In four and a half weeks we have traveled 13 000km through eight countries. The trip has given me a bigger picture of this wonderful continent of Africa. Here in South Africa we have limited knowledge about the people and activities north of us. Over the years many of us have built up misconceptions. Before we left many people told us that we were going to have a big problem with police road blocks and corruption. In fact everyone who stopped us was polite and friendly. There was only one determinedly corrupt border policeman at Nyamapanda border post in Zimbabwe. In fact other travelers we met told us they'd had problems with the same policeman and a few others. For this reason we returned via Botswana and not Zimbabwe. We heard a Zimbabwean on the radio wondering what had happened to all the World Cup tourists who should have been coming to Zimbabwe. Word gets around and people aren't prepared to be ripped off. Until Zimbabwe get their act together and stop treating tourists and visitors in this way they won't prosper as a tourist destination.
Things I will miss about the countries visited?
- Loads of fresh produce in Tanzania.
- The wonderful friendly and welcoming people we met in all the countries we visited.
- Waking up each morning with a sense of expectation about what we will see and do.
- The wonderful game reserves.
- Scenery
- Mt Kilimanjaro, Victoria Falls, Botswana's wide open spaces.
- Potholes!
- Wild bus drivers
- Money changers at borders
- Being at home - always welcome after a trip.
- Fellow South Africans
- Enjoying the World Cup Final
- Understanding the currency.
- My internet connection.
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3 comments:
So glad that you had a great experience. I look forward to reading through your adventures on your blog. (I need to catch up.) Thanks for sharing.
I know that it’s been a long time since this post but I would ver y much like to contact Brendah as she visited the house in Luengera that our family lived in from 1960 to 1965. My sister & I are planning a trip next year to our childhood haunts, Tanga, Luengera,Lushoto & Pangani. If anyone can help me contact her it would be much appreciated. Thank you
Hi Timh,
I hope you received my earlier message. It's amazing that I came across your comments. I haven't read over this blog in years but today I decided to take a look because I had been discussing our trip with a friend from Russia. Please let us know how your trip to Luengera goes.
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