More details on where we have been

102 - 29 June09: Cape Town (Home!). Good tarred road.

101 - 23/29 June09: George (Rivendale, “the HQ”). Excellent tarred road.

100 - 22/23 June09: Smithfield (Pula House, 5 stars guest house : so much to celebrate !). Excellent tarred road.

99 - 16/22 June09: Johannesburg (Steve’s parents’ house). Excellent tarred road.

SOUTH AFRICA

98 - 15/16 June09: Gaborone (Mokolodi Nature Reserve’s campsite). Excellent tarred road.

97 - 14/15 June09: Serowe (Khama Rhino Sanctuary’s campsite). Good tarred road from Rakops to Serowe. We tried to go to Kubu Island in the western Makgadigadi Pans, but the road was flooded there and we didn’t make it much further than…

96 - 13/14 June09: Rakops (The Motel’s campsite). The road from Moremi to Maun was a good dirt road. From Maun to the Makgadigadi Pans Game Reserve is a good tarred road but we decided to follow the good dirt road south of it towards Orapa’s mines.

95 - 12/13 June09: Moremi National Park (“Tse Tse Vlei Buch camp”). It was a sandy and muddy road throughout the Southern part of Chobe National Park and towards Moremi NP. It had rained very heavily on the region over the past two or three days and the muddy patches were particularly bad. A tour guide we met in the park recommended an alternative route to reach Moremi from the Chobe southern gate; it made it possible for us to get there before dark. We hadn’t prebooked our entrance ticket for Moremi and therefore opted to stay outside the park: we bush-camped in a beautiful Mopane forest along the main road.

94 - 11/12 June09: Chobe National Park (“The watherhole Bush camp”). Good tarred road between Mambova and Kasane, with a well-organized ferry to cross the Zambezi at the border. Sandy road in the Chobe National Park. The sand can be thick and deep at times. It’s 4x4 driving, but the tracks are relatively easy to follow. We bush-camped near a waterhole a few km south of Kachikau: along the section of the road that is outside the park.

BOTSWANA

93 - 08/11 June09: Mambova (Mambova Fishing Lodge). Good tarred road to the Mambova turn off, then good dirt road to the Fishing Lodge.

92 - 07/08 June09: Livingstone (Green Tree Lodge campsite). Good tarred road to Livingstone.

91 - 06/07 June09: Sinazongwe (Houseboat Company’s campsite, on Lake Kariba). Good tarred road to Sinzongwe.

90 - 05/06 June09: Kafue Gorge (Otter Bay camp). Good tarred road to Kafue and beyond to the Zimbabwean border despite a few bad potholes here and there. The road remains good until the last turn off to Otter Bay; it then becomes a 4x4 track.

89 - 04/05 June09: Petauke (Zulu’s kraal campsite). From the Park it is best to go back to Chipata and the main road. The National road is a very good tarred road.

88 - 01/04 June09: South Luangwa National Park (Flatdogs camp). Fairly good dirt road from Chipata to the Park (we could drive at about 60km/h).

87 - 31May / 01June09: Chipata (Dean’s Hill View campsite). Good dirt road from Ntchisi Forest Reserve to Ntchisi, then excellent tarred road via Mponela, Madisi, and Chikoti to Mchinji’s border post. There are a few more potholes on the Zambian side, but the road seems to be looked after section after section.

ZAMBIA

86 - 30/31 May09: Ntchisi Forest Reserve (Bush camp). Excellent tarred road along the lake passed Chia Lagoon, then dirt road, sometimes bumpy, to Ntchisi Forest Reserve via Mwansambo.

85 - 29/30 May09: Ngala Beach Lodge campsite, North of Dwangwa. Excellent tarred road along the lake from Kande Beach turn off to Ngala Beach.

84 - 28/29 May09: Kande Beach restcamp, South of Chinteche. Excellent tarred road along the lake from Nkhata Bay to Kande Beach turn off, then good dirt road.

83 - 27/28 May09: Nkhata Bay (Njaya Lodge campsite). Good tarred road from the Matema turn off to Nkhata Bay, and bumpy dirt road to the lodge.

MALAWI

82 - 24/27 May09: Matema (Lakeshore resort campsite, on Lake Nyasa). From our bush camp to the border town of Tunduma the road was still dirt and corrugated, but became a good tarred road in Tunduma. The tarred road is very good to Mbeya and Kyela, where we turned off on a slightly rocky and - at times - muddy dirt road to Matema.

81 - 23/24 May09: Bush camp between Sumbawanga and Tunduma in Southern Tanzania. From Kativi to our bush camp, the sand slowly gives way to a harder dirt road, which becomes quite corrugated, as more trucks use the road south of Sumbawanga.

80 - 22/23 May09: Katavi National Park (Bush Camp near the lake). From Kasulu to Mpanda it’s still a fairly good dirt road (although a bit slower than before Kasulu). It becomes quite sandy (and - we can imagine – difficult in the rainy season), especially through the Kativi National Park, where speed is limited anyways.

79 - 21/22 May09: Kasulu (Kasulu Motel). The dirt road improves around Biharamulo to Kibondo and finally Kasulu, but it’s still a long day’s drive for just about 300km.

78 - 20/21 May09: Bush camp between Bukoba and Biharamulo on South West Lake Victoria. Good tarred road from Masaka (U) to Bukoba (T). South of Bukoba the road is still tarred for a while and offers stunning vies onto Lake Victoria. It becomes quite suddenly dirt around Kemondo Bay or Muleba though: obvious plans to continue the tarred road seem to have been abandoned long ago, and the dirt road is quite bumpy. We can imagine that it gets very muddy and slippery when it rains.

TANZANIA

77 - 19/20 May09: Lake Nabugabo (Holiday Resort campsite, near Masaka). Pot-holed tarred road from Kabale to Masaka, then small dirt road to the resort.

76 - 17/19 May09: Lake Bunyoni (Overlanders campsite). We took the windy mountainous and rural dirt road from Ishasha, passed the Bwindi reserve (famous for its gorillas), to Lake Bunyoni. It was long but very scenic, and – we think – very worth it.

75 - 16/17 May09: Ishasha (Queen Elisabeth National Park’s campsite). Good tarred road from Kasese to the turn off to Ishasha, then good dirt road to Ishasha.

74 - 09/16 May09: Kasese (Nick’s home, then KCCL’s guest house – Nick, Rob, Anthea: Thanks a million for your hospitality, it has been a most welcome resting spot!). We took the dirt going from the Murchinson Falls NP to Kyanjojo, just before Fort Portal. It took us the whole day to do 200km because a storm hit us and the road became very muddy and slow going. We have no regrets though, because the road took us through beautiful landscapes and peaceful villages. We have heard that there is now a tarred road leading to Fort Portal more easily, but we are not sure where it is.

73 - 07/09 May09: Murchinsons Falls National Park (Red Chilli Rest camp in the park, and UCOTA Women’s group camp before the park’s gate). We enjoyed the very good tarred road from Jinja to Kampala, where we cursed the traffic for an hour. From Kampala the drive to Masindi then went smoothly. From Masindi there is a good dirt road to the park’s southern entrance.

72 - 05/07 May09: Jinja (Nile Explorers’ Adventure Camp, near the Bujagali Falls). Uganda seems to have great roads. It was a tarred road from Eldoret to Jinja, but the Kenyan side is potholed and “furrowed”.

UGANDA

71 - Rift valley Lakes: 01/02 May: Lake Nakuru (Kembu campsite) – 02/03 May09: Lake Bogoria (Fig Tree bush camp) – 03/04 May09: Lake Baringo (Roberts Camp) – 04/05 May09: Eldoret (Naiberi Camp). It was mostly tarred roads, fairly good. We only had a dirt road to Lake Bogoria’s South gate, and had to use 4x4 on the last (beautiful) 2km through the forest to Fig Tree camp. The road from Lake Baringo up and down the mountain to Eldoret is very scenic.

70 - 27 Apr09/to date: back to Nairobi (Jungle Junction). There are very sharp rocks (our first puncture) but the dirt road is fairly good with some muddy sections from Talek Gate to Narok; then it’s tarred to Nairobi. Fortunately for us the rains are late this year.

69 - 25/27 Apr09: to Masai Mara National Park (Olperr Elongo campsite, near the Sekonani Gate and Aruba campsite, near Talek gate). There is a fairly good tarred road from Lake Navaisha to Sekonani gate via Narok; however we chose to take a back road through the mountains from Crater Lake to Narok. This was a very bad, bumpy and dusty dirt road, which would have been impracticable had it been raining. It took us the best part of day to do less than 100km, and the stresses on the car caused damage to our second fuel tank.

68 - 24/25 Apr09: to Lake Navaisha (Fisherman’s campsite). Good tarred road.

67 - 19/24 Apr09: to Nairobi (Jungle Junction and Xan and Vanessa’s home).

Good tarred road.

66 - 18/19 Apr09: to Nyahururu (Thompson Falls Lodge campsite). Bad rocky dirt road until Rumuruti, then good tarred road to Nyahururu. It was our first tarred road since Shashemene, 13 days ago!

65 - 17/18 Apr09: to Maralal (Yale Camel Club campsite).

64 - 16/17 Apr09: to Kurungu (Kisungu Community campsite).

63 - 15/16 Apr09: on the road between Sibiloi National Park and Loiyanganali, Southern Lake Turkana. Bush camp under a lone acacia tree.

62 - 14/15 Apr09: to Sibiloi National Park (Koobi Fora camp).

61 - 13/14 Apr09: on the road between Omorate (Ethiopia) and Sibiloi National Park (Kenya/Lake Turkana). Bush camp on the side of the road.

KENYA

60 - 08/10 Apr09: to Jinka (Omo Valley first base – Rocky Hill campsite) Tarred down to Konso, then good dirt to Jinka. - 10/11 Apr09: to Makki (Mursi tribe): Fairly good dirt road. - 11/12 Apr09: to Mago National Park Head Quarters: Rocky dirt road from Makki to the HQ’s turn off, then very muddy and slippery road to the HQ. We would have battled with only a single vehicle. We were travelling with two Swiss guys in a Mitsubishi minibus. We got stuck in turns and had to pull each other out of the mud (it had rained heavily the previous night). - 12/13 Apr09: back to Jinka (Rocky Hill campsite).

59 - 06/08 Apr09: to Arba Minch (Bekele Mola Hotel campsite). Good tarred road to Shashemene, then still tarred to Arba Minch but with patches of bad potholes and detours, as part of the road is under reconstruction.

58 - 05/06 Apr09: to Lake Langano (Bekele Mola Hotel’s campsite). Good tarred road but lots of traffic - a lot of trucks, especially along the first stretch on the road to Harer, as well as pedestrians and animals.

57 - 31 March/05 April09: back to Addis Abeba (Wim’s Holland House campsite). Good tarred road down the Blue Nile River’s valley and back up to Addis.

56 - 29/31 March09: to Bahir Dar (Ghion Hotel campsite). Good tarred road around Lake Tana.

55 - 27/29 March09: to Gonder (Belegez Pension). Fairly good dirt road from Debark to Gonder. It gets quite rocky and corrugated on the last few kilometres into Gondar, but you are almost there!

54 - 23/27 March09: to Simen Mountain National Park (hiking and camping). Fairly good dirt road from Axum to Debark, although mountainous and slow. It’s a very scenic road, up and down high passes (we went down more than 1000m, then back up 800m again, two or three times!). The last stretch, up the Wolkefit Pass, is really stunning. It winds its way up along a mountain road built by the Italians, offering truly spectacular views.

53 - 21/23 March09: to Axum (Abinet Hotel then Africa Hotel - cheaper and nicer). Good tarred road to Adwa through Tigray’s beautiful landscape, then slow dirt (tarred under construction) to Axum.

52 - 20/21 March09: to Mekele (Arbe Yohannes Hotel). We took the good and quiet dirt road directly North of Lalibela to Sekota, then turned East to Korem where we met the good tarred road (look out for pedestrians and animals) to Mekele. It seems possible to continue on the good dirt road from Sekota all the way to Axum, but we weren’t sure about it so didn’t take a chance. It was a whole day’s drive.

51 - 17/20 March09: to Lalibela (The Asheten Hotel). Good tarred road until Weldiya (but with lots of pedestrians and animals to look out for), then bad dirt-road (under construction and at times muddy and slippery in the rain) over a high pass. It took us the whole day to drive from Kemise to Lalibela. Watch out for kids throwing stones up the high pass.

50 - 16/17 March09: to Kemise/Karakore (Oasis Hotel). Bad tarred road (narrow and full of potholes) from Addis until the Mussolini Tunnel, then good tarred road but lots of pedestrians and animals through many villages. It took us the whole day from Addis.

49 - 10/16 March09: to Addis Abeba (Wim’s Holland House Campsite). Good tarred road.

48 - 09/10 March09: to Lake Ziway (The Tourist Hotel). Dirt road (tarred road under construction) from Dinsho to Shashemene, then good tarred road to Ziway.

47 - 01/09 March09: to Dinsho. Bale Mountains National Park campsites. It was 50km and a two hours drive from Adaba to the village of Dinsho, on the same dirt road as the previous day. We arrived around lunch time, and organised a guide, horses, and food, for a 6 days trek in the mountains which we were able to start the next day.

46 - 28 Feb09/01 March09: to Adaba. Assefa Hailu Hotel. Good tarred road from Yabello to Shashemene through fertile densely populated hills We stopped in Awasa for lunch and money: it was the first ATM we found in Ethiopia. We had changed some Kenyan Shillings on the black-market in Moyale. At Shashemene we took the dirt road heading East towards the Bale Mountains National Park. The 100km or so to Adaba took us the best part of the afternoon as the road is under construction and it was raining. The detours are slow going and there are many pedestrians on the road, as well as many Chinese construction trucks. Interesting highland landscapes though.

45 - 27/28 Feb09: to Yabello. Yabello Motel’s backyard. The Ethiopian road from Moyale to Addis Abeba is tarred and good. It meanders up and down through wonderful landscapes which reminded us a bit of the Northern Cape (in South Africa) in the evening light. We left Takaba mid-morning, completed the border formalities just after lunch, and arrived in Yabello at dusk.

ETHIOPIA

44 - 25/27 Feb09: to Takaba. Action Against Hunger (Action contre la Faim)’s base. In our opinion the road from Marsabit to Moyale (Ethiopian border) was a bit better than the section from Isiolo to Marsabit: there were more rocks, but it wasn’t as corrugated. The flat desert landscape of black rocks and yellow grass, punctuated by a passing camel caravans is fantastic in the morning light. We filled up with petrol in Moyale and headed East to Takaba on a good sandy road through small villages. After rain some sections of black cotton soil can become a bit tricky, as we experienced on the way back. We left Marsabit in the early morning and arrived in Takaba at night fall. Petrol is cheaper in Marsabit that Moyale (Kenyan Side). On the Ethiopian side of Moyale, there are numerous petrol stations selling fuel at roughly half the price as the ‘from the barrel’ outlets on the Kenyan side.

43 - 23/25 Feb09: to Marsabit. Henry’s campsite. The road between Isiolo and Marsabit must be the worst we have been on so far. It is very corrugated and dusty, with a lot of road works and unclear detours. It is very slow going, and the landscape isn’t the most interesting - dry bush mostly. We were told that the road works had started 5 years ago and we had assumed it would be tarred by now… maybe in another five years. We had to stay in Marsabit for an extra night to do some repairs on Scarlet as a result of all the jarring.

42 - 22/23 Feb09: to Isiolo. The Range Hotel campsite. Good tarred road around Mount Kenya, through high fertile lands planted with banana trees, coffee, tea, avo and mango trees. There are two roads from Nairobi to Isiolo. We chose the Eastern one which is supposed to be better and quieter than the western route. We passed second highest mountain of Africa on our left as we drove through the towns of Embu and Meru. It was hidden in the clouds.

41 - 16/22 Feb09: to Nairobi. Jungle Junction. The Mombasa-Nairobi road from Manyani Gate was an excellent tarred road for the first 200km. However, the last 100km before Nairobi were horrible! The road is under repair and the deviation is bumpy, dusty, and very busy, with an incredible number of trucks. Hopefully, the roadworks will be completed soon!

40 - 15/16 Feb09: to Tsavo National Park. It is a bumpy dirt road from Malindi to the Sala Gate, and into the park. We entered the park at midday, then slept outside the park at Voi (Red Elephant Lodge campsite). We then re-entered the park the next morning then exited at midday through the Manyani Gate.

39 - 14/15 Feb09: back to Malindi. Silversands Campsite. Here we organised our COMESA car insurance and took advantage of the fact that Malindi is a favourite Italian holiday resort to treat ourselves to pizzas and ice creams!

38 - 11/14 Feb09: to Mokowe, from where the ferries for Lamu depart. The road is tarred until the turn off at Garsen, then it’s a very corrugated dirt road. We arrived in Mokowe at sunset and decided to spend the night in the harbour’s very busy parking lot. The next morning, we took the big passenger ferry and 30minutes later we were in Lamu. We had been recommended the Stone House Hotel in the old town. It was beautiful and they offered us a fair price. We really enjoyed our stay in Lamu.

37 - 10/11 Feb09: to Watamu, A Rocha Kenya campsite. It’s a good tarred road from Diani to Watamu. However, we decided to avoid Mombasa and visit the countryside instead. So we drove through the Shimba Hills and Kaloleni, before joining the main road at Kilifi. The Shimba Hills area is beautiful and it was nice to drive through small villages again, but we didn’t have a map and got a bit lost. From Kaloleni to Kilifi the road was under repair and the deviations were very dusty and bumpy.

36 - 08/10 Feb09: to Diani /Tiwi Beach (Kenya), Twiga campsite. It is a bumpy dirt road from Peponi to the border, and then a good tarred road to Diani. The border crossing formalities were straight forward. We declined an offer for a car insurance, which we found too expensive and decided to risk being fined by the police instead. Fortunately for us, every road block at which we were stopped over the following few days, the police thought our car’s license on the windscreen was our insurance, and we got away with it… In retrospect, we should have got a COMESA insurance in Tanzania or in Mozambique, to cover us in most of the countries we are planning to visit. We arranged this later in Malindi.

KENYA

35 - 07/08 Feb09. We are back at Peponi for a good night’s rest, before saying goodbye to our new friends, and carry on North.

34 - 03/07 Feb09: to Zanzibar. It took us 3h30 to go across from Pangani to Kendwa Rocks (northern part of the island), on Wahid’s motorized dhow. Although we got a bit sea-sick, we recommend Wahid’s captainship and reliability. His phone number is: +255-784-489193. He charged us 120 USD for the dhow, which we shared with Mike, Sarah, and another traveller met at Peponi, making the trip affordable. On Zanzibar, we stayed for three nights in the fascinating Stone Town, at the Bottom’s Up guest house (mid-range: 25USD/night, including breakfast on a pleasant terrace on top of the building). We also spent one night on the east coast, at Paje, in one of the Kinazi Upepo Hotel’s wooden hut. This was 50USD/night including breakfast. The coast was splendid, with turquoise-blue water and white sand, but we were disappointed by the hotel’s restaurant which we found expensive for the quality of food offered.

33 - 31 Jan09 /03 Feb09: to Peponi campsite, on the coast, between Tanga and Pangani. The road is tarred from Lushoto to Tanga, and then it’s a relatively good dirt road to Peponi. It’s a very comfortable campsite, with a nice restaurant, affordable and with good quality services. It seems popular with independent travellers and it is there that we met our first “overlanders”: Michael and Sarah. They are South Africans and are on their way to Cape Town from England. They have been on the road for the past four months, and it’s great to exchange impressions and tips. We decide to go to Zanzibar together.

32 - 29/31 Jan09: to Lushoto (Irente Farm camp). Good tarred road from Moshi to Lushoto, with a very scenic road in the mountain between Mombo and Lushoto.

31 - 17/29 Jan 09: to Moshi. It’s a very good tarred road from Karatu (close to the Ngorongoro entrance), through Arusha to Moshi. However, the Tanzanian drivers are a real danger. There are also a lot of police check points along this stretch of road. It is safer to drive slowly. We meet up with our “honeymooning” friends: Bruno and Zia. Fred and Caro generously host us at their house in TPC, the big sugarcane plantation south of Moshi. From there we have our first clear sighting of Mount Kilimanjaro (otherwise often covered by clouds)! It is to be our base for the next twelve days or so while we explore some of the stunning parks nearby: Ngorongoro (2 nights at Simba public campsite), Serengeti (1 night at Seronera Nyani public campsite), West Kili (2 nights at Ndarakwai private campsite). We extend our stay by 2 or 3 days after Bruno and Zia’s departure, as Scarlet needs a good service after the long bumpy road north.

30 - 16/17 Jan 09: to Karatu. We followed the main road to Arusha and then took small dirt road out west and the southern end of lake Manayra. It took us up a steep scenic drive through the forest, up the mountains above Lake Manyara, to Mbulu. There we got fresh water from one of the wells. The road then descended into another valley to Karatu. There was a fine red dust everywhere. At the crossroad into Karatu we bumped into Andre, a South African expat, who, recognizing our Cape Town number plate, started chatting and eventually invited us for a beer. When he found out we didn’t know where to spend the night, he offered us to stay for dinner and the night at his house. What a treat, how lucky we are! Thank you, Andre and Lyall.

29 - 15/16 Jan 09: to Kondoa. We camped in the bush (it is now called the Masai Steppe) a few kms North of Dodoma. We were still on the same corrugated dirt and gravel road, which now seems to be climbing up onto a plateau.

28 - 14/15 Jan 09: to Dodoma, Tanzania’s capital. From Iringa we drove straight North, along the “short cut” to Dodoma. It’s shorter on paper, but the dirt and gravel road is so corrugated (read “bumpy”) that we have to drive at 40km/h or less or will shake Scarlet to pieces. The landscape is different from all that we have seen before: flatter, dryer, redder and dustier, with cultivated fields in amoungst the baobab forests. We drove through small villages and enjoy the scenery. Along the road we pass cattle and Masais in their red or blue blankets. We decided to camp in the bush before we reach the city, and pulled off the road in what we thought was an isolated area. Soon we heard voices nearby. When they saw us near their 3 cows they looked as worried about our presence as we were about theirs. Eventually we all smiled, and each went about our own business of settling down for the night.

27 - 13/14 Jan 09: to Iringa. We camped at the Old Farm House in Kisolanza, some 40km south of Iringa. From Songea it is a good scenic tarred road up and down hills to Njombe, then the main Mbeya-Dar es Salam national road to Iringa.

26 - 12/13 Jan 09: to Songea (Tanzania). We crossed the border at Congresso/Matchedje on the new bridge, although it is not officially opened yet. All the paper work on the Tanzanian side has to be done at Songea, 102km further. It’s tarred between Lichinga and Unango then it’s a good dirt road all along. We spent the night at the Paraminho Abbey, a few kms outside Songea.

TANZANIA

25 - 11/12 Jan 09: to Lichinga. We did some shopping and stayed at the Sociedad Internacional Misionaria for the night. (Keith and Bronwyn are missionaries and introduced us)

24 - 07/11 Jan 09: to Meponda (west of Lichinga, on the shore of Lago Niassa/ Lake Malawi). We camped under a huge baobab tree on Keith, Bronwyn and Zoe’s beach. From our last camp in the bush, the track remained very bad until Nungo, a few km before Marrupa. From Nungo to Marrupa it became a very good dirt road. From Marrupa to Lichinga we drove on one of the best tarred road we had seen in Mozambique so far. It winds its way through a stunning landscape of high plateaux and granite domes. It was bizarre: totally void of traffic. From Lichinga to Meponda there is a good gravel road down to the lake, through a beautiful forest.

23 - 06/07 Jan 09: Niassa area. We camped in the bush, half way between Montepues and Marrupa. The road was just a very bad track, a footpath in places. It would have been totally impracticable had it rained more over the past few days. We drove at average speed of 30km/h, and it took us a whole (long) day to do less than 300km.

22 - 05/06 Jan 09: Quirimbas National Park, inland. We camped in the bush between Meluco and Montepues. Fairly good track from Tanganyang.

21 - 04/05 Jan 09: Ibo Island (Mbili Mituri “2 trees” Guest house). It took us about 2 and a half hour to do a bit more than 80km on the coastal road (dirt) from Pemba to Tanganyanga. We were lucky. That road would have been impracticable had it rained more over the past few days.
20 - 31 Dec 2008 to 04 Jan 2009: to Pemba (Pemba Dive + Bush Camp). Our GPS (Africa T4) and our maps (Michelin 2003, and Getaway Magazine Nov 2008) disagree: the GPS shows a road from Memba to Pemba, the maps show that there is no crossing at the Lurio River. We decide to trust the GPS: if there is no bridge, the maps both show an alternative road inland from Lurio to Namapa, which is on the main road. At Lurio we find out that, not only there is no bridge over the Rio Lurio, but also that the direct road from Lurio to Namapa doesn’t exist anymore! We have to back track to Nampuecha and from there to Namapa and Pemba. We drove for 12 hours – a long day but it was an interesting experience.

19 - 30/31 Dec 08: to Memba, we camped in a small fishing village at Praia Micuta. We took the good coastal dirt road through Matibane, Nacala and Minguri, and wove our way through cashew nut trees, mango trees, baobabs, villages and their cassava fields.

18 - 28/30 Dec 08: to Ilha de Mocambique (Casuarina Campsite, by the bridge). A short and easy drive on a good road.

17 - 27/28 Dec 08: to Nampula (Camping Montes Nairucu): Again, it took us more than 9 hours to do about 500km although the tarred road was mostly good except for a few potholes sections. The road seemed to be under some form of renewal.

16 - 26/27 Dec 08: to Zalala Beach, near Quelimane. Good tarred road all the way. It must have been built in the 5 past years but already shows signs of deterioration. We cross the Zambezi on a ferry at Caia. It takes us the whole day to do 500km.

15 - 25/26 Dec 08: to Gorongosa National Park, Chitengo Campsite. Very good tarred road, with road markings all the way to the park and baobabs in the bushveld.

14 - 20/24 Dec 08: to Rio Azul Lodge - a stunning fly-fishing lodge on the Govuro River: a luxurious experience thanks to Andy, good fishing and a great rest. Good national road (EN1) from Vilanculos to Inhassoro (100km), then 30km on the beach (permit required) to the lodge a little bit further North.

13 - 16/20 Dec 08: to Vilanculos - Campsite (Josef & Tina’s). We meet Andy and Mark. It took us 4½h to do the 210km on the N1 which is relatively good but for a very bad stretch of about 50km with big deep potholes (and oncoming traffic of dodger trucks).

12 - 15/16 Dec 08: to Tofo - Campsite (Turtle Cove – very nice). Good national roads (EN1 then EN5 to Inhambane). We do 270km in 3 or 4 hrs.

11- 14/15 Dec 08: to Xai Xai - Bush camp near Sandrine and Ronny’s cabin. Good national road (EN1) until the Limpopo River, then the road is full of potholes for a few kms. It takes quite a lot of concentration to dodge the potholes zigzagging across the road, while at the same time keeping an alert eye on the incoming traffic which is doing the same thing. The area along the road is relatively densely populated: there are many dwellings scattered every few hundreds of meters, people walking back and forth, and stalls where people sell local products. We respect the speed limits (60km/h in across the villages, and 100km/h on the open road), don’t get fined, and do the 210km in about 4 hrs.

10 - 13/14 Dec 08: our 1st border crossing (at Ponta do Ouro): to Maputo (Mozambique) - We stay at Sandrine and Ronny’s. It’s a short section of good national road (N2) to the border, then a sandy 4x4 track followed by a bumpy dirt road to Boane, and eventually the relatively good national road (EN1) to Maputo. We left at 8am and arrived at 5pm. The border crossing itself took about 2 hours: it was busy (first day of the South Africans Christmas Holiday) and the friendly border officials took some time to find out what our Carnet de Passage was all about but eventually happily let us go through. We also got a fine for not wearing seatbelts (driving 20km/h on a sandy track) – and learnt quickly that the Mozambican police are very strict in all respects (and basically survive on the fines they issue).

MOZAMBIQUE

9 - 12/13 Dec 08: to Kosi Bay (KZN near the Mozambican border) - Campsite. Good sandy 4x4 track. The diff-lock is on, tyres are deflated. It’s all tropical coastal forest, cycads, birds, beautiful isolated beaches (Lala neck, Black Rock). A permit is required to drive on this road. The GPS really helped us find our way amongst a few confusing tracks.

8 - 11/12 Dec 08: to Mabibi beach (KZN) - Campsite. It’s our first adventure off the main roads along the R22, a good tarred road. We pass Muzi Pan (amazing bird life) and Mbazwana (last chance for an ATM) before our first real dirt and sand road along the shore of Lake Sibaya (the largest fresh water lake in Southern Africa).

7 - 10/11 Dec 08: to False Bay (St Lucia – KZN) – Very nice campsite. Good national road (N2).

6 - 08/10 Dec 08: to Durban (Kwazulu Natal) - We stay at Kristi and Jason’s. Good road (R61) and N2. Very scenic

5 - 07/08 Dec 08: to Mpande (Transkei) – Very nice campsite. Good national road then good local dirt road - about 250km in 4 or 5 hrs. Scenic drive.

4 - 06/07 Dec 08: to Chintsa (Eastern Cape) – Campsite. Good national and local roads.

3 - 05/06 Dec 08: George to Cape St Francis - Campsite. Good national road (N2).

2 - 29 Nov – 05 Dec 08: George - We stay with Pat and B at Rivendale.

1 - 29 Nov 08: we leave Cape Town (South Africa) to George. Good national road (N2) – 450 km in 4½h.

SOUTH AFRICA