Backpackers

Since leaving Cape Town we have been backpacking on the garden route, staying at what are called backpackers. What is that you might ask? Backpackers are just like hostels but they can be located anywhere from the middle of cities to the middle of the woods, they have self catering kichens, and run a lot of tours. They have everything from dorm rooms to regular hotel rooms to camping and we have been taking advantage of all of them.

We are traveling on a bus that you can get off and on as many times as you like, hopping from town to town along the coast.

Here are links to some of the places we have stayed.

http://wildtongue.co.za/index.htm

http://www.wildernessbackpackers.com/

and the bus company:

http://www.bazbus.com/

our map

Wanna see where we're going? check out our (rough) google map!

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=-20.385825,30.454102&spn=19.607074,29.707031&z=5&msid=106898594804214664882.00044b5e5fdbe89556151

Pictures from South Africa

Traveling, indeed! Here are some pictures:

Penguins on the Cape!

View from Cape of Good Hope, looking east

Us at the Cape

Us on a wine tour outside of Stellenbosch

It's cold here! At our backpacker's hotel in the town of Wildreness

Crazy looking bird in the town of Wilderness

Jellyfish on the beach, being devoured by snails. yumm

We're off (we think!) !

Warning: The following post if a THEORY! A hope, really. Nothing is set.
BUT: Tomorrow morning, we are planning on leaving Cape Town to start traveling across Southern Africa. We had originally planned on leaving Tanzania and heading southwest until we hit Cape Town, but because of the medical stuff, we are now hoping to do our trip in reverse. Our plan, as of now, is:

1. Now: Cape Town, leaving April 17th

2. One week on the Garden Route of South Africa, tasting wine, learning to surf, going on hikes, dolphin watching, canoeing, and relaxing. We will be camping for half the time.

3. Then head to the mountains of Lesotho, where we will go pony trekking and hiking for four days.

4. Then to Johannesburg to see a bit of the city, then meet Arthur's Mom, brother, and future sister in Law.

5. Then we head to Botswana for a one week safari, then to Victoria Falls for a relaxing few days.

This is when Arthur's family leaves, and our trip really turns to theory:

6. From Victoria falls, head up to Lusaka (Zambia) for a couple of days.

7. Travel to South Luangwa National Park (Zambia) for a few days, sleeping in a tree house.

8. Head to Malawi, starting at Mt. Mulanje where we will hike for a few days.

9. Head north to the beach of Lake Malawi. The last time we were on this lake (called lake Nyasa on the Tanzania side), we got engaged. So we'd like to go back and go swimming, snorkeling, and watch the sunset.

10. Take a ferry up the lake and go hiking for a few more days on the mountains on the coast of the lake.

11. Back in Tanzania! Go to Mbeya for a day

12. Then, we have no idea. Maybe back to Songea? Straight to Dar to fly home?

This all depends on so many factors (like health, jobs, etc), and if all those plans don't sound tenuous enough, remember that we're traveling all by bus and public transit, meaning that we don't really know when or where we'll end up.

But we'll be sure to let you all know, and post pictures when we can. As of now, even our flights home are on different months out of different countries, but we'll hopefully both be home by early June.

And we're off...!!!

Happy Birthday

One of the hardest parts about being thousands of miles from home is missing out on family and friends. Well today is my grandfather's birthday. Happy Birthday from Cape Town, wish I could be there!

Not in Tanzania any more

Enjoying breakfast in Cape TownRelaxing by the pool at our apartment

Enjoying the scenery on Lion's Head Mountain, a 30 minute walk from our apartment

Delicious berry pancakes for breakfast? A relaxing pool? Everybody speaking English? Hiking a mountain out our back door? Where are we?

Cape Town!

Pictures from our time in Songea

One of our activities at the community center was working with the womens group. We arrange to have a demonstration at the community center for the womens group of the Money Maker Pump. Some of you might have heard about this pump, it was displayed in NYC for the exhibit "inventions for the other half" and has been in magazines and books for similar reasons. It was a great watching the women climb up on the back of a pick up truck to try out the pump, cheering each other on.
When we first arrived in Songea the land had recently been burned. There was no grass and the land was mostly red and black. When we left Songea for the last time a week ago the land was green and the grass was now taller than we were. As you can see below as Saidi marches down a bath behind our house, the land can change a lot over a year.
This week we spent wrapping up our work for MCW. Our last task was to purchase five new computers in Dar es Salaam and send them to Songea. A team member (featured below with the new computers) came to Dar (his first time) to buy the computers with us and to take them back to Songea. It was a little nerve wracking leaving five brand new computers at a bus stand hopping they would make it to Songea.
Roads can be an adventure in Tanzania. The one below is the road to our home. Over our time in Songea the road went from pretty good to horrible. The government tried to fix it many times over a three month period each time making it worse. As you can see below a "walk way" built up in the middle of the road narrowing it down to one lane. It was also so muddy that only SUVs could make it through.