After breakfast in Sechele Lodge we continued to Mtwara. But we could not find a proper campsite, although there were nice guest houses but withour surveillance. We headed on to Lindi and stayed in Oceanic Beach View Resort. The resort looked abandoned there were no guests at all except us and it was a bit strange. There was only a security guy at the entrance, hardly any water and the generator for power only worked for a short time. The security bought us some beer and we were just tired of the long ride.
30.07.2012
Next day in Lindi we searched for an ATM and bought filet meat at a butcher. Lindi had seen better time but it is still a typical African town with butcher, small shops and pharmacy. As Lindi was not a delight we headed on to Kilwa and in Kilwa Masoko we checked in at Kilwa Beach view resort. The campsite had good shade and the bathroom was quite ok. The Manager was a British guy and was really nice. He was married to a Tanzanian woman.
31.07.2012
We had to get internet again so we went to the center of Kilwa Masoko. The SIM cards expire after 3 month if you do not use it, so everytime we entered a country again we had to get a new sim card for internet. Things had changed a lot in this 3 years, in the beginning of our trip in 2009 this was not possible as internet was only in the beginning. Now it is really good and fast and even in the remotest areas available but not really cheap as in Europe. So we had always around 100 Euro internet costs per month.
We were looking for Vodacome outlet which we finally found and could buy the sim card and a data bundle. We did some shopping at the market which we love as the markets are great here but a bit far away from the campsite.
01.08.2012
Again to Kilwa Masoko as I had to send a parcel with EMS. Quite an action to get efverything filled out quite well.
02.08.2012
For us it was a working day, so we sat on our computers in the shade and worked. We could imagine worst offices so we were quite happy to work with great view and mild climate.
03.8.2012
We sent for an mechanic again to repair the exhaust manifold again. The problem was that it shaked loose all the time but they did not produce this part anymore, so we had to repair it all the time. This Land Rover model was a South Africa manufatured model with a 6 cyclinder straight Rover engine because of the embargo they had to use what the produced themselves, so they had manufactured a Rover limousine where this engine was used as well but this car production was stopped. For the British V-6 cyclinder models the exhaust manifolds were still available.
10.08.2012
In Kilwa Masoko there was no ATM where we could withdraw money, so we had to drive back to Lindi to the ATM which luckily worked, that was not always the case. So the 80 km one way were not for nothing and we had some chipsi mayai, French fries with eggs like an omlette. So we refueled and went back to Kilwa. Our most expensive withdrawal at an ATM.
11.08.2012
So the internet reception here was rather low so we decided to head on. We even got a reduction for the campsite although we left earlier than planned.It was a pity because the place was quiet and nice and you could have nice walks at the beach with Tara and as almost always we were the only guests at the campsite. We decided to go Sout Beach near Dar Es Salaam. The trip was interrupted frequently by police control but I could always make fun with them, so they never charged us a fine.
First we tried at Sunset campsite and Lodge but they were just too expensive. We tried another one, which was not at the beach and they wanted 10 USD per person, so we drove on to Paradise guesthouse. It was a really simple guesthouse and we got a room with basic shower and toilet for 10 USD. We checked in and stayed at the guest house and made a break from camping.
We met Kushan and Grace a quite strange couple, Kushan tried to manage to get a plot to build some touristic infrastructure at the beach and Grace was beautiful so she stood model for Alex to make some stock image.
Tara got diarrhea . She was sleeping in the Land Rover as she refused the room. When in the morning we let her out to walk her she had already made her business in the Land Rover. Cleaning for some hours. During the day she stayed with us in the room because she loved the roof ventilator but not in the night.
For working the room was good and we got on well with the things we wanted to do.
02.09.2012
Kushan wanted to buy a piece of land, near Bagamojo so we drove them there. The road was terrible but we managed to get there and visited the field. It was not situated directly at the river so Kushan did not like it much. After a stop at a Restaurant in Dar we headed back to Paradise guest house with a broken spring and damage to the furniture.
04.09.2012
So the damage had to be repaired and a mechanic called Felix came to the guest house to inspect the damage. Points and condensor were exchanged, again exhaust manifold fixed I was rather pissed off already. Our battery had to be charged ( In Africa due to the roads you need a battery almost every year) and a guy brought a jerry can full of petrol.
07.09.2012
Drove to Dar Es Salaam to buy leaf springs. There was a quite good Land Rover dealer which also had parts for the series 3, so I got 2 springs and u-bolts for a good price and drove to Felix in his location where he exchanged the springs. Only late in the evening I returned to the guest house.
I was tired and hungry so we went out to get some chicken and chipsi because we could not cook as I had of course the kitchen with me in Dar.
09.09.2012
Again I drove to Dar Es Salaam to pick up Aluminium boxes for the roof, as the wooden box at the roof was already rotten. Felix fixed it on to the roof rack and so we had 2 new boxes.
Before we had tried to find a local guy who should build such boxes for us. We explained what we wanted, made him a drawing with the measures and waited for a week. When we were ready to pick it up I almost got an heart attack because the box was 20 cm by 30 cm, instead of 120 cm by 60 cm. Obviously the guy could not read and write and just made a box how he thought it could be. That#s why we decided to buy them in Dar as these boxes from this were not suited for our needs.
12.09.2012
We organised locks for the boxes but locks with only 1 key for more locks were not existing, so we got locks with 2 keys, not really practical. For shopping we walked up to the market and had some chapati for breakfast. When we had to buy other things then the daily stuff, we had to go to Dar. As we stayed at South Beach, we had to drive to the ferry and with the ferry we crossed the river and drove on in Dar. But as there were no parkings we often took the Matatu to the ferry, crossed on the ferry as passengers and on the other side we continued with the Tuk Tuk.
