African airlines experiences

I have a feeling that if I go over my various emails and notes from the last 10 years I will find that I have spent altogether between 1 and 2 unplanned and unwanted weeks at airports or hotels due to the sometimes glaring incompetence of various African airlines.

I mean like arriving at the airport to be told the plane has already left "we rescheduled but called everyone". No you obviously did not.

Or arriving at the airport to be told that the flight has been cancelled. I like a recent one that did not happen to me: "that flight was removed from the schedule months ago". So why in the name of any God have they then issued tickets less than 2 weeks ago to the flight? And to a number of passengers, not just 1 or 2?

And of course the most common one: the flight is delayed. And here is when the chaos normally really kicks in. For whatever reason noone present at the airport never seems to know why. SHOULD someone know why or for how long this is almost never announced over the sometimes working speaker system. Why this is so - I have never understood.

It feels like "don't give out information in case it is wrong better just pretend all is normal". The problem is that after a couple of hours or so it is obvious to everyone that it is NOT "business as expected" any longer.

A point in case is my own experience from a few weeks ago: Arrive at the airport for a flight that has already been rescheduled/delayed. Checked in and all seems "normal". Except there is no plane in sight. Or information. Or staff from the airline.

I finally find a "business lounge" where a terrified young lady has ran out of snacks and drinks to keep the crowd calm, some of which I found out had been trying to get home since the day before... she knew nothing (can not blame HER for that) and noone else did. After hours of waiting the plane finally arrived and we did actually get on our way.

I can understand and tolerate delays, I can understand problems. Believe me we were very patient with Air Zimbabwe during the "gonomics" hyperinflation era -but that was because we knew what was going on (meaning the challenges they were dealing with, not what was happening at the airport - they are masters in the "non-information game").

What I do not understand is the total lack of professionalism in dealing with the situation. If it regularly happens to your company - try and figure out and correct why. If you can not for "reasons beyond your control" then at least make sure that staff is on site that can inform the passengers and deal with problems like connecting flights etc.

A more comical attitude to the passengers is displayed by at least 2 national airlines: demand that the passengers are checking in well before you open for check-in. In other words ask them to be at the airport in the morning some 30 minutes or so before you arrive and open for check-in yourself.

I suspect the main causes for this sad state of affairs are a mixture of overregulated airspace and "national" government-controlled airlines. Not giving the buyer/passenger much of a choice is of course a safe way to be able to treat them as described above.

Finally let me mention 2 exceptions: South African Airways and Ethiopian Airways.

And last of all thank all the staff I met over the years who actually try to do their best - there are more of you than this description might make you think!

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Noticias from Mozambique

Mozambique as country fascinates me. It is in many ways a very challenging place and the farther you get from the capital Maputo the more challenging.

OK I have not been to Pemba or Isla Mozambique, truth to be told, but otherwise that is my experience.

Mozambiquans can be very friendly, jovial and helpful when not in uniform or holding any official position. When in uniform or holding some sort of official position they are at best lazy and uninterested, at worst rude, troublesome and intent on making whatever you want as difficult as possible. Kafka could have been the inspiration of some of the stories I have heard from residents. My own experience at the Mandimba border post some time ago is a personal classic. It took 3 attempts to finally make it cross the border.

Some habits that seem to be countrywide has fascinated me since my first visit. The easygoing café- and barlife is nice, the habit of drinking straight whiskey or gin tonic for lunch is .. strange.

This morning I witnessed a man having double scotch while waiting for the plane. At 9 am. That is not unusual, and he looks ever the part of a smart businessman. Same guy, I think, had another one during transit wait in Nampula. Hope he did not have an afternoon meeting.

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A Barbershop in Lilongwe

In Lilongwe, a short walk from the Lilongwe Hotel (now Sunbird Lilongwe) along the road down towards Old Town lies a small barbershop with 3 chairs. Inside it you always find 3 men plying their trade, 2 indians and a black. They separate the clients accordingly, the indians take care of indian and white, the black of blacks. I assume this has to do with the very different texture of hair. Officially they are open from 8 am to 8 pm but I have often passed by later than that to find them still busy cutting, trimming or shaving and customers still waiting. I am yet to find the place closed on any day of the week.

A couple of years ago when I happened to be in Lilongwe I was not happy with my hair and decided to let them have a go at it. My reasoning was basically that no matter how bad it turned out it would grow again and my regular hairsaloon would sort it out then.

To my slight surprise I was not at all unhappy with the outcome and Mia deemed it "not bad". Given that it cost me around 4 USD I then made it a habit to visit them when in Lilongwe.

When I was later persuaded to grow a beard (or at least something resembling it) I on my next visit asked for a trim and a shave, having watched them doing this on other clients while waiting for my turn. That turned out to be an experience that has made my regular visits become something of a ritual.

Trimming is one thing, it is not complicated with the correct equipment. But the shave around the beard is something else completely.

There is something slightly exciting yet very relaxing in getting the full shaving "mafia style" treatment. You lean back on the headrest, you get thoroughly "creamed" twice with the oldfashioned brush and cream. Then that nastily sharp razor knife is brought out and you really get scraped clean. No matter how well shaven you might think you are you hear and feel how "the shade" disappears. Then creaming once more, shaving again but now in the opposite direction. Following that the part where the tricky-to-get-to parts are shaved (below the nostrils etc) and then wiping the face clean.

Finally you get lotioned with some sort of paste and, the grand finale, some sort of indian face massage. Aaahh.

All this at the total cost of around 8 USD. I have no idea towards what goal in life these young men quietly (they certainly don't say many words) work so hard but I admire them and do not miss out on my visit when I am in Lilongwe. Even when that means waiting in line for up to 1 hour while watching bad indian tv-shows. Let me tell you that "Strictly Come Dancing" indian style is very, very different from other versions I have had to endure.

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The towing experience

As I said in the earlier post - our car died some 30 km from Mana Pools camping site. We were towed in to camp by another friendly gamecounter.

Going back our friends André and Chris towed us to the entrance gate, some 50 km. As the towing band we used had snapped 4 times and the remaining 35 km to the main road is much worse than the part we had managed we had to leave it there.

Back in Harare we pondered various options. In kilometres the distance is not extremely far, about 430 km or so. But those 35 km on really bad dirt road is the problem. To bring a mechanic from Karoi (some 110 km or so from the car) was one option but what if he could not fix it on site? Felt like it was better to get it to Harare and THEN fix it.

We started asking around and Mia found some guys who offered to do the job. So we made arrangements.

Well, after nearly 3 weeks of constant coughing I had visited my doctor who put me on my second cure of antibiotics. The next morning I cough so bad something snaps in my right side, a rib or a muscle or whatever. Painful is the word.

Off to Emergency Rooms and x-ray. Early stages of pneumonia, injections of painkiller and antibiotics and prescription of more antibiotics plus antiinflammatory. So no way I can travel.

Friday morning Mia took off with 2 guys in a small truck with a towing bar. They hit the turnoff at around 4.30 pm. It took them 2 hours just to drive those 35 km to gate 2.... the small truck damn near danced off the road if they travelled at any decent speed due to weight imbalance.

It took them 3 hours to then get back to the main road... as the towing bar kept vibrating lose and fall off. So by 10 pm they were back on tar. Got to Karoi and our bull-bar fell off and split as they had used that to secure the tow-bar... They left Karoi around 1-2 am.

Then the Isuzu damn near pushed them off road downhill when the guy in our car lost control. They knifejacked and nearly went offroad down a cliff.

They were back in Harare around 8.30 am... roughly 24 hours. And Mia was so exhausted she damn near cried when I picked her up. The guys literally said "never call us again if you have problems". Did I mention they encountered hyenas on the dirt road in the dark when they had to stop to fix the towing bar and the guys were scared shit?

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Mana Pools 2010

Here a link to Mana Pools 2010 annual Game count

The count was brilliant with the "small" exception that our car died on the way in to the camp... and what happened in connection with that is worth it's own story but frankly I don't feel ready to write about it yet.

On leave at last

In some ways I am sadly unorganized. Events like Easter, Xmas and other annual holidays always seem to take me by surprise. Another side of that is that I sometimes completely fail to plan for work leave. This also has to do with working as a consultant for many years, you simply take leave when you can.

Anyhow, something happened that made me realise exactly how tired and worn down I was. With understanding from management I went on leave "immediately" and we (that is me and Mia) decided we should go for a beach holiday with the kids.

Whereto now? Would have loved to hit Dar es Salaam or Kenya Mombasa but time- and moneymatters made us decide for Mozambique. After scouting around we found a lodge near Beira, a day drive from Harare basically. Somewhat naively (more on that later) we thought we might commute to nightlife in Beira and decided to take Mia's sister Cynthia along to look after the boys in the evenings. Ha!

At the same time Mia was running to the passport office on a daily basis to get her "3-day" passport produced. It took well over a week... and we decided to have a checkup of the Isuzu before making such a long drive. Turned out to be a very good decision as the mechanic found a problem with a wheelbearing that could have meant a total breakdown somewhere along the road.

Only problem with that was that he could not fix it before the weekend and our plan was to drive on Monday, arriving in the late afternoon. Come Monday we could only plan, pack etc and then wait. By 12 Steve announces the car is ready. Now to decide whether to go or not? In the end we decide to have a go at it and by 2 pm we were on the road, crossing the border by around 5.30 pm.

Why in heaven's name we had not read the instructions from the travel agent before then is anyone's guess. "Please make sure you arrive for the ferry across the lagoon before 5 pm"....

OK now what? Already in Moz it is no point in going back so I thought we would either find a hotel in the nearest town or drive on to Beira and stay overnight there. Turns out Mia had a better idea: relatives in Mafambisi, some 40 km before Beira. Called to uncle Werner who runs a small guesthouse "can you put up 5 beds for the night". The rooms were full but they promised to find a way of hosting us. Around 10 pm (talk about optimistic) we arrived at auntie Elena's small bar/restaurant (called a "kiosk" in Mozambique for some reason). After a nice but very late dinner on fried chicken and chips we stumbled on to various bed quarters.

Following a late and slow breakfast next day we took off towards the lodge, Rio Savannah. Made a stop at Shoprite in Beira for stocking up and drove ca 40 km on a rather bad sand road. Bad as it had rained and parts were more mud than sand. Drive to Beira for nightlife, eh? Well, most importantly we made it!

Were taken by boat across the rivermouth to the basic but neat lodge, soon as we had installed ourselves it was off to the beach. Following that was 5 days of beach, swim, sunset drinks overlooking rivermouth, prawns for dinner and so on. The boys found friends in the other houses and ever so often we found they were gone or the whole crew of kids were in our house. Serious little Sean, 4 years and full of questions such as "why do you have tattoos, why does your daughter (Mia) look like she does" etc still makes me laugh. Wonderfully relaxing and I could have stayed another week though I think Mia would have had a serious case of cabin fever by then. No TV, no radio, no news, no internet.

On the home leg we again stopped over at Elena and Werner for a late, slow brunch. I don't think Mozambiquans quite understand the word "urgent". Then on home, arriving at around 8 pm.

Well, it was well needed and despite the planning glitches good fun. I appreciated meeting Mia's family and I am 100 they loved meeting us and the kids.

Next time it will not take 3 years between beach holidays... see some pictures, unorganised as they are, here.

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Maybe 14 wives is (at least) one too many

You may not be aware of it but polygamy is still widely practiced and legal in many countries in southern and eastern Africa. There is a lively debate going on both among women and men over the virtues and problems with this kind of marriage.

Most would however agree that 14 wives is overdoing it. And that is how many wives King Mswati III of Swaziland has. This has got to do partially with an old tradition of the king marrying a woman every year but at least my guess is that he must be enjoying it as well - traditions can after all change...

But now it seems that one of them have not been too happy with sharing one man with 13 others. One wife has been caught, literally, in bed with another man. And not just any man but a minister in the government and a childhood friend of the king!

I guess one should not laugh at matters like this, especially as the consequenses for the two might become very serious indeed, but I can't help myself!

Just look at the pictures in this online report:

caught in bed, literally..

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Musings on Malawi

Spent a week in Malawi recently, in the capital Lilongwe to be more precise.

Found some interesting political developments. For starters they have built a new Parliament building. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, they used to convene in the President's residence for historical reasons.

But the building itself... think USA Capitol Hill, only larger. No, I am not joking, according to reports it IS larger than Capitol Hill. Pair that with a parkinglot sized for Olympic Games and you have a general impression. Now someting tells me that a small, poor country like Malawi could/should have had problems funding that, wonder where the money was found?

Also the president has decided (more or less on his own it seems) that it is time to change the national flag. Today it features a rising sun at dawn, halfway up. He wants a full, in zenith, sun. The argument: after 46 years of independence it can no longer be dawn for the nation.

Sort of makes sense, but again the cost...

Also I found to my huge surprise that a certain Jim Jumani Johansson from Sweden, a lawyer in his forties, are claiming to be the illegitimate son of Hastings Kamuzu Banda, the country's first president!

As he died without children (officially) this is big news and political dynamite in Malawi and all newspapers are full of theories, reports, stories etc about Jumani.

His mother claims it is all nonsense and he got confused while spending a year in jail (for beating his ex-wife apparently) but he demands DNA-testing. That the Banda family is refusing. No matter how it ends, it is dramatic for Malawians and I will keep an eye on it.

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In the right place at the wrong time

Seems I am constantly in the right place but at the wrong time lately. First I manage to be in Lusaka, Zambia when Brazil soccerteam comes to Zimbabwe to play a friendly warmup for the World Cup. The first time since 1980 a non-African team plays in Zimbabwe and only the 5th time Brazil plays an African team in the last 30 years. Now how much fun is that to miss being there?

Back home for one day. Wash, iron and pack the bag again basically. Off to Bulawayo for a conference. Nice enough as it is with the Zimbabwe SCC Team and we rarely meet all of us at the same time.

BUT - tomorrow the soccer World Cup starts in Southafrica and I will either be stuck here or on the road home. Now, I guess it would be OK to be somewhere here in Bulawayo and watch it but honestly I am homesick. In the last 4 weeks I have spent 2 Saturdays at home and that is NOT enough.

So I guess I will be in a car on the road somewhere between Bulawayo and Harare tomorrow during opening ceremony and the first game. Should be home in time for the second game though!

Keeping fingers crossed that SA makes a good performance in the opening game!

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Reflections from Mozambique

Am sitting at Lichinga Airport waiting for the plane to arrive. As this is Linhea Area Mozambique, LAM, noone has been able to say when I should check in but all agree on one thing: do not use the time written on the ticket. So I was number 2 to check in, almost 3 hours in advance. Just to be sure. That leaves time to do some "reflective thinking".

Mozambique to me is (at least) 2 countries: Maputo and "the rest". And the farther away from Maputo you get the more difference. Look at a map and you will see that Maputo is right at the southern end of the country. It is a place full of hustle and bustle, a "real city" with wide avenues and a bristling business life night and day. Cafés. restaurants, shops etc are everywhere and there is always something going on. People are friendly, it is not difficult to strike a conversation as a stranger in a cafe or bar. I shared beers with mine-removers, football-fans and a number of others last week. On leaving Maputo I found myself standing next to a man ordering double whiskey (very popular drink in Moz, even for lunch sometimes) with Red Bull. Note this is at 7 in the morning... He told me he had not slept for 48 hours and was now on his way to Nampula. His rather upset wife was phoning all the time, small wonder if he had been partying for 48 hours. I ask what he was going to do in Nampula - "I am a financial controller for a World Bank funded organisation"... aha. He then calls another guy who turns out to be Sales Manager for MCel, one of the larger mobile phone companies. He then suddenly remembers he is in Business Class and can drink for free in the business lounge, leaves his nearly untouched drink and disappears. Characters like him seem to be everywhere in Maputo.

I arrive in Lichinga after a most painful flight, this due to a collapsing stomach - probably brought on by a meal of shrimps the day before. My "pick-up" Andreas takes me to the guesthouse where I am to stay, I go straight to bed. Later I recover enough to join him and his wife for an evening meal (a veeeery careful meal) in what is basically the one reliable restaurant in Lichinga.

On waking up the next day it is good I do not have much of an appetite for breakfast. Because it turns out to be fresh bread, coffee and margarin. Finish. There is cornflakes but no milk, it was suggested to me to mix my own using milkpowder. No thanks. There is no cheese, polony, jam etc etc.

In the evening I go for a lonely dinner at 2+1, same resto as the evening before. There is at least one more resto operating but there you never know when you will get your food and if it will be cooked or half raw or burnt. Then to bed to read. At around 8.30 power goes for half of the town and it gets pitch dark. Early bed for sure. Next morning there is understandably no hot water but otherwise breakfast has picked up a bit. There is juice, peanutbutter, jam and even some fruit to go with the bread. Milk too, but no cornflakes this time. To cut the rest short, cheese never showed up but next day cornflakes did and coffee was available. That is OK by Lichinga standards.

It is sort of the opposite of Maputo. Professionalism and hospitality are very very hard to find. If you do not know someone when you enter a restaurant, café or bar you will likely eat and drink alone. Last evening I was picked up by a friend who works for a Swedish forestry company and we had a pleasant evening updating each other on events since last time we met, over a year ago. In the dark as their generator had a problem and there is no "city power" where they live. I guess working with forestry makes you a "long-term person" as he is busy planning exactly how he wants to build his house, not far from where he is staying now. He will have a magnificient view and plans to build a log-house with a sauna etc etc. Well why not if you plan to stay in the area for years on? Will very likely be a house like no other in Lichinga as he also knows how to build - and that kind of knowledge is rare if it even exists in Lichinga.

If you think I am negative you should hear those from Maputo who come here to do whatever short term work. They refuse blank to believe anyone wants to stay here and can not wait for the return to Maputo. I sort of understand them, the attitude towards almost everything is so different. There are many stories as to why this is so, one is that this was the Siberia of Mozambique during the communist days, people were sent here for "re-education". Another talks of the forgotten part of Mozambique and I can sort of agree: if the main road to the province capital is mainly a dirt road and not even tarred then you ask if central government is serious about "development everywhere".

Whatever it is, the place is slowly improving. Compared to when I first started coming here it is way better in terms of infrastructure etc. What would be most welcome would be some sort of "change of mind" in the people. I also strongely believe some sort of Technical College or University for such trades as builders, plumbers, electricians etc would be a great improvement.

Only the future will tell. For now I join the crowd who takes every opportunity to go to Maputo ;-)

On the road again

Am in Maputo, Mozambique. From here it will be Lichinga in the north of Moz. Then home to basically wash, iron and repack the clothes. Off to Lusaka in Zambia, then after returning off to Bulawayo in southern Zimbabwe. Phew.

I really like Maputo, it is a "proper" city compared to most in southern/eastern Africa. A very vibrant, living city centre full of small shops, restaurants, cafés and such, wide avenues full of traffic and people. Every time I come here I wish I could bring Mia along with me to experience it as it would feel great to show her the place.

One thing many may not realise is that in spite of the "break from humdrum" that travel in work may be it is quite often boring. This simply because after work one is often alone and you can only eat/drink etc so many times in an evening. Hanging around bars and clubs do not go well with work or health and as a lonely man often attracts the attention of "single ladies". So quite often you find that eating a lonely meal and following that retiring to the hotel room for TV, a book or the computer is how most of the evenings are spent.

Shoud be able to break that habit this week as I have some friends here (if I can get hold of them) and Friday there is a big festival at the French Cultural Centre - it makes our Alliance Francais in Harare look a shack would next to a luxury house. And Saturday there is the soccer final to be viewed somewhere, hopefully amongst old or new friends. And before that I will somehow get to Costa do Sol by the beach for a good meal. On my own or not!

Is Bilbo a blogger?

Just testing the newly installed Bilbo blogging tool, see Blogilo. Otherwise back at work and in full swing.

Eric started primary yesterday, full of expectations and was basically ready to leave home more than an hour earlier than needed. Will post some photos later of our uniformed boys.

For my part I by pure coincidence found a chiropractor and is now under treatment for the sciatic nerve problem. If it is helping I am still not 100 but at least he took time to explain the problem, showed me on the X-rays and generally seems to know what he is doing. And is organised, most welcome after earlier doctor experiences.

Still have some follow-up visits lined up this week but then I hope not to see any doctor until it is time for bp-check some time in June or so.

Zimbabwe still slowly but surely improving. Let's hope that will be the story all throughout 2010!

Computers and Mana Pools

Just a comment on the sometimes somewhat weird world that happens to be my profession. As I work on my laptop that has Kubuntu Linux as OS I sometimes need to run various versions of Windows for support reasons. I do this by running something called VirtualBox - an environment where I can run other systems "inside" my Kubuntu main OS. That way I have Windows XP Pro, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista installed and can run them without rebooting.

Currently I am testing out next version of Kubuntu Linux, "Karmic Koala", to be released October 2009. And I find it so good that I write this, visit Facebook, chat and check one of my (many...) email lists from within the pre-release of Karmic. So I sort of swap between my main version and the new depending on what I am doing...

Otherwise I am really looking forward to go to Mana Pools next weekend for the annual Game Count. Feel in bad need of a break.

Thoughts on Africa

Interesting article from BBC on Africa and poverty: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8215083.stm
In the same vein Barack Obama has made some statements:
http://tinyurl.com/kr44uc
http://tinyurl.com/l4k75o
A Zimbabwean friend of mine commented "it takes a goffal to call a spade a spade".

5 days driving through East-Central Africa

Back in Harare after a drive with both ups and downs from Nairobi, Kenya to Harare via Tanzania and Zambia. Round 3700 - 4000 km in 5 days..

I think I can safely say that we experienced both the best and the worst sides of this type of long travels and the way people can act towards you.

The traffic situation in Nairobi is the worst I have ever experienced and I will be happy if I never have to experience anything worse. A kind of permanent traffic jam and it can easy take 45 minutes or more just to move from one place to another. Even though we started driving before 5 am to avoid morning traffic it was still tough to get out of town and onto the road towards the border.

Once we reached the border we got stuck for around 2.5 hours.. mainly cause the car we drove had to be "exported" out from Kenya due to it having been "temporarily imported" for such a long time. Waiting in the heat forever was irritating but one of those things you just have to endure.

After that we were making good progress towards Arusha over the Masaii-plains when after an hour or so we hear and feel that one tyre is rapidly losing air. Great, the first flat already. Get all tools out and start removing the flat etc. surrounded by a small crowd of incredibly dirty sheepherding kids.

And now is when the problems begin.. the car in question, an Isuzu KB280 D/Cab, has the sparewheel sitting under the car at the back. Using a hoisting mechanism one is supposed to lower it and then retrieve it. It is "only" that the whole thing refuse to budge more than a quarter round or so.The wheel is definitely not moving. Finally I heave with all might and - the tip of the lever breaks...

Now what to do? I manage to get the broken part out but now the lever does not fit proper and we are getting nowhere. I flag down a truck that is on its way up towards the border and explain our situation, hoping perhaps they have the same type of lever. As it happens they don't but they have plenty more tools than we do. One of manage to hammer the tip of the lever back to shape and then all 3 of us try. And we all agree that it is stuck and the only thing that will happen with more force is that we break the tip once more. Now what to do, we can't drive some 20 km to Arusha on the rim.

One of the guys come up with the idea that it might be possible to remove the whole mechanism with wheel and all from under the car. He crawls under and slowly but surely manage to undo all the bolts and Hurrah! Roughly 1 hour after we stopped the sparewheel is finally free for use. I profusly thank the 2 guys for all help and the amount of time and sweat they sacrifised for us. I hand them some money (tanzania shilling that we dont have too much of yet).

This can serve as one of many examples of the best sides of traveling through Africa and interact with Africans. People are often friendly, unhurried and willing to assist and help whenever they can.

Once we got the tyre fixed in Arusha (new tube, the old had more or less disintegrated) we continued to Moshi. The city lies at the foot of Kilimanjaro, unfortunately very cloudy weather with some rain meant we did not really see more than the lower slopes this time. We found a nice small hotel where we basically collapsed, worn down after a tough first day on the road. After a shower and a dinner (of course we got the waiter that could have been in Fawlty Towers) we crashed in bed to get well deserved sleep.

Next day was completely different. We just drive on along good roads down towards Chalinze where you then either turn down towards Dar es Salaam or up towards the mountains and the borders to Malawi or Zambia. I manage to get hold of old friend Darrin who runs a camping/lodge between Mikumi and Iringa and we made it our goal for the day even though he would not be there. A nice drive through Mikumi National Park where we saw giraffe, elephants and assorted smaller game along the way ended the day.

It is just about dusk when we turn off the road and in to Baoabab Valley. I had not been there since 2001 and I am well aware that it has had problems since but also that they started refurbishing last year. Was hoping for the best so that Mia would not be too disappointed.

Only problem is that the place seems totally empty! After some hooting 2 nice and friendly masaii guys show up, Steven and Jimmi. The situation is that the manager Eric apparently has left for Dar to seek medical treatment, the cook too but to get some leave and the "vice-manager" Oria is in the nearest village to get malaria-treatment.. OK. I explain to Steven that we know Darrin and he has promised us "the River Banda" for a friendly price (Baobab Valley Camp is right next to Ruaha River). Steven carries our suitcase down to the rather grand River Banda, it has got a huge bed and is semi-open to the river. Sadly no power as the generator stopped working and Steven doesn't know how to fix. We refresh with an icecold shower and chill a bit when suddenly the generator roars to life! Only nothing changes in our banda... I go up to the restaurant/bar area and find that Steven had got help from 3 gentlemen who stopped to camp for the night.

Too bad then that our banda is not connected - and that Mia finds a small scorpion in the handbasin. Hm. We kill it and you bet that the sheets were thoroughly shaken before going to bed.

While Mia with some assistance from Steven makes something with eggs to eat (once we fixed that the gas was finished in the kitchen) I go and check on the other visitors. It is hard to believe but on the parking stand 3 Morris Minor ranging in model from -49 to -65 (I think it was).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Minor
In these cars a company of 6 are travelling and planning to drive these oldtimers from Cape Town to London! Beat that! I gave them some information on Dar where they aimed to arrive next day and generally on driving in Tanzania (good roads, plenty of police, roadblocks and villages to slow your progress). Fantastic! Eventually I managed to find some info on the net about their MAD Odyssey.
http://www.morrisminoroc.co.uk/index.php?page=406

Next morning Oria is back and we chat about old memories from Dar, how to continue to improve the Valley and such while Mia makes some breakfast. Then it is off towards our next goal, the border between Tanzania and Zambia. After much thought we decided to drive that route since we count on it taking one day less and we are a bit tired of travelling (spent nearly a week in Nairobi before starting the drive home). We get to the border as the sun starts to set and this is not only one of but THE most chaotic border I have ever experienced.

Luckily I know what to do, what documents to sort and what needs to be paid so in the end it did not take all that long actually. We drive on and are now faced with the next problem: where to stop for the night. Nightdriving in Africa is generally best avoided and on these truck- and busroutes definitely not recommended. I called a friend in Lusaka and asked for advice, he recommended the small town Mpika som 300 km from the border.

And now we sadly run into problems again. We had just passed the turnoff to some small place and were starting to worry over how far we had left, if nothing else because it was quite some time since we filled up diesel. We saw a number of buses that had stopped on the side of the road (it is by now pitch dark) and decide to stop and ask someone. Mia turns off towards the "oncoming" side of the road as the drive side is full of parked buses. She then sees a man in reflecting clothes waving frantically from the "drive side" of the road. Thinking it is police or something waving to her (you have no idea of the amount of roadblocks we had been through) she crosses the highway. From behind comes a bus that did not manage to break in time but hits us in the back. It is of course the bus the man is waving for...

Now follows the less nice side of people in Africa. Out of nowhere a sort of mob quickly gathers that are trying to get in the car, get me and Mia out and for some reason seem set to either steal or beat us up or both. It feels rather nasty and Mia is also very upset and trying to argue about who's fault is the accident. I manage to get round the car to her side and a police in civilian clothes has also appeared and is trying to calm things down. A bunch of pissed off buspassengers contribute to the commotion as does the fact that quite a few people are obviously drunk.

The police finally manage to quiet things down and we drive the car some 30 meters to a roadblock (why did we not spot that and stop there...).. After this follows hours of discussions, interrogations of the drivers and witnesses, various police get involved (the most senior notably drunk), negotiations etc before we take our car together with the bus driver and police to the nearest station, 45 km in the wrong direction. After paying fines comes the next problem: there is nowhere to make a copy of license and documents in the middle of the night. Argh.

After some discussion we agree with the busdriver to "codrive" to Mpika and meet the buscompany agent there. He can then copy the documents early next morning, give us the originals and then we continue. Fine, we get there, meet the guy, are shown to a motel where we crash into bed, completely wasted, at 2.30 am.

Following a quick breakfast some hours later we meet up with Peter at the fuel station. Now we find out there is no power in Mpika and it is said to stay that way - for 2 days until Monday... aaargh once more. Eventually we agree that Peter comes with us some 400 km to a larger city where he can copy documents and then meet his boss. We manage to copy along the way and then part with Peter. Once we hit Lusaka at the end of this day it is all about shopping a bit, eat some food and just watch TV and catch up on lost sleep. The last leg home the next day goes via the small Kariba Dam border, a very conscious choice by me as I know buses and trucks are not allowed via that border. Thankfully the drive is very non-dramatic and we arrive home in good order.

Having arrived home I noticed that 5 days in a car was an excellent way to mature a Gouda cheese we bought in Nairobi, yum. The children are still in Nairobi and will be home in a couple of days.

Zimbabwe is in a sad state and the circus surrounding the election outcome continues. While we were gone the rate for 1 USD fell from round 65 million zimdollar to around 115 million.. and a bag of peanuts cost 73 millions last I checked. A lunch sandwich with cheese and sandwich meat costs 70 million. Welcome to Ha-ha-harare, fun capital of Southern Africa.

Will scan and post some photos from the trip later!