We had a quiet day after scuba diving this morning and then we did some work on the kayak at Chris Horsfall's home. It is his birthday today and we wish him all the best.

The scuba diving was a great experience going down 15 meters. Visibility was over 5 and we saw lots of cichlids, perches and mussels. A very different experience to sea diving. You do not have to look around for sharks.

This afternoon we spent time on the kayak and we are now ready for the next phase of our trip. It starts tomorrow morning, after doing a few interviews and putting it on video.

In response to some questions on the blog:   Close to villages you find objects floating on the water, but there is no odour. We drink water directly from the lake and fill  containers for later use, before we get close to a village. No purifiers are used. We are now comfortable with the kayak, and will cut across bays and at times will be over 2 km from the shore.  

We forwarded a few pictures to South Africa which can be viewed on our web site Madventure.   

Today we completed the first phase of our trip and tomorrow will be a day of rest.

We had an early start and did well. No hiccups, except  one. We planned to get to a specific point in the area where Chris Horsfall and his wife live. Chris is also involved with Lake Tangayika Safaris. They are friends of Louis and are busy constructing a lodge on the shore. We got the exact spot wrong and ended up doing 37 km. for the day, about 5 km extra. Therefore we did 32km  which brings our total up to 191 km.  

Tonight we are camping on the sand, right in front of the Horsfall's home. Obviously it brings a few comforts like a warm shower and cold frosties.

We met two people who run a diving operation in this area and will be scuba diving tomorrow. This guy Werner and his partner Jo, are keen underwater photographers and regurarly send pictures to a web site.

Louis/Morne
 

Distance covered    39 km   Total distance    159 km.

Mtosi is an area well known for the African Cichlid, which is a popular fish amongst  hobbyists all over the world.

The area got less populated as we moved north and you noticed the vegetation on the banks being more dense.

The supplements, First Endurance,  received from Troisport , do  add the extra umph you need for an expedition like this.  You do notice the difference after having some after breakfast and during the day. You start breaking  oars, like yesterday.

Lunch was enjoyed with a number of baboons on a spot along the way.

Late afternoon we saw a few crocodiles, a friendly reminder that we are not alone on and in the lake.

After covering 39 km, we decided to call it a day on a lonely beach, about 40 meters wide, with the knowledge we are 25 km from Kipili, where we will take Monday off and enjoy some snorkeling with a few beers. See above image  with Kipili and its islands in the top left.


We feel a lot better tonight compared to last night.

Morne/Louis



 

We had a fairly early start this morning after a breakfast of muesli, but not before Louis took the local chief of the village for a "spin" in the kayak.

Again today we had waves of about one meter high and the wind blowing from a south easterly direction, more or less in our backs. The kayak performed well in these relatively high swells which broke over us. At times it felt as though we were in open seas, without the salty taste.

This morning, just past Malesa, we moved from Zambia on our left to the Democratic Repbuplic of the Congo. But, we are staying  in Tanzanian waters until we cross the Burundi border. This will hopefully happen around  the middle of August. (+- 14-16 th).

We had lunch on a small island, where  yet again we met with the most friendly people. Luckily Louis speaks Swahili well, which makes  communication  easy. Lunch lasts about one hour.

We find the big bays ( see image above) misleading and since you try and stay as close to the shore as possible, you  sometimes paddle a lot further than  necessary. Today Morne broke  a paddle. The sleeve on the one side where the shaft of the other side fits in tore, but with duct tape and cable ties it is as good as new. We do have a spare one though.

Tonight we are camping 15 meters from the shoreline. The locals did warn us about crocodiles in the area. The place is called Wampembe.

We are tired but the spirit is high. Our equipment that we  rely on so much is doing well.

Distance covered   37 km    Total distance  120

Morne/Louis

We managed to repair the kayak to the extent that the leaks stopped, except when  waves brake  over the kayak. This happened this afternoon when we had a strong wind from ahead with chest high waves. This will be fixed but we are running out of silicon. The last two hours of paddling today we managed only about 10 km.

The shore was very rocky today and it was a challenge to find a spot to stop. Lunch, soup and some dried fruit, was enjoyed on a small sandy spot. We met one of the locals who gave us a fish for tonight. This  very kind man would not accept any money, and, we eventually departed after giving him a cap.

Tonight it was obviously fish and, (not chips),  a Safari Lager, which we bought at the small village where we are camping. The Safari Lager is from  Louis's previous employer, Tanzanian Breweries. 

We are tired tonight, but we are planning to reach Kipili by Sunday afternoon, about 100 km from Kirambo. 

Distance covered   35 km        Total distance   83 km

Louis/Morne  

We crossed the Zambia/Tanzania border this morning with a south/south western wind blowing from behind causing about two feet swells. Then a lot of frustration started when we experienced teething problems with the kayak. We had a number of leaks at the hatches which forced us to shore for repairs to the delight of many local people . We did some emergency repairs and eventually got to Kasanga where we went through customs.

Both of us are fairly stiff tonight and still have to do some repairs tomorrow. Overall, not a good day.


Distance covered  30 km   Total distance   48 km


Morne/Louis

Last night  we stayed over at a lodge in Mpulungu where "long drops" are still in use. (you smell it before you see it). We got up early and started packing the kayak which proved to be difficult and cumbersome. Some of the stuff had to be tied to the top of the kayak. Both the backpacks are full, and on our backs. You can visualize a taxi with a ventertjie on its way to Zimbabwe.  Fortunately we will have less as time goes by. Then we went to a clinic where a number of mosquito nets were handed out to desperate mothers with children. Again we realized how fortunate in life some of us are. A big thank you again to First Ascent for their kind donation. Please follow up on our Sponsor Llist. Then there was the formal formalities to get your passport stamped etc.. Even traveling by kayak on open waters requires it.
After about 3 hours paddling we reached Iskanga Bay. We will stay over at a much better equipped lodge about 6 km short of the Tanzanian border. Along the way we encountered many shoals of small fish, Kapenta (Tanganyika sardine), jumping out of the water alongside the kayak. It was a relatively easy row and it should improve every day as we progress and get more paddling fit.

Distance covered today   18 km   Total distance  18 km
Louis and Morne 

We eventually arrived in Mpulungu on the southern shore of Lake Tanganyika. The overnight bus  trip from Lusaka to Kasana is worse than any overnight flight between Europe and South Africa (economy class). After a coffee and collecting the kayak from storage, we eventually got it on a bakkie and with the help of a few beer cases, to more or less level it over the canopy, we got going to Mpulungu. Tomorrow we will be distributing a few mosquito nets at a clinic before setting sail for Tanzania. (or is it start rowing?).  The plan is to do about 30 km. It will take us just across the Tanzanian border. 

We are off on our very exciting expedition.

We left Johannesburg last night and arrived fairly late in Lusaka, Zambia, where we spent the night with an aquaintance. This afternoon we got on to a bus to Kasanga about 600 km away where we hope to arrive early Monday morning. This is where we collect our kayak which arrived there about two weeks ago. Then it will be the final leg to Mpulungu, onother 200 km away where we hope to start paddling at this southern end of Lake Tanganyika on Tuesday morning, the 22nd of July. We hope to paddle about 30 km for the day to cross the Tanzanian border.



 

We cannot believe that its only one week to go before we leave!  One year's preparation and planning is finally getting to is end.  At the moment we are very excited, but also bit nervous.  There is still a fair amount of things to finalise.  Next week this time we will be in Lusaka already, from where we will be taking a bus to the Lake's southern point over a 800km journey.  If all goes to plan, we will start kayaking on Monday 21 June.  So please hold thumb that we do not have any unexpected delays!