Some of the amazing photos they took in Angola & Namibia – just stunning:

Welcome and thanks for joining us on our unforgettable adventure across the Atlas & the Kilimanjaro, the Sahara & the Kalahari, The mountain gorillas & the wildebeest, the Berbers & the Masai, the Kruger NP & the Okovango Delta, Victoria Falls & the Nile, the baobab trees & the welwitschia flower, the cassava & the tagine, the Amharic & Xhosa.
Above are just a handful of reasons depicting the uniqueness of the African continent: Humankind’s motherland and the ultimate overland frontier.
But here we are, in big smokey London back from Australia since December 2007. And not particularly happy to be here. The continuous dream of travels and seeing the wonders of our World has pushed us onto planning our next trip: An Overland journey from London to Cape Town and back.
We intend to depart London August/September 2009.
To achieve this we have put our faith in a trusty Defender 110 that has been nicely converted by it’s previous owners but has yet a lot of work to be carried out on before it’s epic journey.
The route we intend to take is from Gibraltar to Dakar, the cut across the Southern-Sahara towards the Central Tropics before heading South across the Equator towards Cape Town. The upward journey will be made up the Eastern side of the continent turning East at the Pyramids along North Africa where we start approaching Europe our final destination.
A lot of time is currently being put into this project by way of researching all it’s ins and outs: From Visa and border formalities, countless boring and official documentation, hugely expensive insurance quotes, and scrutinizing ebay for bargains: GPS, Engel fridge, spare parts, and countless other essentials. By far the most fun is covering our three giant wall mounted Michelin maps with big black circles by way of points of interest. We have also digitalised it for you all to follow our progress and of course, to send us any suggestions you may have.
Regards to you all.
Andrew & Kristina

Landrover action shots….sorry but I love landrovers…

Maureen & Henk

The “old” DAF Truck

Henk van den Broek & Maureen Steenbergen have travelled all down the West Coast of Africa and are now travelling back to Holland up the East Coast of Africa. They started their trip on the 1st September 2009 & expect to finish in Jan/Feb 2011. Boris has travelled the same and has a pet passport!. Henk advises, that unless you are a mechanic, which he is, do not attempt this in an old 1980 DAF truck!

You can follow their trip on their website:

www.metdaffieopreis.nl

We are two guys who are riding a motorcycle from Stockholm in Sweden to Cape Town in South Africa. On March 24th we leave Stockholm for five months traveling through 25 countries.

You can follow our adventures on our website:

www.gosouth.se

14 motorcyclists set off from Kenya but one, due to injury (accident), had to fly back to Germany from Dar es Salaam. He is the one with a sling!

Motorcyclists setting off from Mikadi for Namibia

You can follow their adventures, if you understand German, on their website:
www.explo-tours.de/

Following a visit to Palma in Northern Mozambique we decided to check out the new Unity Bridge between Tanzania and Mozambique. The above picture was taken from the Mozambique side of the Rovuma River. As you can see the bridge is quite impressive with the elephant tusks (copied from Mombasa of course!).

Palma Ferry Crossing – Mozambique

After visiting the bridge we stayed in Kilwa preparing ourselves for the road works the next day to Dar es Salaam. Reports of people being stuck due the rains and even robbed overnight were filtering to us from Mtwara to Kilwa.

Next day we set off early for Dar and soon encountered the road works! Due to a couple of bridges being washed away it was quite an adventure, as Belinda (my Landrover 90), was one of few vehicles able to get through that day.

Omar Mansour with his Honda motorbike

Omar Mansour is from the Bedouin tribe of Awlad Ali in Egypt and is driving across Africa from Cape Town to Cairo on a Honda motorbike!

The laden motorbike

Omar is being sponsored by Egyptair in this adventure and also has his own travel company in Egypt: www.sandnsea.net

The Danby’s

The arrival of the Danby’s, Dickie, Claire, Sonja & Natasha was a great thrill for everyone at Mikadi as they were serious overlanders and had the kit to match. Their space at Mikadi was soon nicknamed “Tent City” as two other overlanders had joined their camp spot and also erected tents over landrovers and a box on the back of a landcruiser shipped from Australia to Cape Town that turned into a house on wheels!

Ozzie House on Wheels!!

The Danby’s are travelling from Pretoria in South Africa to Chester in the UK. You can find their route and details of their epic trip on their website: www.rsa2uk.net

Dylan without Daisy!

Dylan is the name of the landrover defender and daisy the trailer. The trailer turns into both accommodation and a kitchen.

We wish the Danby family all the best for their continued journey…

Frank Znort Quartlet playing at Mikadi Beach

The Norwegian Jazz Band Frank Znort Quartlet are staying at Mikadi and gave us a fantastic impronto demo of their amazing talent by playing for us and our guests. They are playing in Dar es Salaam at various Embassies and then at one of the band members wedding in Zanzibar.

The residents of Kigamboni were also able to see the talents of this band when they played at a pool side bar near the Ferry for FREE!

You can also view this gig on YouTube:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9R_rqZLU1I
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPmL_GUmsgk

You can also find more photos and information on their Norwegian website:

www.fzq.no/ 

We loved having the band and wish them every success for the future.

Geert Schroeder though, who is with us at the moment definitely deserves a little time!  Geert and his friend  and work colleague in Germany Immanuel Schulz,   decided to ride from Cape Town to Kenya, via Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania (ie the long way round)!!  Crazy you might say, well, I do agree  but ime sure the orphans at the Salama Malaika Aids orphanage in Kenya  are wishing them God speed and safe travels as the boys are hoping to raise 30 000 Euros at least, which will go a long way to giving these children a good education and making life a lot easier.  So far it has taken them 3 and a half months, covering on average 115k per day.   Needless to say, were making sure he leaves the couch as little as possible and Beer is just one click away!

So far they are doing well with their goal,  but with another 1500k till their destination of Kenya they are hopeful to reach their finance goal.   Their website and blog are being updated regularly, so take a look at their project on www.malaika-projekt.de  which is the project itself, and the tour blog www.grenz-erfahrungen.blogspot.com ime holding back some serious tears just looking at their brochure.  Since having Estella (who’s a real cutie I might add), I’ve become a real softy when it comes to kiddies in trouble. 

Our Kigamboni school photo project has been judged and the winning pics will be posted shortly.   Being not gifted with a camera – I was in awe at what these children managed to capture.  Great teaching by Hannah Mentz!

With Christmas, followed by our first beach wedding (some pics to follow in the gallery) and finally New Years, all of which went off beautifully,  Mikadi has been a washing machine of sun, fun, volley ball, champagne, wedding festivities, laughter, old friendships, new friendships, swimming and most importantly, ice cold beer! 

Last, but not least, Lucho and I are the proud  parents of the new Mikadi mascot, our precious baby girl Estella Louise Saavedra Turner.  Born on November the 10th,  she’s a total peach – be prepared to have your heart melted on arrival!

Thanks to all who chose to spend this festive season with us – as a result our Mikadi family is growing far and wide.  We look forward to welcoming you all back soon, as well as those still yet to visit, in 2009.

Happy New Year all!!!!