We headed back over from Zanzibar to Dar the day after Boxing Day. Just before leaving the lodge we discovered a scorpion in the bathroom, which Ric subsequently squashed. Immediately it was surrounded by a million ants who efficiently removed the corspe within about 15 mins!
We got back to the mainland at about 4 and headed back to Mikadi Beach and the roof tent. After several nights in the lodge it was a bit of a struggle to get back in to the sandy, baking hot tent again. After another restless nights sleep, we packed up and headed in to Dar to visit the Landrover garage again. We had the exhaust fixed and also changed the alternator to a brand new one - hopefully Monty will charge the fridge a little quicker now as this one pushes 100amps rather than the standard 65amps.
We spent most of the day wandering around Dar waiting for the garage to finish. We had lunch in a very nice place - Chefs Place I think it was called. Dar has quite a laid-back feel to it - probably because it so stifflingly hot and humid that no-one walks around fast. Ric has been on a mission for about 2 weeks now to find a gas lamp for us to use. Despite asking everywhere and seeing them used all over the place we seem to be unable to buy one anywhere. There doesn't even seem to be a swahili word for it. The search goes on.
At about 4 we managed to get away from the garage and decided to drive a little out of Dar so we could avoid the traffic the next day. We ended up staying on the Northern side of the city in a resort/campsite next to the sea called Silver Sands, a bit run down but habitable. Unable to face another sandy experience in the tent we forked out for an air-conditioned room. We had the best nights sleep in ages!
We drove the next day the long long 9 hour drive to Marangu - a town in the foothills of Kilimangaro - with one thing in mind, a cool breeze. We absolutely love being next to the Indian Ocean, but the humid heat is unbearable at times. The drive was a beautiful one, through lush vegeatation and, apart from a 60km stretch of dirt, on tarred roads. We stopped for lunch at what looked like a very popular service station. For around £3 each we had a big lunch of rice, noodles, chicken, another meat (probably goat) and veg - yum!
We arrived in Marangu and found a rather nice campsite which gets a view of Kili in the morning around 6am (after that it clouds over). A very colonial supper of roast chicken, potatoes and cauliflower followed with white table cloths and napkins. We even managed to get a cheese course at the end! Several bottles of 'Safari' and 'Serengeti' followed. Despite searching we still couldn't find a gas lamp today.
We awoke this morning and managed to get a good view of the snow-capped peak of the mountain. We investigated about the cost of climbing to the top and we're completely horrified to discover that we'd be looking at around $1700 EACH for a 6-day climb. Thanks, but no thanks. Instead we decided to do a walk around the foothills and to the waterfall at Marangu - substantially cheaper and less exhaustive.
Our guide, Benedict, was a lovely chap who walked us through a Chugga (the local tribe) village and to two waterfalls. We saw an assortment of plants and wildlife, including a chamellion (is that how you spell it?). At the second waterfall we bumped in to a wedding party having some photographs done before the ceremony. The bride looked about 15 years old and Benedictt explained that her family will have probably selected her husband for her - hope they picked a good one!
We also heard all about the legend of how the waterfall got its name. Apparently a local girl tried to throw herself off it in a suicide attempt after falling pregnant out of wed-lock. She chickened out at the last-minute though and as she turned away she got eaten by a leopard. How awful! The morale of the story seemed to be though, from what I read, that this was because she couldn't escape her fate after her fornication. Still, could have been worse, another punishment for fornicators was apparently to be speared to the ground and left there to die. Isn't Sharia law just lovely!
The good news for today is that we finally found a gas lamp. The bad news is that I left it by the wheel of Monty and Ric drove over it - Doh! Ric got the rage, I laughed.
I also promised to put Benedict's details up on the site, he's a very good guide, speaks good English and is a nice chap worth emailing him if you're visiting Kilimanjaro: benedictmatto@yahoo.com