If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Zanzibar for Christmas
Marc Lurie wrote: On 27 May 2006 02:55:40 -0700, wrote: I've been thinking of going with a group of friends to Zanzibar for Christmas. Great idea. You'll have a ball. Thank you for the encouragement! From Cape Town there are two obvious routes. One is to take the train to Durban, then drive up to Mozambique, through Malawi (maybe taking in Lake Malawi on the way) to Tanzania and then by boat to Zanzibar. If you take this route, then you MUST plan time in Malawi. Lake Malawi is fantastic. Also, plan to spend some time in Mozambique as well. My niece suggested that this is a good idea as she is very keen to go there. My cousin's daughter had some of her honeymoon in Mozambique, and I gathered that it was well worth while visiting too. Are there particular places on Lake Malawi that you'd recommend? The other is to take the train to Johannesburg, then overland to Gaberone, up to Lusaka and then onto the Tanzam railway to Dar. I think that I favour the latter. I enjoyed my trip the other way on the Tanzam railway. It would, of course, be possible to do both, one there, the other back. Is there a better routing? I don't see any point in getting involved with Zimbabwe and both routes cut that out. On the World Atlas, it looks as if there is road all the way up the coast to Dar from Durban - is the road passable? Do you need a four wheel drive vehicle? Are there other railways that I've missed out? Peter, there is a road all the way up fro Durban to Mozambique that ends at Palma on the Tanzania border. It is possible to do this road with a two wheel drive vehicle, but there are sections of the road that will be difficult in the rain, and there are sections that are pretty lousy. A 4 Wheel drive vehicle will be a better choice. (Diesel is readilly available, petrol is available but not reliably so.) The problem is crossing the river at Palma. There are rumours of a ferry to Mtwara, but I can't confirm this. The more common route through Mozambique is to head to Tete, and then into Malawi. Thanks largely to the Rhodesian air force in the 70's, there is no rail infrastructure in Mozambique. *******s! That is a great pity - a pity too that there hasn't been any re-building. Coastal railways are a particular delight to travel along and they provide an excellent transfer of wealth to nice places to stop along the way. Is Zanzibar a good place for Christmas? Is there anywhere to avoid or to stay that is particularly nice and/or cheap? Zanzibar will be quite busy at that time of year. If you're looking for empty beaches and solitude, Zanzibar is the wrong place to be :-) For empty beaches you need to look at northern Mozambique. We've got tons of fairly empty beaches in Cape Town (well, not on Bank Holiday weekends), so we're not really looking for beaches at all. I'm not, anyway! A quiet holiday with interesting places to see and good food is more the objective. |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Zanzibar for Christmas
On 29 May 2006 01:23:53 -0700, "Peter H.M. Brooks"
wrote: SNIPS EVERYWHERE... Are there particular places on Lake Malawi that you'd recommend? Pretty much everywhere on the Lake is worth a visit, where you actually go is dependant on your budget, interests, and transport availability. Thanks largely to the Rhodesian air force in the 70's, there is no rail infrastructure in Mozambique. *******s! That is a great pity - a pity too that there hasn't been any re-building. Coastal railways are a particular delight to travel along and they provide an excellent transfer of wealth to nice places to stop along the way. The Rhodesian airforce damaged the Santa Ana railway bridge (and a few other bridges too) across the Zambezi and effectively crippled the Mozambique railway system in one fell swoop. By the time Mozambique had the wherwithal to repair the bridge, the railway system had completely collapsed (along with the economy). The Santa Ana bridge has now been repaired, but has been converted into a road bridge only. It's a magnificent bridge, and at about 3.5km long it was the longest railway bridge in Africa. Even if the railway were still running you'd be dissapointed anyway because the railway went way inland most of the way up Mozambique due to the awesome flood plains on the coast, the numerous rivers that would have to be bridged, and the estuaries of the various big rivers that become huge at the coast. We've got tons of fairly empty beaches in Cape Town (well, not on Bank Holiday weekends), so we're not really looking for beaches at all. I'm not, anyway! A quiet holiday with interesting places to see and good food is more the objective. Fairly empty beaches!!! In Cape Town!!!! GET REAL :-) I mean EMPTY beaches. In parts of Mozambique you can still be the ONLY person on a whole stretch of beach for hours... and the water's warm, gentle, and gorgeous. If you like great down-to-earth food, then Mozambique is ideal. Prawns, squid, mussels, clams, fish, crab etc. are plentiful, as is chicken. Marc BTW, the Zambezi is the third longest river in Africa after the Nile and the Congo. It is about 3000km long, and is bridged only 4 times along it's entire journey through 6 countries. Once by, a now damaged bridge in Angola, once at Victoria Falls/Livingstone, and twice in Mozambique, at Tete, and at Santa Ana/Mutarara Marc |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Zanzibar for Christmas
Marc Lurie wrote: On 29 May 2006 01:23:53 -0700, "Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote: Even if the railway were still running you'd be dissapointed anyway because the railway went way inland most of the way up Mozambique due to the awesome flood plains on the coast, the numerous rivers that would have to be bridged, and the estuaries of the various big rivers that become huge at the coast. That makes sense. We've got tons of fairly empty beaches in Cape Town (well, not on Bank Holiday weekends), so we're not really looking for beaches at all. I'm not, anyway! A quiet holiday with interesting places to see and good food is more the objective. Fairly empty beaches!!! In Cape Town!!!! GET REAL :-) I mean EMPTY beaches. In parts of Mozambique you can still be the ONLY person on a whole stretch of beach for hours... and the water's warm, gentle, and gorgeous. I know what you mean, it is relative. If you like great down-to-earth food, then Mozambique is ideal. Prawns, squid, mussels, clams, fish, crab etc. are plentiful, as is chicken. The Prawns used to be legendary, both for their huge size and their cheapness - known then, of course as 'LM' prawns. BTW, the Zambezi is the third longest river in Africa after the Nile and the Congo. It is about 3000km long, and is bridged only 4 times along it's entire journey through 6 countries. Once by, a now damaged bridge in Angola, once at Victoria Falls/Livingstone, and twice in Mozambique, at Tete, and at Santa Ana/Mutarara That is interesting. I didn't know that and it does circumscribe the options quite considerably. I've been over the Livingstone bridge, coming down - I didn't realise that it was the only bridge for hundreds of miles in both directions! I'll look up Tete and Santa Ana on the map. I suppose an alternative would be some sort of boat along the coast to Dar. I know you can't get berths on commercial boats anymore on that route, because I've tried - they're too afraid of pirates. There are presumably, though, some boats that ply the coast that are bigger than pirogues but smaller than supertankers or cruise ships. |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Zanzibar for Christmas
"Marc Lurie" wrote in message ... On 29 May 2006 01:23:53 -0700, "Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote: SNIPS EVERYWHERE... Are there particular places on Lake Malawi that you'd recommend? Pretty much everywhere on the Lake is worth a visit, where you actually go is dependant on your budget, interests, and transport availability. Thanks largely to the Rhodesian air force in the 70's, there is no rail infrastructure in Mozambique. *******s! That is a great pity - a pity too that there hasn't been any re-building. Coastal railways are a particular delight to travel along and they provide an excellent transfer of wealth to nice places to stop along the way. The Rhodesian airforce damaged the Santa Ana railway bridge (and a few other bridges too) across the Zambezi and effectively crippled the Mozambique railway system in one fell swoop. By the time Mozambique had the wherwithal to repair the bridge, the railway system had completely collapsed (along with the economy). The Santa Ana bridge has now been repaired, but has been converted into a road bridge only. It's a magnificent bridge, and at about 3.5km long it was the longest railway bridge in Africa. Even if the railway were still running you'd be dissapointed anyway because the railway went way inland most of the way up Mozambique due to the awesome flood plains on the coast, the numerous rivers that would have to be bridged, and the estuaries of the various big rivers that become huge at the coast. We've got tons of fairly empty beaches in Cape Town (well, not on Bank Holiday weekends), so we're not really looking for beaches at all. I'm not, anyway! A quiet holiday with interesting places to see and good food is more the objective. Fairly empty beaches!!! In Cape Town!!!! GET REAL :-) I mean EMPTY beaches. In parts of Mozambique you can still be the ONLY person on a whole stretch of beach for hours... and the water's warm, gentle, and gorgeous. If you like great down-to-earth food, then Mozambique is ideal. Prawns, squid, mussels, clams, fish, crab etc. are plentiful, as is chicken. Marc BTW, the Zambezi is the third longest river in Africa after the Nile and the Congo. It is about 3000km long, and is bridged only 4 times along it's entire journey through 6 countries. Once by, a now damaged bridge in Angola, once at Victoria Falls/Livingstone, and twice in Mozambique, at Tete, and at Santa Ana/Mutarara Marc An interesting post. You forgot the Chirundu bridge between Zimbabwe/Zambia. |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
Zanzibar for Christmas
On Mon, 29 May 2006 10:47:08 +0100, "FreeSpirit_uk"
wrote: An interesting post. You forgot the Chirundu bridge between Zimbabwe/Zambia. You're quite correct. I didn't think of Chirundu even though I've been over it many times ;-) Marc |
#16
|
|||
|
|||
Zanzibar for Christmas
On 29 May 2006 02:44:38 -0700, "Peter H.M. Brooks"
wrote: SNIP SNIP SNIP etc... The Prawns used to be legendary, both for their huge size and their cheapness - known then, of course as 'LM' prawns. Prawns in Maputo are no longer cheap, nor are they large. Further up the coast they become cheaper, and at some places you can get them for around R10 a kilo for medium prawns. SNIP I suppose an alternative would be some sort of boat along the coast to Dar. I know you can't get berths on commercial boats anymore on that route, because I've tried - they're too afraid of pirates. There are presumably, though, some boats that ply the coast that are bigger than pirogues but smaller than supertankers or cruise ships. I have no idea amout boats along the coast, but you may be intterested in Kingsley Holgate's recent expedition along the coast in a 14m Arab dhow. There's a website at: http://www.africanrainbowexpedition.co.za with photos etc. I was along for parts of the expedition, and will be joining them again for the final leg down to Zululand this coming weekend. Marc |
#17
|
|||
|
|||
Zanzibar for Christmas
wowwee I'm jealous! seen a few things about it but don't know much.
looks beautiful, who doesn't enjoy sandy beaches? |
#18
|
|||
|
|||
Zanzibar for Christmas
Robert Kay wrote:
Well, that is undoubtedly true! Particularly pink ones with lime rather than lemon. I shall never forget the (young) barman in a motel in Musina many years ago, who, after taking my order for a pink G&T came back after 5 minutes searching, with the announcement that he couldn't find a pink gin! Only white, meneer. Luckily the motel manager was with me, and he 'gently' explained what a pink gin was. It's odd, given how nice they are, compared to the straight G&T, I'd have thought that everybody would drink them. They don't, of course. I suspect that the reason is that people find the bitters a bit bitter for their taste - not realising that their job is to cut through the sugar in the tonic, whilst complimenting the quinine. Talking of which, why is is so difficult to find sugar free tonic in SA? |
#19
|
|||
|
|||
Zanzibar for Christmas
"Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote in message oups.com... Marc Lurie wrote: On 27 May 2006 02:55:40 -0700, wrote: *******s! That is a great pity - a pity too that there hasn't been any re-building. Coastal railways are a particular delight to travel along and they provide an excellent transfer of wealth to nice places to stop along the way. Yeah - that wasn't nice of us, was it? But you'd think that after all these years some rebuilding would have been done? And they asked for it. Anyway, let bygones be bygones. Moz should ask the Chinese to help them. After all, they built the Tanzam railways in the 60's. Is Zanzibar a good place for Christmas? Is there anywhere to avoid or to stay that is particularly nice and/or cheap? Zanzibar will be quite busy at that time of year. If you're looking for empty beaches and solitude, Zanzibar is the wrong place to be :-) For empty beaches you need to look at northern Mozambique. We've got tons of fairly empty beaches in Cape Town (well, not on Bank Holiday weekends), so we're not really looking for beaches at all. I'm not, anyway! A quiet holiday with interesting places to see and good food is more the objective. |
#20
|
|||
|
|||
Zanzibar for Christmas
"FreeSpirit_uk" wrote in message ... "Marc Lurie" wrote in message ... On 29 May 2006 01:23:53 -0700, "Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote: SNIPS EVERYWHERE... Are there particular places on Lake Malawi that you'd recommend? Pretty much everywhere on the Lake is worth a visit, where you actually go is dependant on your budget, interests, and transport availability. Thanks largely to the Rhodesian air force in the 70's, there is no rail infrastructure in Mozambique. *******s! That is a great pity - a pity too that there hasn't been any re-building. Coastal railways are a particular delight to travel along and they provide an excellent transfer of wealth to nice places to stop along the way. The Rhodesian airforce damaged the Santa Ana railway bridge (and a few other bridges too) across the Zambezi and effectively crippled the Mozambique railway system in one fell swoop. By the time Mozambique had the wherwithal to repair the bridge, the railway system had completely collapsed (along with the economy). The Santa Ana bridge has now been repaired, but has been converted into a road bridge only. It's a magnificent bridge, and at about 3.5km long it was the longest railway bridge in Africa. Even if the railway were still running you'd be dissapointed anyway because the railway went way inland most of the way up Mozambique due to the awesome flood plains on the coast, the numerous rivers that would have to be bridged, and the estuaries of the various big rivers that become huge at the coast. We've got tons of fairly empty beaches in Cape Town (well, not on Bank Holiday weekends), so we're not really looking for beaches at all. I'm not, anyway! A quiet holiday with interesting places to see and good food is more the objective. Fairly empty beaches!!! In Cape Town!!!! GET REAL :-) I mean EMPTY beaches. In parts of Mozambique you can still be the ONLY person on a whole stretch of beach for hours... and the water's warm, gentle, and gorgeous. If you like great down-to-earth food, then Mozambique is ideal. Prawns, squid, mussels, clams, fish, crab etc. are plentiful, as is chicken. Marc BTW, the Zambezi is the third longest river in Africa after the Nile and the Congo. It is about 3000km long, and is bridged only 4 times along it's entire journey through 6 countries. Once by, a now damaged bridge in Angola, once at Victoria Falls/Livingstone, and twice in Mozambique, at Tete, and at Santa Ana/Mutarara Marc An interesting post. You forgot the Chirundu bridge between Zimbabwe/Zambia. You took the mouths out of my word!!! |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
traveling to Zanzibar, some hints ? | somedude109 | Africa | 3 | September 17th, 2005 11:54 PM |
Zanzibar - Terror, tourism and odd beliefs (from The Economist) | Hans-Georg Michna | Africa | 1 | February 20th, 2004 10:49 PM |
Zanzibar - Bluebay Beach Resort | Scrutor | Africa | 0 | February 6th, 2004 08:36 AM |
ZANZIBAR | Steve Outram Travel Photography | Travel - anything else not covered | 0 | October 18th, 2003 08:33 AM |
The Secrets of ZANZIBAR Photo Tour | Steve Outram Travel Photography | Africa | 0 | October 18th, 2003 08:26 AM |