Until the next Safari…. thats a wrap folks

Crossing the border back into Tanzania almost felt like coming home.  There was lots of banter in Swahili, lots of chit chat and ‘welcome back’ that made us feel a little warm and fuzzy inside…  

 

Over the 140 days it took us to drive 17,607 clicks, through 8 countries, we were stopped by countless policemen, and have been fined only once.  Can you guess where?  That’s right! Tanzania!  By a real smug individual who claimed we were driving 59km/hour in a 50 zone.  He had a photo to prove it – except the photo shows the 50 sign behind Andromeda – which scientifically means we were leaving the 50 zone – not entering it.  He lacked as much in charm as he did intelligence when he offered for us to pay the fine to him direct.  No thank you, smarmy officer – we were not born yesterday – we will pay by mpesa and make sure our money goes straight to the government rather than line your sleezy pockets.

 

To make up for this experience, our route back to Karatu was filled with many stops where we took the opportunity to catch up with lots of old friends (you know who you are) and that always feels good! 

 

Back at base, Andromeda has had a service, a tidy up, and a good wash. It feels a little sad putting her back in the garage. She has been an absolute champion on this trip.  We will need to treat her to a new gear box in the near future, and perhaps a new set of tyres, new bushes, and a new clutch pedal spring.  She has been a vital part of this team, and her resilience over the last four months have shown us she is 100% up to the challenge, which means we are confident in putting together more of such trips in the future!

 

Would we have done anything different?  I think I speak for all three of us when I say we wouldn’t have changed a single thing.  We are already talking about doing a similar trip again, perhaps starting around June rather than September to avoid the very hot season, and spend more time, in less places, with Zambia and Zimbabwe topping the list. 

 

A couple of random trip statistics for you in no particular order:

 

Total countries visited:   8 (Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi)

Total KM driven:              17,607 KM

Total days on safari:        140

Nr of parks visited:          15

Nr of Punctures:              0

Nr of monkey raids where they were successful:            one

Longest Border wait:      5 hr 51 minutes – Tunduma border going from Tanzania into Zambia

Shortest Border wait:     12 minutes 22 seconds – Namanga border going from Kenya into Tanzania

Nr of Liters of Diesel consumed:               1823.20 Liters

Nr of beers consumed:                               Lost count

Nr of Car spares carried:                            A lot

Nr of car spares used:                                 1

Nr of trousers that had blow outs:           4 (two pairs each)

 

The most exciting wildlife sighting: 

Laura: The wild dogs at Savuti (Chobe National park) …. or the rhinos at Etosha… or ….

Colin: The friendly Leopard at Kafue national park, Zambia, or the diversity of animlas at the water hole at Savuti, Chobe national park, or the majestic Sable at Kafue.

 

Saddest moment on the trip:      The dead elephant on the side of the road driving to Savuti, Chobe national park.

The meanest mosquitoes:           The public showers at the waterfront campsite, Livingston, Zambia

Meal with a view:                           The Lookout café – Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Sundowner with dramatic view:  Mawani camp, twijfelfontein, Namibia

Most picturesque sundowner:    On the Salt pans of Bains Baobab, Nxai pans, Botswana

Best swimming with Croc opportunity:   In the iron cage at Ngepi camp, Caprivi strip, Namibia

Best campsite:                             Too many to choose from!

 

Best boat trip:                  Kadzondwe camp, Caprivi strip, Namibia. 

Every boat trip we did after this we ended up either beached on an island (Botswana) or battled with thunder, lighting and croc infested waters (Malawi)

 

Hottest night sleep:                     Maabwe, Kariba dam, Zimbabwe

Most disturbed night sleep:        Savuti camp, Chobe, Botswana where we had ‘Stoffel’ the honey badger raiding all the bins, and our Dutch neighbour taking him on by exchanging growls!

 

Most peaceful nights sleep:        Kwai, Botswana – where we slept through a visit from a hyena & leopard (as per our camera trap)

 

Worst road:                    Mana pools – Harare – Tarmac? What Tarmac?

Best Roads:                      Namibian Tarmac

Best supermarket:          Abu Abbas, Lusaka, Zambia (the humus, olives, flat bread – we ate like Kings)

Worst Supermarket:       Pick n pay, Karoi, Zimbabwe (unless you eat nothing but baked beans)

Most common meal:       Salads followed closely by beans & rice

Most refreshing drink:    The ginger drink we only found in Botswana

Best snack:                      Laura: Krunchy Knax  (Malawi) full of E numbers and MSG but bloody delicious.

                                          Colin: Biltong (could be found anywhere)

Best buy on the road:    Our enamel bowls, Lusaka – laura didn’t think we needed these but we used EVERYDAY since

 

This will be our last blog entry as on Monday, we fly back to the UK, where the cold, wet and dark is waiting for us.  Not to worry, we are looking forward to catching up with family and friends, and are full of ideas on how we can add a couple of new strings to our Intent on Safari bow.  We will concentrate on that for a couple of weeks, before we are back in Tanzania for a safari in April.

 

Big thanks to all of you for reading our quirky blog and following along on our adventures.  This has been a great way to share our stories with those close to us, and we have appreciated all your comments, phone calls and whats app messages whilst on the road. 

 

We are not sure where to, or when, but one thing is for sure, it won’t be too long till we set off to be in a place – on our way, once again.