by I couldn’t believe my eyes! I had to blink again… a river FULL of hippos! I missed them passing over the bridge and Francois stopped on the other side and casually asked: “did you see the hippos?” I looked back and searched for the one or two I missed, but instead found about 300+ hippos stacked almost on top of each other – wow!
This river is located in the Katavi National Park, which we passed through on the way from Kipili to Mpanda. There is a small town located next to it and it’s almost impossible to think that man and hippo can live here in this small space together. What a sighting and highlight of the day!
This morning we left Lake Shore Lodge at about 10am and bought ourselves some breakfast bread in Kipili for only R5. They wrapped our bread in a piece of newspaper…
But it was absolutely delicious with some syrup and later in the day we had the same for lunch :o)The gravel road was mostly hectic with some stretches where we could reach a speed of up to 60km. Here is an example of a not so lekker stretch of gravel.
I am looking forward to tarmac roads again, though it has been awesome to get off the beaten track and into some of the remote parts of Tanzania. The gravel has been punishing the bikes a bit and this morning we had a truly sad burial ceremony for our two screens who sadly could not take the punishment…
We arrived at the Super City Hotel in Mpanda at about 16h30 and as I signed us into the guest book I had to have a laugh as I wrote (after some considerable thought) “STEYN” under the column that said TRIBE. Our room is clean and we have a (almost) double bed and a fan, though the bathroom is quite something else, I can handle it, plus the drinks are so so cheap here and we paid about R11 for a 500ml Serengeti beer and a 350ml Coke – life is good!
Wow! Hoeveel mense het al soveel beleef in een enkele dag: slegte paaie en onderdele wat afkom EN ‘awesome sightings’ en goedkoop bed&bier/coke. Rare pakket! Julle eie kondisie en gees lyk darem nog goed – ‘keep smiling’ bly duidelik nog jul ‘motto’ 😀 Hoop die pad voretoe lyk beter! Als nog piekfyn hier op die plaas. XX
Jô-Jô! Ek het nog nooit so iets gesien soos daai hoop hippos nie. Wat ‘n ervaring vir julle! Die screens is seker nie die ergste nie – nou het jul minder weerstand in die ry. Francois jy begin nou lyk soos Gadsigobi (of so iets) – toendetydse wildeman van die Kalahari. Wonder net of jy ‘n weelderige koperbaard soos Villiers gaan kry. Goed gaan en voorspoed.
Fantastiese ervaring verseker! ‘n Koue bier is ‘n bargain teen ENIGE prys maar R11 vir ‘n 500ml is koning. Kyk net op die label, as ek reg onthou is dit 6% alkohol inhoud….Tania jou “frame” is mos 100%, Frankie kan nou net werk aan sy borshare dan is hy top kondisie; die baard is al daar! Lekker ry vandag. Fx
Hip-hippo hoera vir die STEYN tribe!!
Annalene jy slaan die spyker op die kop!!! Pragtig!
Hey guys
It’s classic, I got such a flash back now after my friend passed on the link! We did a trip this year April-July from RSA to Ethiopia and back, for more see http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anyone/193150610707773
About 100km’s before Katavi National Park i got into a serious(ish) accident as I rolled my Land Rover after my tire came off the rim. Long story short, we eventually hopped our way into Mpanda where we stayed for 2 days. Thereafter my 2 mates continued the journey and I stayed behind in Mpanda living in the New Super City Motel for another 8 days. Had to sort insurance, recovery, sell goods etc. There after I backpacked the rest of Tanzania and Uganda before meeting up with them in Nairobi to continue our journey.
Your pics really brought back classic memories of that quite ordinary West Tanzanian town which I came to love, never mind all the friends (and hippos at the bridge). Good luck with the rest of your journey and especially rattling your way through Northern Kenya and Sudan. Big up for the 200cc travel method, it’s genius! By far probably the best and easiest to repair for any local.
Regards
I sat there wide-eyed with my jaw on the ground not being able to tear myself away to try and get ready for work. I couldn’t even fathom what was happening or why. All I knew was that a plane flew into the tower. I didn’t know details.
I wish I were you guys. Must be awesome to just ride for days and see and experience all you did!!! Great stuff!! Where you going next?