Diary: August 2001

Wednesday 1st August
Maruppa – Nungo(ish)
Stocked up with some Mozambican beer (Manica) in Marrupa.
Bumped into Pete, an English guy working on the roads. He said the road to Montepeuz was bad, very bad! He’s heading to Pemba tomorrow, and said he’d probably see us on the way.
He wasn’t wrong, no sooner had we turned out of Marrupa than we were literally up to our necks in it! It had everything, mud, clay, soft sand, bridges washed away, lots of wading. Not a road to attempt alone. I’d wanted to travel with someone else for just such a reason. It turned out I’d made the wrong choice in Eddie! I’m going to do a lot of “bitching” now about a travel companion. I wouldn’t normally do it, but I think it’s necessary to provide some insight to what can, and does happen on a trip like this. It may also act as a warning to others contemplating a similar journey. Make sure you know what you’re getting into, and who you’re getting into it with.

At one particularly bad mud hole I waited as Eddie tackled it, he got through, but only just. When I tried the same line I was scampered. The long-wheel base meant Eddie’s front wheels where out before the back ones dropped in. I wasn’t so fortunate, and realized I’d need a tow. Eddie was still in sight so I sounded the horn and flashed my lights, but no, he carried on. Oh well, time for the sand ladders and a shovel. The locals were keen to help, and for the price of a few fags I got going again.
It was 2 hours before I caught up with Eddie.
“Thanks for the help” I said
“Eh”
“I got stuck back there, had to get the locals to get me going”
“Oh” was all he had to say
“Bollocks! “
He said he hadn’t heard the horn etc. In the first place I shouldn’t have needed to call him back, if he’d known what he was about he would have waited until I’d cleared the obstacle, but no it was a case of “I’m alright Jack” Getting out wasn’t the problem, it was good fun using the ladders, shovel etc. It was the principle of the thing that irked me. We’d agreed to travel together for just such a reason, but his idea of cross country driving in tandem is obviously different to mine, and anyone else I’ve driven with.
He knew I wasn’t impressed to say the least, and I expected him to change his approach. But no, within 10 minutes he was out of sight again. He’s also going to quick for my liking, and is going to come a cropper soon. We managed 50 km’s that day.
Our campsite had a “frosty” atmosphere to it that night. Funny really, Eddie was the one who was so intent on coming this way, and he spent all night bitching about the road, and how long is it going to take us to get to Motpeuz.

Thurday 2nd August
Nungo – Montepeuz(ish)
Off we go again, Eddie disappears into the distance again. Oh well, I’m not rushing for anyone. Judging by their reaction I don’t think a lot of the kids out here have seen a white guy before. They stare in disbelief as I drive by, quite an eerie experience.
Wow! Another vehicle. I came across a tractor. The driver was nowhere to be seen. I found him 200 meters further on. He was having a bath in one of the rivers (see photo) he cadged a few fags, and I managed to glean from him in broken English that the road improves beyond Balama. I came across Eddie a bit later on and he was scrambling around under the vehicle. He’s clouted his bash guard, and it’s restricting the steering.
It’s now that I see his “True Colours” He’s shouting and hollering at Cecile for spanners etc. He appears in a panic. I lend a hand, and we soon have the guard off. With the aid of a big hammer we’ve straightened it enough to clear the steering joint.
I said jokingly “Well it did its job, it saved your steering”. He’s not impressed. He wasn’t too chuffed either when I got my camera to take a few photos of our bush repair.

I couldn’t help it I’m a real b*****d at times, but I started whistling while bolting the guard back on. I could feel the ambient temperature rising rapidly. To say you could have “cut the air with a knife” was an understatement.

He did however thank me for lending a hand, but was gone again before I could clean up.
The Tractor driver was right. The road was much better after Balama. We made good progress to Montepeuz. Eddie got petrol, but I wasn’t so lucky with the diesel. There appears to be a nationwide diesel shortage. I remember Pete saying something to this effect back in Marrupa. This put pay to Eddie’s plan of heading further north. Again I struggle to see what he’s doing this trip for, I can’t make sense of it. He wants to drive, and drive and drive, but doesn’t seem to enjoy it. He never lets Cecile drive, and never stops to look around him, take a photograph or chat and interact with the people. I suppose I was the same when I first set out. Initially there’s something in the back of your mind that’s pushing you to keep going and going and going, but it’s not the way to travel. I soon learnt that if you push yourself too much you don’t enjoy it, you become tired and apathetic to all the things around you. You’re just traveling for travels sake. It almost turns into a race. OK, I eventually want to get from Cape Town to Cairo, but that’s not the main reason for doing the trip. I’ve come to experience Africa.
Anyway back to the story: Left Montepeuz and wild camped again.

Friday 3rd August
Montepeuz – Pemba
The road to Pemba is being built by an Italian outfit. It’s quite a sight to see a line of asphalt being literally driven through the bush. I stopped to take a few photos and then decided I’d had enough of the service road and jumped on the tarmac. Eddie and Cecile must have stayed on the service road because I lost them, and ended up in Pemba ahead of them. Toured all the filling stations in town, but no diesel to be seen anywhere. When I asked when they expected a delivery they all said, “Manyana, Manyana!” “Oh yea!” Bumped into Eddie and Cecile again on the way to the campsite. We stayed at a site run by an Australian, Russel and his English girlfriend Jenny. Really nice couple. Keen to find out where you’ve come from, and where you’re going. As a result they’re a good source of up todate information. We’ve learnt that they aren’t expecting any diesel for at least 4 days, the ferry over the Zambezi isn’t running, and the bridge is out. This means everyone is having to enter and leave northern Moz via Malawi and the Tete coridor.
There’s some German guys here in an old Mercedes truck. They seem to be having carburetor problems. It turns out they’ve rented the truck from a friend in Harare, and had nothing but trouble since leaving Zim. It hasn’t been much of a holiday for them by the sound of things, and I think the friend in Harare is about to become an ex-friend! I’m not too worried about the diesel situation, leaves more time for diving!

Saturday 4th August
Pemba
Walked along Wembi beach and into Pemba town. It was “pissing down” luckily I’d remembered my jacket. Bought a few things in the market and headed back to Wembi beach. Stopped of at a dive shop to book a dive for tomorrow.

Sunday 5th August
Pemba
Into the water at 9 o’clock. I struggled with my buoyancy for 10 mins or so. It’d been 8 months since I’d strapped on a cylinder, and it took a while to get back into the “swing of things”
Nice dive along a wall of coral. Saw some barracuda, and a huge lobster.
There were three of us on the dive, myself, Rudi (instructor) and John.
John, a South African from Durban was building a new hotel on Wembi beach. I asked if it was expensive to build in Mozambique. Apparently they’ve spent nearly as much on bribes and backhanders to government officials, electricity companies etc etc as they had on the construction itself!
“Must be costing a small fortune then?”
“Oh yea, but the owner’s an Arab guy who has the sale rights for “Coca-Cola” in Saudi Arabia, so I don’t think he’s short of a penny or two”
Back to “Russell’s place” for a beer and a snooze. The site doesn’t actually have a name. He has a license for the bar/restaurant, but not for the camping and chalets! Therefore it’s unsigned as a campsite, but just ask anyone in town for Russell’s place, and you’ll find it.

Monday 6th August
Pemba
An English biker, Dan and two Belgian guys in a Defender 90 arrived during the night. Had a brief chat with them before heading of for some more diving.
Buoyancy was fine this time, but my mask was a poor fit, and I spent more time clearing it than looking around me which spoilt the dive a bit.
As soon as we got back on the boat the boat handler said he seen a Whale in the bay. We set of in pursuit, and as we approached we donned our fins and snorkels and over we went. Wow,Wow, Wow! What a sight. An 11-12-metre humpback Whale. It completely filled my vision. An unforgettable experience to be sharing the same “pond” with such a huge mammal.
Changed my mask for the second dive, finally got a trouble free dive. The coral isn’t as impressive (colourful) as I’d seen in the Red Sea, but I’m still enthralled with the undersea world. You see things, that unless you’ve read a lot of books you didn’t know existed.
Back to Russell’s place for a few beers with Dan. He’s writing an article for “Bike” magazine back in the UK. He came through West Africa as far as Guinea and then shipped to Durban. Interesting guy, and bloody funny in that crude biker fashion!

Tuesday 7th August
Pemba
Far too many beers with Dan last night!
Spent all day in hammock reading and snoozing.

Wednesday 8th August
Pemba
Was supposed to go diving, but Brenda, the instructor was not well.
Made do with some snorkelling and sunbathing on the beach instead.
Was walking back to the campsite when I heard a motorbike approaching behind. It was Dan, he’d left his passport at the bank in Pemba. Said he’d got 200 km’s up the road towards Mocimboa da Praia when he came to a road block. Had a lot of explaining to do when he couldn’t find his passport.
Returned to “Russell’s place” to hear that there’s diesel in town. Only had to queue 20 mins. Glad to find out they weren’t rationing. Filled up everything. With 160 litres I should make it back to Malawi in one go. Met Pete, (the English road builder from Marrupa) at the bar. He mentioned that they’d been doing a survey in Maruppa, and that we were only the 10th and 11th vehicles to travel that road this year. He also said that 4 of those had turned back to Maruppa after 10 km’s or so.
He’d passed us at Montepeuz on our second day. He did the whole stretch in one go. It took him 19 hours, and he was flying by. But as he said it’s not my car, “I don’t give a s**t”
I asked him if he was happy driving that road alone.
“Oh, it’s ok fro me I’ve got 3 guys with me to push and shove, and if I break down I’m on the radio to the guys in Montepeuz, so they can send someone out for me”
He was an interesting guy to chat to, and I learnt a bit about roads / roadbuilding in Africa:-
Corrugations are created by the frequency of shock absorbers
Most potholes are caused by diesel spills and leaks. The diesel “eats” away the bitumen, and the rains finish the job off.
Overloaded trucks are also a big problem, and can destroy a new road very quickly.
I asked him how long he expects the Pemba-Montepeuz road to last,

“ They’re putting in a weighbridge to check the trucks, but that won’t work. A backhander to the officials and the truck will be on its way. We wanted to put in a “soft” shoulder, so that when a vehicle breaks down it can get it off the road and reduce the diesel spills, but it wasn’t in the budget. Without proper maintenance, which they can’t afford, maybe 1-2 years.”
“What’s the answer then?” I asked
“Building the roads is not a problem, it’s the maintenance. The money to build a new road is relatively easy to come by. The World bank is funding most of this one. But they’re not interested in the longterm maintenance. That’s left to the country itself, and you know they can’t afford it. Perhaps they should learn from the Namibians, a graded road (gravel) is much cheaper to maintain. In parts of South Africa now they’re ripping up the asphalt and grading instead.” Mentioned to Eddie that we were cars 10 & 11 to do that road this year,
“Yea” he replied, “I wouldn’t have liked to travel it alone”
“Ha” I thought “For what it was worth I may as well have been”

Thursday 9th August
Pemba – Mozambique Island
Said farewells to Russell and Jenny. It’d been a nice break. They’re a friendly crowd, great food and a good place to meet other overlanders. Road to Moz Island was excellent. The scenery was very similar to Matopos in Zimbabwe, huge rock formations and “balancing boulders”
Camped at a site just in front of the bridge to Moz Isalnd.

Friday 10th August
Mozambique Island
Decided to leave the cars and walk to the Island.
Quite a bridge, doesn’t look very long, but it’s nearly 4 km’s The Island is essentially divided in two. The Locals live in the southern half. A sprawling jumble of huts and shacks. And the northern half has been declared a world heritage site. It still has many of the old portuguese buildings, a couple of which UNESCO has restored.
Had a look around the fort. A ghost town, Kolmanskop without the sand.

The Palace was supposedly closed for renovations, but I wandered in and managed to get a private tour. I’d say the renovations are complete, and a credit to UNESCO. It’s a bit of a “time warp” wandering in of the dusty streets to a building, which looks like it was built yesterday. Which I suppose it was!

Amazingly, (considering all the stuff the country has been through) all the furniture and other antiques are in excellent condition. I counted 10 bedrooms all of which had a pair of beautiful four poster beds. The Kitchen is still fully equipped. But the highlight for me was the furniture in what I suppose would be lounge. There were approx 10 “fretwork” chairs and 4 tables. The quality on the craftsmanship was superb. All of the items put together would have been a lifetime’s work for one man.
Took a look at the museum of religious art. Also well presented, but held little interest to me being an agnostic. Back at the campsite I had a beer and an excellent prawn curry. It was accompanied by a Peri-Peri sauce which was a serious health hazard. I mentioned it to the cook, and she supplied me with a small tub of the stuff. Should spice up a chilli nicely!

Saturday 11th August
Mozambique Island – Molocue
Dodged the pot holes all the way to Nampula. Looked for Diesel in Nampula, but the town was dry. Did a quick shop and sent some post cards. Expensive U$1 per card!
Tarmac stops at Alto Ligonha, but the track was well graded. That was until I spotted two graders at the side of the road. Again it deteriorated.
Got a puncture. First one in 30,000 km’s. Can’t say I’m surprised, the steelwork is showing through on two of the tyres!
It was getting late, and we were struggling to find somewhere to stop. The road was densely populated. Finally we found a gravel pit and pulled in.
Surrounded by locals. Quite amusing it was Saturday night and most of the guys were looking worse for wear! Hamburgers (couldn’t resist a bit of junk food) and bed.

Sunday 12th August
Molocue – Mocuba – Mulanje
A lot of the bridges on the Molocue to Mocuba stretch had been washed away. There were a lot of diversions, but the road was generally good. A few puddles to splash through, and potholes to avoid, but nothing more. Reached Mocuba by midday. Again no Diesel, but I’ve still got over 60 litres so I can make it to Mulanje easily. Eddie’s going to head south and hope that the ferry over the Zambezi is running again. If not we may meet up again in Mulanje. Felt a bit lost once I’d said my farewells, but a load tune on the Stereo and off I go again. Keeping my fingers crossed that the road to Mulanje was good, I wanted to get there before night fall. I needn’t have worried it was excellent. I did however hear a very disconcerting “twang” noise coming from Maggie’s front end. The approach to Mulanje was awsome. It’s a BIG mountain range, surrounded by lush green tea plantations. As I approached the border I was met by thousands of cyclists coming the other way. Turns out a lot of Mozambicans work on the tea plantations.
At the border I was the only one going through the formalities. Everyone else was just crossing unresticted. Quite a sight.
Camped at the Mulanje golf club. Sat on the terrace having a G&T watching the shadows fall across the mountain.

Monday 13th August
Mulanje
The “twang” noise was Maggies front coil springs. They’ve both broken, thankfully near the top.
Had a round of golf in the afternoon. Only a 9 hole course, and not in “tip-top” condition, but with the mountains as a back drop I couldn’t fail to be impressed. I hired a set of clubs which were at least 30 years old, and made for someone half my height, but I must say I played well. Especially off the tee. It’s amazing how far the ball travels at altitude. It was also the first time I’d played on “browns” takes some getting used to.
Asked my caddie, Henry to take a few photos, but he seems to have succeeded in cutting of my head in each shot!

Tuesday 14th August
Mulanje - Blantyre
I wanted to do a spot of climbing in the mountains, but I thought it was best to get the springs fixed first, so I set off to Blantyre.
I had the OAU summit in Lusaka, and now I found myself in the middle of the SADC summit in Blantyre. Stopped at the first roundabout by police outriders.
“Wonder who this is going to be?” I thought
What do you know, it was old Bobby Mugabe. Sorley tempted to let my foot slip off the clutch, accidents will happen! But there was another car in my way.
Found the Land Rover garage, they had springs, but not heavy duty ones. Still better than nothing. The shocks are stuffed too! It’s going to cost me.
Spent all day at the garage. Work was slow as we kept dashing out to watch another cavalcade of black limos tear past.
Too late to head back to Mulanje now, and I had a few other things I wanted to do in town. Found my way to “Doogles” backpackers. Met Ronald and Sophie, a Belgian couple in their (orange!) Land Cruiser. They’ve come down via Chad and Sudan, so will have to pick their brains later.

Wednesday 15th August
Blantyre
Into town for food etc. I wanted a decent map of Malawi, but the only one I could find was £10. I’ll make do with the Michelin map. Got the puncture fixed at a back street “set-up”. One of the guys was looking at all my stickers on Maggie’s back door, and asked,
“Where’s the Malawi one?”
“I can’t find one”
He then took me on a tour of 3 sticker companies and I ended up with a handful of free Malawi stickers. This wasn’t enough for him though and I was then taken back to his house for Lunch. Great hospitality. Back to Doogles for a beer with Ronald and Sophie.

Thursday 16th August
Spent all day scouring town for new tyres. No luck. I did manage to get my gas bottle filled though, so not a completely wasted day.
Met Sean, an Australian backpacker. He’s heading south now, but wants to do Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. If things work out well I’ll pick him up in Addis Abeba at the end of November. Shared my stew Sean and had far too many beers.

Friday 17th August
Blantyre
Spent all day pouring over maps, guide books and GPS locations with Ronald and Sophie. Sophie’s written up a list for me of campsites etc all the way to Khartoum. Thanks guys. Will come in very useful.

Satuday 18th August
Blantyre – Mulanje
Packed up and popped into town to check my E-Mail.
Spotted an Ethiopian restaurant, couldn’t resist it. I had to have some Injera, the Ethiopian “spongy” bread. I became addicted to it in Addis Abeba.
Back to Mulanje. Was mobbed by guides and porters upon arival at the forest station. Drove on through to avoid them. All but one stumbled by the wayside, I had to relent and hired him for the next day. Ended up at the mission station. Great campsite, with superb views of the mountains. Listened to the BBC “Sports-roundup” and cooked a Potjie.

Sunday 19th August
Mulanje
Woke with a bad cold. I hope it’s cold anyway, not Malaria.
My guide arrived in the morning with a friend who he said would watch the car for me. After some intense haggling we agreed on a price, and set off. Just as I was leaving he shouted back, “Shall I clean the glasses (windows) boss?”
“NO” I replied, “don’t touch the car, OK?”
I should have known better!
Guide said it would take 3-4 hours to reach the plateau. We did it in under 2, but it was very steep in places. View wasn’t what I’d hoped for, it was very hazy. My cold meant I had trouble “equalizing” as we ascended. I had to keep stopping and blowing my nose to clear my ears!
On the way back down we diverted to see a waterfall, this must have been about the 20th waterfall I’d seen in the past 3 months. It was beautiful though, and if I’d felt better I’d have dived in for a swim in the pool below. Back at the car HORROR! The guy has cleaned it. I was furious!
“This car hasn’t been cleaned in 13 months, I told you not to touch it”
“Sorry boss, I didn’t know”
He offered to throw mud and dirt over it!
“No” I said “just leave it”
I gave him half the money we’d agreed. I was not happy.
The guys realized I was not in a good mood and beat a hasty retreat.
Took a wander into the villages and bought a small cedar trinket box for 20 pens. I came across the “car washer” and having calmed down a little I realised I was being a bit harsh. He meant well. I gave him the rest of his money. The 3 B’s (Book, Braai and Bed)

Monday 20th August
Mulanje – Blantyre – Miciru Mountain Park
Still feeling rough as hell, tempted to pop a few Fanzidar as a precaution. See how the day goes on. Back to Blantyre to send a few E-Mails
Wasn’t too keen on spending another night at “Doogles” it wasn’t really my scene, and expensive. Ronald and Sophie had recommended a small reserve just 15 km’s out of town. I went in search of it.
Entrance was free, and it was an “oasis” of tranquility next to a big city. There’s no real campsite, but they will let you stay at the picnic site. I found out they have lots of Hyenas, and one of the guides, Justin offered to take me for an evenings viewing. We wandered up the mountain for ½ hour or so, and made ourselves comfortable on some huge boulders. After 2 hours we’d seen nothing but. I was beginning to become a little bored, when I heard a rustling sound beside me. I shone my torch in the general direction, and there it was. Only 6 feet away from me, we stayed for 20 mins or so, just staring at each other.
On the way back I asked Justin if it was a Male or Female. He said it’s very difficult to tell. They have the same sex organs. The only way to tell is when they’re together. The Female is bigger than the male. We returned to the picnic site to find one of Justin’s colleagues had made a fire, and pitched a tent for him. He was to be my armed guard for the night. Not really necessary, but I couldn’t talk him out of it. Shared some Chilli and rice with him, and chatted about wildlife etc.

Tuesday 21st August
Miceru Mountain Park – Mangochi (Palm Beach)
Justin and I went for a “Bird” walk. It was superb. He really knows his wildlife, birds especially. We saw sunbirds, paradise flycatchers, blue waxbill, Hugel’s Robin, social weavers and common dyker and waterbuck. This was on a 1 km trail around the picnic site. Alone I may have seen 1/10th of that.
As I said the park is free, but I made a donation to Justin and his friend who set the fire.
If you’re in Blantyre and want to “get away from it all” this is the place. Come along and get Justin to show you around. You won’t be disappointed.
I was going to stop off on the way to the lake and spend a few nights at Liwonde National Park, but it wasn’t cheap U$40 for a day. Decided to save my money for the bigger parks in Tanzania and Kenya. Which I know aren’t going to be cheap either, but I think the game viewing will be better.
Ended up back at Palm Beach. My “favourite campsite” todate

Wedneday 22nd August
Mangochi
All day, from 7 o’clock til 5.30 sat at the beach bar!
“ No”, I wasn’t getting sloshed. It’s the only power point for the computer. I did however get through loads of diet coke.
The diary was really out of date, and I could see I would be “at it” for a few days.

Thursday 23rd August
Magochi
Ditto!

Friday 24th August
Ditto!