Thursday 19 June 2008

Dead ants!

A new day dawned, we broke camp, and headed into downtown Mtwara to stock up at the market. Well they had all you could need and some. The only problem was prices. We were used to Moz money, 47 to £, and now had to deal with Tanz, 2230 to £. So to see if we were getting robbed we had to convert back to Moz equivalent. Most things were better value and we stocked up. I am sure we were still robbed blind but we were happy with our loot.
Back in Mufasa, just a few meters down the road and we were stopped by the police. Well our first thought was, oh bugger forgot to sort out buying 3rd party insurance (required) after entering the country as they didnt sell it at the border, so we were panicing and expecting a hard time, and a hard fine. But after a quick light check, a scan of my license, and some fluent Swahili we were scampering away!
Next step, find the the local agent and get the required paperwork. One problem, it was Sunday! We managed to track down the office, then the persons home, and finally arranged to meet later that afternoon after church (her not us). She was very helpful, if a tad methodical and slow, but we paid our dollars and got insurance (Comesa) that will cover us for the rest of our trip, well in theory anyway!
By this time we only had the option of finding a local site for the night, which we did just out of town on the road north. Interesting place! Dinner was good though, peppered steak, and a beer.
So back on track the next day we headed up the coast to Kilwa Masoko, and the Sea View Resort. A very nice spot indeed. The only people in the campsite, own use of the ablutions, and the lovely sandy beach just down the path, perfect! A quick swim, shower and off for lobster at the restaurant, well rude not too!
The down side, several billion ants, all looking for human flesh to chew on. The bushcats stayed one night and then made a hasty escape north to Selous NP. We chose to stay longer to get the washing done. Boy it was hard dodging the ants all day. Our planned 3 nights became 2 and we decided to skip on to Selous NP to catch up with the advanced party.
S08'55.664 E39'31.291

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