Support for my trip to Tanzania

[Hannes Thirion]

I am planning to leave Pretoria on 13 June and travel through Botswana and Zambia to the north of Tanzania. Total distance of the trip will be between 10 and 11 k km. Me and a friend will travel with my 2001 KZ-TE D/C 4x4 with 202k on the clock. I have checked everything. We will take a satellite phone/modem with.
Can someone give me telephone numbers of good reliable people to contact if we need spares or other technical support?

[Family_Dog]

Try and get hold of Rampie, member here. He did this trip last year.


-F_D

[Mountain Man]

As you are taking a Sat phone with you I suggest you have a contact set up in RSA because I bet you a pinch of pooh to a pound of gold that you will break down exactly in the middle of nowhere and not near any one of the 20 contact you set up on the way.

Also make sure your truck is serviced and take a ammo box full of a sense of humour and another two ammo boxes full of patience :roll: .

Don't sweat every detail, rather enjoy the adventure.

We have done such trips and we have had a few "breakdowns" but we always seemed to come right in the end.

[Hannes Thirion]

"As you are taking a Sat phone with you I suggest you have a contact set up in RSA because I bet you a pinch of pooh to a pound of gold that you will break down exactly in the middle of nowhere and not near any one of the 20 contact you set up on the way."

I am looking for such contact, that is the reason for this post, to find such contact, maybe someone at a Toyota dealer?

"Also make sure your truck is serviced and take a ammo box full of a sense of humour" - Checked
"and another two ammo boxes full of patience" - Double checked

"Don't sweat every detail, rather enjoy the adventure."

I am going to map conservation areas for Mapa in northern Tanzania. See www.mapaproject.org

Will hopefully bring back lots of photos.

[Dadz Toy BFI]

Enjoy Hannes, looking forward to your report backs nê

[Mountain Man]

IMHO I would use a family member and not someone at a Toyota agency as a contact person in RSA for a number of reasons:
1. If you get sick the Toyota agent won't be much help.
2. If you need spares the Toyota agent won't try and locate an used spare and go to all the effort to find a way to get it to you.
3. If you fall foul of the law, you local Toyota agent won't remember your name.
4. If you are missing home, your Toyota agent won't give you a sholder to cry on.
5. If you want to know the rugby score, chances are the Toyota agent will only give you the soccer score.

I can think of many more but I think you get the idea.

[Mountain Man]

On a more helpful note, go to this web site http://www.toyota-africa.com/cars/new_cars/index.asp where you will find a list of Toyota dealers in Africa with their addresses and telephone numbers etc. This will be of more help to you on your travels.
:D

[Hannes Thirion]

Craig said: 'On a more helpful note, go to this web site...'

Yes, thanks, this is useful info.
Wonder why they don't have any info on their dealers in Botswana and Namibia?

[Hannes Thirion]

'Wonder why they don't have any info on their dealers in Botswana and Namibia?'

Sorry for talking to myself on the forum, but hope this may be useful for others.

I did not find Botswana and Namibia since Bots, Nam, Swaziland and Lesotho are all under regions of South Africa...

See http://www.toyota.co.za/dealers/AdvancedSearch.aspx

[Spartan]

Jy ry n hilux, as jy hom kyk sal hy jou kyk, daar sal niks verkeerd gaan nie. As jy nou verbyry en jy kom hier in Saudi aan in die oostelikke provinsie kan ek jou help en Toyota is hier groter as in Japan

[lukestrugnell]

I took a sat phone and the plan when the poo hit the fan was to call my dad and get him to organise everything and then call me back and confirm.
At R20/min you cant afford to be on hold to dealers etc!

Maybe get whoever you choose to join up here as lots can be solved with the knowledge on this forum.

Enjoy am extremely jelous!

[Hiluxcrazy]

Hannes

I did a trip to Zanzibar and back (this december past). All I can say is - theres nothing in the north of Zambia, and nothing between Iringa and Dar... I did see a toyata dealer in Blantyre (Malawi).

Anyways I know a few guys with a KZTE, those things generally run problem free for a very very very long time.,, You`ll be fine!

Oh, and shout if you need some help, I have been working enviro for 7 years. Maybe you can take me with??

[lukestrugnell]

Thats my cousin (hiluxcrazy) always after a free trip :D

[Mountain Man]

To help you plan your trip I can recomend the following places to stay. At Livingstone there are a number of backpackers, lodges, hotels etc, however we have stayed many times at Maramba River Lodge http://www.maramba-zambia.com/ They have chalets and safari tents and camping. They have a pool and resturant/bar etc. The food is crap but good by Zambian standards. The camp is/was? run by Pippa Kemp.

From Livingstone it is a 500Km or so trip to Lusaka where there is also a large selection of hotels etc, however there are 2 places I can recomend. Pioneer Camp http://www.pioneercampzambia.com/ is a bit off track as it is on the Great East road but only 10km or so out your way. Or the other option is Eureka Camp http://www.eurekacamp.com/ as you come into Lusaka in the south right on the main road. Eureka is owned by Henry Van Blerk and has all the usual ameneties.

The next stop is about 300Km North of Lusaka at a place called Forest Inn http://www.forestinn-zambia.com/ This is on the outskirts of the Mkushi Farming Bloc and the pub is frequented by Expat farmers in the weekend and one can have a "heavy" night there if it is busy. This is owned by Mr. Shenton a farmer/hunter/tour opperator. I don't know who is managing it at this stage.

Approximatly 400Km from there is the turn off to Shiwa Ngandu http://www.shiwangandu.com/ This is also the same place to the Kapishya hot springs http://www.shiwasafaris.com/kaishya.html owned by Marc Harvey. If there is only one place you go to out of all these places listed it is this one. The camping at Kapishya Hot Springs is "reasonable" but if you want to stay with Charlie and Joe Harvey in the Africa House, you are going to have to cough up top dollar, I think about US$400.00 per person per night. There are also about 4 or 5 chalets at the hot springs but they are also expensive. If I went again I would camp. The booze is EXPENSIVE so bring your own. The Africa House is made famouse by the book Africa House by Christina Lamb http://africanhistory.about.com/od/afri ... aHouse.htm I would spen a couple of days here as it is fantastic to sit in the hot springs and recouperate after your travels.

From Shiwa N'Gandu it is about 300Km to the Tanzinain border. This is a place you WILL be harassed by thoes that would like to help you with your paperwork/passport. Unfortunatly the border officials are in on this scheme and refuse to help thoes that have not used an agent which costs about US$100.00 os so. This is illigal so you decide as to how long you want to play the waiting game as this is all it is. He who has the most time to spare wins. :evil:

Once you are in Tanzania, I can't help you because I never lived there and my travels there only brief and fleeting.

Points to remember: Although a place is 300Km away, it will take you more then 3 hours to get there. There are lots of police and immigration road blocks. This slows you down a lot especially if they pull you over each time to inspect your paperwork. You MUST have import permit for your vehicle. Zambian Insurance. 2 x STEEL yellow and red triangles, fire extingisher, First Aid box, Drivers Licence, Passport, red reflective tape at the rear of the vehicle and white in the front. Also not one fault must be found with your vehicle including windscreen wipers, reverse lights, park lights and many other trivial offences that the trusty police can extort money out of you.

Remember there is a lot of radar speed traps, and speeds of 50km/hr through villages, towns and and some confusing random areas must be maintained. Sometimes the trusty police freeze the radar on an excessive speed and simply pull you over and use it to fine you. This is a difficult thing to handle and I have had success at both being nice and also being defiant and the best is to use your discretion. I found that crawling through towns at stupidly slow speeds seemed to avoid being targeted. The roads are good but the trusty police sometimes use the missing speed signs to their advantage and you WILL be fined for doing 50Km/hr in what you didn't know was a 30Km/hr zone.

Anyway I don't mean to scare you but this is the reality.

Please let me know if you need any other information on Zambia.

[Rampie]

Contact me on 083 375 5061 preferably in the evening.

[Hannes Thirion]

Thanks for all the info. My trip is already planned. I am taking my RTT and will camp all the way. Overnight spots that I do have is Bots - Elephant Sands, Zambia - Bushfront at Livingstone, Fringila Farm Campsite, Forest Inn Campsite, Kapishya Hot Springs Campsite, Tanzania - Karibuni Centre Camping or Mbeya Green Campsite, Kisolanza or Riverside Rest Campsite, Melela Campsite, Paradise Campsite. In the Tanapa parks I will camp in the official Tanapa campsites. That is organized with Tanapa.

[Mountain Man]

I have never stayed at Fringilla but driven past it literally hunderds of times. They have a butchery there that has good wors and steaks so this would be the best place to stock up on meat. They also have a sign on the road that reads "Lekker Kos" which is a promise of things to come. Although I have never been the recipient of the "Lekker Kos" but I do know thoes that have.

In the Chisamba/Fringilla area there are some guys that illigally sell Meyers parrots on the side of the road. :x ZAWA (Zambian Wildlife Authority) would occasionally round them up and confiscate their Meyers Parrots. My neighbour in Lusaka would then have to keep them and rehabillitate them and release them elsewhere once they are rehabilitated. So the point of this is if you see these guys on the side of the road...run them over. Concider it a service to ZAWA and the Meyers Parrots. Only kidding...don't do that you probably would retire in confinement compliments of the Zambian government.

I hope you have a lekker trip and feel free to ask any questions about Zambia and I can try and help you if I know the answer.

[Hannes Thirion]

Thanks Craig.