Thursday 24 May 2012

On a Plea for HELP

As you may know we are now home...it is interesting and at the same time disorientating to be experiencing the the vast array of 'STUFF' we surround ourselves with. We definitely intend to de-clutter our lives and in doing so we hope to collect as much 'stuff' as possible, we can either sell or collect together for our chosen cause. 

To that end we have started our own charity project with the intention of raising £25,000 for the purchase and supply (direct) of a 4x4 ambulance. The charity is called the Alkebulan Ambulance Project and this link will take you to a website that describes what it is and what we are hoping to achieve. It would be great if as many of you as possible sign up to the project pages so you can be informed whenever we post an update or create an event. 

The whole scheme links back to the pages on this blog when we traveled up to the Mufindi Highland's and met the remarkable Geoff Fox whose amazing project to create the Children's Village, Community Centre and Hospital is one of the most worthy enterprises we have ever seen.

In advance can we thank you all for reading and we hope you'll come on board, it promises to be a real journey that will change the lives of thousands of African men, women and children living in a remote part of the world.


A&Z 2012

Thursday 17 May 2012

On the long goodbye

As with all good things there comes a point in your lives when things change. For us it is that time when this part of the African adventure has to cease to be. Tonight we sat around the dining table and had our meal with a degree of contemplative quiet. Now quiet in this family is a relative term, so as you can imagine it simply meant that Joshua wasn't shouting just talking loudly.

Zanner had said she was going to be sad to leave to which Zach concurred. It made me think, and I told everyone that this wasn't the end of anything, we were simply going on the next adventure. That every ending is simply the beginning of the next. I just don't see that we are finished here or that we are heading for a period of quiet reflection that lasts until the boys are off doing their own thing.

We have all been very comfortable here, that is to say the place fits our spirit, we have easily adapted to the lack of creature comforts even if the lack of electricity or decent internet can be somewhat vexing it is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

The boys have, we hope, gained something from all of this as it was always our wish that they would somehow find an alternative view to the commercial and egocentric attitudes we are surrounded by in the UK. But above all I hope that they have continued to stoke the fires of adventure and daring do that burns within both Zanner and I. In six months they have physically grown, as can be seen below, but they have also grown closer. Their ability to share endless hours of play and discussion has been wonderful to see, and at times their unrequited love for one another is a shield against the upset they sometimes feel. 




To mark the end of this particular journey we threw a small get together at the compound to celebrate what has been a wonderful six months. Zanner was very much under the weather, unfortunately one of many ills to have befallen her over the period. But she soldiered on and we produced a good old shin dig. As many couldn't be here as could come, this was HASH day after all, but some of our friends had already left the country to return home after their tour of duty. The kids all had a great time racing around the gardens with numerous bits of grub and sticks with which to beat up on one another.

All in all it went well and we have made connections that will no doubt continue to challenge us to keep traveling around the world. NEXT STOP....watch this space.


A few new close friends

King of his tribe, Zach is a natural leader.


"The purpose of this blog was not to bore any family or friends who found time to read it, in fact for those of you that have we hope you have enjoyed the journey with us, and of course a profound thank you for taking the time. But, the real purpose was to create something we could turn into a document to give to the boys, a kind of diary for the 21st Century. With that in mind we know that they will not read it today or tomorrow, but maybe in time it will be one of a collection of 'blogs' that chart our many adventures. In it we hope that you both read and understand how much we love you and that these adventures are the building blocks of what we hope will be lives full of excitement and daring do."

A&Z  (13/05/2012)

Sunday 13 May 2012

On Cops and Carnage

I thought I should give a separate entry to two of the most ubiquitous issues the road user faces when traveling through Tanzania, namely the police and Tanzanian traffic.

This guy didn't need to see our extinguisher just our $!
I won't bore you too much on the first as we have detailed many of our experiences throughout the journey in previous blogs. Our encounters have ranged from the perfunctory to the bureaucratic, but unfortunately no matter what the approach there is always an undertow of corruption.

To hold office as a police officer here is not it would seem something one enters for community reasons. Now I am not saying this is the case in the UK, but those officers I know that have forged a career in the British police force all seem to have a sense of upholding a higher purpose. Anyway it would seem it is not the case here in Tanzania, if it were those that I have experienced and those that others have described wouldn't be so easily swayed to accept a personal contribution rather than receive the state appointed fine.

You could argue that this is compounded by the white mans readiness to seek a cheaper way out, but believe me, having been through the whole process of going to the police station to pay the requisite fine, you are deemed to be working against the accepted culture and are treated as a fool. We have experienced the most bizarre performances where the officer has struggled to find the appropriate way of seeking a payment without just coming to the crux and asking outright for money to allow us to proceed.

There also seems to be a link between physical girth and the successful appropriation of funds between officers. Now the average Tanzanian will judge success, ergo wealth, by weight. Many of those you see who run businesses here have not held back on the carbs, but then again you can't blame them as running a business here is no easy undertaking. The police however are not self employed (although there seems to be an element of self employment), but then again they are not particularly underplayed in the great scheme of things. Therefore, one cannot argue that the personal fund system is a result of poor pay, so why? It seems that there is a hierarchical system in place in which being a police officer puts you someway up the bribe ladder. I am told that the income has to be shared with the senior officers which simply compounds the problem.

Unfortunately, the police are a reflection of what happens further up the food ladder. Only four days ago a group of senior ministers and their associated under minsters were sacked for corrupt behavior.

This piece is not a complaint it is simply an observation, in fact I would go further. The prime minister Kweite has at least taken the bold step of removing those found to be corrupt...maybe a lesson our own government could one day get a handle on?

The traffic for which the noble officer has to manage is something altogether different. Now vehicles here are simply a receptacle for inserting as many items per cubic centimeter as it is humanly possible to cram. Don't get me wrong I have seen similar in other places around the world, but I have never seen the carnage that results from this practice as much as here.

The vehicles here all need three key documents, insurance (which costs so little you know it to be worthless), registration (not that this has to match the car) and of course a fire extinguisher certificate??? This confused me a little, I know it is common practice across the EU, but then again the other strictures on car ownership are far more detailed. So the fire extinguisher seems to serve very little purpose, I can say to because so long as you have paid the fire department for the small round certificate to place in you windscreen no check is carried out on the actual device. Some of the extinguishers I have seen would serve very little purpose in a fire situation beyond smashing a window to allow the fire to spread.

Most of the vehicles you see would not gain a valid MOT, other than those driven by the more rotund residence. Tyres are generally good for turning into sudo-Masai footage to be sold at the local tourist traps. Most windscreens look like a pattern for crazy paving and emissions are pretty much equivalent of any coal fired power station. Lights can only be used on full beam on a night time and then only if you have at least one that doesn't work at all. The complete lack of roadworthiness applies to any and all vehicles...including emergency services.

Picki picki's are treated much like any other vehicle in the sense that it seems to be believed hat they are designed to carry up to three passengers plus rider and any amount of equipment can be tied to the frame. I have seen 12 crates used for coke bottles, lengths of wood that defy gravity and a goat!

Now the beyond the myriad of Picki picki's (motorbikes), taxi's, and cars you have the three most feared vehicles, namely the ubiquitous Dala Dala, this usually takes the form of a 16 seat minivan made by Toyota, the Chinese/Indian coach and the land train or articulated lorry.

The Dala Dala is the most common way for people to travel within regions, although you may spot them doing much longer journeys. They have 16 seats, but again this is a rather arbitrary figure, as with a little ingenuity you can get at least thirty paying guests onboard. Now I know the Japanese are sticklers for testing their vehicles and I am sure that the suspension tests may have taken into account 16 larger than the typical Japanese demographic before being signed off. However, is it really possible they contemplated 25 passengers, three to four drivers/drivers mates, two touts hanging off the side door trying to drum up custom, two double mattresses over slung on the roof, 6 twenty five ltr water carriers hanging off the back, not to mention the four tyres in different levels of repair/tread wear all running on a kerosene/diesel mix? I don't know but I kinda think not! I have to say some of the most horrendous wrecks I have seen involve these Dala Dala's notably because you can only imagine the amount of injured the crash will have involved.

The next contestant for scary driver is the coach driver. Treated much in the same way the Dala Dala in terms of use of space, this vehicle is labeled 80kmph. Now stupidly I thought this meant maximum speed, not as is the case MINIMUM! These things are just the worst for tailgating and maneuvering as though the driver is on acid. But on saying that I have to admit not seeing one in the two thousand plus km we covered at the side of the road in a mangled mess. I don't put this down to The skill of the drivers, I believe that where they do crash the sheer impact simply obliterates any evidence of them ever existing.

That leaves the big trucks, these are an amalgam of both of the above. Poor condition vehicles psychopathic drivers, completely packed to the rafters these things are like road kill here. We saw some awful accidents along the way involving these trucks and I lost count of the amount ofttimes I had to swerve to the left to avoid being hit at 100kmph plus as the truck straddled the white line. I think they clearly to too literally the part of their license that tells them to tear down the dotted line.




      WARNING! - WARNING! - WARNING! - WARNING!  


The following photos were taken during our road trip, many happening on just one day. Some of them are pretty horrific in terms of the structural mess that is left after impact. There is little left to the imagination in terms of the possibility of survivors so please do not view the following if you are of a nervous disposition.

This involved a petrol tanker and two haulage trucks, there was nothing left of the cab of the vehicle on the right, all the occupants died on the scene.  
As above
This articulated lorry simple overturned coming down the hill having come around a right hander. The load was clearly unsecured inside and will have created a pendulum effect at the speed he came around the corner.
This guy was the luckiest, he came around a corner as such speed and was only stopped from going down a huge drop by the railing he completely out.
As far as crashes go this was tame, a huge truck cab had simply swerved off the road, no doubt avoiding an oncoming truck.
In contrast to the two photos above this guy was not nearly so lucky. You have to imagine the speed at impact the driver must have been going to create such a mangled mess.
This again was a low speed corner taken too fast with no doubt an unsecured internal load.
Given the right hand driver nature of the cab he would have been worse for wear.
Believe it or not this guy was driving uphill, a steep uphill, no wind, clear road, but damp. The speed he must have hit that bend you can see in the background is astonishing as he took out a huge section of the banking behind him.

For all that it has to be said giving the state of the roads things do keep moving and there are massive road building projects underway...none of which hinders the road road user as it seems this place is the complete antithesis to the UK when it comes to road works. That is to say, where there is a road works machine there will actually be someone using it, where there is a sign that says men at work, there really will be men at work and where a lane is closed the work will have already occurred to allow the traffic to move freely on an alternate route! 

On a side note to this, and I acknowledge the complete disdain for which the police are held here, I have to say that when it comes to RTA's they really do draw the short straw.

In my search for a bit more information I attended the road traffic station and talked to three officers about the protocols for RTA's. It would seem that there is no ambulance service or for that matter a skilled fire service to attend RTA's along with the police. In fact it is the police who must act for all the services we would see in the UK. Therefore, the task of removing bodies is left to the police using a surgical rubber glove and a hacksaw!

They then either take the body to the mortuary in their car/truck or the hospital if their are injured. The appalling, almost ridicules part to all this is that a lot of the time an injured driver will first be whisked off to the police station for a statement and production of documents. I was told by a KCMC physio that he saw a double compound fracture being taken to the station rather than the hospital because the driver did not have a fire extinguisher tax disc?

This is all that is left of a twin cab truck...the engine was mostly in the cabin.

This is a Dala Dala that has will no longer carry passengers, or the driver! 




On the road: What Josh, Zac and Zanz thought!

We went to the Usambara mountains at the place you can get the “best breakfast in Tanzania” which was taka taka (rubbish in Swahili!) We went for a 1km walk to the Irente viewpoint that was not taka taka as it was a great view which Mummy took lots of pictures of which made us very bored!  The next day we went to Tan-Swiss lodge that was very cheap cheap that made Daddy very happy.  It had double beds and a big TV in our room which made Josh and I very happy and a very big playground with swings, see-saw and a roundabout.  The next day we went to Mikumi National Park which was next door and the first thing we saw was trees!  We drove all over the park and we accidentally went down a path where we were surrounded with tsetse flies and sprayed insect repellant in the car which suffocated us all.  We went down a giant track that got us stuck in the mud for a while but luckily my Dad was in the army so he could drive us out.  We went to the hippo pool and saw a big, big croc that was eating a catfish.  Later Daddy got out of the car and the croc turned round and snapped at him as he is so attractive (not!).    

My favourite bit of the road trip was going to Kisolanze Farm because I liked the dogs and watching the cows.  By  Zac HT

We went to a lovely coffee shop in Iringa where we had yummy chocolate brownies.  We then drove along a very bumpy road to Ruaha National park where we slept in tiny green bandas with no electricity and a paraffin lamp for light.  There were giraffes walking along and eating from the high trees when we arrived.  The next morning we saw 10 lions coming out of the Boys toilet on the airstrip.  We drove right next to one and it was trying to eat Mummy (it wasn’t) and then Mummy screamed (I did not!).  We stayed at a place called Ruaha River Lodge which had a bar and there were Fox badges.  At Kisolonze farm lodge we saw baby cows called calves trying to get to their Mummys and they had to swim through chemicals that could burn your eyes.  These chemicals were to stop them getting sick.  The next day we went to a place high up in the hills and it was called Mufindi Highland Lodge.  They had sheepdogs and one loves children so Zac and I played with it and there were ticks on the dogs.  We went on a horse and saw the fish which were trout.  Then we fed the fish.

My favourite bit of the road trip was playing with the dog.  By Josh HT

I am amazed to tell you that we had a FANTASTIC road trip and the boys were brilliant in the car in spite of having no in car entertainment.  A friend kindly lent us some travel games and we whiled away many hours playing travel bingo, although trying to find a large animal sculpture proved challenging!  We travelled right into southern Tanzania and it was a brilliant way to see the country.  

The Usumbara mountains are so beautiful and everywhere was green and luscious and even the steep slopes were covered with crops as the rainy season is the main source of food for many months. Mikumi and Ruaha National Parks were amazing and although we did not have a pop up roof it was brilliant to be on safari as a family.  Aaron took us down challenging tracks where we almost got stuck in the mud but then we would drive out into the most amazing plain in the midst of zebras, giraffes, impalas all staring at us in surprise and we were all surrounded by indigo smudged mountains and green, tall grass swaying gently in the wind.  We hardly saw another vehicle in either national park and I was grateful to my adventurous stubborn husband taking us to places I would not have dared go alone!  It was truly amazing and I even managed to persuade Aaron to have one night of luxury on safari where we stayed in Ruaha River Lodge and sat in armchairs listening to hippos roaring in the water.  Later I watched the reflection of the full moon on the rippling water and thought how lucky we are to be here. 

Other highlights have to be being so close to the lions coming out of the Gents toilet!  The lions paced passed, looking at us with big amber eyes, slightly perturbed at being disturbed and stalked back into the bush to keep their eye on possible lunch in the form of impalas up on the hill.  To my surprise I loved going to new places each day and meeting new and fascinating people and hearing their stories. 

Mufindi Highland Lodge was set 40km up a hill along a windy dirt track surrounded by deep green tea plantations, which used to belong to Brook Bond.  The vista was marvellous – green hills and lakes as far as you could see – and all developed by the Fox family from land given to them from the local villages.  We could see why the land was left undisturbed after independence as I am sure the Government officials probably didn’t know it existed!  The Fox’s have set up a NGO which has an amazing childrens’ village to care for the large number of orphans usually orphaned due to HIV which is very high in the area due to the large number of transient workers.
Could be Scotland, dog from Kenya!
Cows got the hump with all the photos
Spock as a cow
My favourite bit of the road trip was that Aaron organised it all and wrote the blog! By Zanz HT

On the road: day 9

This driver just popped in.
Today's blog is short in length but long in distance travelled. We covered 667.6km door to door, from Tan Swiss Lodge in Mikumi to the doctors compound at KCMC. There was nothing particularly notable about the day other than how well the boys coped with being in the car for 9 hours especially given the high temperatures.

The corruption cops were out in force and I have to admit we completely ignored three of the with speed guns who were pointing at us to pull in. We were traveling at a speed that I thought highly likely to show 106kmph and I really had gotten to the end of my patience with their blatant extortion.

However, we did eventually get pulled over at a particularly slow spot and we joked with the rotund bobby who was desperate to find something he could use to induce a fine. He eventually pointed to a crack in the windscreen and we embarked upon a comedy moment where we talked our way out of the situation whilst he tried to negotiate some kind of kickback. It all passed with good humor and a typically Africa handshake of mutual friendship.

That was pretty much it for the journey, of course we managed to play spot the carnage along the way and there will be a separate montage of some of the kinds of things that we saw as we thought you should get a flavour for how shocking some of the accidents are.

The boys were happy to be back and they promised to do a road trip reflections entry. So 2707km covered for our final road trip in Tanzania. I don't believe it is the final African adventure, already we have spoken about were and how, so maybe further blogs will be required. This part of the adventure has been great fun and quite an education, it has been wonderful to see the boys grow closer together as they have shared time without the distraction of others. Although a back seat with soundproofing is a highly recommended optional extra that should be made available in all overland vehicles.

Leather seats are not comfortable and diesel engines are really noisy, any car without an air-con option saves lots of fuel but requires numerous t shirts to maintain comfort. 4x4 should be muddy and be capable of having a bucket of water thrown inside them to clean out the foot wells, anyone without this option should rethink their need for a 4x4. On the road bingo is a great game for the kids as is the need to have your own personal iPod for when things get too loud from the back seats.


Zac and Josh Tan Swiss swan song
Almost home as Kili floats on the clouds and into view.
Finally, Toyota may not make beautiful 4x4's like the quintessential Land Rover, but in terms of reliability and strength I would highly recommend a Land Cruiser for any of you who want to do an overland trek that involves real world off road adventure. 

On the road: day 8

The project leader
Today was to be a long day as we had decided to take a chunk out of the distance back to Moshi, but we firstly had to honor a promise to look around the charitable development the Fox's had carried out in the area. Zanner had also offered to look at any of the children that may need medical care.

The children's village that has been built is truly amazing, with six schools to educate a large range of children the project boasts its own community hall and will soon have an adult computer lab. You have to take into account this has all been built high in the mountains and the level of commitment is like nothing we have seen before. To power the place there are numerous generators but one of the sons is in the process of building a hydro electric system to bring a more consistent power supply.

Mmmm. ok I'll take this one. Do you wrap them?
The children were fantastic and looked very happy, more importantly they looked loved by the house parents whose role is to give these orphans the kind of support that we all aspire to give our own children. There are many HIV issues in the area but this doesn't daunt the Fox's, in fact I would say that they rather see this as a minor challenge in the grand scheme of things.

We didn't get a chance to see the hospital and outreach clinic that they have built but we are going to get more info about these I time to come. The one thing that they are really struggling with is being able to bring care to the villages and bring in the sick to the hospital. We discussed at length how we could look into raising funds to buy a vehicle that could be converted in to an ambulance in the UK, maybe an ex army land-rover or the like as it would have to be able to manage the inhospitable terrain. If anyone has any ideas we will be happy to hear from you.
With twins...I remember when Zac and Josh used to be this good.

Oh no I've only got four fingers...Daddy, your being stupid again



And over there is where you can shove your advice
Who needs a bird?













After lunch we set out with the intention of making it as far a Mikumi, 320km. The reality was that this would involve driving on the suicide roads in the dark and, although we didn't talk about it Zanner and I recognized this was far from ideal given what we had seen the during the journey down this far south.
Every man will build a castle no matter how out of place


House guest at Geoff Fox's new house
The boys were great the whole journey, playing road bingo with Zanner no end of times, although the decibel level inside the car did little to aid the concentration. We had only covered 200km by the time it had gotten dark and the next 100km were fraught with huge artics and road trains hurtling along the mountain roads. Of course we came upon fresh carnage with one lorry managing to overturn on an uphill corner which defied gravity which only goes to show how fast he must have been traveling.

Tea...tea pickers...taken by tea drinker
Ring a ring a...nah I'm bored of that.
The world awaits me
Yes we can
We eventually arrived at Swiss Tan Lodge and were given the same bungalow much to the  joy of the boys who remembered immediately that it had a TV. Back to top and tailing, but without any hassle so, i am sat writing hoping they will sleep well so that they can deal with tomorrows epic journey home, approx 600kms. Only time will tell! 

On the road: day 6 & 7

The sun hadn't risen on our Banda before Zanner's alarm roused us from a pleasant slumber reminding anyone still cocooned that she had promised herself a game drive to see leopards. I think the men in the family were still far to sleepy to protest and somehow we found ourselves on autopilot getting in to the car and taking off to meet the rising sun.

It was not long before we saw the usual suspects walking towards the river to get their refreshments whilst hopefully avoiding been eaten. However, these same animals looked at us in abject horror, no doubt noting that this was not a reasonable time for a Hudson-Tyreman to be out of bed. Josh protested by hiding under a blanket whilst Zac feigned interest with a cursory nod in the direction of 'yet another impala!'

We eventually arrived at our destination, a large mountainous outcrop resplendent in its post wet season vegetation. This was, we were told, is the place to see leopards, how many there are in this area they did not know. Now this was quite some outcrop, in fact that doesn't really describe the sheer scale of this thing in the slightest, it takes an hour to drive around and stands 500mtrs at least. In the UK we call these mountains, but every thing has a comparative scale here and given the vastness of the park I suppose where the map says 'hill' it has to use the sheer enormity of the park as a scale. As for leopards, well we saw lots of interesting rocks, a lot of trees and bushes, even some rock hyrax, but alas no leopard. But then again there could have been 100 pairs of eyes watching us and we wouldn't have seen them, camouflage and an ability to be still is a major facet of this beast. Conversely two shouty boys in a large white 4x4 may have telegraphed our presence allowing any potential sighting an opportunity to melt in to the fauna strewn outcrop.

After a quick turnaround back at the river lodge we headed out of the park back to Iringa for a spot of lunch and to stock up on car parts (inner tube, wiper blades, fluids). There remained a short hop to the next stop over at Kisolonze Farm Lodge, all round 250km for the day. Iringa and the trip to the farm was uneventful as we managed to avoid most of the bone shaker road as we learnt of another route out that took us along what is called the never ending road, named because it is one hell of a long straight road (42km) much of which is visible at certain points along the way.

By the time we arrived at the farm everyone was pleased to leave the car and Zanner decided she would go for a walk with the boys...Zac ended up staying back very soon after the start as he and Josh decided to beat up on one another with sticks. He and I ended up at the bar where we took our soda's and met some of the other visitors. Zanner had gone with Josh to see some of the farm animals, namely the sheep who were reared there. It was not long before a confused mother and son arrived where we were situated where upon she informed us, and the manager, that she couldn't find the sheep so asked one of the farm workers...not knowing the Kiswahili word for sheep did the very British thing of sounding out the sound they make. Baah baah! He therefore did the logical thing and sent her off to the bar. Well we found it very amusing.

Hiding in here is a leopard. Can you spot him....no neither could we
Looks like a candle tree...Ah now I get the name!
Early mornings just suck all your energy
A room with a view...there is a theme here
Even this water buffalo skull has more hair than daddy
There is a horn joke here somewhere!
Why does Josh look permanently to be up to something?
Trying to throw mummy from the bridge
HIPPO
Amateur old man with up and coming David Bailey
All this shutter speed and light balance can be tiring. 


The accommodation here is an add on to the very productive farm and serves up camping site facilities alongside wonderful lodges all sat within a stunning woodland setting. Over dinner we met a Dutch couple who had built an overland truck having sold their business and have travelled extensively throughout Africa for 7 months, with another 3 to go. But our world shrank when we met the white East African owners daughter who was born in Tanzania, schooled in Kenya and read literature at Leeds University, living just round the corner from our house during the period we lived there; A small and crazy world.


Day 7

Morning started much like any on a working farm, Zac and I went to help with dipping the 350 head of cattle! This was followed by the best breakfast in Tanzania so far, I know this might be becoming a bit of a bug bare but guide books need to get a grip. Kisolonze has been in the hands of the G???? family for four generations and the original farm house is chocolate box perfect, with gardens to match. We were given a tour of the area which included an amazing vegetable plot and sheep pen. All in all a highly recommended place to stay and one which we committed to return to following our furthest southern stop over at Mufindi Highland Lodge.

Following breakfast we were given a different type of tour, the Dutch couple offered to show us round their overlander truck...we now have new aspirations for travel as this really was a sight to behold. Not much can match human ingenuity when it comes to transport and what this chap had done in creating and customising his Mann Truck was remarkable. With a quad bike in the rear section, a fantastically fully kitted kitchen and bathroom that would grace any high quality apartment, they really were traveling first class on the road. This thing was a behemoth with wheels as big as Josh and a cabin from the starship enterprise we could only imagine what it must cost to fill the 700ltr fuel tank. As I said they were trekking around Africa for a year, but have plans to visit both Scandinavia and Alaska, in this truck I think round the world would be possible so long as you could afford the fuel.

Daydreaming we packed up and headed to our next destination 100km down the road but 1850mtrs high to Mufindi Highland Lodge. Nestled in the tea plantations once owned by Brook Bond this lodge is part of a group of Lodges owned by the Fox family, amongst which is Rhuha River Lodge. High and cold, the lodge benefits from amazing woodland views with rivers and plantations all around. The couple who own this and many others like it around Tanzania are a dear old English team who have worked tirelessly to provided infrastructure to the area. Not only do they employ many of the locals they have built schools, hospitals and an orphanage. They have created a trout farm, a sustainable tree planting project as well as now building an airstrip through which their sons air support project can operate.

Zanner and the boys went off for a horse ride not long after we arrived and had lunch. I went off armed with a fishing rod and oar to paddle around one of the large lakes which supposedly was full of black bass. I am not a fisherman, have no pretensions to be one, but I thought why not give it a go. The answer is simple, it is a bloody stupid waste of time, especially here where the fish actively taunt you by swimming around the boat whilst ignoring the lure you have been assured they will love. Suffice to say it was not long before I was running through the woods instead as this was by far much more fun.

The boys came back whilst Zanz went off for a longer ride, so we took the opportunity to have tea and eat all the chocolate cake. We have already turned our minds to the fact we shall be returning home in five days and it has started to dawn on us that this is more of a beginning than an end and that maybe there will be more of these kind of adventures to come. I think I shall apologize now to any and all who we put through the blog reading in the future.

The evening passed with a fireside chat with our hosts as we are the only guest. It is quite enthralling to hear about the changes that have occurred in East Africa, but unfortunately very few have been for the better. Our observation that there is quite a bit of low level corruption is amplified ten fold, we are told, at all levels of government. It is sad to hear but at the same time the Fox's say that although they maintain a life in the UK they believe Africa is their true home and for all that seems to be wrong so much is right. Geoffrey Fox regaled us in stories of the lack of building control, health and safety and all the other bureaucratic issues that are involved in building a home that have allowed them to build some amazing structures here that simply work and have done so for many many years. At the same time his wife, Victoria, tells of the time she needed to have a bridge built and how she and the then Minister in charge of such things helped bribe a local official so she could acquire one from under the nose of the President who was also looking to have a bridge for his home village.

We finished the night with our two tired but happy boys listening to music besides a roaring fire in our lodge whilst our Masai guard sat out on the veranda under the Southern Cross set in a wonderful moonlit night.

On the road: day 5

Today's plan was simple, get up super early and head out on a day break game drive. Part one involved getting the boys out of bed, now given their propensity for waking us up at ridicules o clock most of the time you would think this was easy...not. Zach in truth managed to get himself together enough to be mildly polite about the time of day, Josh however was resolutely stuck to his pit and refused to move. I will spare you the details but a moany boy was eventually poured into his clothes with teeth brushed and hair curled. This was the fastest I have ever seen the tribe get ready and into the car, wonders will never cease on this trip.

The sun was just starting to rise and we were off...for about 100 yards when I thought the car was being a bit sluggish, maybe disengage the 4 wheel drive? Job done back in the car, still a bit sluggish, in fact more so...mmmm that will be the flat tyre that I hadn't noticed. Luckily we were very near the park HQ who had a large garage facility. I changed the tyre with Zac's help and handed over our tyre to a guy for puncture repair. During this time Zanz was informed that there was a lion nearby so for the next 20 mins all we heard, in between confused questions about how the whole tyre, inner tube, wheel worked, was her saying she didn't want to miss the lion and couldn't we just set off without the spare so we could see it? This wasn't going to happen so we amused ourselves by feeding velvet monkeys who at the same time tried to climb in the car. Zach and Josh decided that the monkeys were an invading army and started to stock pile rocks and sticks. Armistice was soon declared and we had our tyre sorted within the hour.

This is becoming a bit tyresome!

Like daddy but with more hair.

Same again really.






















Zannah was not overly joyous about the time taken but going without a spare would have led to unfathomable misery had we had another puncture. Within 200 meters of leaving the camp we came across a large pride of lions visiting the small runway toilet, probably only used by David Attenborough and the occasional oligarch who flew in to the area. We followed the pride of three male and seven females and at one point they passed within touching distance of the car...awesome.


Ok everyone been to the loo before we go a huntin?
Erm I wouldn't use the gents for a while........sorry
Oh god I hope they haven't used up all the loo roll?

We are now sat at breakfast looking out over Ruahah River so I will add to this later.

It is now later, we spent the afternoon at Zanner's much sought after treat accommodation, Rhuha River Lodge. This is one of the Foxes group of lodges in the south of Tanzania, a rather more upmarket type of lodge for the fly ins who use the airstrip mentioned before. What they made of our rag bag outfit heaven knows, but it would seem at this time in the season our dollars are as good as anyone's. Which reminds me of a peculiarity of Tanzanian money exchange, you get a lesser rate for a 1996 $100 dollar bill than a 2003, why? No one could explain, by that I mean they did try but it made little to no sense at all!

Today we managed over 100km round the park, but given it is 22,000kmSq it was small beer. Back in the lodge we could sit on the huge veranda dinning area resplendent with leather easy chairs and sofas looking out on the river. At times you could here the hippo mooing, yawning, crying, I'm not sure of the term but they are noisy creatures either-way. The boys had already engaged in tormenting the staff so it was safe to assume that our food would be spat in and served cold. Later we headed out for a dusk game drive along the river route and came across loads of interesting groups the most amusing being a herd of giraffe who look down on you with complete befuddlement then try to walk, trot, run without ever really making up their minds which they prefer. We followed a wonderful herd of elephants crossing the river with numerous young, another amazing experience for which Josh thanked us by going on and on about a star wars character in his book.

Bright eyes.....awe what a preddy puddy tat
Just like any tabby at home...only bigger, with more teeth, oh yes and a desire to kill
Oi darlin...like my main? 
Elegant and regal, makes our royals look cheap
Big rock...they'll be leopards in them there ill's
Off for a lay down after such a long walk to the loo
Bao-bab tree hiding behind Zac and Josh

Foxy...well balck backed Jackel anyway
And the river runs dry!
BEAST
Grieving takes many forms, a sad end to one of the Kings of Africa
This was the end of a sorry tale
Well Mavis I told you not to rely upon the Sat Nav!
A-HA the mighty predator springs upon its prey
And takes it off to it lair to consume...maybe with a few nuts
Wow that things got some ears
Ah there birds nests!
Bath time
All out, thats enough of that

Right lets throw dust
Geerrrroff my land
What's going on here then?
Typical you try to get a nice photo of the clouds and then......
That's better, non of those nosy giraffes.
Josh adopts his safari position
Zac has really taken to photography and produced some really cool shots, however this has also given the boys one more thing to argue about. Darkness fell at around 6:30 as we headed back to our base. An enjoyable supper and two tired boys made for an early night as Zanner has promised another early start to catch the possibility of leopards in a nearby hill...