Masai Mara

 “Too bad we have seen so few animals so far”… our safari guide said to me at lunch time on our 1st full safari day. We had seen that morning: a herd of elephants, several giraffes, hundreds of buffalo, thousands of migrating wildebeests (aka gnoes) and zebras, a cheetah with a fresh ‘kill’ and a pride of over 10 lionesses and cubs also with a kill. I don’t know what they are used to there in Masai Mara but we were duly impressed.

(to be continued) 

Checking out the cats in Masai Mara

 So finally I’m back in Africa and I must admit the thought of going to Africa was both exhilarating and intimidating. But at first sight Nairobi did not seem as bad as all the stories would like me to believe. 

That being said we didn’t really linger around much but instead decided to kick off this trip with the one thing most travelers do here in East  Africa: go on ‘safari’.

(to be continued) 

Pre-departure stress 6

 Typically on travelblogs these ‘travel reports’ tend to be long and detailed in the beginning but often after some time the entries are more like “I’m in X and I’m alive’. Last time I was able to keep things going. We will see what happens this time. If you wish to be kept up to date and receive an email alert when new posts are published, you can subscribe in the menu on the right. Anyway we like to hear from you while we are out there. So send us or post your thoughts, comments and questions! And spread the word! Share it, post it, tweet it and whatever it!

(to be continued) 

Jan De Roeck

Pre-departure stress 5

 I just haven’t had the time to stress much but I’ve got a feeling that it will kick-in the next couple of days. It’s all the same though once I’m on the plane I’ll realize why I’m doing this. One thing I had to promise to my mom was to ‘stay safe’. Though I don’t think I usually do extremely crazy stuff, I will do my best to stay clear of crashing busses and avoid extended stays in foreign hospitals this time.

Through this website we will try to keep you all updated on our ‘adventures’ on the road .

Jan De Roeck (to be continued)

Pre-departure stress 4

 It’s D(eparture)-day minus 4 and I’m starting to get pretty excited /nervous about the whole thing. I have had it before. Every trip whether it’s for 2 weeks or for 6 months, I’m asking myself why the hell I do this to myself. 

 Why do I leave my perfectly comfortable life behind to go wander around in some godforsaken countries.  Actually it hasn’t been too bad so far. As I’m working full time until the day before departure.

Jan De Roeck (to be continued)

Pre-departure stress 3

 As for the big questions: “Why are you doing this?”, “What are you trying to achieve?” or “What will you do when you get back?”  or the practical questions: “Do you have all your hotels booked? ”, “How did you plan your route?” or “Are you on an organized trip?” , I’m sure we will have plenty of time to discuss those in the coming months.

For those of you who were with me on my previous long trip the following might sound very familiar.  

Jan De Roeck (to be continued)

Pre-departure stress 2

 Quite a lot has happened since that last trip.  But now six years later, I’m about to go for it again and  I am very happy to have found someone who wants to accompany me on this trip…well the biggest part of the trip at least.  That will probably be the biggest difference with my last trip. Actually it will be strange to travel solo again for a while. Ever since 2006, I have hardly travelled solo.  Either I was on the road as a tour leader with a bunch people or just with my girl.

Jan De Roeck (to be continued)

About preliminaries and pre-departure stress

 Here we go again! My third long trip since 2001. I guess you can call me a ‘habitual offender’.  The seed of this trip was actually planted during my last trip. As some of you know, in 2006, I was forced to cut my ‘round the world trip’ short due to serious Illness. As I’m not a fan of unfinished business it was written in the stars that I would someday make another attempt to ‘circumvent our planet’.

Jan De Roeck (to be continued)

TAZARA train 23 Longest Single Train Ride

 The view from the back of the Tazara train.

But for the price, and what I was able to experience, I'd do it again.

The journey had been the longest single train ride I'd ever been on. Even though it took several days, it had been an adventure — a rather affordable one. The only things I'd do differently next time: bring more bottled water and some portable phone chargers, since photo-taking drains battery life rather quickly.

Ben Mack 

TAZARA train 22 Ground That Was Not Moving

 By the time we got to Dar es Salaam, on the Tanzanian coast, I was ready for something new.

Departing the Tazara train at the Dar es Salaam train station, after a 16-hour delay in total.

Our journey was supposed to take three days and two nights. But because of so many delays, it ended up taking four days and three nights. As I stepped off the train at about 9 a.m. and got lost in the enormous crowd, it felt weird to be back on ground that was not moving.

Ben Mack (to be continued) 

TAZARA train 21 No Animals To See

 Hot tea with milk and sugar came with breakfast each morning on the train. By the third and fourth days, the scenery was still incredible, but it felt slightly repetitive —and so did the food, which was the same for each meal.

One of the highlights of the Tazara is supposed to be passing through wildlife parks. Unfortunately, because of all the delays, it was dark when we did — meaning there were no animals to see. I had to content myself with watching the continually unfolding green forests and fields, and the thunderstorms that rolled through every few hours.

Ben Mack (to be continued) 

TAZARA train 20 Villages

 Sometimes we'd stop in towns and villages for an hour or more. And we stopped in a lot, lengthening the amount of time we were delayed.

Eventually, word got around the train we'd be at least a day late in getting to Dar es Salaam. I was glad I didn't have a flight to catch until a few days after we were originally scheduled to arrive.

Ben Mack (to be continued) 

Mavretanija 322

 

Mavretanija 268

 

Mavretanija 267

 

Mavretanija 726

 

Zanibar 8

 

Zanibar 6

 

Zanibar 4

 

Zanibar 2

 

TAZARA train 19 Chandaweyaya Zambia

 On the second day, we crossed into Tanzania. When border guards came aboard, they demanded a "fee" of $100 — in US dollars only, and in cash.

A stop in Chandaweyaya, Zambia, near the Tanzanian border. 
I did not want to pay the fee. But I had to, they told me, or I would be arrested. I didn't have any US dollars — only Zambian kwacha, Tanzanian shillings, and British pounds. Fortunately, my cabin-mate Yves had dollars, which I was able to exchange for pounds.

Ben Mack (to be continued) 

TAZARA train 18 Marketplaces

 But it was the brightly colored villages and towns we stopped in that were truly exciting.

Dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of people milled about whenever the train pulled in somewhere. Each place had something different to see — while some of the stops appeared to be little more than a collection of huts, others had large, vibrant marketplaces.

Ben Mack (to be continued) 

TAZARA train 17

We traveled with the windows open, since it was warm and there was no air conditioning. The green scenery was just as spectacular as I hoped.

The fans in our cabin were broken, so keeping windows open was the only way to let in cool air. Since there were frequent heavy rains, it meant the air also smelled incredibly fresh.

Ben Mack (to be continued) 

TAZARA train 16 Large bug on train

 
While our constant movement kept mosquitoes away, there were other bugs — some of which were the largest I'd seen.

The dragonfly-looking insect that flew in through the open window for breakfast one morning was so large that I thought it was a bird at first. It flew around the cabin for a whole day, buzzing as loud as a swarm of bees.

Ben Mack (to be continued)