June 16 - Malawi and Tanzania: Overland Trek to Kizolanza Farms Campsite

Today we drove into Tanzania.  Because Tanzania is an hour ahead, we set our watches ahead last night.  So we woke up at 4:45 to be on the road by 6:00, but - according to our bodies - we woke up at 3:45 and were on the road by 5:00.  Very, very tired!  

We got through the Malawi - Tanzania border without incident, and stopped in a town to exchange Kwatcha for Tanzanian shillings.  This particular Bureau de Change was a nightmare because they didn't have change for smaller bills.  So we were there for a good hour while they sent runners to different vendors to try and get change.  The Aussies started a game of soccer outside with some local kids while we waited and I had some peanuts - very yummy.

The terrain in Tanzania changed almost as soon as we crossed the border.  It's the third poorest country in the world, but the terrain is mountainous and green with some gorgeous rock formations.  We've climbed significantly in altitude, so the air is much cooler and very refreshing compared to Malawi.

At 7:00, we arrived at our campsite: Kizolanza Farms.  It looked rather barren at first but it's actually a very cool camp.  The showers are clean and the water is heated by a "donkey", which is a hot water heater powered by fire.  New vocabulary for me and Jon.  The toilets were a source of great amusement among the guys.  They were very clean, and had about a 30 meter drop to the pit below.  The boys were ruminating that they should score drop times, but I wouldn't give them my stopwatch to take with them.  Gross.

There was a little bar-hut with stools about shin-high clustered around pots warmed with coal.  It was precious!  We sat around the warmers with our beers ad played the "bullshit" game we'd started the night before.  It's basically a name game where each player is a different kind of animal shit.  (Sorry - not the ideal topic for an online journal entry, but it's my journal so what the heck).  I was hyena shit and Jon was Puku shit.  Other shits were:

Mathilde - bird shit (because she always sings that damn "Fly Like a Bird" song)

Dennis - impala shit (because impalas just won't go away, and neither will he)

Brendan - dingo shit (he's an Aussie so why not)

Kerry - hippo shit (apparently because she eats a lot although I haven't noticed)

Matt - mongoose shit (as we only saw mongooses (mongeese?) on the game drive the other day)

Jason - blue-balled monkey shit (enough said)

Juliette - springbok shit (because they were all over the place)

 

 

Juliette, Mathilde, and Matt at tonight's bar

It's not really worthwhile to explain the rules of the bullshit game, but suffice it to say that the more beer, the funnier it gets.  We played a similar game called "Cookie Jar" that involved knee slapping and clapping and is quite amusing.  Kerry named herself the "Chairman" of the game and started each game with a bizarre ritualistic chant:

Hands High

Hands Low

Hands in the Middle

Angle Dangle

Flob of the Knob

And Awaaaaay We Go

Then we played a silly "bunny" game that had us in tears we were laughing so hard.  After a few hours of games, we went to bed.  Dennis and Jason didn't have to worry about that as they had decided to sleep in the bar instead of setting up their tent.

The Bunny Game