Inglis in Africa: July 2011

Baobab Country south of Dodoma

Broken Bearings, Beaches and Biting July 2011

Travelling in Africa is a roller coaster of pleasure and pain and is definitely not always a bed of roses! Dust, rough roads, filth, beggars and more recently car woes keep the African experience in perspective.

What started as a seemingly benign creaking under Margot’s seat, became more sinister and louder and developed into an ominous, grinding crunch and, as we pulled up at Rungwe Avocado Farm, it was apparent that we were not to go much further. With the help of Rob Clowes, ex Zimbo farmer, and then some local mechanics, we removed the wheel and hub and examined the hand break pads only to discover that the problem was more dire and that the wheel bearing was shot. A futile search throughout Tanzania and even further afield in East Africa was fruitless so that our only option was to import a new bearing form abroad. Thankfully my brother Ian was able to locate one in Dubai and exported it to us express via DHL. Incredibly it took less than 18 hours to get to Tanzania and then, thanks to spectacular incompetence from DHL Tanzania, took nearly a week to arrive with us in Mbeya (a day’s drive away!). The wait was agonizingly frustrating as we saw nearly two weeks of our precious remaining time whittle away. However, the time was not wasted and our experience there was enormously positive thanks to the kindness of firstly Rob and Petra Clowes and their family who kindly allowed us to squat on their wonderful avocado and coffee farm on the slopes of Mont Rungwe and to John, Kay and Asha Rowse, who not only accommodated us in Mbeya, but were also hugely helpful and were great company. Rob not only spent ages trying to locate parts for us but also kept us well stocked with avocados and excellent home-grown coffee. Thank you all so much.

Other than that, we had a great time at the farm learning about coffee and avocado production and did a fabulous 8 hour walk up the 3000m high extinct volcano Mt Rungwe which passes through spectacular and dense rain forest and then bamboo and sub alpine near the summit. Margot and Zara managed to do some good schooling. We also continued with our theme of educational visits by visiting the Rungwe tea processing plant. A fascinating process involving the withering of the moist tea leaves followed by 4 cuttings, two fermentation processes, drying and finally sieving, grading and then packing. We learnt that the only difference between green and black tea is the fermentation and we concluded with a very purist tea tasting in their R&D laboratory. I also had the opportunity to fly to a rural clinic and to experience first hand the amazing work being done by American missionaries in completely remote Tanzania (www.guilzon.com). While in Mbeya, I also visited the Mbeya Medical Research Programme which is doing amazing research on HIV and TB amongst others. During this time too, we spent a couple of days down at Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) at Matema Beach basking in the sun and reveling in the warm water of the lake. Otherwise, in Tanzania, we had a wonderful few nights camping on the side of the lake of the tea estate of Peter and Co Rowland. It was a blissful time of peace and solitude away from tourists and touts where we swam, canoed and relaxed. Thank you so much Peter and Co.

With new wheel bearings in situ, we loaded up, packed our tents and were once again on the road south. We cut our visas fine and exited Tanzania on our final day and were relieved to arrive in Malawi. Our first stop was Karonga, where we learnt about the Malawisorus (www.paleo.net/cmck) and the evolution of mankind and had an excellent lunch of the lake fish Chomba. I visited the London School of Tropical Medicine affiliated Karonga Prevention Study (KPS) and was again intrigued by the depth and extent of their research on HIV, TB and Malaria. We overnighted at Sangilo Lodge campsite which was stunning but marred by Margot’s mauling by the monstrous camp dog. Fortunately her arm injuries were superficial but none-the-less traumatic. We then took the Sani-Pass like climb up to Livingstonia where we spent an excellent night at the Lukwe Eco Camp. Una Brownlie is a midwife, who has been at the Livingstonia Mission Hospital for many years, took me on a very interesting tour of the hospital and I was impressed with the excellent facilities. The dusty road off the plateau took us back down to the lake and the marvelous Makuzi lodge camping. Once again, we reveled in the tranquil warm water and basked on the shimmering white beaches. A quick swing through Lilongwe the capital was disappointing because our long awaited parcel from Michelle & Jackson “poste-restante” was not there. Also diesel was hard to come by in Malawi and we had to watch our route.

We head for the snorkeling paradise of Cape Maclear, at the bottom of the lake, today and then head due east to Pemba Mozambique and the Indian Ocean. Then our last leg down the coast back to Zululand.