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Zanzibar for Christmas



 
 
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  #11  
Old May 29th, 2006, 09:23 AM posted to rec.travel.africa,soc.culture.south-africa
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Default 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  
Old May 29th, 2006, 10:29 AM posted to rec.travel.africa,soc.culture.south-africa
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Default 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  
Old May 29th, 2006, 10:44 AM posted to rec.travel.africa,soc.culture.south-africa
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Default 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  
Old May 29th, 2006, 10:47 AM posted to rec.travel.africa,soc.culture.south-africa
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Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old May 29th, 2006, 11:21 AM posted to rec.travel.africa,soc.culture.south-africa
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Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old May 29th, 2006, 11:45 AM posted to rec.travel.africa,soc.culture.south-africa
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Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old May 29th, 2006, 12:01 PM posted to rec.travel.africa,soc.culture.south-africa
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Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old May 29th, 2006, 07:35 PM posted to rec.travel.africa,soc.culture.south-africa
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Default 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?



  #20  
Old May 29th, 2006, 08:56 PM posted to rec.travel.africa,soc.culture.south-africa
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Posts: n/a
Default 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!!!


 




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