Overnight we've decided that Diani Beach really isn't our scene - far too developed, far too many people, far too grasping..... So we're off to our originally-planned beach destination - Peponi Lodge near Pangani on the Tanzanian coast.
In town we stopped at the Nakumatt supermarket to get some provisions - when we realised where that LOUD music was coming from (inside the supermarket itself) we decided that we didn't really need anything and left in a hurry. The music was so loud that at 150 yards in the open it was annoying - what was it like INSIDE?!
We drove through tall trees, skirting some mangrove swamps, then everything opened up into sugar cane fields. The border crossing at Lunga Lunga (Kenya) to Herohero (Tanz) was slow but uneventful - just $25 for Tanz road tax. The road and villages in Tanzania are all much neater and tidier than in Kenya - something we hadn't noticed going the other way. Everything here is very tropical - even the clothes worn by the women seem brighter and more colourful. There are lots of tiny mosques everywhere - so mainly islamic on the coast - as in Kenya. We stopped at the firs weighbridge - there was confusion as to whether we needed to be weighed or not, at 7.45 tonnes we are within weight anyway. At the sign for the second we entered, it turned out to be the "old one" - just a guard looking after it. As it was definitely coffee and lunch time we decided to park up anyway and eat - the old guard came up with an ancient and enormous rifle hung on his backand asked us to move a bit - we lacked a common language, but he was lovely and we all had a giggle.
We reluctantly went into Tanga to get cash and luckily found a concenient ATM, then bread and tomatoes on the way out of town. The coast road down to Pangani is dirt, as usual it was rough near town, improving with distance.
We'd heard of Peponi from various people for the last 2 years - never a bad word, so our expectations were high. On arrival we were greeted and led round to the campsite - driving under the trees the sight of the campground right on the beach with the waves breaking a few yards away just confirmed that we'd like this place. All the staff are lovely, Carys the manager is a British girl whose parents from Nairobi are the owners - she runs a tight ship - everything is well organised, clean, secure and peaceful. Sue had sneaked into their gift shop at some stage and fell for a large wall hanging - she returned with it very quickly, but to be honest it's very nice and good value. Cerys and her Jack Russell Poppy appeared shortly after arrival, along with Jackson they gave us a great welcome - Poppy being a terrier loves to dig - and the beach is full of crab burrows along with their residents - and lots of holes where Poppy has dug them out! We camped just a few feet from the beach and went to sleep to the sound of the waves and the lovely onshore breeze in the palms.
In town we stopped at the Nakumatt supermarket to get some provisions - when we realised where that LOUD music was coming from (inside the supermarket itself) we decided that we didn't really need anything and left in a hurry. The music was so loud that at 150 yards in the open it was annoying - what was it like INSIDE?!
We drove through tall trees, skirting some mangrove swamps, then everything opened up into sugar cane fields. The border crossing at Lunga Lunga (Kenya) to Herohero (Tanz) was slow but uneventful - just $25 for Tanz road tax. The road and villages in Tanzania are all much neater and tidier than in Kenya - something we hadn't noticed going the other way. Everything here is very tropical - even the clothes worn by the women seem brighter and more colourful. There are lots of tiny mosques everywhere - so mainly islamic on the coast - as in Kenya. We stopped at the firs weighbridge - there was confusion as to whether we needed to be weighed or not, at 7.45 tonnes we are within weight anyway. At the sign for the second we entered, it turned out to be the "old one" - just a guard looking after it. As it was definitely coffee and lunch time we decided to park up anyway and eat - the old guard came up with an ancient and enormous rifle hung on his backand asked us to move a bit - we lacked a common language, but he was lovely and we all had a giggle.
We reluctantly went into Tanga to get cash and luckily found a concenient ATM, then bread and tomatoes on the way out of town. The coast road down to Pangani is dirt, as usual it was rough near town, improving with distance.
We'd heard of Peponi from various people for the last 2 years - never a bad word, so our expectations were high. On arrival we were greeted and led round to the campsite - driving under the trees the sight of the campground right on the beach with the waves breaking a few yards away just confirmed that we'd like this place. All the staff are lovely, Carys the manager is a British girl whose parents from Nairobi are the owners - she runs a tight ship - everything is well organised, clean, secure and peaceful. Sue had sneaked into their gift shop at some stage and fell for a large wall hanging - she returned with it very quickly, but to be honest it's very nice and good value. Cerys and her Jack Russell Poppy appeared shortly after arrival, along with Jackson they gave us a great welcome - Poppy being a terrier loves to dig - and the beach is full of crab burrows along with their residents - and lots of holes where Poppy has dug them out! We camped just a few feet from the beach and went to sleep to the sound of the waves and the lovely onshore breeze in the palms.