Weary travellers return to Canada

Tanzania seems so far away now that I'm sitting at my kitchen table in Moncton, NB. And it IS far away. Jan & I had a safe and uneventful journey home, narrowly missing the chaos on the ground and the volcanic ash-clouds in the air. We were on the first BA flight out of Dar going to London last Fri (April 23). The flight was full which I guess is not the usual. We had wondered and stewed over whether to seek out other routes home via Australia or Madrid or Amsterdam . . . but in the end, we needn't have worried. We stayed over night at the Thistle Hotel just 2 miles from Heathrow. We had front-row seats while eating our supper at the hotel restaurant and were able to clock planes landing every 40 -60 seconds - one plane right after another. Then,the next morning, still functioning on Tanzanian time, we were up early enough to take a stroll around the neighborhood of Longford; quaint and ancient buildings, spring blooms, and several Londoners diligently polishing their cars - ready for the day. We couldn't help noticing the warp and weave of jets streams above us and imagined what the pervious six days in London must have looked (and sounded) like w/o thousands of jets passing overhead.
Joyce picked us up and some how we were able to stuff all our luggage into her car which included two of Sharmala's conticos which are good-sized tough plastic traveling cases. We had our own luggage inside them along with several large bamboo mats!
I was back a the airport by shortly after 8PM for my 9:40 flight to MOncton . . .. the "last leg" of a very long trip. Just 10 minutes before we were to board AC 8344, they announced we might have to make alternate plans because Moncton had too much fog to land there.... Fredriction??? What was I going to do in Fredricton at 12:00 AM?? Fortunately, the fog cleared and we landed 15 minutes early --- yahoo! This was the only flight with turbulence, I might add.
Glad to be home safely and would like to write two more blogs about this truly amazing African adventure, hopefully with pictures; one about Mikumi National Park and our safari drives there plus a brief description of our 4 days on Zanzibar.

News from London!

Just a quick note to let you blogspotters know that Jan & I reached London safely this afternoon. We successfully caught our flight out of Dar this AM (after 4 wonderful days on Zanzibar which I'll write about once I get home)!
We plan to catch the next leg of our trip to TO tomorrow at noon.
Wish us luck at Heathrow tomorrow..... things appear to be getting back to normal after 6 days of no flights out of Heathrow..... crazy.... and very expensive for the airlines and their employees.
I should have some pics on this blog by next week too!!

Matema Holiday

Matema Lake Resort
Get out your Atlases! You should be able to find stunning Lake Nyasa (aka Lake Malawi) bordered by Tanzania, Malawi, & Mozambique without any problems as it is one of Africa’s great lakes. I believe it’s about 560 kilometres long and is the second deepest lake in Africa. On the very north end of the lake, is the small fishing community of Matema blessed with gorgeous green mountains to the north and east and a long sandy beach, perfect for docking dugout boats.
Last we week we piled the pickup with loads of provisions, including sacks of potatoes, rice, and tomatoes to last us 4 days. Jan and I then joined the 3 older boys and 3 of the staff members on the bus; heading out of Mbeya for the relaxing lake resort near Matema. Sharmala was accompanied by the two smaller boys in the Toyota. The bus would take us through the beautiful Rungwe district down to Kyela where we would meet Sharmala and she would then drive all 11 of us in the truck over a rough and very bouncy road about 34 km into the resort. Actual travel time was probably about 3.5 hours but the whole trip took most of the day.
Before describing our stay in Matema, I just want to describe some of the sights along the route. We climbed (over 2000 m) out of Mbeya on a well paved road into the Poroto Mountains to the south. We passed by fields and fields under cultivation and the boys were able to identify tomatoes, maize, potatoes, beans, onions, & squash in this very fertile area of SW Tanzania (we are at the end of the rainy season so everything is very green unlike much of the dry season). Once over these mountains, we started heading down again, passing through huge areas of bananas and sugar cane plantations. This area is bordered on one side by the Bundali Mts and on the other side by the Livingstone Mountain Range. The whole area is full of extinct (and not so extinct) volcanoes, crater lakes, and hot springs. Avocadoes, tea, coffee, sweet potatoes are also grown here so you can see what a fertile area it is! We were practically airborne as we flew down the road , horn honking constantly to warn the numerous pedestrians of our passing. People got on and off the bus along the route; most in their Sunday finery ; others with babies slung on their backs; and a few with huge loads of who-knows-what in large sacks that were squeezed onto the bus. We left the cooler temperatures behind us in the mountains as we descended into truly this awesome valley with steep slopes on either side, and strange land formations (basalt from extinct volcanoes). We were traveling too fast to take pictures out the window of the bus, unfortunately. Rungwe Mountain (2,960m) dominates the area and as usual at this time of year, was partially hidden under a cloud of mist.
Ah, Matema --- our final destination. We literally bounced our way to the lake resort over deeply rutted roads and numerous culverts, through rice fields and several bustling villages which took us about an hour. We had 3 inflated inner tubes in the back of the pick up and those that were sitting on them were like jack-in-the-boxes. Sharmala drove deftly through the maze of potholes and around the numerous cattle that were everywhere along the track. We passed by many adobe huts and cooler palm leaf structures which are the typical homes for the local people. Most people travel by foot or bicycle in this area – and I’m sure the dust we ‘kicked up’ as we zoomed by was not appreciated by the locals. The two villages we passed through were decked out in “marketable goods”. Vendors display their ware and food right out on the streets for all to see. You could choose from a huge array of clothing, shoes, bags, suitcases, and fresh food (and cell phone cards --- people everywhere sell these cards; even from the most unlikely huts in the village)! Did I mention that cell phones are VERY popular and VERY common here in Tanzania?!? Everyone over 15 seems to have one.
This end of the lake is known for its wide sandy beach and clear warm waters --- perfect for swimming and relaxing. We stayed in several bandas (cabins) with cold running water and electricity, operated by the Lutheran Church. Although we brought most of our food, we were also able to buy fresh fish from the fishermen as they came in off the water and we were able to have a few meals (or parts of meals ) made by the people who operate this resort.
The boys were absolutely in love with the place. They’ve all been to Matema before but some of them haven’t been for over a year. They were hardly out of the water the whole time we were there. . . . and their swimming abilities improved as a result. Once on land, the boys scurried around with a soccer ball or played marbles in the shade or munched on sugar cane stalks. We all had an opportunity to have a “paddle” in one of the dugout fishing boats with Adam, a local fisherman. One of the other families vacationing there had an aluminum canoe so Sharmala took those who wanted, out for a real ‘Canadian’ experience.

For those of us who were more inclined to be sitting in the shade of a palm tree, there were plenty of birds to spot – kingfishers, swallows, sunbirds, cormorants, flocks of long necked white herons, and the friendly little black & white __ bird. But the best of all was when the giant African Fish Eagle flew over head – once with a fish in its mouth! What a dramatic setting for a holiday. It was hard to pull our eyes away from the Livingstone Mountain Range to the east. The sharp folded hills and valleys that ran down the sides of the peaks, picked up the lush-green light and caused deep shadows at various times of the day. They made me think of pictures I’ve seen of Tahiti. Once the sun had retired, we were treated with an amber full moon, rising up over these same mountain tops.
I must mention the amazing clouds of lake flies!! We only saw them on day-two but what an amazing sight. Way off down the lake, maybe 20 km or more (I really don’t know how to judge distances on the lake), we could see huge columns of what looked like smoke rising from the surface of the lake. Not smoke – no, these were gigantic clouds and towers of lake flies. I can only imagine what they must sound like if you were at all close to them. I found out on the internet that these flies lay their eggs in the waters of the lake, turn into their nymph stage, rise to the surface of the lake when in adult stage, and then fly up into the sky to mate before dying and falling back to the water. Great way to feed all those incredible cichlids that Lake Nyasa is famous for --- most fresh water tropical fish for our fish tanks come from here!
I must end this blog before your eyes fall out..... although I could easily write several more paragraphs. We managed to eat most of the rice, beans, potatoes, and tomatoes before returning home (oh, yeah, we decided to stay one day longer than planned – it was so hard to leave this little bit of paradise). We might have had a bit lighter load but managed to bring back frozen fish, a sack of sand, and a live chicken (in a box!) for Leonard’s supper! Along the route, we stopped to buy 5 large pails of sweet potatoes from the local people – we must have made their day! We all arrived back in Mbeya safely by late Thursday afternoon.... smiles still on our faces from all the good memories. The boys were thanking us for days after wards for taking them to Matema!