From Cape to Cape 1998

Africa

South Africa
The start of the adventure, from Johannesburg via The Cape of Good Hope of course
Namibia
Land of the great deserts and meeting the French community in Windhoek
Botswana
Breakdown, Okavango experience 2-9/02/98
Zimbabwe
Surf on the mighty Zambezi, moonlight rainbow at Vic Falls 10-12/02/98
Zambia
The real African taste
Malawi
A taste of paradise
Tanzania
Hot, expensive but terribly beautiful and exotic....
Kenya
Soon, a report from our skilled spy Herve on this turbulent country

NEW! Photo Gallery
Accomondation tips
Food : what we liked, what we tested...

Namibia

Land of the great deserts and French community in Windhoek

Our first night in Namibia was at the Ai-Ais Resort, a strange place, only discovered at the end of the last century by white men, were local people had lived forever. The place is settled around the hot spring that comes from the vulcanic ground. The resort was built in 1971 and lays just in the South end of the Fish River Canyon. When we saw the pool as we really were really longing for a cold bath after a hot day through desert land, thought Ai-Ais was paradise!.It took us about 2 and 1/2 minutes to put on our swimming costumes before jumping in a water... that was like a hot bath, almost body tempature. Anyway, we had this huge pool just for ourselves and (another !) beautiful sunset. Indeed, there was some sort of magic in the air! The night was so warm and we got actually so lasy to put up the tent that we had a moonlight sleep with millions of stars protecting us...
Early up, we headed towards great Fish River Canyon to admire the sunrise, unfortunately the view point was further from Ai-Ais than expected and we missed the sunrise but the sightseeing on the way was breathtaking. We reached the Fish River Canyon, second biggest canyon in the world after The Grand Canyon in USA.

After having had breakfast by the canyon we drove westwards to the Atlantic coast. On the way, we stopped half way between Lüderitz and Ketmanskoop to fill up tanks and petrol jerrycans. Looking at the map, Goageb seemed to be a quite large town... In fact, the Goageb's world revolves around one petrol station, a Kaffee (little shop), a bottle store, a restaurant-motel and handfull of residents. Amongst them, Wally. Wally and his girlfriend run this little world, out of a time frame. We spent about two hours listening Wally talking about Goageb, his hopes full of ambitions to bring life back in this town, his fears, the town's gossips and the story of his little springbok that lives in the back of his gard. We had a great time while enjoying cool beers and cokes in a country music atmosphere.
We carried on our route and got to Lüderitz just in time to admire the sunset on the harbour. This diamond town is picturesque with old beautiful houses Coming from the desert, what a relief to feel the fresh air. Luderitz, like Swakopmund upper north, is one of those typical namibian town where the German heritage remains very strong. We spent the night at the Lüderitz backpacker, where we sleeped amongst ten other people on matresses in one room.
Before leaving Atlantic Coast in earnest, we visite Kolmanskop, also called "Ghost Mining Town", and realize how organised the Germans were at the begining of the century. On the way to Sesriem, we filled completely tanks and jerricans: with 160 litres of diesel for the 4x4 and 58 litres for the motorbike. With this, we should be able to drive some kilometers! We also ckecked oil levels and tied some bolts loosend by vibration on the dust roads. With the heat, a cool beverage is always welcommed, we do not wait to be asked ! When we saw this litlle shop in the middle of the desert, we thought it was some sort of hallucination but no, it was for real ! It is like that we tasted cactus figs, a fruit that looks like kiwi.
At 7pm, we stopped the landie and the motorbike in the middle of the wilderness: our first real wild campsite : "Splendid" as the Swedish guy says. Finally, we would make Hervé's dream come true: to sleep in the desert. Only the camp fire was missing, but there was no wood around. We stayed all 5 of us, without speaking, just listening to the silence for quite a while: time had stopped. We switched off the paraffin lamps and watch the Milky Way. In the far distance, there were lightenings of far away thunder storms.
The following morning, we woke up before sunrise, and, as we did the night before, we were waiting for the sun, its rays to reach the tips of the hills behind us and finally lighten our faces. Again, for a couple of hours, no one said a word beside "good morning" and we all remained silent, treasuring this silence before starting again the noisy 4x4 ! Those minutes had even more value a little bit later when, the exhaust decided to be most uncooperative and to break for the second time in less than a week !
We reached Sesriem in late afternoon and drove to Sossusvlei to admire (once again !) the sunset on the biggest dunes of the world: Funny feeling to see for real landscapes that we thought they only exist on television. The Sossusvlei dunes, unlike the Sahara ones, are shades of orange, brown and red.
As we left Sesriem, another 4x4 coming from the opposite side stopped nearby to inform us that the road to Solitaire was cut down by a flooded river. Véro did not want to cross it (not so much ready for a swim despite the heat!) but the "4 indiana Jones" crossed it without problem with the landie, just for the fun seeing that a dust road is practible just before. Besides, this narrow road goes up and down and the real 4x4 power is necessary to climb some steepy hills. This road that led us up to Windhoek was a real pleasure to drive and ride. We all had a bit of freshness when we stopped by a pound where wild horses where standing: coming from nowhere, Hervé decided to try the bike in water and splashed us as we turned our head to look at the pound... It was just raining for a while in the landie !

Warm welcoming by the French community in Windhoek 29/01-1/02 (Patrick)

In Windhoek we were invited by Xavier, Jacques'friend, to stay at Patrice and Nedjma's place, who both work at the French mission for their military service. While Véro organised her own life, the 4 guys were taken care of by Xavier. Although we arrived with no prior notice (ever tried to find a phone in the dessert ?) Xavier's friends Véronique and Théo invited us for a crepes party which was very much welcomed. The guys squatted Nedjma and Patrice's house who live in a big house with a big drive way (perfect ground to do some mechanics)
We took the opportunity to take care of and make some maintenance on "our home", the Land Rover. We checked the leaking tank and the leaking engine. This gave us the perfect opportunity to also check our emergency skills and to ensure that we knew how to use our insurance. Furthermore, Véro has this funny habit to check out the healthcare facilities where ever she is going. If for once she did what she was told to (almost lethal mistake for her) the guys' version is that "Véro put her fingers at the wrong place at the wrong moment". The result of the manoeuvre which consisted for Véro to hold back the bracket while 2 powerful guys were pulling and 1 was pushing with a hammer was for our female teammate to get 4 stitches : nothing for a girl like her, only some pains ! With this small incident, it took us two days to pull apart the engine, but we are now very good in mounting the timing belt for the diesel pump, at least that is what we thought at the time (but the future was going to tell us the contrary !).
The second evening, after a hard day work, we first went to a picturesque little castle at one of the highest point of Windhoek to celebrate Nedjma's birthday and to admire the sunset. Afterwards, we went to "El Toro" restaurant where we also had the honour to be invited by the French Ambassador. That was the first Xavier's surprise. The second was that, the following day, he organised some interviews with Namibian daily newspaper.
After four busy days we were at last ready to leave and hit the road again. with a new fellow traveller called Arnould, a Dutch guy that was trying to cross Africa and go home to Amsterdam with an old Honda CB 400, a normal street bike, an antique for european standards.

Botswana

Windhoek - Okavango : our first serious breakdown 2-5/02/98 (Patrick)

After a night in the bush and crossing the Botswana border, we were keen on staying in the Okawongo Delta for the next couple of nights. But the luck was not on our side... ( if you can call this bad luck: gael' wizard skills had predicted that the timing belt was a bit weak, but anyway...Gael had ordered belt to be delivered in Lilongwe, Malawi) After a lunch in a picnic area on the side of the road, Jacques took over the steering wheel and only managed to do 700 meters when the car just died: No power anymore under the right foot. We all crossed our fingers, hoping it was'nt be too serious. It didn't help, Gael's predictions were rightand the timing belt was broken. Of course, we didn't have a spare one. The place where we broke down was in the middle of nowhere between the eastern Namibian border to Botswana and Okawongo: it was hot and there was no shade. At this point in time we were very happy to have a second vehicle, so Patrick and Gaël took Véro's motorbike and left for the next town, Ghanzi. It happened to be the main town in the area with several hardware stores, a bank, and telephone facilities since 1990 . After asking around, our two "rescuers" ended up at the GFS Hardware shop with Mr. Strauss at our service. Although he seemed had very good connections, even after a lot of calls we couldn't get any belt. This was the scenario that we feared the most. The problem we had was that we had an imported Nissan engine in the Landie. Our last chance was to try with the company from which we had bought the engine in Johannesburg, 1400 km away. After half an hour of thrilling waiting, Gaël's contact phoned back and had succeeded to find the belt.
Now it was just to get it to the middle of Botswana somehow. Mr. Strauss who was used to difficulties like this, helped us out. From Jo-burg, the belt flew with Botwanian Airlines to Gabarone and from Gabs, as the locals say, the belt took a lift with a truck to Ghanzi. It was now Monday afternoon and if we were lucky we could expect the missing part by Wednesday noon.
So what to do ? the car was stuck 45 km outside of town. A towing costs money and we didn't want to spend a fortune in this early stage of the trip. Gael and Patrick went first to the campsite of Ghanzi ( yes, Ghanzi HAD a campsite !!!!) and after entering the shabby entrance, surprisingly, our two guys found a very nice place with lodges, green lawn and the best tempered swimmingpool so far. The price was 12 pula per night per person which wasn't too bad. In fact, this was aalmost a perfect place for a breakdown.
Another problem still had to be sorted out: we the Lady Landie was in the middle of the bush and she couldn't stay out there unprotected. When Gaël went to check out the prices at the campsite, Patrick who is always very very very very very.... keen on talking to just anybody, saw some guys in Land Rovers that were putting up their tents... Our Swedish fellow went there to test the Land Rover mentality that he had heard so much about. The guys were from Cape Town and had just been to the Okawongo delta and the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. As he had hoped, they offered us some assistance: One guy took his Landie and drove 45 kms away to fetch our Lady Landie, who was very scared to spend the night on her own.
On Tuesday, Arnould left us to carry on on his own and we did some maintenance on the car: fixing the leakssssssss in the tank. We also bumped into Mark, from Scotland, who also crossed Africa on a motorbike on his own. One year and half ago, he went down through West Africa and was now on his way back through the eastern part.
Wednesday was the big day : was the belt going to arrive or not? When we went to GFS hardware, the truck was just unloading everything but our belt had arrived one hour too late in Gabs and would only arrived on the following day, according to Mr Strauss. So we had to wait another day.
On the fourth day the belt came at last, and we manage to re-assemble the car (with all our fingers this time) and say farewell to the pool and to Ghanzi.

Boat trip on the Okavango Delta 7-8/02/98 (Patrick-Gael)

At last we were on our way to the Big Swamps: the Okawongo Delta. It is actually not so much of a swamp but rather a big delta in the desert, with a lot of sand islands between the channels. We stayed at the Makwena Lodge on the west side of the swamps, following the recommendation of a man from Jo-burg who organises tours around this area in his old Land Rover series II. We left the motorbike in Estcha 6, a little village outside of the swamps, at the craft center as we were told that the road to the lodge was very very sandy, only hoping it would still be there on our way back. Dennis, from the lodge came to meet us and led us through the water. Makwena is situated in the delta, so when the water is high it is very tough to go there, even with a 4x4, because it gets too deep and very muddy and sandy. This day, it was just fun to drive through this mud, we had an excellent photo session all along the 15 kms through the bush leading to the remote camp. Vero was quite glad to have left her motorbike at the village, she would not have been too happy to drive in this deep sand ... and water full of crocs !
The lodge was beautifully placed on a lagoon with a lot of Lechwes and bush boks (kinds of antelopes) around. At the lodge, we met the three Norwegian men that we had first met in Ghanzi : the world is so small ! (or the swamps ???) Those guys were in fact completing a social mission in Ghanzi, trying to teach people to work together. They had complementary skills in social welfare, human resources to educate the people on team work and leadership : a new and interesting approach to help Africa !
On Friday, we head off to the papyrus forest in a motor boat with the Norwegian team. What a feeling to drive in the labyrinth of shallow, narrow channels. Some people are still living in the middle of the papyrus, on remote islands. They live from the Delta and drink its water: no need to tell you we did not try ! We would have probably ended up with a tourista for a week...
They grow maize, have few goats and fish a lot : a basic life which does not avoid them to smile hundred times more than the normal Parisian, isn't it, Véro ?
We just got a little fright when we woke up a 3 meter long crocodile by almost riding over it. It did not like it very much and went away quickly, not leaving us the time to shoot him with our cameras. We just ended up the day with a wonderful sunset on the lake which was as good as this fish eagle majesticly flying towards us to catch the fish that Dennis threw from our boat.

Elephants in Mahango but disappointing Caprivi strip... 8-9/02/98 (Gael)

The border between Botswana and Namibia, North of Okavango delta was our first real African border. After having taken pictures of the customs officers from all the angles, they let us go without further controls... What a surprise to then arrive straight in a reserve where elephants were bathing in a pond one km after the border. This was Mahango game reserve that we visited the following morning after a night at Ngepi lodge, on the side of the Okavango river. We rented some canoes to go and watch the hippos at sunset. Nice feeling but just be careful : hippos are the animals the most dangerous of Africa. Despite, their lazy "Teddy bear" look, they kill far more people than lions ! We went for a game drive the next morning in Mahango : a lot of elephants, sables antelopes, hippos out of the water, warthogs, baboons, velvet monkeys, roans, kudus, etc.
The ride through Caprivi strip had nothing exceptional but huge warning signs "beware elephants crossing 80 km/h". Unfortunately, or fortunately ?!?, we did not see any game whatsoever and the 198 km of the strip, a long straight road were rather boring.
Luckily, the day ended as well as it started. At 6.30 PM, we started looking for a place to sleep when Hervé proposed to go to a local village. The idea was accepted with enthousiasm. Half an hour later, we were unpacking our stuff next to a village after having asked the permission to camp from the chief's daughter. We spent the evening surrounded by kids, chatting and learning some few words of Mbokoshu, their language. They sang church songs for us and we murdered "Frere Jacques", we in French and Patrick in Swedish... the famous "y'avait des gros crocodiles et des orang-outang" was quite enjoyed by the kids !

WARNING :

Past or present, that has been the subject of a lot of debates between us. So, it is now time to try a new experience, writing the reports in present to give more life to the story. We are quite lazy, so we are not going to rewrite the beginning of our trip. Just adapt ! This is what we do every day while travelling, and that is definitely the best way to enjoy it !

Zimbabwe

Surf on the mighty Zambezi, moonlight rainbow at Vic Falls 11-12/02/98

Vic Falls is a touristic place and gets quickly on everyone's nerves. Are we already so wild to want only remote and unspoiled places ...?
Anyway, we spend a day and a half in Vic Falls full of sensations. First, Véro, Patrick and Gaël go for a fun day on the Zambezi : half rafting, half body boarding. It is very, very, very fun but also very, very tough : Patrick almost drinks the whole Zambezi river on his first attempt to come back up to the surface after a flip. There are two rafts, equipped with body boards so that we can choose to raft or to board. The first two rapids, we go for the raft, have a bit of a surf and gently flipped. The only thing is to try to hold the raft even if you are in the water. It is called a short swimmer opposite to the long swimmer when you are away from the boat, meaning you are on your own to make the end of the rapid. Then, in the more gentle rapids (grade 3 or 4), we take the boards to start the tough work. Battling against the Zambezi, even with flips, is hard and requires a technique that we have to catch up quickly to try to save a minimum of energy for the next rapids. We eventually have nice surfs on the beautiful way down the gorge. After the last rapid, we go up the gorge by foot... quite a mission for the unfit Véro and her bad ankle !
One guy from another raft is a long swimmer this day and does not get so lucky. His life jacket only is found after the first rapid...
At night, the moonlight rainbow over the amazing Victoria Falls is quite emotional. You can only see it when it is full moon and guess what ? It is full moon. Though the parc rips us off for 200 Z$ (90 FRF), we enjoy this rainbow appearing from the bottom of the gorge 100 m lower and doing almost a full circle... so romantic !
That is all for Zimbabwe and the day after we cross the border to Zambia, via the Vic Falls bridge from which they do the highest natural bungi jumping.

Zambia

The real Africa (Patrick, Jacques)

After leaving Vic Falls we head towards Lusaka, but we want to visit the Kariba Lake first.
On our way there, we stop at our first and then second control points. The latter is held by one female and one male policemen. The man speaks first to Véro and then comes to speak to us in the landie : "You should not let a girl driving a motorbike, there are potholes and animals all along the road". We, all four try to explain that we are persecuted by this female biker and we have no choice except following her. He is smiling, the contact is established.
The sunset is coming and our second request near a local man to sleep in a village outside Zimba is the good one. We are invited by a young man named Justin who introduces us to the Headman of the village called Mubiana. This evening makes a very strong impression on all of us. We are very welcome to stay and it seems to be a bit proud to have visitors. The previous ones came in 1991 and were from Pakhistan. There is no problem to talk with them because they are all speaking a very good English. We sit up and talk most of the evening around the fire. We offer them a drink : The ancients drink Coke whereas the young prefer whisky !
The next morning, the chief shows us the dam that he dug and answers to all questions (stupid and less stupid) that the white fellows are asking. He also shows us the granaries for corn, which are perched on poles to protect against moisture and pests.
On the way to Kariba lake, we stop to Choma where we visit a museum which presents the story of the Batonga, people who were delocalised to build the Kariba dam in 1947.
We notice that the petrol price is double than in countries we crossed till now.
Another "strange" experience consists of a poor guy who comes and eats the remaining food in our plate : that is another face of this trip.
To go to Kariba lake, we do not take the common route due to the lack of sign. The one we are driving is a shortcut from Maamba to Sinazongwe and is a dust road to drive with a 4x4. Herve who is biking puts his front wheel in an earth crack and cannot not get out alone. Well, lucky him, we help him getting unstuck. Further, Jacques wants to splash him near a river and almost gets bogged down the 4x4 in mud !
We settle our camp on Kariba lake shore among the mosquitoes. As we set the tents a fisherman is coming from the lake, so we buy some small bremes for 1000 Kwatchas but the deal is not as good as expected : they are tasting mud !
On Saturday, following to the advice of a Dutch fellow called Hank who left everything in Holland to settle in Zambia, we head westwards and not Lusaka as we scheduled the day before. We are given the address of one of his friends who is rearing a crocodiles'farm, 50 kms from there. It takes us 2 hours to get to the place. There, we meet exceptional people : they offer us a tour that you normally organises only for your best friends ; they do it in knowing only our first names : that is what we can call hospitality ! Jeanine guides us among the crocs. It is a huge farm with more than 40000 crocodiles. We watch the biggest one, the breeders being fed. Then, you feel happy not to be too close ! Johan organises us a night on his island with a ranger called Mathias. In the morning, he takes us for a walk to see wildebeest and zebras. When we come back from the island, on the Saturday, Johan and his wife Christina have already gone to Livingstone to play golf. Nevertheless, his mother takes care of us and invites us to have a swim in the pool. Of course we can not resist... Then, she tells us that the lunch is ready. There is home made curry beans to eat and it is so good that we ask her the recipee (check out the food section to try it). To our greatest delight, she gives us three pots and two big of crocodile meat.
When we ask her for paying the petrol of the boat and the ranger, she refuses. This is for us a great lesson of hospitality.
Up to now, Zambia has really been our most rewardful human experience.

Internet update in Lusaka 16/02/98 (Gael, Jacques)

As soon as arrived in Lusaka, with impatience, we go to have a look at our emails at one of the Zambian provider situated right in the middle of the university. This university looks like an army bunker but is still charming maybe because of the nice gardens around. Well, for all of us, internet appears like THE magic tools to get the news of the life we left behind, far away. It has the good effect of making everybody in a good mood, satisfied of all the fresh news from home.
We decide to fix the pipe, which we broke for the third time 1800 km before ! Herve and Jacques leave for it. First they ask to a garage, but the black guy does not want to do it anymore at the price that our two "frog eaters" bargained : "I am not specialised enough in exhaust pipes, go and see X !". The black guy gives some indications to reach the place but we are turning around near Lusaka's township area without finding the place. Finally we ask our way again and we are indicated the opposite way of the road : nothing surprising for Africa ! So we find the place and go to ask to the workers how much it will cost : " 50000 kwatchas but I can do it for 20000 without an invoice !". We do not hesitate twice and they weld the exhaust pipe in a quarter without stopping lootking at the gate in case of their boss would come. Nevertheless, they accept to take time for a picture !
Another funny anecdote is when Jacques goes with one of the French cooperant to fetch the "South Luangwa National Park" at the Department of Agriculture. The price is 8000 Kwatchas but Jacques has got only a note of 10000 K. The salesman has no change neither! "It is common here that there is no change for the White but every local person has exactly his change back", the French cooperant says !
We go to the restaurant with three cooperants from the embassy. One of them tells us how he rolled his car on one of the Namibian dust road, just a week before. To come back to the meal, we enjoy a nice pepper steak while it is raining like hell outside. But, the most surprising thing is to meet Johan and Christina, our wonderful hosts from the crocodile farm. We have a bit of chat and invite them for the lunch : That is the least we can do for all the hospitality they had given us.

Lusaka - South Luangwa National Park 18-20/2/98 (Patrick, Jacques)

So, after this very nice lunch at the Lusaka Sports Club, surrounded by a majority of White (except the waiters !), we leave the capital of Zambia. Patrick is pretty satisfied because he meets some Swedes from whom he can get the latest news from Sweden.
The Zambian roads are notorious for their potholes and the road from Lusaka is not an exception ; the cars look like they are practising for the world cup of slalom where our Landie probably would place in the top three in hard concurrence with the local busses.
It is though a scenic road with a beautiful green and hilly landscape that changes into a more vast savanna with lower vegetation. On the 125 km red dirt road from Chipata to South Luangwa National Park, we are indicated by the car that we do not try hard enough to avoid the holes : our Landie is crying... oil ! Patrick just notices it as he is going to go back into the Land after having tied a loose strip on the motorbike ! What a luck even if we knew something was wrong due to a slight fall of the oil pressure on the gauge the last kilometres ! During the last daily check, we saw that the oil pump was a bit damaged so it was not too difficult to guess where the oil comes from.
Fortunately this time, Gael had taken an oil pump from the engine that he blew up in South Africa. So we have got a spare one.It takes only one hour and a half to our two mechanics to fix it : just the time to make Vero upset because Herve and Jacques told her not to give something for free to local people. Anyway, she would be in good moon the next morning ! During the breakdown, some young and less young Black come and see what the White is doing, the one, who normally just spreads dust all around with his 4x4 ! We are ready to carry on when the sunset settles on the horizon. We take farewell to the audience of locals.
One hour after sunset, we enter the Flat Dogs Lodge so we cannot see the hippos swimming around. Unlike the late hour, we enjoy the swimming pool that is as well tempered as the one in Ghanzi, Botswana. With the stars above and the Hippos singing a serenade in the river, we just lay in the pool for over an hour.
Early the next morning, it is game viewiing time. Therefore we leave before the sunrise to be at the gate at six o'clock. We manage it and after supporting the Zambian government with US$20 per person and US$10 for the car we entered the park with hope to see some big cats among the other game. We take off the main route for the first road we see to discover that it is a dead end road that lead to the now unused president lodge. We though see our first giraffes of the trip. On a rather concentrated area, we see a fair number of zebras, impalas, waterbucks and elephants but are more unlucky with the sunrise, the weather god is not on our side, it is cloudy all morning without the slightest mercy ; it even starts to rain lightly. It is then time to go back to the camp for the half day break.
A couple of hours later, we decide to go back for an afternoon drive. We have paid for the full day ,so we are determined to enjoy it the most possible. Vero feels more like cooling down and staying at the camp to write. We then are only men (what a relief !).
May be it is her female sense who tells her not to come. She indeed escapes the mud bath that we enjoy (!) for about 4 hours. That is what happens when you take a tiny unused dust road, and go without speed and without check before in big ditch full with mud (That was a good try Herve !). After that try there is not only mud in the ditch but also a Land Rover. For the first time we get stuck !!!
We first think it would be an easy debogging but after a few unsuccesfull tries using all our energy to cut wood to put under the wheels, lifting the car up with the hi lift jack, putting the sand planks converted in mud planks, digging the mud and carrying stone, we end up doing two more meters but not more. During all this time, we are of course in the middle of the game reserve well known for the population of lions and leopards. This is the only time we are happy not to see games in a reserve, strangely enough... Eventually, 3 hours later, the sun is going down and we are still stuck so it is time to go for help. Some English first come to help us with their Toyota but the technique and willing is not strong enough. The car does not move.
The second try is the good one : Patrick goes to the Mfuwe Lodge and finds Simon who brings some men. Their Land Rover tows us properly through the patch of mud. Thanks guys...
But, while we are building mud castle with our shovels like on the beach, Vero is not laughing and starts worrying. She goes for a night rescue drive with a guy from the camp. This is originally planned to do together but the boys get back a bit late, as you can guess.
She finally does not find us since we come back on our own and has a stressing, not enjoyable night drive even if the sundown is breathtaking... Sorry Vero, next time we will take you with to play in the mud!

Death of our second oil pump at the Zambian-Malawan border 21/2/1998 (Vero)

We finally leave South Luangua at around midday after a screwing party for Patrick, Gael and the Landie ! And a cleaning party for the three others. The landie, with the efforts of the bumpy roads of Zambia needs some fixing desperatly. Jacques still does not feel well and we are starting to believe that he might have malaria...
Patrick drives the bike on the bumpy-sandy road back to Chipata. We only change drivers a few kilometers before entering the town as the big dark clouds are coming. Vero is going to get wet anyway ! She surely does not expect the road to get so muddy and slipery so quickly ! According to Vero, the last 10 km to Chipata are rather tricky and she does not want to put her bum in the mud and make the 4 guys happy ! We stop in the town for some greasy chips for the pleasure of Gael and head towards the border.
As we get there, Gael decides to check the tears of the landy... and finds it crying... again ! the oil pump is broken... again ! We check the oil level and we can see that it is not fatal... for the moment. As we run out of oil pumps, we decide to carry on, only hoping we would make it to Lilongwe.

Bye-bye Zambia : despite the 18 road blocks we had, we all were very pleasantly surprised by this country from which we did not expect much. Zambian people are very friendly and the country still seems to be fairly unspoiled by tourism. One of the Zambian joke we heard is : Do you know what is Zambia's best kept secret ? Answer: its national parks. The fact is that it seems to be quite true !

Malawi

After the zambian border, we battle to reach the malawian one...which is some 10 km away with villages and lots of people in between. Although we still have not cross the border, we can feel that we have left Zambia: more people on the side of the road, better dressed (maybe because we are on Sunday), fields better organised and more cultivated... In brief, the atmosphere is different.
At Mchinji border, we are quite keen on not putting the tents up and sleep in some sort of motel. The customs officers recommends us the "Andrew's Motel" so this is where we head to.
Although the place looks a bit shabby, it is clean and safe for our vehicles. We have a very nice supper with the Malawian fish and a good beauty sleep to allow us to reach Lilongwe, some 100 km away.

Lilongwe - Lilongwe -Lilongwe.... 22 - 24/02 (Vero)

Out of all the capitals, Lilongwe is most certainly amongst the smallest and rather looks like a big regional town. As usual, we arrive on...Sunday which means that everything is closed. We spend most of the day by the Lilongwe Golf Club pool which also have a camping to accomodate us.
On Monday, 2 missions for the day : The landie needs a new oil pump and a system to protect it ; and the bikkie needs its front wheel to be straighten a bit. We split up in two groups, Gael and Patrick for the landie, Herve and Vero for the bike, while Jacques, still not 100%, looks after our stuff. A short visit to the Yamaha dealer lead us to the old part of the town, right into the market, in the middle of the buses... No need to tell you that the locals have a good laugh when they see 2 whites on a funny bike lost in there!
We finally find the place recommended by Yamaha : the shop has closed down a couple months ago but some chaps on the street offer to do the job : everything is fixable in Africa and it does not take too long to our "experts" to lift the bike on an old piece of wood and put apart the front wheel. Less than 1/2 an hour later, the wheel looks ok and is back at its original place, straighted !
Back at the campsite, Gael and Patrick have also good news : (Patrick :) "First we went to Nissan Malawi where we were said that a new oil pump would cost 5500 malawian kwatchas (around 1400 FF) and would be in Lilongwe for... mid March, meaning three weeks later !
The second one was a car broker that had one for 3600 kwatchas for a second hand pump but... we had to wait a day for it so the search went on.
After some more junk yards, we ended up at the local market that was situated in the old town of Lilongwe. This is a market where everything can be found, and after a while, whereas we were chatting, one black guy suddenly held exactly our pump in his hand. Our two mechanics had just to play cool and hold their feelings back for the negotiation of the price. Gael mentioned that it was a bit damaged. The startprice was 350 Kwatcha : Wow! We were astounded by the gap between the previous quotations. At this moment, some other guys came running to tell us that they had also found one. After a check, it turned out to be the right one and in a better condition. This was a dream position for a negotiation. After a couple of hours, the price had dropped from 2000 Kwatchas to 550 for the good one and from 350 Kwatchas to 285 for the other. So we bought them both for 835 Kwatchas instead of 3600 for one."
They also seemed to have managed to find a place to make the small modification on the bumpstops to protect the oil pump from beeing hit by the differential house.

Lilongwe - Ngwala 25/02 (Vero)

We leave Lilongwe quite late again at it seems difficult for us to speed up in the morning and take the wrong direction for some 35 km. Luckily, we get stopped by a police check who re-orientates us to the right direction. The road from Lilongwe to Salima is quite scenic : the big hills carry us for a while before we have a beautiful view on the lake. With the mountains falling into the deep blue lake and the temperature picking up, we can not wait to have a swim ! Just before we stop for lunch, on the road to Nkata Bay, Vero celebrates the first 10 000 km of her bike !
Approximately 100 km after Salima, on our left hand side is the Chia Lagoon: with all the late rainfalls, the lagoon is all muddy and with the late afternoon sun above it, we have the pleasure to see a "pink" lagoon with tortoises and cameleons around. As we run out of time, we stop by Heidi's Hide Out. The lodge is closed but Richard, the guy in charge while the owner is away, allows us to use the premises... and what premises ! We not only have a nice thatched roof to protect us from the rains and nice brick floor on which we place our tents. Richard let us use the nice wooden tables and chairs of the property and even organises some dried wood for the fire. He then helps us to obtain cool drinks as well as some fresh corn to grill on the fire.

Ngwala - Kande beah or the paradise beach : , 26 February 1998 (Vero - Gael)

The night is quite hot and humid and we therefore are all up early to get up and run to the lake to have a refreshing bath. We do not have so much distance to cover to our next stop, so we take quite some time to leave this little heaven. The road, with the lake on our right is pretty enjoyable as it turns around the hills falling into the lake. Kande Beach is said to be one of the overlanders paradise around the lake and we therefore go there to check it out.
It is just the occasion for Vero to celebrate her 17th fall of the trip... The deep-sand roads, unlike Patrick, are definitely not her speciality ! Do not be too worry, the guys are now getting used of picking the bike up !
Kande Beach has quite a nice set up, a white sand beach just a few meters away from the lake. Now a decision have to be made : Do we stay here a couple of days or do we carry on a bit further to reach Nkhata Bay ?
Well, there are some watersports for Gael, our sailor : a couple of catamarans and windsurfers on the right of the beach, and 4 overlander... birds in tiny-bikini on the left. Before Vero even has a choice in the matter, it does not take long to Herve and Jacques to convince Patrick.
We spend the afternoon to get some food for the days that we are going to stay. There are unfortunately no restaurants at the beach but, instead, a big bar where all the trucks get together for good times.
We try to catch up some of the exercise lost during one month and a half in the car with some beach volley, swimming, snorkeling and beer drinking, tough work but we manage quite well.
In the first evening, another fully loaded Landie called Colombus arrives to Kande Beach so our "landie-lovers" go straight to meet the other landie-lovers to have a nice talk about... landies, landie repairs, landie modifications, landies headaches... Colombus belongs to a young couple of South Africans who have left everything behind. They just have this kind of project which gives so much thrill to life : setting a restaurant in Zanzibar after a trip in a Landie from South Africa. They are basically just saying to us that their whole life is in their car !
In the morning, Gael and Patrick go for a swim to the small island in fronnt of the camp which looks much closer than it is really when you have to swim there (1,6 km in total). We spend the day on the beach. Herve and Jacques go snorkelling, vero stay sunbathing while Gael gives a private windsurfing lesson to a Danish girl from one of the overland truck.. We even rent a catamaran to cruise around the island and
This lazy day finds a nice end in a local village near by the camp. We enjoy the Kassava (Tapioca), with a beef stew and a chicken stew, a salad and some spinach. A show is even given by the kids at the end of the dinner singing and dancing in a smiling happy way, by the light of the parafine lamps.

Harsh last kilometers on the way to Tanzania 28/02 (Gael)

What a hurting feeling when you want to stay in a place but you don't want to go ! Tomorrow, our car and motorbike insurance in Malawi expires. We don't want to drive without and we don't want to pay for a full month only to stay few more days, so we leave...
The road to leave Malawi is terrible, probably the most painfull we ever had for the car. The road is partially tarred but we constantly have to avoid the huge potholes, and very often we drive on the side of the road because the surface is better. The suspensions of the car are screaming from the pain. It takes us 3 hours to do about 100 kms on one of the main road of Malawi ! No need to tell you we don't make the border in the day and we stop for the night some 50 kms before the border, for a last night along the lake.

Tanzania

Rip-off at the border 1/03/98 (Gael)

Our first feeling about Tanzania is unfortunately a bad feeling. Our first contact is at the border, where we have to go through six different offices to get it all clear. Just one detail : almost each office requires a fair amount of dollars.
First office : we get our passeports stamped, everything is fine since we already have our VISA we had applied for in South Africa for the amount of 25 US$ each.
Second office : Vero and Jacques get caught by the lady in charge of checking the medical matters. Fortunately, we have our yellow fever vaccination and our fake cholera certificate we have made done in SA. The cholera vaccination is useless according to most of the doctors worldwide but Tanzania still requests it !
Third office : 10 US$ is the fee asked by the customs officer, (not at all looking as an officier of any kind by the way) to fill our two sacred Carnets de Passage. He says to Gael he is making him a price since it should be 20 US$ because there is two Carnets. Fourth office : Did you know that you need a Foreign Registration Certificate (60 US$) and a Road Permit 5US$ to drive on the "excellent highways" of Tanzania with your own vehicle ? Fifth office : To drive in Tanzania, you also need a third part insurance that we take at the "office" (a container with a desk inside !) of the only insurance company at the border. It is 11 US$ for the bike and 26US$ for the car for one month. We take it to have good conscious but we know that if anything we will anyway be in trouble, with or without insurance ! In this office, the guy accept our dollars with resistance only and encourages us to change shillings on the black market. Under the eyes of the policemen and customs officers we change our dollars against shillings. Believe it or not, it is said to be "legal" !
Sixth office : this office is just a container with customs officers in charge of checking that we have paid each and everything we had to pay !
We regret at this time the crossing of the Zambian border when Gael just had to offer a beer to the customs officer to let us go without hassles.

On the way to Dar 2-3/03 (Patrick)

It was already 3 o`clock PM and finally we hit the road. We decided to go to Mbeya this night which is about three hours away. Mbeya is the biggest town in the region and the first big town you enter when you enter Tanzania from both Malawi and Zambia.
As on the Malawian side the views along the road are very dramatic with a lot of hills and small mountains, but here they are more covered with small and big fields with greeds like Mais, Bananas, Coffie, and Tea than Malawi. Mbeya seems to be a boring town, especially when it is raining like it does as we entered it. We decides to stay at the Moravian Youth Hostel, a pritty boring place with no good possibilieties to do your own cooking, but it worked out well with soup and a nice fruit sallad for supper. The priest incharge of the place warned us for theifs and tells us that it is about nine hours drive to Dar-Es-Salaam. That is good news and we agrees to leave really early the next morning.
Half an hour before the sunrise we are ready to leave after a speed record in getting ready, only 30 minutes. The weather is really cold for the first time since the rains in Jo-burg, it can't be more than 15 degrees C but the rains has stopped and the morning sun is fighting its way up in the east. The road down to Dar is also very beautyful, with mountain sceneries from Kipere Range near Mbeya and the Uluguru Mountains near Morogoro and a real pearl along the road, the Mikumi gamepark. The road leads you right through the middle of the park and you normally see alot of animals.
The first that we see are a couple of elephants 100 meters from us and the following animals are a flock of 10 giraffes just near the road, impalas, some gazelles and the most impressive meeting, a flock of 5 Elephants just 10 meters from us. This is a thrilling experience, to be just so close to those giant animals that can turn our Landie upside down whenever they want.
The Mikumi is the first sight we got from the Africa that you often see in the dokumentory films about the animals in here, the big vast savanna with some trees braking the grass surfice.
Time to leave this garden of Eden. After 10 hours travelling and still 200 km left to Dar, we now realise that the preast in Mbeya that told us that is was no problem to do it over the day must have had power from above to manage that or he might have travelled by the suicidal buses.
We stops in Morogoro, that is the agricultural center i Tanzania for the night at Mama Pierina's Hotel. Mama Pierina is a 75 years old Italian woman that loves to tell us about her 9 children and 30 grand children. She speaks Italian, French, Spanish, Swahili and English.

A busy, exotic city : Dar Es Salaam (Patrick)

And so after two months we see the Indian Ocean again, last time was at the Cape of Good Hope the 17th of January and now it spreads in front of us when we are heading down to Dar-Es-Salaam the Arabian capital of Tanzania. But it is not anymore the capital of Tanzania, the government has moved to Dodoma in the middle of the country.
We are now in the most busy town since Cape Town, looking for a place to stay. The atmosphere between us is tensed. We are not used anymore to drive in the traffic. Vero who follows us gets lost with the bike for two minutes. Not knowing the town, she gets scared, and us irritated. Hakuna Matata, no worries, we are in Tanzania, it is anyway just a little problem as we will notice later, there is nothing to fear in Dar, it is safe !
After a short research, we decide to stay at the Luther House. The place has it all, nice enough rooms with fans and mosquito nets, safe parking place for the Landie and the bike. We though should have to sleep two person on the floor if we have not met the american savior, John Robinsson alias JR. During the research Patrick bumped in to him just outside the hotel asking information on the safety. Coinsedently he has an extra bedroom that he offers us and we though have to stand an air condition which is not to hard. We have never appreciated to this extent the use of an air conditionied system !
The weather in Dar at this time of year is very hot and humid and this day is not an exception, we are all shocked for how much we are sweating without doing anything. John is now our Dar companion and is part of the team in Dar. He takes us to the few alive places that Dar has : Dar is a fantastic city with nightclubs, internet cafŠs, arabic-, african-, Indian culture, harbour, beaches, and street sales. We also tryd the coconut beach and the sunset at slipway a place were the white society meets over some nice pizza and a beer.
After some days of arranging the shipment (hard negociationg by Gael and Vero) to Mombay we set of to Arusha and the world famous national parks.

Gearbox stripping in Arusha 15-17/02 (Patrick - Gael)

Around midday this Sunday, Jacques leaves us alone, taking the ferry to the dreamful Zanzibar island. He can not wait to be alone and change the rythm of the trip. So, does he get on his own for about a month. We will meet again in India.
Here we are in the goldmine of Tanzania, Arusha. Not many turists that comes to Tanzania are missing this town. From here all the safaris to the great parks that surrounds Arusha starts. We got a problem with the car in Dar, the second gear refused to stay in place. We though drove up to Arusha to fix it there during the research for a safari.
The Tanzanian Motors where we left the car didn't manage to fix it as they had promised so we are leaving for a game ride with Francis and Aihai as our guide and cheif. After a very bumpy ride we are reaching the gate of Ngorogoro Park. After a night on the rim of the crater we are descenting down from the rim to the great Serengeti.

Serengeti National Park

The name "Serengeti" has come to represent the safari experience itself, evoking images of sweeping savannas swarming with lion, wildebeest, and gazelle. In the language of the Maasai the word means "endless plain," and the 5700 sq. miles (14,763 sq. km) of park land in Northern Tanzania do indeed seem infinite. Upon these grasslands roam more game animals than anywhere in the world. There are over a million wildebeest alone.

Throughout the winter months of December to March (the best time to come), many of the animals are concentrated in the park's southern regions, near Ngorongoro. During the spring months of May or June, the vast herds of wildebeest and zebra start to head west in search of water, beginning a circuitous migration that takes some of them to shores of Lake Victoria, and others to northern areas and to Kenya's Maasai Mara park just across the border. Virtually every African game animal can be seen in the Serengeti; however, because the animals are more dispersed between July and November visitors should give themselves suffient time to track them down.

Ngorongoro Crater Reservation Area

Ngorongoro is famous around the globe as an echo of Eden. It is a 12-mile (19 km) wide volcanic crater, ringed with towering walls and sheltering forests, grasslands, fresh springs, a large lake, and a dazzling abundance of animals of all sorts. The sunken cone of the extinct volcano (which was a behemoth during its day) serves as a natural cradle for the wildlife, which remains in the vicinity year-round.

After some incredible days we were dropped off at some friend to Vero that were managers of a tented camp at the Lake Manyara. Paul and Fiona who were our hosts and guides gave us three excellent days here, with three course dinners birding walks with and ofcourse the day in the

Lake Manyara National Park

This fine park has a stature that far exceeds its modest 125 square mile (325 sq. km.) area, having been a mecca for seekers of wildlife, and for hunters, since safari travel began. Along its western border lie the cliffs of the Great Rift Valley escarpment, and its eastern border runs along the shores of Lake Manyara. Within this long and narrow corridor are dense concentrations of wildlife inhabiting a lovely and diverse landscape, which ranges from forest of tamarind, mahogany, and fig in the north to the wide open grasslands of the park center. Elephant, giraffe, lion, buffalo, and zebra are all to be found here, in addition to many other game and bird species.

With Paul we got an unforgettable day. He found over 120 diffent bird spieces for us, of which we only saw half and recogniced 40. We also saw the one of the more difficult predators, the Leopard, this shy cat we had luck to see both in Ngorogoro and here. We also saw the black giraff, here in Manyara some individes tend to have a pigment difference that makes them look almost black.

Gearbox stripping : 2nd part 25-26-03 (Gael)

This the reality of Africa : we come back from our 6 days safaris and the gearbox is still not repaired. No need to say we are upset but as usual we take the bad news with a fair amount of humour.
The gearbox has been stripped 4 times by the mechanics, a lot of spares have been changed but the second gear is still jumping off. The garage look good when we chose it: big enough to be serious. It is a Scania dealer and it used to be a Peugeot, Renault and Land Rover dealer. The mechanics are useless anyway and there is a total lack of professionalism.
We then get a delay of one day, necessary time for us to find a cheap good guy to sort out the problem which at the end was just an adjustment problem !
Gael takes one of this video coach (some kind of serial killer buses...) to go back to Dar one day earlier to meet a friend of him Yannick coming for business in Dar and to check that the shipment is well organised.
Herve waits that the car is repaire and heads off to Kenya on his own. His plan is to spend a week in Nairobi and to go travelling with a friend for 2 weeks in Kenya. The full story (almost complete !) at the next internet update.
Back in Dar, John welcomes all of us in his flat : Vero, Gael and Patrick. We visit his college and use his computer and internet more than it is polite. John does not care, he is just too nice !
We have good times, in Dar. We all love the city and we like walikng in the streets, getting some cheap street food, shopping around...
Then, on Sunday, we all leave for Zanzibar. Our stay there is now described to you by our guest writer John.

ZANZIBAR, the spice island by our Dear John (Special guest writer)

French adventurer Thierry Sabin (organizer of the first Paris/Dakar competition) once said, "I will lead you to the door of adventure, but only you yourselves can open that door and take up the challenge." I have to ask myself if there is a more fitting way to summarize my thoughts about these four French (and one Swedish) adventurers whom I met while living in Dar. Meeting this group was easy enough for me as I stood outside the hostel where I was staying (I doubt if Patrick has EVER met a person he couldn't talk to!) Now, after getting to know this group, and "experiencing" their lifestyle somewhat, I realize that I am extremely jealous of this "insanely great" trip that they have embarked upon. With that said, I would like to write about one particular day with this group, which was as close to perfection as I will probably experience... and it all began in Zanzibar.
Zanzibar. When I thought about the island initially, I had visions of acres and acres of spice plants, tourists rushing around to line up scuba/snorkeling trips, and quiet times at the beaches. Well, I was right with my vision. It is a beautiful destination...if a person knows what to do! And Gael, Patrick and Vero knew what to do! So, in my trip to Zanzibar, I could talk about:
*the sunsets at the Africa Hotel (ok, so we weren't on time for the actual event... but we tried!)
*Blues - greatest coffee and conversation in months!!! (in an incredible setting..)
*Vero almost "losing" her passport to a local who thought he needed it more than she did... boy, was he wrong!!!
*the food served at the park for the huge gathering of people...
*the wonderful people who work at the Pyramid Hotel who made our two nights there so easy... and the breakfasts they served on the roof.
*but, it was the motorcycle trip that will stay with me the rest of my life, and especially one day during a trip to the north coast of Zanzibar!

I was lucky. This group liked to travel and experience the real countryside and they preferred travel by dirtbikes. So, it was decided... we would rent the bikes in Stone Town and just head north. The trip fell together so easily... you must know that Patrick raced motocross and Vero is the "biker" of their group. The only thing that didn't follow according to plan was the weather, we woke up at the Pyramid Hotel to a flood outside the hotel door and the rain pouring down! But after a breakfast, the sky finally showed a sliver of blue and it was time to go! With Patrick's bargaining ability in high gear (a thing of beauty to behold!), two 250 Hondas were rented and off we went, with no confirmed destination in mind... ahh, life on the road! After a couple hour ride... with lunch thrown in about halfway in the most interesting cafe I have ever been in... we arrived on the north shore and had to choose where to stay. Does one stay in a/c, self-contained flats, or should the nights be spent in grass huts? We choose the latter... and we will never regret it! Kendwa Rocks is situated on the beach, with bungalows, bandas and a restaurant for the weary traveler. Just as important, a stand is located just yards from the beach to serve refreshments for those individuals who actually feel a need to get out of the sun and actually exert some physical movement. Is this the real life... is this just fantasy? Another day in paradise...
There is so much to describe concerning our three-day stay at Kendwa Rocks, but it was the day I was to return to work in Dar that will stand out as the highlight of my trip. First off... let's just say that I did not make it back to my job at the time for which I was scheduled! The day started on the beach (don't they all?)... and around noon, Gael started tempting me with the idea of staying another night. It didn't take much for Vero and Patrick to join in and well, the temptation was just too great... there was to be another day in paradise! The afternoon was spent bouncing around the coast on the dirtbikes with Gael (he has one speed on the bike...FAST!) trying to find a phone. Mission: not accomplished. But we tried... Hakuna Matata!! So, there was more swimming in the afternoon, sun-baking, swimming, sun, swim, sun, etc. Then came the night. Where to eat? Why not at a local cafe just a long walk up the beach. Perfect for me as I collected my 100th seashell to bring back to the States during this walk. We arrived at the cafe and what can I say? The cafe was unreal. "Raw" would probably be as good a description as any for this establishment! And the food they served there? Unbelievably great! Grilled tuna, coconut rice, coconut potatos and octopus. Does it get any better than this, Vero? After this feast... a short walk down the beach landed us to an out-of-the-way nightspot in which every crazy within a five kilometer radius happened to find that night. It was packed with individuals from all over the globe. My favorites:

a conversation with a psychiatrist from Norway... I tried to listen more than talk, he did not need another case study!

the table of students celebrating (exactly what... who knows!!) But they took turns throughout the night daring each other to more and more outrageous stunts. With them, the patrons of the club were treated to: a sing-along of Christmas songs, licking the bar bell, kissing of unsuspecting customers, table dancers and finally, an actual streaker (welcome to the '70s guys!) The only thing missing was a little tubthumping... but they'd never heard of it... and maybe that's they way it should be on the north coast in Zanzibar!!!

I think Gael, Patrick and Vero should enjoy the culture a bit longer, but for me, it was time to head back to the hut! Besides, I'm the smart one... get back before high tide, yes, they will get wet if they wait too long to return. Too late for any of us!
I'm getting soaked and there is no easy way back to our site. Smile and enjoy the ocean water. Now for the added bonus, a dog appears on the shore and keeps me company on my walk home. If anyone recognizes the dog's name "Santa's Helper" from tv, I found his twin in Zanzibar! What a great animal... Finally, I made it back to the camp, grabbed a towel, and fell asleep under the stars, waiting for the others to return....

What was that noise coming from the beach??? Why, it was Gael, Patrick and Vero returning to camp!!! (Personally, I think they had overloaded on caffine or something considering how revved up they appeared!!) It was Vero who was the first to head for the ocean for the perfect midnight swim. Needing no encouragement, we all quickly joined her and floated around the ocean with the most beautiful night sky overhead I have ever seen! I had never seen Orion with so many stars in it! Brilliant!!! It was one of those moments that should never have an end.....
And that's what I want to say about Zanzibar and quite possibly the most fascinating day I've had! It's almost scary now... do I head back to life and just "go through the motions of living" (- A. Rice) after experiencing a day like this? I hope not. Maybe, naw..for sure... this trip to Freddie Mercury's island has persuaded me to do this again... as soon as possible!
Thanks Gael - for "talking me into" the extra days off from work...even though your French accent was a lot for me to comprehend!!!
Thanks Patrick - for all you have taught an old pirate - computers, Sweden, languages... wow, there's a lot to learn!
And Vero....thanks for talking, listening, and not getting frustrated with all those questions about life in Paris... I just had to know!!! Peace....

Next news soon in India... 31/03/98 (Gael)

As usual, the update has been done in a rush. Thanks John, for your help in writing, at least, there is one part of our website with a perfect english !
The part on Tanzania will be corrected and more details put in it later with the stories of Herve and Jacques travelling on their own.
Patrick and Gael take the plane to India today in 6 hours.
Herve and probably Jacques are in Kenya.
Vero is by this time in Thailande with her mum !

We shall update the site in India with the full team next time for new adventures in a new continent !