Louis and I have been back for a week now after an unforgettable trip!  Its good to see our families again and I guess another trip which is as long as this one is out of the question in the near future. 

We do consider ourselves extremely privileged to have had such an amazing experience. At times the lake's large waves and hippos humbled us, but thing never turned bad.   We covered 770km and did an estimated 800,000 paddle strokes between the two of us - so no wonder the one paddle broke!  I wanted to send this email out bit earlier, but waited until I have had time to upload some photos to the website.  Go to http://madventure.weebly.com/tanganyika-photos.html to have a look at these. 

Thank you to all of your comments on the blog, the emails and SMSs that you sent and your support.  It was good to receive the encouraging messages during the trip.

Also thanks to our sponsors.  You guys really helped to make this trip a reality from a financial and enjoyment perspective.  All of your contributions helped to make this a trip a reality.  They say its dangerous to thank people in public (in case you leave someone out), but since we are risk takers we will take our chances and we specifically want to say thanks to the following people:

- Marilise and Corlia, our dear wives for their unwavering support and assistance in making our dream a reality affording us the time to do this expedition and helping with the arrangements.
- My father, Barend, for send out the daily emails and doing the blog updates after we provided him with feedback via the satellite phone.  Also thank you to my mother Mariana for checking the reports with a red pen before distribution.
- Andre Naude from Bushtec for providing us with tents, sleeping bags and back packs – with out this we would have shared a two man tent which might have led to serious cabin fever (yes - this is possible even if you are on a kayak!)  The tents’ mesh also kept those nasty mosquitoes away.
- Werner Smit from Troisport for the 1st Endurance EFS energy drinks, Ultragen recovery drinks, Optygen VO2 tablets and the Zoot paddling shirts.  These sports supplements were amazing and without it energy levels would have been to low and cramps probably would have prevented us from doing the long paddling distance which we covered a few times.
- Michael de Jongh from Rudy Project for the amazing “Technically Cool Eyeware” that they provided.  The adjustable Syluro sunglass are so well designed that after wearing them every day for four weeks they did not hurt me once.  And they never fogged up once!
- Towani Clarke for the logistical arrangements in Lusaka prior to our departure.
- Elfi from Tytan Solar and LED Warehouse for the solar panel.  I cannot imagne how much heavier the kayak would have been with batteries if we were not able to plug into the sun.
- Christina De Carvalho, Averil and Dave Lipton from Global Satellite Com for the Satellite phone.  This made the daily progress reports and radio interviews possible and assisted to make the expedition much safer.
- Morné Strydom from First Ascent for providing us with mosquito nets which we were able to distribute to mother with babies and toddlers in Mpulungu Bay in Zambia .  This is to help with the prevention of malaria in an area that can use all the help they can get to help fight the disease.
- Dear friends Bill Geach and Robyn Light for supporting us with much of our logistics in Tanzania and Burundi, driving us from Bujumbura to Mwanza after the trip, putting us up in Mwanza, all the meals, the fishing and treating us to a great braai at Waghill Lodge next to Lake Victoria.  The list is too long to mention it all!
- Bill and Robyn for sponsoring the mosquito nets on behalf of Waghill Fishing Lodge – these nets were distributed to mother with babies in Kigoma in Tanzania.  This will also help with the prevention of malaria in the region.
- Johan Loots from PaddleYak Sea Kayak Store for sponsoring us with the amazing PaddleYak Swift Hybrid kayak.  She served us well during the trip is really an amazingly appropriate craft for such an expedition.  “Kiboko” has remained in Tanzania and can be seen during visits to Bill’s fishing lodge.
- Sylvie Armitage – thanks for assisting us to find sponsors – its help tremendously while we had a thousand things on our plate.
- Josh Glenny from Dare to Dream for the support and all the best with the great work that you guys are doing with kids.
- Chris & Louise Horsfall, Jo and Vans for the hospitality in Kipili – your hospitality after our first stage was well received and much appreciated.  Thanks for the diving as well!
- Hannah Strand and Zac Peterson for inviting us for dinner and drinks while at Mahale – those steaks were as good as they looked and it was a welcome variation to the fish and rice diet.
- Jan Venter from Cameraland in Sandton City for arranging the video equipment at very low cost.
- Nic Good from Fresh Air Crew for all your guidance on video camera work. Louis is currently experiencing withdrawal symptoms from not being videoed.  Hold thumbs that we get a doci out!
- Fabio Costa and Jesse Kamstra in Bujumbura to assisting with visa letters, inviting us to watch the rugby with you and taking us out on your boats.  Bujumbura is not such a scary place after all!
- Sakis from Moody Blue for sending the Kayak up to Lusaka on one of your trucks.
- Ant Grendon for letting us stay over at your place the night in Lusaka and other logistical arrangements….
- Evan Torrance for the Cape Union Mart discounts.
- Bryn Clarke and Mike for accepting our invitation to ourselves to watch the test match in their hotel room after we introduced ourselves over the telephone!  The South African tribe is a great tribe!
- Our employers - Bavaria Breweries and Nedbank - for allowing us the time away from our desks!
- All those that made financial contributions to the expedition – we could not have done this without your support.
-Thanks to everyone who made donations to Dare to Dream - the funds will go towards a very good cause.  Both Louis and I are looking at getting more involved with Josh and the rest of the bunch.

And last but not least, Brent, thanks for joining us on the last leg of the trip.  Your company was much welcomed and enjoyed!


Please see whether you can make a donation to Dare to Dream if you have not done so already.  Even small amounts will make a difference.  They are really doing great work with kids who suffer from life threatening diseases and provide such kids with the opportunity of experience the outdoors and some life coaching during camps.  For more info you can visit www.daretodream.co.za .  Their bank details for donations are under the “Donations” link.  Please place Tanganyika somewhere in the reference line.
 

Best regards!
Morné and Louis

After paddling for about 20 km and realy feeling great, we ran out of lake and had to stop and book in at the Hotel Club Du Lac Tanganyika in Bujumbura. It eventually all came to an end after many months of planning, organising and trying to get fit. We are realy greatfull to our employers and wives for allowing us to take on a project like this.

We left early this morning and were  met by a number of people in motor boats. We stopped and were treated to a magnificent breakfast.

That left us with 15 km more to paddle. An easy task as we are paddling fit and the kayak was performing well. Over the last couple of days we had ample time to compare our kayak, which was designed for adventures like ours, to Brent's kayak, which is an older kayak designed for the sea. We were kept relatively dry from the waist down to our feet as the waves would break over us.  Thank you to our sponsor from Cape Town, Johan Loots' business PaddleYak. 

This afternoon we will be watching rugby with  some  friends. The hot shower was great and the hotel actually has toilets that flush!.

Tomorrow we plan  to paddle up to the DRC border and we shall leave for Mwanza on Monday to catch a plane back to South Africa.  

The total distance paddled for this trip is 770 km. This will be verified once we are back.

Magara

 Up untill 13h30 today we have done 33 km  and we're busy having lunch at a place called Magara. As we came to shore we heard kids shouting to us. We then realised we were amongst a number of hippo's who started surfacing. They just seem to be so much larger than what you see from the land.  A new speed record was set today for the lake - may be an olympic record.
We had contact with Bujumbura and understand that a welcoming party has been arranged with a number of motor boats to escort us for the last 10 km into Buja. We are looking forward to it.

Kabezi

After Magara we did another 22 km to bring our total for the day to 55 km,  a new record,  and the total distance to 750 km. We are south of Kabezi and very tired. It is 19h30 and we are already in "bed". 
Brent, Louis and Morne.

 

Allthough we only covered 40 km today, we feel great, we realy had a good day. We left late this morning because Morne interviewed a few people about conditions in the area. He is compiling a documentary on our trip.

We must admit, we were a bit apprehensive about the Burundi leg of our trip. But, so far, we were proved wrong. The people are extremely friendly and very interested in what we are doing. The area is beautiful and reminds us of  the "Valley of a thousand hills" in Kwa Zulu Natal.

This morning we woke up to the noise of cars. There is a main road running along the side of the lake, all the way up to Bujumbura. People refer to their capital as "Buja".

As we paddle north, we still have the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) on our left. The shores of Burundi seem to be more populated than those of Tanzania.

We had lunch next to a scenic delta. Tuna and pasta never tasted so good. We passed a military boat this afternoon, with no intervention from either of us.

Tonight we are camping at a river mouth close to Rumonge where we can see a few hippo paths. The two multi purpose  kayaks will be used as barriers for the night. 

Our report is very brief as we experienced problems with the charging of the satellite phone's batteries. We had a problem getting through the customs on the Burundi side of the border. It took us close to two hours .

Tonight we are sleeping at a place 12 km north of Nyanza-Lac which gives us a total distance of 38 km for the day.  



 

 We did 41 km for the day and we are about 12 km from the Burundi border.  The place is called Kiziba and we are alone on the beach close to the village. Toppers and mash was "'enjoyed" tonight, a very welcome change to the boring boerewors and rump steak that we had at Kigoma. A real welcome change was to hear new jokes. Our pool of jokes got a bit boring after hearing the same ones over and over. "Have I told this one yet?". Thanks to Brent  and we hope it will last at least up to Saturday.

We left Kigoma this morning with Bill and Robyn accompaning us in a motor boat up to Gombe where we had a nice finger brunch prepared by Robyn.  The first 10 km was very rough with a strong wind from the land. It is amazing  the influence  the wind has on on the lake as the mountainous area changes. After that it was very quiet and we had an easy row up to Kiziba.

The humidity is comfortable as it is the dry period of the year and you always have a breeze. At night we sleep under the sleeping bags, supplied by Bushtec, and it has never been necessary to get into them.  We have been wearing shorts and T-shirts all the time.

We are about 12 km from the  Burundi border and will hopefully clear through customs early in the morning. 

Again we were reminded of how fortunate we are when we visited a clinic to hand out mosquito nets. Speaking to one of the GP's, we were told  how rife malaria is in the area. We felt good today doing our bit to combat this problem, especially amongst babies. A big thank you to Bill and Robyn Geech whose business, Wag Hill Lodge, donated these nets. The lodge is situated outside of Mwanza on Lake Victoria.

After the clinic visit, we went to the custom officials who informed us to check out at a point close to the Burundi border.  Burundi is stable and no negative reports have been received. We are likely to enter the Burundi waters early on Wednesday morning and our target is to reach Bujumbura by Saturday.  We have enough food for the remainder of the trip.

Tomorrow Bill and Robyn wiil acompany us in a hired motor boat for about 20 km to Gombe Stream National Park where they would like to spend some time. Gombe is well known for the Jane Goodall Institute where this primatologist has been doing research work on chimpanzees for many years. Both of us have been there on previous visits.

  

 

We had a  quiet day of sleeping , snorkeling, with a short visit to the Livingstone museum in Ujiji.  

Brent Wibberley arrived late afternoon with Bill and Robyn Geech from Mwanza. Brent drove through from Kenya to Mwanza and from there  the three of them spent almost two days to get to Kigoma in a 4x4 with the kayak. It took Brent in excess of 25 hours to do the 1200 km, as the crow flies, (according to Google Earth as measured on the internet), to get to Kigoma. In this part of Africa they do not measure distance in kilometers or miles, but in time travelled.

The good news though is Robyn and Bill brought some boerewors and steak along, and we are looking forward to a South African braai tonight.

We changed our strategy and will now only leave on Tuesday morning. Tomorrow we will do the paperwork at customs as we will soon cross the border into Burundi. Supplies for the last stage of our trip will be re-evaluated and adjusted if necessary. That,  and a visit  to a local clinic to hand out mosquito nets , will take most of the morning.  And very important, we will spend time with Louis's friends, Bill and Robyn.

The whole Kigoma area is rich in recorded history. About 10 km south of Kigoma is a place called Ujiji. This is where Burton and Speke first reached the shores of Lake Tanganyika in 1858. It is also the famous meeting place of Henry Stanley and Dr David Livingstone in 1871. Livingstone's goal was to expose the horrors of the slave trade. Stanley came looking for him.

We went snorkeling this morning in the hope of  finding some under water footage of the lake's abundance in cichlid fish. You pronounce it as "SICK-lids'. All along the shores of the lake people are catching these beautiful fish to sell to dealers in the aquariam hobby trade. Only about 20% of the catch arrive alive in a hobbyist's tank somewhere in the world.

This afternoon we ended up watching rugby in the private room of a member of the 'South African Tribe'. Earlier we went to all the pubs in Kigoma, but no one was going to televise the rugby. We ended up at the Hill Top Hotel, but again no rugby in a public area. We convinced the receptionist to phone any South African in the hotel after Louis told her that 'My tribe, the South African tribe, is a great tribe'. She could not believe that any one would allow foreigners into their private rooms. Congratulations to the bokke and Madiba in whose honour the game was played. Needless to say we only left after a few beers and dinner at the Hill Top. Thank you Bryn Clark. Bryn does contract work maintaining aeroplanes for the United Nations.
 

Jacobsen's Beach. Marilise, Morne's wife, relaxes on the beach. This picture was taken on a previous Tanzanian trip with a visit to Kigomo.

The 30 km done today felt like a walk in the park. The water was rough, but knowing we only had  a relative short distance to go,  it felt easy. We are at Jacobsen's beach where we will be staying in rooms until Monday morning. It is an undisturbed site just south of Kigoma Bay. 

We already had a shower and will be off to a "restaurant" for goat meat and pap.  A few years ago Louis was responsible for the development of the beer market in western Tanzania . He knows the Kigoma  area well  and all the beer distributors. 

The two days of rest is welcome before we take on the last stretch of our expedition. Brent  arrives on Sunday from Kenia where he runs his business - Sand Dolar Kayaking Expeditions.