Manic Mission An Intricate Account of a Fleeting Bundu Bash through Ten African Countries By David Clinton Marcus Copyright 2007 © Contents Prologue South Africa Decisions Decisions Testing, Testing - Will it work? Photography - Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! Another Manic Week Cape Town to Johannesburg Zimbabwe Johannesburg to Harare to Lusaka Zambia Lusaka to Dar es Salaam Tanzania Zanzibar & Pemba Pemba, Tanga & Dar es Salaam The Bus to Mombassa Kenya Mombassa to Lamu Lamu Malindi Watamu Kilifi Kikambala Mombassa Tanzania Kilimanjaro Moshi & Arusha Nairobi Uganda Mbale Kampala Rwanda Kigali Burundi Bujumbura Bujumbura to Kigoma Tanzania Lake Tanganyika Zambia Mpulungu to Chitipa Malawi Chitipa to Blantyre Lake Malawi Monkey Bay to Cuamba Mozambique Nampula & Naçala Naçala to Pemba Pemba Moçimboa de Praia & Rovuma Nampula Again Quelimane & Zalala Beach Inhassoro Vilanculos & Tofo Maputo South Africa Maputo to Johannesburg Johannesburg to Cape Town Epilogue Manic Mission: An Intricate Account of a Fleeting Bundu Bash through Ten African Countries Prologue I finished my Journalism course in November 2006 and decided to go on an investigative journey. I have wanted to cross Africa for the past 7 years, and although this journey didn’t go the whole way, I still traveled the equivalent height of the continent – roughly 22,500 kilometers. I told many people my motive was to find an ‘African City’ to live in because “Cape Town, she is not Africa”. I found such a city and safe Kigali in gorgeous Rwanda is her name. I believe that the journey is the destination, and that it’s not only about where you’re going that’s important, but how you get there, what you experience and who you meet along the way! This travelogue is based on my blog (an on-line web log – on the internet) which I wrote and updated during the period November 2006 through February 2007. Editing, fine-tuning, and filling in all the blanks took another four months. When I browsed through the hundreds of photographs and slides, as well as four of my battered journals, all the memories came rushing back to me, and I had to include them. I am proud to reveal that this work is definitely not fictional. Everything I have written is exactly as it happened, the way I remembered and experienced it, and from my viewpoint. Most of it was written on the fly, during my travels, on land, in the air and even on the water. Sometimes on trains, buses, planes and taxis, other times under broken down vehicles or on ferries. The plan, my own personal challenge, was to travel through 10 countries in 10 weeks, all on public transport and on a serious shoestring budget. It was supposed to cost ten thousand Rand – roughly $20 per day, and cover 10,000 miles. To summarize: 10 Countries, 10 Weeks, 10 thousand Rand, 10 thousand miles. In the end it took me 10.71 weeks (75 days), 15 thousand Rand ($30 per day) and 14 thousand miles. That equates to 7% overtime, 50% over budget and 42 % too far. As you can see, I am very mathematical! All in all I had the time of my life. I met amazing people, locals and travelers alike. I saw things I never dreamed of. Sometimes my unrealistic expectations let me down, and on other occasions I was pleasantly surprised. The various means of transport was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. They ran the gamut from non-existent and painfully slow (13 hours and nine different means of transport to cover a few hundred kilometers between Burundi and Tanzania), to highly impressive and surprisingly quick (Malawi’s Coachline Bus and the ancient Greek Aziza II ferry from Zanzibar to Pemba). My experiences were equally mixed. Travelling on the top of a huge truck for three hours during thundershowers was both humbling and unforgettable; whereas the 30 hour bus ride from Pretoria to Lusaka, passing through three countries and four borders, I wouldn’t want to do again. Where to from here? I might go live in Rwanda. Perhaps I agree to volunteer in Uganda. Maybe the Lonely Planet will give me a job. It would be my dream to become a travel writer and photographer, and I will hopefully make that happen. What I definitely won’t do is stay put in any one place for too long, because I am clearly not that type of animal… Copyright 2007 © David Clinton Marcus 1 Manic Mission: An Intricate Account of a Fleeting Bundu Bash through Ten African Countries SOUTH AFRICA Decisions Decisions 1st November 2006 I got my new South African passport back yesterday! I waited more than six months for it, and when it finally arrived the pathetic excuse for a Department of Home Affairs didn’t think it was necessary to notify me. I had less than a month to arrange visas, so I was forced to use my second passport to apply for some of them. I am still waiting for the Tanzanians to return my British passport which will hopefully contain a 90 day visa. I am continuously checking the ‘reliable’ South African Post Office’s on-line registered post article tracker. I can only pray now. The British High Commission lost my ex-wife’s passport eight years ago when they relied on the Post Office. I have changed my mind four times with regards to transport options for the initial segment of my journey: First I was going to fly Kulula.com from Cape Town to Johannesburg for R499. Then I decided to take a 20 hour City to City bus for R290. That wasn’t good enough, so I then settled for the 25 hour Shosholoza Meyl train for R260. Now I have booked, and will hopefully soon pay the R249 to fly with Mango, a new budget airline launched yesterday by South African Airways. It’s cheap because it leaves at 05:30! My problem with the above is that I need to be in time for my City-to-City bus from Johannesburg to Lusaka - which leaves at 10am. The Kulula flight arrives at 8:30, so I would have to make a special plan to get to Central Joburg on time, which would probably cost more than the flight. My ex-wife wouldn’t play ball, saying that it was too complicated to drive me. I found a guy who would collect me from the Airport and drive me to Pretoria, where the bus would get to before 11:00, and it would cost me R280. I didn’t think it was right to pay so much and vowed to find a cheaper alternative. The Mango flight departs at 05:45, so I’m holding thumbs for no delays... Copyright 2007 © David Clinton Marcus 2 Manic Mission: An Intricate Account of a Fleeting Bundu Bash through Ten African Countries Testing, Testing - Will it work? 6th to 12th November (written on the Shosholoza Meyl trans-Karoo train while eating boiled eggs) Monday 6th I purchased the City to City (Translux’s budget company without air conditioning, entertainment or a stinky toilet) bus ticket going from Pretoria to Lusaka for R330. It will be a 24 hour journey straight through Zimbabwe without any passengers getting on or off (they aren’t allowed to according to Translux’s license). I was hesitant to purchase the ticket, as my Mango flight arrives in Johannesburg at 07:45 and the bus leaves Park Street Station at 10:00. So I didn’t want to cut it too fine, nor have to rely on an exorbitant taxi ride to get me there in a rush – which I don’t think would have been possible anyway, as they have just introduced a priority lane on the Pretoria to Johannesburg Highway for vehicles containing at least three occupants. What finally changed my mind was Wonder. He is a new recruit at Exclusive Books, where I have been working part time for the past year. Wonder comes from Pretoria and has a good friend who works for Exclusive Books at the OR Tambo airport (formerly known as Johannesburg International). He has arranged for his friend to give me a ride to the Kempton Park station, where I can either get a train or minibus taxi to Pretoria, which should take less than an hour. So I will catch the bus which initially left from Johannesburg, in Pretoria, thereby causing less stress, but if Mango’s flight is delayed, my plans are screwed! I have to get to the TAZARA train which takes three days to get from Zambia to Tanzania. I am hesitant to make any firm bookings as the guide books and many bloggers and travel forum experts keep reminding me “You are in AFRICA! You need to cater for major delays!’ Yeah right, I haven’t catered for shit – in fact if a ferry breaks down or a bus driver falls asleep – the rest of my plans are no longer. There’s always a first time for everything – I’ll remain optimistic and pray for perfection – that’s all I can do! Tuesday 7th My life is hectic. I am working almost every evening and weekend, researching the logistics for my upcoming adventure, and constantly doing revision for my final exams at City Varsity, where I am studying Journalism. I am currently stressed because the Tanzanian’s still don’t have my passport and the on-line ‘track and trace’ facility offered by our very efficient post office www.sapo.co.za tells me that my parcel is still at the Arcadia postal depot.