Travel updates
This page will be updated with short travel descriptions from time to time. It's not intended to form a full chronological description but merely as placeholder for short stories.
"The trip of our life time" or so we depicted it prior to venturing out into the unknown, aided by a group of people as alien to travel arrangements as a we were to Africa. Little did we know that our party of 7 was to be the trial for tourism in southern Tanzania or more precisely the Mtwara region on the border to Mozambique. This region hasn't seen white people apart from the odd South African on the way to Kenya or a few marine researchers on a remote peninsula miles from "civilisation".
The whole idea behind the trip was thought by a UK based aid organisation, TradeAid. TradeAid had for long had a hotel in the small village, Mikindani, just north of Mtwara, where locals were taught the art of small business management and aided to better understand the need for clean water and sustainable crop management. TradeAid also helps the local education system by providing much needed tools like pencils, rulers, paper, books and other critical teaching tools. So to boost the local economy TradeAid was planning to "lure" wealthy Europeans into staying at the "Old Boma", sampling the local skills and the carefully restored Hotel. The Hotel, for short "The Boma" is a 100 year old fort right at the Indian Ocean, restored to it former glory and now run as a hotel with 8 high class rooms with all modern facilities including running water, electricity and internet connectivity. The daily management and running of the facility is done by skilled locals with help from a locally residing UK business advisor.
Enough about the background, more can be found on TradeAids website.
With a sketchy plan in hand we met up with the rest of the group at Heathrow's terminal 3 Friday 15th August 2003. The flight to Tanzania via Zurich and Nairobi was without glitches. A stunning view of Kilimanjaro on the last leg to Dar Es Salaam was breath taking. Well arrived in Dar we teamed up with the guides from Mikindani in 2 OLD Land Rovers. When I say old I mean old. Clinically white, they looked the part...from a distance. They were in fact +20 year old ex-army Land Rovers shipped to Tanzania post retirement.
Munich October fest, Germany - 2004
Dubai - Sri Lanka - Maldives - 2004
California road trip, California - 2005
Munich October fest, Germany - 2005
Bodrum, Tyrkey - 2009