The 1000 Day Holiday

To Malawi I go!

Tomorrow I head from Mbeya into Malawi. More beaches, scuba diving and such!

Hiked camp 3 trail (13km) yeaterday. Spotted the red colobus monkey (only place in the world). And inflamed my knee again. Joys.

Was a great hike, was a bit concerned when they estimate 10 hours to complete it. Thought it must be near vertical. finished in 6 hours, so not too bad.

Well apart from copious amounts of Konyagi (local gin/ethanol)

A few great days spent hanging around Kendwa Rocks & Nungwe in the north. Pristine beaches and a great crew; albeit Aussies

Snorkeling the Mnemba Atoll was a bit of a let down for the coral has been damaged by dynamite and drag net fishing in the past but did see some Octopus & Moray eels up close. Still a great day out cruising on a dhow.

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Also popped over to Mtemba on the east coast. very quiet, and lots of seaweed collections for japanese consumption.

Met up w Louis again by chance. He had “fallen asleep” while getting a henna tattoo on his hands, so the lady had done all the way up his arms.

We were in Mtemba village (population about 50) trying to find somewhere to have dinner. No english is spoken here. All they can offer us is for us to buy some maize meal from the store, and then pay someone to cook it for us. We decide to pass. Then a local girl about our age starts talking to us and pointing at Louis. Having trouble working out what she is saying, another local helps out and says she wants to know if Louis is a boy or girl.

Louis looks a little confused, and then with a big grin on her face she points at the henna on his hands. Only girls who are getting married get it done. Nothing like getting paid out by a local.
Now headed back to the mainland and south towards Malawi

Doing rounds of Konyagi w Jono, Tom, Tim & Charlie a a locals bar beside choccos. We finally call it a night around 3am and head for Kendwa Rocks.

First obstacle: a 10 foot gate that was open when we arrived. Tom climbs it and jumps down. I figure Ill try to open it as well. its africa. Viola – not locked.

We get split up looking for a route from nungwe to kendwa as its high tide and we dont want to walk to the long route down the road.

The night is topped off by us deciding to walk the “beach” route, which is now neck deep. (wallets and cameras held above our heads). As we round one of the points with each move the water lights up with a brillant green glow.  Thanks to bioluminescent plankton. Not unlike the following picture (if we splashed around a whole lot)

Really topped off the night, and everyone and their valuables made it home in one piece.

The island thatsfull of italian tourists (apparently), and stunning beaches with not much to do but relax.

Stone townis quite similar to varanasi, in architecture only. small tight winding streets that it is exceptionally eay to get lost in.

Got woken up at 5am this morning by the discovery there is a mosque loudspeaker right outside my window. DOH!

Off to explore some of the remote beaches on the island

Arrived in Arusha this evening, after another painfully slow bus ride. Couldnt see Kilimanjaro for clouds, but Mt Meru is right behind Arusha, and the clouds lifted at dusk. A really beautiful mountain, and the walk up is supposed to be awesome!

So even tho on my last day hiking I had some niggling knee pain.. knee twist/ACL sorta thing.. I think i will go ahead and do this. Much more exciting than going to Ngorongoro Crater to look at more animals.

Met a local who is a guide on Kili/Meru who was pimping for his hostel at the bus station. But we’ve been talking and hes helping me plan to do the Mt independent (still need a ranger etc..) but will save lots of cash. Even if I end up doing it solo, $250 instead of $400USD from an operator.

Makes you respect what we can for free/very cheap at home aye!

tues/12th After walking around town talking to hiking companies, my knee is feeling it. So it would be silly to head up a mountain. So off to Zanzibar tomorrow for some R&R, and a good few kilos of prawns!

My Guide Jamu and I had hiked all day. So when we arrived at the Convent it was defiantely a welcome sight.

Nuns in their garb all working in the gardens and busying themselves. Once settled into our rooms. We met in the formal dining room for tea and bread. Even this was a formal affair. The nun studiouly setting the table.

Dinner was a similar affair. It started with us arriving back to the dining room. The priest was sitting in a sofa having his evening drink. Again the nuns/servants set the table. small chit chat for the long wait for dinner to be served. The nuns were definately happy in their life though, as hymns being sung would often waft from the kitchen.

Headed up into the mountains near Kili for a few days hiking.

Its weird. I get all excited when i see mountains. Maybe its a homely thing.

Funny being in the middle of nowhere. hiking up a road, we pass a group of kids who in a perfect british english accent say “Good afternoon sir”. Followed by “This is a blackboard, this is a chair, this is a door” repeatedly until we are out of earshot.

Did three days hiking from Lushoto, out to Mtae & Mulalo. Even stayed in a convent full of nuns (surprisingly), had dinner with the priest and everything..

Spent a couple of days in Dar Es Salaam Doing nothing exciting. just enjoying non african food and wandering the streets.

People bag it as a city. Theres nothing special. but its defiantely not awful

 

So when I was leaving Rwanda. The exchange rate at the border was rubbish. I had 80,000 Francs ($200), and wasn’t going to make their day by changing with them.

I knew the bank rate. So figured I would do the exchange in Mwanza or as it turned out in Tabora.

Alas the banks in Tabora didnt change Francs. Only US & Euro.

No problem. The trusty Barclays or Standard & Chartered are in Dar es Salam along with  ~1000 Forex bureaus.

Not one of them will change it. I guess that means its an Internal Currency.

$200 looking like lost money.. Saved by the fruits of the internet!

Irene that I met thru Couchsurfing is gonna change the money in Rwanda for me and Western Union it back to me! I should send an Invoice to Lonely Planet for the WU fees as they dont warn that its an internal currency. (they do for the asian ones!)

/rant off but a happy ending.