Zanzibar and New Arrivals

Chumbe Island Hotel – Taking responsive tourism to the next level!

This international acclaimed eco-tourism island draws researches from all over the world! Like them we were naturally spell bound by the amazingly well thought out and designed resort. Totally dependant on the water which falls from the sky they are like a desert surrounded by an oasis!

We covered the 14km from Stone Town in no time, heavily laden with all our gear our daunting memories of the first leg came flooding back, but the feeling of total independence and the knowledge that a hot meal awaiting our arrival and friendly staff softened the situation.

The incredible journey and the process leading up to the islands success has taken almost 10 years. Trying to get through to the local fisherman that coral reefs need to be protected for their survival was no easy feat! Constant confrontations with angry, armed fisherman was a regular occasion in the beginning!

Their focus on responsible tourism has led them to many international awards over the past couple of years. They have converted the old lighthouse masters house, dating back to 1904, into the main building which contains a classroom where many local and foreign visitors are taught the importance of protecting and preserving the fragile coral reefs. I personally learnt a tremendous amount and enjoyed being taught by the extremely knowledgeable and friendly local rangers.

Treated as visiting researches we ate with the local staff, and scavenged off any leftovers which the guests didn’t finish….

The afternoon was spent swimming, relaxing with the local guys and being guided around the island’s indigenous forest. Omrai, the knowledgeable head ranger pointed out some extremely dangerous flora, one particular specie’s sap can be fatal and was used as poison in the past. They have introduced a handful of indigenous duiker from Zanzibar mainland, in the hope of breeding them. To finish off the evening stroll we were treated with a bird’s eye view of the island and a spectacular sunset from the top of the 100 year old, 32m, gas operated lighthouse!

Fortunately the visiting guests saw the hunger in our eyes and don’t worms and which meant we were able to share the left over prawn curry!! Truly delightful!

That evening we were introduced to our worst nightmares – a deadly coconut assassin – The coconut crab! These prehistoric creatures have a fetish for coconuts and the ability to scale the coconut palms to retrieve them! Spanning up to 60cm from the front two pincers these beasts are something to watch out for when walking the narrow forest trails after sunset! Coconuts have earned serious respect, after watching numerous come crashing back to earth with a thundering thud! A falling coconut therefore is one of our biggest threats. Hence these “little” coconut crabs have been aptly named – Deadly coconut assassins! Fortunately they aren’t as ruthless and accurate as the Jackal!

One of the islands current projects which we helped out with, is the removal of some destructive Crown of Thorn (COT) star fish which are destroying the slow growing coral in no time! Speed of growth depends on the water temperature but varies between 0.5 – 6 cm a year!

The hotels accommodation is made up of 6 eco-friendly banda’s, which are in a league of their own with regards to responsible tourisim! Each banda’s roof has been specifically designed to catch the most valuable resource on the island – water! This is stored below the building in it’s 15 000L tank, sufficient to last for entire year! Their focus on grey water (that which has already been used) is impressive, all water used for washing is carefully collected and re-used for the surrounding gardens before disappearing in the 6cm of soil cover (this is the maxium depth on the island and yet baobabs flourish on the island)! All the electricity is naturally provided by solar panels on the roof of each banda. The compost toilets were also a first for us, instead of flushing, you add a cup or two of carefully harvested compost! The neat little wind generating extractor fan would ensure that the john remained odour free!

You get the picture, this little Robinson Crosio island of the 21st century was definitely something unique and worthy of all its international recognition and more! We were very honoured to have visited it and promised to spread the word of their great work!

For further information please visit http://www.cih.com/ or for booking accommodation http://www.toescapeto.com/

Mbweni Ruins – Where the past meets current day luxury

Paddling the 9km stretch from Chumbe to Zanzibar was led to a new experience for the team! Heading north for the first time we experienced something quite unique! The wind and current were pushing us along, instead of its usual head on pounding we were flying along with the tail wind! Oh how we look forward to the Kusi (the local trade wind which is meant be coming in November which blows from the North!)

We eventually stumbled on the beautiful Mbweni Ruins Hotel, situated 8km south of Stone Town, the stunning gardens are host to some reconstructed ruins dating back to Livingston’s time when he and fellow missionaries had come over to free slaves and put an end to the inhumane brutality of slavery!

The hotel hosted us for 3 memorable nights, the grand elaborate rooms over looking the water and stunning manicured gardens were definitely a treat and had set the bar for the rest of our stay while on the island! It was the perfect spot from where we could explore the legendary old town of Stone Town and get lost in it’s quaint narrow streets!

The hotels inviting pool over looking the Indian Ocean was were we spent most of our time when we weren’t exploring the old town. Watching the sun set over the water was another new experience and something we aren’t used to. There is generally one basic rule to navigation for us – keep the coast to the right and all will be fine! That theory was obviously thrown out the window!

For further information please visit http://www.cih.com/ or for booking accommodation http://www.toescapeto.com/

We were taken on an outing to the local orphanage in Stone Town, situated in the middle of town over looking the harbour, but with Ramadan having just started (4th October) things were quiet and the head master was very strict. He didn’t allow us to see too much, however as usual the presentation of a couple of soccer balls all that changed and he lightened up immediately and the broad smiles said it all! The children numbers are surprisingly on the decline, they were around 100 a couple of years ago but were currently around 40! The majority of the kids (all between 1-18yrs) come from either deceased parents or those who have ill parents) we were surprised to hear that aids wasn’t as a significant contributor as we imagined, but do they know really the origins of the illness!

Stone Town – The centre of East Africa for centuries continues to mystify!

Having spent quite sometime exploring the old town of Lamu, which is meant Stone Town a couple of years ago and without all the tourists! So I was always interested in how it would compare!

Well, I agree although the town does have a extraordinary feel, a dominate aurora about it, the grand old buildings of the days of Sultan’s over looking the harbour give it a air of importance and grandeur which Lamu doesn’t seem to have. Then again Stone Town was for centuries the place from which the entire East Africa coast was dominated from.

We found a local hotel which had the most beautiful view of the entire town – from the roof tops we were able to take it all in and the sounds of prayer echoing off the buildings and down the narrow streets reminded us of exactly where we were!

Getting lost in these narrow winding streets is something you have to experience if you ever find yourself on the spice island! The friendly people and general activity in the less touristy quarters provides the perfect opportunity for you to delve into the lives of the locals and it doesn’t take long before you are engulfed by the leisurely pace and realise that there is no other way! The locals constantly testing your knowledge of Kiswahili (Swahili in Swahili!?), with the ever popular term Mambo (whats up?) to which you reply Poua (cool!)!

There are however streets where it is quite evident that tourisim is the islands number one!

Spice up your life on a spice tour

Visiting on the worlds greatest spice islands we had to do a spice tour, which happen to prove more useful than initially thought! Did you know that the reason why vanilla is so expensive is that the plant has to be individually pollinated by hand! And that cinnamon tree is referred to as the king of spice – you can use the bark, roots, leaves and fruit etc. However the one thing which we were most interested in was the fact that ginger is used as a local aphrodisiac for the ladies!

The tour lasted a couple of hours and ending with a delicious tasting of spice teas and other spices!

Nungwei – The party capital of the island, a bar to remember

There is only one place on the island for a party, I’m talking about a little bar on the beach made out of two dhows. That is the way I like them, peacefully resting on land serving a far more important purpose and not rocking around making all its passengers ill! It is call Choles Bar, the one place you are allowed to camp on the island.

When we pitched our tents 5m away from the large sub woofers I knew there was little point in trying to get any sleep! After watching the sun slip below the horizon with a cold Tusker in hand we were set for an entertaining evening!

The beach is lined with large bar/restaurants perched on stilts over looking the water, each one trying to entice you in for a platter of mouth watering sea food. Needless to say we settled for the local chachula – japati with some dodgy meat!

Thanks to my parents, who joined us for a week of adventure on the island, picked up some essentials on their way through duty free including 2L of J&B, which added some spice to our otherwise ordinary coke! It turned out that our little bar was the centre of attraction, everyone gravitating there after their juicy meals.

I, being the fifth wheel had to make a plan for myself after the two couples disappeared into their tents and left me with most of the 1L whiskey bottle to devour. The bar full of overlanders, Welsh medics and locals all wanting to drink each other under the table left me with no other option but to get stuck in and enjoy a wild, noisy and entertaining night! I wish I could divulge more details of the nights proceedings but unfortunately you are going to have to ask one of the medics, my memory is very sketchy…………….!

Needless to say next 5 hours spent on the water were less pleasant with only having managed 45min sleep!

Metemwe Beach Village – There is only one

Situated on the north eastern side of the island is a little village, Metemwe. There are a handful of resorts scattered along the beautiful white sand beach, one of them being Metemwe Beach Village. They have built a unique bungalow, one of a kind called Asali suite. My mother and father, honoured guests of the expedition and Toescapeto were staying at this special spot had very kindly allowed us to crash their romantic spot!

You have to see it to believe it but I’ll try paint the picture. A 14m unsupported circular thatch roof rises above you, as you enter through the front door which looks onto the surrounding open planned bungalow. Right in the centre of the space is a medium sized Jacuzzi, just to wash the salt off, before kicking back in the day dreamer’s corner, full of cushions and super comfy mattresses/beds for the paddlers! There is a large double room separated by beautiful blinds which lead to the outdoor bathroom with an undisturbed view of the coconut palm forest! The neat open plan kitchen comes fully stocked with a over sized bar fridge full of ice cold Tuskers!(Kenyan beer) This is all built right on the white sand beach looking out to the beautiful turquoise Indian Ocean!

Thanks again to Toescapeto and obviously Gail from Metemwe Beach Resort for one of the best two nights on tour todate! If you are looking for a spot to pull into on your next paddle down East Africa, or a romantic luxury beach bungalow all to yourself then this is definitely it! Go check it out:
http://www.toescapeto.com/information.asp?offerid=11&day=00&month=11&year=2004

New Arrivals – Dilution of testosterone! (Kristal)
Justine and I arrived safely at Zanzibar airport after our 5 minute flight that we thought would most likely be our last. We were jumping out of our skins with nerves of what to expect and beside our selves with excitement to finally see our boys after 3months. After arriving in the dodgy Stonetown airport we stood around for what seemed like a lifetime for our luggage to come through so we could run into the arms of the boys who we could see through the big glass doors. We weren’t so sure it was them at first, the beards and the scraggly hair put us out, but the big toothy grins and waves assured us it was them. Justine and I thought they had got dressed up for the special occasion of our arrival, as they were wearing collard shirts that looked clean, but later found out they got a “bargain” of 11 shirts from a second hand local shop… mmm so that’s what the smell is.
The first thing I noticed was how hairy these guys had become! And then how tanned and muscley they look compared to my pale and not so toned body. But they didn’t seem to care and we were both just so glad we had finally got to our final destinations with them. There was much to catch up on as Shayne and I jumped in the back of the van, Justine and Graham in the middle and Richard and…the driver jumped in the front and took us back to a most luxurious hotel were we ate our first ever so tasty local food.
I have been with these guys for almost a month now and I think I will need a lot of back up to help dilute the testosterone levels of this bunch of males. I am beginning to simply having to adapt to the male way of life. (Its actually not all that bad if I just block my nose.) But I honestly think the ‘boys with balls’ have done extremely well for them selves with out a female or a maid around. I have caught on that the dishes get washed after each meal in the ocean and sand is used as a jex, the toilet paper is always somewhere rolling around on the bottom of the car floor and after you take the first layer off its clean enough and smelly clothes I have come to learn are “good for you” and so are creepy crawly things in your food. (and I havnt been sick yet so maybe they are)
To this point I have enjoyed every step of the way, experiencing Africa at its best. Actually no, I didn’t enjoy catching flea’s from the Ferry’s over grown rats, but they seemed have moved along now after airing out everyone’s sleeping gear. And “pole pole” (Slowly Slowly) I am catching onto all the guys jargon that they came to adapt on this trip and some of the South African Lingo and can laugh along at some of their inside jokes. Surely enough I think I am slowly settling into the K2K’s simple way of life, surviving and taking each day as it comes.

K2K swept off their feet! (Shayne)
Finally after much anticipation the day arrived, the arrival of the girls. Kristal and Justine arrived off the plane, Justine for a short week long holiday and Kristal for the rest of the expedition. Yep, Kristal is the official replacement for Aaron and also a much needed female influence within the group. Our hygiene was beginning to slip and with Kristal’s seemingly endless supply of ‘wet wipes’ we were ‘encouraged’ to clean our hands at every available opportunity. But ‘wet wipes’ weren’t the only gifts Kristal brought the team. A new Kite and kite board was presented as well a early 21st present from my parents, I along with the rest of the team were eager to try the 12 meter kite. Unfortunately the next day was windless and the kite would have to wait. A few days later we finally got our opportunity to get the kite out and have a test flight. ‘OH DEAR’ the power was a serious surprise and after a few drags through the water Graham and myself were starting to get the hang of it. It wasn’t long till we were flying through the air and landing safely in the water. Some of us though, weren’t so elegant…Richards turn was up and after a quick basic lesson in what we had guessed to be right rich took the beast by the bar and had a go. He started off slowly and was getting the hang of it. While Graham and myself watched from the beach at rich increase in skill and confidence. We both pointed out he was getting dangerously close to the shore. Within seconds of our observation rich was pulled clear out the water and slammed onto the beach and dragged a few meters before we finally rushed to his aid.




Magical Mtoni Marine (Rich)
Our first night on the island was spent at this superbly managed, sociable and convenient resort! A stones throw away from Stone Town (couldn’t resist) we literally dropped our kayaks off the edge of the pier, between some rather large vessels, waved goodbye to the excited locals who had gathered to witness the peculiar event and were at Mtoni in time to watch the sunset! The only obstacle being a departing ferry whose crew jumped up and down screaming at us to get out of their way!

We returned here for the afternoon while waiting for our ferry to depart and were once again treated like royalty by Waldemar and his friendly staff. Relaxing on one of the best beaches on the island drinking a couple of cold Tuskers and admiring our new shirts we were very happy with ourselves, as the sun set!

We all decided that if we were to return to the island this is one spot we would definitely return to, its close proximity to town, beautiful beach, friendly staff and good feel factor did it for us!



K2K welcomes eager fisherman! (Ryan+Ian)
After months of waiting the day finally arrived. Leaving Jhb we were expecting to spend a night in Dar before heading across to Zanzibar to meet the team. Fortunately we were able to charter a flight on arrival in Dar for a little more than the cost of a fast ferry. This flight turned out to be a tiny four seater, but with our luggage sitting on our laps we had a relatively safe flight and the most spectacular view of the island. Richard and his dad picked us up and we headed off to Stone Town to find a roof-top bar to enjoy our first Kilimanjaro. We spent our first few days living in luxury at a guesthouse in Jambiani. A very special thank you must go to Mr and Mrs Thomas for their generosity, it was an unforgettable stay. We eased into the paddling with an 18km section of the east coast on our first day. Other than a headwind we had an easy paddle and were confident that we were fit enough for the weeks ahead (little did we know!).

The ride of our lives (Ian)

With the paddling put on hold until we returned to Dar it was a perfect opportunity to explore Zanzibar and how other than by motorbike. We had an extra night on the island before catching the ferry so Rich, Ryan and I decided to hire scramblers and head up north to Cholo’s bar at Nungwe. It was amazing cruising along dodging dhala-dhala’s and it wasn’t long before I thought I was an expert rider. If you want to see the island and are limited for time then a motorbike is the way to go. However I strongly advise against having sundowners at Cholo’s bar (which was spectacular) and then heading into the nearby village to find more alcohol. I paid the price for being too cocky on my bike and even though I was going slowly I still managed to slide along a gravel road. Something I will never forget is Rich riding up to me saying how sorry he was and that it was all is fault because I was actually looking for him at the time ( I was the only one to blame that night!). We were travelling very light so of cause the first aid kit was left behind. I had to make do with a swim in the sea and some local vodka to clean my wounds, followed with a cutup sarong for a make-shift bandage. Needless to say we had a great party that night, with the vodka mixed with “big black coke” to ease the pain.

The ride back to Stone Town as you could imagine took a lot longer thanks to my cautiousness as I was feeling very sorry for myself. It was still an eventful ride, we were stop twice by local police requesting to see our permits. Thinking everything was in order we soon discovered that the permits had been forged and true to Africa a bribe was soon to follow. This bribe however was not initiated by us but instead by the owner of the motorbikes who eventually settled on a payment, which only happened after the cops had miss called him. Our second run-in with the law was thanks to Ryan’s antics on the bike. They knew straight away that the permits were forged (makes you wonder…) but they were more concerned about Ryan standing up on the bike. After some idle threats to take us to the police station they were soon distracted when I enquired about some jack-fruits hanging in the nearby tree. Even though they were not ripe and most certainly did not belong to them they were keen to sell us one. With the distraction in place it wasn’t long before all was forgotten and we were back on the road to Stone Town. Thank goodness there was no major damage to the bike because the owner knew about the fall when they came to collect the bikes (just like in a small town news travels like wildfire on an island!).

Ferry crossing rivals any refugee camps (Shayne and Kristal)

K2K team was abit stumped as to why the ferry left Stonetown at 10pm. We soon found out. Everyone spent the night on board the ferry which harboured in stonetown before heading across to Dar Es Salem at 3am arriving in Dar at 6. Initially we thought this was great, we loaded the boats and because of our skin color we were assigned the “VIP” section of the ferry. This included lovely designer synthetic leather couches, and vomit/urine stained foam mattresses, which looked precariously eaten. Anyway while Kristal, Ian, and myself set up our fort, Ryan and Rich were off on a mission to find us some food for the evening. The arrived back with Zanzibar Pancakes (dough filled with bananas and chocolate), and chippatis, we all tucked in and enjoyed our meal before what we suspected to be a long night ahead of us.

We claimed our spot on the mattress and settled down, before Kristal pointed out she needed to make a routine toilet stop…I hand you over to Kristal to explain her ordeal: After begging sleepy, restless Shayne to come with me so I didn’t have to venture into the unknown alone, we took our first steps down to the lower economy class section of the boat. I have never seen such a sight. Thousands of swquashed locals bright eyes pierced through me. I staggered through the crowds, being knocked back and forth with the motion of the waves and was finally pointed out the direction of the bathroom. I didn’t like the thought of where I had to venture to finish such a easy task. A heavy metal door swung open and Shayne and I were almost knocked over with a wave of a very unpleasant stench. The toilets so conveniently situated in the bow of the boat, so I took the most terrifying steps of my life, down, down, down. The motion of the ocean had obviously been to much for people having to squat over tiny holes in the ground because the entire floor was 2inches under their business. The sight was to much for me to even dare to step off the last stair in my flip flops and I ‘U’ turned as fast as a could for a breath of any air apart from the air down there! There was no way I was being convinced to return down there so we set off to hopefully find a bathroom in which I didn’t have to swim in. After several failed attempts and many gagging experiences I decided that I will hang on for 8hours until we reached dry land. Shayne found my stubborness quite amusing but told me if “You are not going to go now don’t whinge to me hours later, because they’re only going to get worse!”. So there I lay, trying not to think of water as water lapped at the sides of the boat. Not daring to say a whining word.

After not finding a suitable bathroom for the new comer who has not yet adapted to the way of life for us Tough African K2K boys, we settled back down on the flea ridden mats that were kindly provided for us. We all lay side by side, Rich bravely taking the out side next to Ryan, head to toe, then Ian at Ryan’s feet and us laying at Bravely at Ian’s Toes and next to the left over from supper. Supper, costing us around R1 each proved to be to much for us and had plenty left over which we planned to have for breakfast when we docked at 6am in Dar. But a little fury friend beet us to it. Actually it was not little, a huge rat sat bravely next to my head munching on a most tasty meal. I didn’t dare to move, but simply turn over and pull covers over my head. Out of sight out of mind… almost. Later that morning Rich informed us it had ran across him during the night and he chose the same method as myself, to keep his eyes shut in fear of what he might see. But that wasn’t all, we had a lovely local lady who had crept up from economy and made herself comfy in our “VIP” room who was feeling quite sea sick. Now instead of rushing to the toilet or outside to hang her head over the rails like most considerate people she simply found it necessary to noisily throw up what seemed to be everything she has ever eaten in the most loud, foul and sickening way possible. As soon as you thought she had nothing left to throw up, there she’d go again… and again… and again. By the morning it was as though there was something wrong if we couldn’t hear her, hawking, gargling and gagging.
But, like the over grown rats, we tried to cover our ears and noses, fearing if we smelt it, we’d be joining her. After a restless night fending off giant rats and scratching at my skin at what I hope were imaginary lice, we finally stepped onto the dock, I would have kissed the ground if it hadn’t been for the cockroaches scurrying around my feet, ‘its good to be back’ I heard myself say.

Fifth leg begins!

Early on the 18th of October Shayne dropped Richard, Ryan and me (Ian still being injured and ruled out of action by a local doctor) off at the nearby slipway to begin the fifth leg of k2k.

The main challenge for the day was to be the crossing of the shipping lane into the Dar-es-Salaam harbour, the busiest on the East African coastline. As we approached the shipping lane, a huge oil tanker was seen emerging from the harbour. For a few minutes we thought that we may have been able to duck across in front of it but sanity prevailed and we decided to wait and go around the back. It was just as well because the ship was deceptively fast and we would most certainly have become cute little red bow ornaments! Once the ship had passed, we carefully looked left, then right and then left again before we made our dash across the danger zone.

We stopped on a beautiful sand island for lunch and to wait for Shayne to sms us the coordinates of the campsite that we were going to be staying at. We were pretty confident that we could see it about 3km away and thought that we were in for a cool 30 minute paddle, this was before the sms came through with different plans. I plugged the coordinates into the GPS which informed us that we still had 10.7km to go! What the GPS did not tell us was that it was low tide and that the 10.7kms also included carrying the boats over sea urchin infested rocks!

New team member a real pig!

Louis the pig! After much debate as to what mascot to get to provide us with entertainment during the quieter times, we finally decided on a little piglet! Those that made the short list were; a little kid, no not one of the local children but rather the fury, horny ones that run unexpectedly across the road, a chicken and a pig! Being a majority Muslim community where pigs are considered dirty filthy animals little Louis was unfortunately not the most loved creature around! This however soon become very useful and quite entertaining! We pulled into a little local fishing village called Kisiju for a night before heading over to Mafia island, and the usual mobs were quite put out by little fella! The little harmless piglet was seen as a furious guard dog and kept everyone at quite a distance!

Louis’s eating habits were also his unfortunate downfall. Apart from having to compete for every last scrap of food with Graham, he had just grown too big for the car. It was for this reason that Shayne and Kristal traded him in at the local bar in Kilwa Masoko in return for a couple of beers! The barman, who is the new proud owner of Louis, assures us that he is still alive and well and that he is still too small to eat!

Refugee ferry crossing

We found a ferry in Kisiju which was able to take us the short distance to Mafia Island. We had been told that it was a speed boat and that it only cost Tsh 4 000 each. When we arrived to get on we could see that it was a boat alright, but the speed part was way out! 100+ people were crammed onto the small boat which looked a bit like a tugboat. Added to this the roof was piled high with all sorts of cargo, including 3 red kayaks and also doubled as first class seating once the ferry was on the move.

It felt as though we were on a boat from Cuba headed for the United States and were wandering how long it would take for either the coast guard to pick us up or for the boat to sink. It did not take very long! After about 2 hours the engine stopped as a storm was brewing. We were stuck within sight of Mafia! Richard and Ryan provided the insail entertainment when they lept off the boat and started swimming in the crystal clear water.

We had said that we were going to give it an hour and a half and then we would get off and paddle to the island, but after a lot of banging with a rather large hammer, the engine started running again and we just managed to limp into Kilindoni “harbour”.

Dodgy Scuba on Mafia

Mafia Island is a place where very few people ever go and even fewer have had the opportunity to scuba dive there. It was for this reason that Richard, Ryan and I decided to pay the US$70 to dive. For this price we imagined that we would be getting state of the art equipment and expert dive masters to lead the dive, but soon found out that that was not to be. No depth gauges on any of the dive gear was the first indication that we had paid way too much. If any of you dive you will know that the amount of time that you can safely spend underwater is dependant on the depth that you go to, so a depth gauge is quite important! The regulators (thing you put in your mouth and breath from) all “free flowed” and could only be stopped by shoving it into your mouth!

Once in the water the lack of expertise became even more evident. When you descend on a dive you need to do what is called equalising. This is where you basically block your nose and blow gently to equalise the pressure in your ears with the water pressure and this prevents your ear drums from bursting. Many people battle with this and need to go down very slowly and even sometimes ascend a bit before descending again. I had our underwater video camera with me and had spent a bit longer on the surface than the rest of the group while I turned it on. As I stared descending, the dive master grabbed me by the leg and yanked me down (obviously thinking that I was battling to descend). Had I been having trouble with my ears, that could have burst or damaged them! The dive master was very lucky that I could not catch him due to my useless fins, which were about as much good having cardboard strapped to my feet, because I would almost certainly have turned his air off!


Run in with authorities

Mafia Island has quite a large area which has been declared a marine park. They do a very good job in looking after it and charge foreigners US$10 per day to be in the area, but don’t confuse them by arriving by kayak (which bypasses the main gate – on the land) as this could land you in serious trouble, no matter how much you cooperate.

When we were about to leave we went to the marine park offices to pay our US$120 (4 of us for 3 days) to Mr January. He informed us that the head of the marine park would like to see us so we went off to his office. After questioning us at length about our expedition they proceeded to blab on and on about how we had not followed their regulations for entering the park but what they were actually more interested in, was the sound of their own voices. We tried to tell them that we were there to help and give their marine park some publicity on our website and were also quite interested to interview them on camera about what they do etc, but they wanted to charge us for that too! “Forget it!” was our answer to that bit of cheek!

The previous day we had arranged an interview with Mr January to find out what the park does and so on but he didn’t bother to show up. Then, at the meeting, he accused us of not having done our homework and that we didn’t have any idea about what they did. They also said that our trip sounds like a total waste of money to them and that we must have lots of money to be doing it. We had had enough of their blabbing and just tuned out while they proceeded to pat themselves on the back and let us know how great they thought they were.

The meeting ended by them telling us that they were going to drop all the other “charges” against us and just charge us the US$10 marine park fee. They also wanted our advice as to how they can improve their park and if there was anything that we had seen elsewhere that we thought could benefit them. We did give them some pointers, but omitted the most important point that they should stop thinking that they were the most important individuals in Tanzania!


K2K Hits Rock Bottom

After two days at Kims Beach we set off for the Amani Beach Protea Hotel, where Graham and I had gone two days early to ask if they would be able to assist us with accommodation. The assistant manager took our number and said he would get back to us. We had still heard nothing buy the day we set off so we just headed off and 18km later pulled in there to see if there was good news. We figured that it being SA owned they would be really hospitable, after waiting for an hour the response was no they cant help us, not even let us camp at the back, and to add to that they would not even let us pop in the pool for a fresh water dip despite us paying good shillings for drinks in the pub. We then set off around the point and Shayne found a great spot ontop of some cliffs owned by a guy called John. He said we could camp for nothing. The only problem was that the beach down below was purely a rocky reef. We had no choice but to go in. Rich timed it well and scooted in between a set. Graham and I were doing well till we were almost on the rocks when two waves doubled up and dumped us straight into the reef. The boat just bent and bounced over them and landed us on a table top rock all safe and sound. Hair raising landing. The boats held up fantastically. We then discovered that Rich’s landing resulted in the rudder pin being snapped clean through. A bit of bush mechanics and it was ok for the next leg.

The soul destroying reef (Ian)
After a strong course of antibiotics and a few days off to allow for the swollen ankle to return to normal I was back in action. With the paddling team back to full force we almost had a perfect start to the 31km paddle that lay ahead, but as we paddled out Ryan and I were caught by a big set and one of the waves washed straight into me. In doing so we lost one of the hand lines, which set the trend for our fishing attempts for the rest of the leg. It was a spectacular paddle, with no protection of a reef we were out in the open and time seemed to fly by due to the constant change in scenery. We neared our destination for the day, a place called Buanyi, which is a huge bay protected by a reef. We were hoping to be able to paddling over the reef but we soon discovered that the tide was not in our favour. The reef stretched for about 3km and when we finally neared the end of it we were welcomed by some huge waves breaking on the point. Our best route into the bay was to negotiate the waves. After spending some time watching the sets coming through we all managed to time our entries perfectly. It was only a few days later when we were telling a local where we had come from that he exclaimed: “Buanyi! That is the palace that many souls have been destroyed!”

Return crossing

We spent the night on the edge of the marine reserve where we bought some fish from the locals. We managed to make some good use of the amazed local children by getting them to gut and fillet our fish, all for the price of 1 BDO Soccer ball! It is amazing what these balls have got us. Being well fed we had a good nights sleep before the 25km crossing from Mafia Island to mainland Africa. As usual, we fuelled ourselves on oats the following morning and were pleased to see that the wind was behind us for one of the first times on the trip. The crossing went off without any hassles and we managed to find a beautiful beach to pitch our tents on in the middle of the crocodile, hippo and Zambezi Shark infested waters of the Rufiji Delta.

Night in the mangroves

After 6 days away from the car, the day had finally arrived to meet up again. The rendezvous was to be a small village called Somanga. Shayne sent us a message saying that Somanga was a hole and did we mind paddling a bit further to a campsite that he had found. After a bit of grumbling from the team we agreed and received the coordinates. The only snag was that the campsite was up a river and we had to find the mouth from the sea.

Shayne had no idea where this mouth was meant to be but after about 30minutes of trial and error we finally found the correct river mouth and paddled into one of our best campsites to date. It was not an official campsite but just off a road that Shayne and Kristal had found.

It was in the middle of a mangrove swamp but had the really good advantage of having no unwelcome prying eyes which are usually present every night. We ate really well and had some luxuries like chocolate and cold coke (and whiskey) which always makes camping with the car so valuable to us.

Kilwa to Kilwa dhala-dhala nightmare

We were meant to paddle from the Mangrove campsite to Kilwa Kivinje over 2 days but decided that we would rather bite the bullet and do it in one day. We had been told that Kilwa Masoko was really amazing (Shayne and Kristal had been staying there while we were in Mafia) so the plan was that the car would pick us up at Kivinje and then take us to Masoko for the night. We would then return the following day to paddle the remaining distance to Kilwa Masoko. About 10km from Kivinje, just as the wind really started blowing into our faces, we got a message from Shayne that the car had broken down and that he had to get towed to Masoko. He would therefore not be able to pick us up either. The team was not happy when I relayed the message to them but I assured them that there would be a dhala-dhala that would take us there. I was right, but boy, what a ride.

After being quoted Tsh 30 000 to keep our boats at a local fat cat’s house, we rented a room at a local guest house for Tsh 2 000 where we kept the boats safely under lock and key for the evening. While the manoeuvring of the boats was going on we had a dhala-dhala waiting for us. I must tell you that these drivers are not the most patient of people and by the time we got into the vehicle the driver had resorted to leaning on his hooter on the steering wheel and only stopped when the door had been closed behind us!

He had clearly lost time and was determined to make it up. 60km/h through the streets of the village was the warm up lap for the 20km of tarred road to Masoko. The tarred road afforded him the opportunity to get the machine up to a top speed of 130km/h with all 25 of us in the back clinging on to our “seats”! A 100m stretch of road works nearly ended the terror trip when the driver swerved violently and went off the road and then over-corrected to send the mini bus into a 130km/h speed wobble. He managed to get the vehicle under control again which we are still not sure whether it was a good or a bad thing because it meant that the trip was not yet over. He accelerated around the next bend and down the long straight into Kilwa Masoko where the cardboard padded brakes amazingly brought the dhala-dhala to a standstill. We had originally negotiated to be dropped off at the campsite where the others were but decided that we needed to stretch our legs instead!


K2K Cooks up a Storm

Just when Ian and I thought we were done with our paddling leg the sea had news for us. It decided to send us of with a bang.
It was our last days paddle from Kilwa Kivinge to Kilwa Masoko, this was after a gruelling 37km paddle the day before into the wind and big seas. We tried to get an early start but the Dhalla Dhalla slowed us a bit. We got out boats out of the guest house storage room in Kivinge and were greated with a 600m drag in the sand to get our boats to water as it was low tide. We then started our last days paddle. All went well for about 14km when we stopped for a snack on a reef. We then headed across the bay for the next point about 14km away. Paddling into a stiff breeze over beautiful torquise water. A huge storm was brewing out at sea. Ian and I dug in and started really giving it stick to get across before the storm hit. We were still about 6km from the point when the wind hit us. It was the first storm that had hit the K2K boats at sea. Huge waves and howling wind for 20min. That gave us a renewed respect for the ocean. It let off and we paddled the remaining 12km into Masoko to a welcome from Shayne with 4 cold Tuskers. What a great ending. 70km in the last two days. What an experience. Graham, Rich, Shayne and Kristal have done a sterling job to put this together. Well done Boys, and Girl! What a great experience. Thanx.