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After surviving the horrible Kenyan death-roads (likely the worst roads in the world) and 2 days of buses from Kigali, Rwanda through Kampala, Uganda, I ended up in shady Nairobi, Kenya (affectionately known as Nai-robbery by locals although thankfully I had no problems). After one full day and 2 nights there I hopped another long distance bus for Mombasa, on the South Coast of Kenya. The Swahili culture is one evolved over many generations of intermarrying between Arab, Indian and African traders along the coast of Africa from the South end of Somalia through Kenya, Tanzania and into Northern Mozambique and extending only about 10 miles inland along the coast and throughout the islands (Zanzibar and Lamu being the most prominent isles). Although ethnically the culture is centered along this coastal regions both Kenya and Tanzania have adopted Swahili as their official language (although with slightly different variations).

After my bus trials and tribulations I spent four days resting up in Kampala, doing errands (Western toiletries!), going to the movies with the friendly Canadian couple that I met in Arusha, and generally chilling out on the lovely grounds of the Red Chili Guest House (where I also ran into several overland tour groups that I had met multiple times in Southern and Eastern Africa). Finally I felt ready to head out and I took another somewhat harrowing bus ride down south to Kabale (for 7 ½ hours the driver sped along and wove at high speeds in and out of massive, Mini-Cooper-sized pot holes). This trip was taken with a young English couple, and we then shared an over-priced taxi to beautiful Lake Bunyoni (even after stern negotiations one cannot avoid the Mzungu prices in Africa).

After 2 full days of travel (3 mini buses, 1 taxi, 1 half bus and 1 eleven-hour long distance bus) I made it from Nkhata Bay, Milawi to Dar Es Salaam on the Tanzania Coast. On the ‘luxury’ long distance bus (no isle seating and with a bathroom) to Dar I reacquainted myself with a lovely Australian couple who I had met the first night in Nkhata bay the week before. Arriving at night in one of the more sketchy cities of Africa we quickly hopped into a cab to be taken to a hostel. The next morning after breakfast I said goodbye (they were off to Ethiopia) and walked to the bank on my way to the wharf where I boarded the fast ferry for Zanzibar (for the exorbitant rate of $35 for the 90 minute trip). In Zanzibar I managed to extricate myself from the hounding taxi touts and walked with all my bags (about 70 lbs or 31 kg).

[June 13 update: To be continued in the next 24 hours with info on Stonetown and Mungwi beach and the long-term power outage.]

After some serious road travel I arrived exhausted in Nkhata bay the next morning after the 1 ½ hour mini bus ride from Mzuzu (they strive to pack 19 people plus luggage and kids in a tiny mini-van). Getting off the bus I was swarmed by boat touts asking to escort me by boat to my chosen lodge, Myoko Villiage, but I tried to decline them despite their claims that the transportation was free (I later learned it was free and so needlessly missed out on the boat ride). I did accept a ride by truck and after riding for 15 minutes over a brutally rough dirt road I arrived at Myoko and was warmly greeted by the locals working there. They were mostly full but I arranged to get their last room which was very dilapidated under the promise of being upgraded to the nicest room with bathroom the next night (only $15 in Malawi what would have been $40 in any other Southern African country). Finally settled I had a snack and got to resting up from the road travel, reading, and catching up with my journals (which I had been a month behind on without a laptop). From here I will travel to Dar Es Salam, Tanzania and on to Zanzibar but that journey will take 2 full days to get there over some of the worst roads in Africa so I rationed I had better rest up for 4 nights here before heading out.

The first day was spent on an all day drive north from Cape Town to Cederberg, in the Northeast of South Africa. Cederberg was not that inspiring of a destination although it did serve as a place for our new Tribe to get acquainted over some dinner and drinks and to commiserate about the unexpectedly severe cold that hardly anyone was prepared for (probably high 40s F. at night).

Day Two was a much shorter drive to the South African side of the Orange River, the geographic border between S.A. and Namibia. In just a day and a half many of us were amazed at the changes in terrain from the Atlantic Coast to the rolling hills and forests and then to the barren desert in Northern South Africa and we were delighted to see the oasis like conditions of grass and trees along the riverfront as we drove to the charming campsite in the early afternoon. After putting up our tents we had all afternoon to swim in the river and lounge by the bank.

Many travellers that I had met on this trip spoke of the amazing paradise beaches of Playa Del Carmen and Isla Mujeres, and in Belize. After being unimpressed with the beaches of Belize I had hoped that Playa Del Carmen would be the relaxing Mexican beach paradise that I had been looking for and which was hopefully still relatively unspoiled by throngs of tourists. But alas, while PDC was massively more relaxed than Cancun it still was too touristy for my tastes. PDC is still an amazing destination by most people standards, but it still was missing the laid back attitude and cultural charm that makes certain places extra special for me (such as Ko Pi-Pi, Thailand).

With only 3 days left to my trip I had high hopes I would find such a place in Isla Mujeres and on the same day I visited my last Mayan ruins at Edzna near Campeche I took a marathon 9 hour trip (2 buses) to Cancun in order to try to make it to that island. I got there later than planned and was under the false impression (as I later discovered) that I had missed the last ferry to Isla Mujeres (it turns out they run until past midnight). So I had to stay an extra night in my dreaded Cancun and on top of that the single rooms of all the cheaper hotels seemed to be booked so I got stuck in a miserably unventilated dorm room of the hostile (it was literally 88 degrees throughout the night). Fortunately I met a fun group of Irish kids and had several Sol beers to prepare me for what I knew would be a less than comfortable night. With a pretty poor nights sleep (due to temp and the all night disco next door) I headed out for bluer waters, so to speak. After an easy bus ride and ferry with an Aussie gal I met at breakfast, we split and I ended up at the coveted hostile on Isla Mujeres around 11AM.

After Tikal in Guatemala I was eager to return to some new experiences and ready to move on the Belize which I had not been to before. My first night was spent in the quaint British colonial town of San Ignacio, near the Western border with Guatemala. There I met a group of undergraduate and graduate archaeologists who were doing a dig in one of the smaller nearby sites. I had a very fun night with them going to a somewhat remote pub that was filled only with locals and discussing the intricate tedium of an archaeological dig which I knew I would never have the patience nor interest for. The next day I hopped a local bus to Belize City, on the East coast, but had to stay in that dingy / shady town because I missed the last ferry to Caye (pronounced ‘Key’) Caulker.

After 4 days in Coron I was ready for some beach time so on Thursday (10/6/05) I flew to Borocay Island , in the Vasayas (Central Eastern Islands), via Manila (the transportation in Philippines is still pretty rudimentary and even relatively short boat rides of 120-160 Km (60-80 miles) can take 24 hours or more and pretty much all flight originate on one end in Manila or Cebu and do not go airport to airport and island to island. Borocay is probably the most well visited site for Western Tourists, but also one of the most beautiful. Since now is still low season the beach is not overly crowded and the guest house rooms are still pretty cheap ($18 a night for a fairly modern room w/ air-con, bath and hot water shower). The sunsets here are spectacular and the pace is certainly that of Island Time the world over, with a perpetually relaxed and chilled atmosphere and a fairly boisterous night life.