Mumbo Island - paradise in Malawi

Jessica:

We watched the sunrise at Tumbi and had a breakfast of coffee for Daniel and tea for me along with whatever needed eating in the fridge, and gluten-free rusks Daniel had made for me before the trip. We packed up the tent and rearranged our luggage for three nights on Mumbo Island. Getting there was an adventure in itself. Thumbi was located just one property away from Kayak Africa, which operates Mumbo Island, so we left Rhino at Thumbi and headed a short distance up the beach to catch our boat to Mumbo.

Waiting for our boat to go over to Mumbo Island

We were the only guests heading to the island at that time. We were told that the ride would take 45 minutes. Daniel decided to use the time to get spruced up for our island adventure and got out his electric razor and began shaving.

Daniel shaving my legs on the boatride over to Mumbo Island

In true Mr. Bean fashion he motioned to my legs when he had finished and then started shaving them for me. It was at that point that the boat driver decided to turn around and did a triple take, trying to figure out what these crazy foreigners were up to.

When the island finally came into view we were both blown away. I don't know if any of you remember the 1970's TV show Fantasy Island...but it felt a bit like that.

Walkway over to Mumbo Island

Our part of paradise

There are no roads and no electricity on the island. Solar lamps light the paths and our tent at night. We have a warm bucket shower...literally a bucket with a shower head in the bottom of it suspended on a rope.

Compost toilet

Our tent was a bamboo hut. Luxury in simplicity. Each morning they deliver coffee and tea to our deck at 6:30!  When we arrived we were met by the current island caretakers, Bernard and Claudia, who just graduated from college and wanted to see the world, well, work their way around it. They found this caretaker job on Facebook and packed their belongings and set off two weeks later. My kind of people!

Bernard and Claudia - caretakers on Mumbo Island

We were shown to "tent" number 5, on the very point of the island, which is the most private but is also the windiest. This is low season so the weather isn't the best. Mornings are warm and sunny but afternoons get windy and a bit chilly.The food is served buffet style and is delicious. They even cater for my gluten intolerence!

The first afternoon we kayaked the 3 kilometers around the island, the next day we hiked the trails on one side of the island and snorkled in the afternoon, the next day we checked out the trails on the other side of the island, stopping to lay in the sun and take a dip in a bay. On our first morning on the island we happened upon a water monitor lizard over a meter long basking on a rock. We found out after snorkling that they swim. I may not have gone in the water had I known that.

Water Monitor Lizard left and Rainbow lizard top right of rock

Daniel:

The photos i have seen of Mumbo Island while planning this overlanding trip showed something one can only describe as paradise. I have read that Lake Malawi is supposed to have more species of fish than both North America and Europe combined and it is with that in mind that i bought my GoPro camera back in January already. The snorkeling was unfortunately a little disipointing. The island is on a bit of a pinnacle so the water get very deep quickly. The only fish you therefore see are the ones that feed on the rocks around the island.  They were still beautiful, but I was expecting a bigger veriety. I have read in one of the books on the island that the Cichlids family consist of over 800 species, only about 300 have been named. Some groups live as deep as 250ft under the surface.

I came to Mumbo Island to snorkle but what is still amazing me are the fig trees. I cant recall seeing one of them actually growing out of the earth. Every single one of them are growing on top of a rock. Some rocks are maybe half a meter high, but others are more than 3 stories high. The roots of the fig trees are running down the sides of the rocks till it reaches the ground. Some of the roots seem like they are spreading wider around the rock, covering big parts of it. A number of the rocks have actually been crushed by the roots. I have seen tree roots lifting up roads and cracking foundatoins of houses, but i am still amazed that roots going around a 3 story high rock has the ability to crash the rock.

Fig trees growing on rocks

Jessica:

Napping is also a high priority. Except for the set meal times and gathering at the bonfire before dinner to get to know our fellow island dwellers our days have been blissfully vacation-like.

We have seen incredible sunrises from our deck and hiked up to see the sunset one night. Tonight, our last night on the island we will be treated to a sundowner cruise to see the sunset. We will be ready for more overlanding when we hit the road again tomorrow after our brief but relaxing stay in paradise.

Sunset from Pod rock

From Nkata Bay to Cape MacClear

Jessica:
We left Nkata bay in the hope to get a little further down the road before dark. Another South African overlander told us  about Kande beach resort that is popular with overlanders. We saw the sign for the resort and turned off the main road onto a sandy path. It was already dark when we arrived so it took us a few minutes to find the reception. We origenally were planning to camp but it was already dark and the wind was blowing with everything it had across Lake Malawi.  A smiling, jovial Malawian woman showed us to our room. It was a hut on the shore of Lake Malawi, but with the strong wind and all the waves it made, it sounded like we were at the ocean. We had dinner in their restaurant, slept fitfully due to the sound of the waves and woke early. We were back on the lonely Malawi roads by 6:10am.

Kande Beach Resort

We got to Cape MacClear at around 1:30 in the afternoon. It is supposed to be a super hip place like Marrekesh or Timbuktu. We have never been to either of those places so we can't make a comparison, but we weren't overly impressed. It is destination in the middle of a local village. We walked the length of the beach and were serenaded by a local band of 10 year old boys with improvised instrumentas and then stumbled across the inauguration of the new area chief.

We finally camped for the first time on the trip. We even made some freez dried honey-soy chicken for supper. It wasn't bad. The best part about it was that it took just  10 minutes to prepare, boiling water in a kettle and dumping it into the package it came in and resealing the bag. Presto! Eatable hot food and very little washing up. Now that I think about it you could just eat it right out of the bag if you were without dishes.We went to bed early but between the nearby disco and the waves there was not much sleep to be had.  The next day brought some changes in travel plans and our grand adventure to Mumbo Island.

While at Mushroom Farm we heard the first rumors that there might be security issues in Mozambique again. It got confirmed by the South African scuba instructor at Thumbi. There were problems on a specific stretch of road that we had to travel on to get to Maputo. The rebels were shooting at the convoys, apparently aiming for the army vehicles, but with an army vehicle in front off and behind you, who knows who will get hit. I'm all for taking risks but this one was a little too much for me. Jessica's adventurous spirit was all for still going through Mozambique, but I am not so sure her parents would have appreciated it if I knowingly took their daughter through a shootout between oposing forces. And isn't these something about protection in the wedding vowes that I will have to repeat sowhere in the future?  I called and cancelled all the Mozambique reservations and we started planning our alternative route. We could drive down to South Africa in about 2 days, but Jessica insisted on at least sleeping in both Mozambique (the safe northern part) and Zimbabwe. We will aim for Tete in Mozambique and for Harare in Zimbabwe. The advendure will continue. With no plans made other than the route we will travel on, we will have to  find a camping spot wherever we get to. 

I'm on the top of the world...

The Cartpenters had a song "Top of the World" with lyrics:

Such a feelin's comin' over me

There is wonder in most every thing I see 
Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eyes 
And I won't be surprised if it's a dream
Everything I want the world to be 
Is now comin' true especially for me 
And the reason is clear, it's because you are here 
You're the nearest thing to Heaven that I've seen
I'm on the top of the world lookin' down on creation 
And the only explanation I can find 
Is the love that I've found ever since you've been around 
Your love's put me at the top of the world

Sunrise at Mushroom Farm, overlooking Lake Malawi, near Livingstonia.

The view from Mushroom Farm, on a mountain overlooking Lake Malawi. We woke to the sun peeking through the flap of the safari tent that did not quite close. Daniel opened the tent so we could see better and this was our view. It was breathtaking. Then he left saying he had to use the restroom and came back and started in on this big speech...which I had requested if he ever decided to propose...and then he asked me to marry him. It was perfect and completely unplanned, as he said he had planned to ask me when we were on Mumbi Island in the middle of Lake Malawi in a few days. I don't even mind that he wanted a photo before I'd had a chance to shower. Just concentrate on the ring when looking at that photo!

He put a ring on it!

Later in the morning we brought the young women, Chilean doctors, that we carried up the hill to Mushroom Farm, with us to Nkata Bay some 200+ kilometers further south on the shore of Lake Malawi. We are uploading our blogs and sharing our good news before heading down the shoreline a bit further to Kande, where we think we might actually camp for the first time...but it all depends on what time we arrive and what we find for accommodations. This is the first night that we really don't have a plan for accommodations. 

Thank you for all your warm wishes on Facebook!

Livingstonia

Daniel:
Another day and another border crossing, but the crossing from Tanzania to Malawi was even quicker and more efficient than  the crossing between Tanzania and Kenya. The first thing we noticed in Malawi was that there was almost no vehicles on the road, however, there were more bicycles than pedestrians on the road. Everyone seems to be going somewhere on a bicycle. 

Malawi is significantly poorer than Tanzania and that was obvious from the infrastructure. The roads are not as well maintained and the houses look like they were build from cheaper products. But a majority of the houses here were built from bricks, even if some still had thatched roofs. The houses are not concentrated together but spread out for kilometers on end with nothing really inbetween. If there were farmland there before then there is no sign of them now.

Turning off a nice highway for the hair raising
few kilometers to Mushroom Farm

We were on our way to Mushroom Farm for the first night in Malawi. The GPS told us to turn right onto a one lane dirt ruff road that did not look like it would go further than a few kilometers.  The sign said "Livingstonia15km" and the GPS said that we would arive in 4min at Mushroomfarm. 30 minutes, a number of nailbiting steep edges, a very rocky road and 20 hairpin turn later we finally arrived at Mushroomfarm, almost 900m higher.

Every one of the 20 bends are numbered

When we rounded the 5th last bend on our way up, we encountered two young woman with backpacks going up the hill. They were on their way to Livingstonia which were anouther 4 hour hike and no idea where they were going to stay yet. They hitched a ride with us and sqeeeeezed into Rhino's only back seat. When we arrived at Mushroomfarm they decided there and then to also stay.

We originally planned to stay only one night, but because this place is so amazing we decided to book another night. The view from up here is spectacular.  We can see the shoreline of lake Malawi and in the far distance the outline of the mountains on the Mozambiquan side. There is no wall in the bathroom between you and the valley.  It it something you really have to see to appreciate.

A room with a view

The only down side about mushroom farm is their "temperamental" internet, as they put it. We were not able to  upload anything onto the blog. Other travelers told us to go look for an Internet cafe in Nkata Bay.

Thursday morning we made our way up the road to visit Livingstonia.  Livingstonia was build as a mission station away from Lake Malawi in an attempt to get away from the deadly Malaria mosquitoes.  A beautiful church and hospital was built to minister to the local people. All the buildings are now being used by the Livingstonia university. 

The stain glass window in the back of the Livingstonia church

The spent the afternoon lying around and reading while enjoying the incredible view.

Life is good in Malawi

To Kisolanza and beyond

Traffic going out of Dar went much faster than coming into it. But it was still pole pole (slowly slowely) until we got out from amoungst all the busses. When we came into Dar we were surounded by trucks. Going out of Dar we were surrounded by busses.


We got pulled over by the first traffic police, just to inspect the car and glance at the laminated copy of my international driver's license.  I made use of the opportunity to ask about the speed limit. The answer: when you see a 50 sign you go 50, but outside of that you can go any speed. Music to my ears! "Even 180km/h?" I asked. "Any speed you want" I was assued. So of I went. We were soon pulled over again,  just for a quick glance over and were waved on again. Traffic was too heavy for me to try the 180km/h speed option. But as we came into the next little towns I was pulled over, again. This time by two smilling traffic police and their mobile speed gun. They were very friendly, explained that I was still doing 99 as I came into the 50 zone and fined me TzSh 30,000!! That is a lot of zeros, but luckily only ZAR 170 or $18. I was greatful this happened today and not Saturday when we only had TzSh 9,000 on us. After paying my fine and getting a receipt for it ( much more effecient than the Kenyan system), I again asked about the 180km/h option. They had a good laugh and I was told the speed limit was actually 120. Over the next few hundred kilometers we passed a number of ther traffic  police, almost all armed with their own speed guns. For other overlanders, be warned.

The scenery was incredible. We were surrounded by rolling hills and beautiful green vegetation. You could have been just about anywhere in the western cape in south africa. We stoped just after Morongoro when Jessica took the wheel for the next few hundred kilometers.  I counted our money because surely we were going to have to pay a few more tickets.

On the way to Iringa the highway passed right through Mikumi National Park. With the 70km/h speed limit I would have expected a traffic officer around every other bend in the road.  For those hoping to see photos of all the lions, elephans and chittas we saw in the park, sorry,  taking photos was not possible at 100km/h. Believe me I tried. It is apparently called "advendure travel."  As we entered the next little town the long arm of the law reached out and pulled Jessica over. I got the 30,000 ready but she explained to the nice officer that he could not fine her since che only went 8mph over the limit. I dont know if it was here swahili or here reference to mph but we were waved on.

We got to Kisolanza after almost 9 hours on the road. We were the only guests for the night and they offer to serve us dinner in Jessica's room, complete with a warm fire. Dinner was nothing short of being the best we both have had in all of east africa in the last few  years. Yes it was really that good and not just the taste but even the presentation. Starter was corn chowder, followed by a humongous T bone stake, cooked to order, garden fresh stir fried vegetables and sweet potatoes. Dessert was a baked chocolate yummy something. Breakfast was again served back in Jessica's room. First we were served, tea, propper coffee, fresh fruit and yogurt, followed by eggs and toast. I had poached eggs and Jessica had an egg omelette,  both divine!  Dinner, bed and breakfast for $70 per person made Kisolanza totally worth it. They get full marks. If they were situated somewhere in Kenya, I would have used them a weekend destination.We packed up and were on the road by 9am but we were warned that there will be even more traffic police going further south. I got pulled over a number of times, not for speeding but for inspection the car and my driver's license. Only one officer actually asked to see the mandetory fire extinguisher.  My rally driver took the wheel and she was soon pulled over for going 57 in a 50 zone and was fined 30,000. 2 days and 1 ticket each. Needless to say, we were crawling the rest of the way.

The scenery changed a few times along the way. First a dry section but a few hundred kilometres further we drove through gum and pine tree plantations as far as the eye could see, complete with a marshland inbetween the trees. We got to the the turn to Malawi and the vegetation changed to bannana trees and patchy fields. Just before 3pm we pulled into the Landmark hotel in Tukuyu. We checked in and walked down the road to get money from the ATM, upload our blogs and enjoy our first truly Tanzanian lunch of ugali, greens and beans.

Tomorrow we will cross over into Malawi and explore the next phase of our African adventure. Cant wait.

Diani to Dar

Daniel:

We made our first border crossing into Tanzania and only took about an hour to get throught the five checkpoints. First there was the checkpoint to complete the Carnette followed by the checkpoint at the gate to check that the Carnette was completed, and to complete things at the Kenya side the passport control. We then drove 6km through what we thought was no man's land to get to the Tanzania side, first the passport control and then the police check point where they again captured the info from the Carnette.

The scenery changed almost imediately.  Suddenly we were surrounded by palm trees and beautiful green vegetation.  And the most amazing thing of all, perfect roads with ROADSIGNS!!! The only thing missing was the roadsigns showing the maximum speed limit. We only saw 50km/h signs. A lot of them! You could not go more than 10km till you got into the next little village with it's own 50km/h sign, completed by  rumbble strips at the beginning and end of the town and one speed bump somewhere in the middle.

Rally driver in action...

We had breakfast while parked at a fillstation. Breakfast consisted of Jessica's delicious bananna bread, cottage cheese and juice. After filling up we had almost no Tanzanian shillings on us. This was a potential problem if we got pulled ove since they do spot fines in Tanzania. Jessica googled the speed limits and we found it to be 120km/h and 60km/h. I was not so sure about that since we have not seen any 60km/h signs at all. We stopped at the next police point and asked but after 2 minutes could still not get more than "fifty" out of the officer.

Jessica:

The rest of the journy was uneventful, but the traffic in Dar was epic. We were even able to work on out blog while stuck in traffic. We stayed with friends of mine, Asbey and Abram, who are missionaries in Mwanza. They aranged for us to stay at the AIM guest house where they also had an apartment. They were staying in Dar for a few months for Swahili language lessons as Abram was doing bible teaching in Mwanza. Ashby is 5 months pregnant!

On Sunday we were able to attend an international church pland called God's Tribe. They are having their services in the arobics room of a small local spa, complete with one wall of mirrors and the other overlooking the beach. After church we took  two tuk-tuks looking for a place to have lunch. The first two we went to were either closed or have moved. We finaly ended up at Rodicio for a Brazilian meal. After eating way to much for lunch, Abram made us the most delicious smootheys for dinner, made from freshly squeezed coconut milk that he squuezed, bannan, pineapple and mango followed by maccarons made with chocolate, dates and coconut milk. I love staying with them as they are also gluten free.

Tomorrow we will be heading for point south and cooler weather.

Days of rest?

At 5 am just before leaving on Wednesday the 2nd.

Daniel:
The alarm was set for 3:50 because surely we would be able to get ready and into the car in 40 min right? But for some reason we only left at 5am. When I shared my disappointment about not leaving at 4:30 as planned, I was told that we are on holiday. Anyone traveling anywhere in Africa would agree that pole pole (slowly slowly) is the right attitude to adopt. And so the pace of my internal clock started to get challanged. And that was just the beginning.  I know some of you fully agree with Jessica. I should relax. I'm suppose to be on holiday. Easier said than done. But luckily I have 9 weeks to get that right.The first hour and a bit driving in the dark was not fun. Would not recomend that to anyone. Too many trucks without tail lights and too many pedestrians coming out of nowhere. But we made good progess and it felt great to get so far so early in the morning. Jessica took the wheel as soon as we got of the main mombassa road onto the dirt road. An that is when I realized two things: 1) I would never be able to be a navigator for a rally driver and 2) Jessica missed her calling as a rally car driver. Enough said.

Jessica:
We arrived around 1 pm at the Ocean Village Club, where we are to decompress before starting our journey south. We were upgraded to a deluxe room because this was the second day they were open. They had been closed for remodeling. We went for lunch and then napped for most of the afternoon. We took a brisk walk on the beach and then Danie jumped in the too-cold-for-me pool for a few minutes. We napped a bit more and then had a nice dinner. As near as we can tell there are only about 7 other guests at the resort. We love it that way!

Multitasking - writing blog while drying clothes at our nearly empty resort.

On Thursday morning we got up early and went for a day long snorkling trip near Wasini Island. The tour company is called Pili Pipa. We were picked up from our hotel and taken to Shimoni where we boarded a dhow (a swahili boat). There were 22 of us in all. We were taken to two different reefs and snorkled for about 40 minutes at each one. This was the first time I had ever snorkled and once I got used to it, I loved it! Of course,  I wanted to talk to the pretty fishes which one can't be very successful at when breathing through a tube!

Getting the hang of swimming with the fish!

On the dhow after snorkling!

Daniel:
The snorkeling was amazing although I ended up with 5 blisters on my feet from the flippers. Still can figure out if they were too small or too big. On the way back to our hotel, I happened to think about the Carnet de passage. I wasn't able to remember where I packed it. Jessica claimed she didn't pack it and I knew I didn't, so we decided to look for it when we returned. We turned the car and the room upsidedown, but it was nowhere to be found. I called Calvin, who is staying in my house while I am away. He was able to locate it. Luckily he had planned to come to Mombasa the next day and so was able to bring it with him. The important lesson learned is this: you are only allowed to check items off the packing list if you have packed them yourself. One benefit of the experience for me, was that I was finally able to take the ferry across to the south coast, and did not have to endure Jessica's rally driving.

Jessica:
On the way home we visited some of my friends in Ukunda. I had worked here many years ago for an NGO and have stayed in touch with a few people in the area. I am the only overnight house guest Sauda has ever had. Yesterday I brought her photos that I had taken of her family 7 years ago. She had no photos of her older children when they were young, she kept repeating, "Now we have memories."

With Sauda and her family.

It's Saturday morning and we have headed Rhino in the direction of the Tanzanian border. We left a bit later than planned because we were trying to upload this blog in the parking lot...this will be our first border crossing, we now have all the necessary paperwork so we are actually exited...Tanzania here we come.