Happy New Year, 2012.

No rest for the overlanders. After too much to drink and not a lot of sleep, we were on road again by 7.30am.

This morning we were changing trucks.

I haven’t been travelling long enough to become attached to the old truck. But the new one was initially a bit disappointing.

The new truck has glass windows – these are a legal requirement heading into Southern Africa. No open side tarp trucks allowed. Also, a lot more cramped inside with a narrower corridor. However, more storage space. I’m sure the new truck – Pumba will grow on us soon!

Today was a driving day. We were taking 2 days to head down to Dar Es Salam on the coast, stopping off overnight halfway down.

It was the hottest day we have had so far, not a cloud in the sky. That is, until we reach Mount Kilimanjaro. The only place where clouds were – completely covering the summit view! The campsite was cute – little areas bordered with mini hedges. There was the promise of wifi (first time all trip!) but after walking around the entire little village, no such luck. Just small little cabin shops and wooden houses.

The word Mzungu follows you round everywhere here.

In South America, it’s Gringo. In Indonesia its Bule. All meaning white-foreign-person. Imagine walking down the street in England and shouting black person….

Monday 2 January 2012

I ended up being sick overnight. A few others have had a 24 hour bug, may be the same thing. So not feeling too enthusiastic about a day of driving. The second day of driving was largely similar. 7 hours on the road. Hot, lots of green trees (mango, coconut, banana), mango sellers with cute mango pyramids littering the road.

Dar Es Salam is Tanzania’s largest city. With approximately 3 million people. After 6 days driving through very very sparsely populated places (with animals far outnumbering people), Dar comes as a bit of a shock – the busiest place we have been so far. People and cars everywhere.

The campsite though, is amazing! Right on the sea front, swimming pool, beach bar, camping on sand. The water is so warm, palm trees line the white sand beach. I could get used to this.