the road meeting peeps like that is what its all about!....

Wednesday 5th January 2011

woken up uber early by the owner of the campsite yelling at a member of staff (resulting in us cutting our stay from 3 nights to 2 unfortunately this also cut our time in Malawi...) so up early with not a lot to do all day but sit on the beach read swim and rotate through the above activities with a little bit of lunch mixed in and some playing with the camps dogs for good measure another day in paradise...

Thursday 6th January 2011

drove all day in parts through rain so thunderous it came through the roof so i had to wear my jacket on the truck! camped at altitude and for the first time in months actually slept in our sleeping bags!

Friday 7th January 2011

late start then drove to Iringa where we stopped for an hour most of which was spent trying to find a) a functioning ATM or

b)an ATM with money in it

this proved hard and so after 45mins we gave up and went to send some emails to our extreme annoyance we found the best Internet we have used in Africa so far and we didn't really have time to use it! and it only cost 25pence for half an hour! when we came out we stumbled across the bank filling up an ATM so at least we got some money! we then drove on stopping 20km outside Ruaha national park where we camped for the night....

Saturday 8th January 2011

up in the rainy darkness we spent from 7am till 6pm game driving in Ruaha national park recently named Africa's largest game park we saw mostly birds but did get in some excellent spots a new kind of giraffe the Masai giraffe, a 2.5m long spitting cobra crawling across the road, a whole bunch of scorpions and the heaps of other stuff lions (having sex) elephants, baboons etc was such a great day and the rain went away and left us with glorious sunshine!...

Sunday 9th January 2011

another day on the road drive drive drive! at last we stopped to bush camp on the side of the road set up camp and were halfway through cooking dinner when the police arrived to move us on....they escorted us to the primary school football Field where we were welcome to camp so we set up for a second time and had just finished eating when the skies opened up and we decided to go to bed!.....

Monday 10th January 2011

Arrived in Dar Es Salaamn (Haven of peace) around midday and after confirming our ferry time to Zanzibar we had all afternoon to kill unfortunately LP seems to have picked up a bug so we spent most of the afternoon in the bliss of the air conditioned ferry terminal when at last the ferry was due to leave there was strong winds so the journey took over 2 hours instead of 1.5 (and what did i say about not going on boats???) upon arrival on this funky little island we have checked in to a hotel in stonetown where i put LP to bed and am doing this almost finished and i have a family sized dairy milk for tea yay!....hopefully he feels better in the morrow!.....peace out from Zanzibar....