Zanzi it is, then

(Kembu campsite, somewhere near Nakuru, Kenya)

I've gone and done it. I've pulled the trigger. After two solid hours of screwing around with google and the Nairobi Emirates office phone system, I'm now flying out on the 10^th August, landing at Heathrow on the 11^th. I'm now doubting myself. I'm feeling a bit, well, a bit lonely I suppose. I've decided that while I get on well with the majority of the people on this truck, there are only really a couple I can have anything approaching a genuinely open conversation with. The two main reasons that decided me on extending the trip were that 1) Whatever happens, it'll be an experience and I won't regret it (whereas I might well have regretted not doing it) and 2) there's going to be a big personnel change at Nairobi. Rob tells me that there's going to be twenty-one people on the truck from Nairobi, only seven of which will be people staying on. Notwithstanding the fact that the truck is going to be decidedly cramped, it's going to make for a new trip – and a chance to experience Africa without Dave's constant commentary.

(A typical conversation between Dave and I:

Dave, motioning to what are obviously solar tanks for the showers: Do you know what they are?
Me: Yes.
Dave: They're solar tanks. The sun falls on the surface and heats the water for the showers.
Me: Yes.

There's a Dave waiting for me in Dante's seventh circle of hell. With a better camera than mine.

)

Anyway, yes, I'm feeling a touch discombobulated (first time I've ever used that sensibly, I think). You know sometimes you just need familiarity, you need to be able to be totally yourself, to be able to say something and for those listening to know where you're coming from. But I have made my bed, and now I shall lie in it. I could just, occasionally, do with being able to talk completely openly to someone.

Basically, the extension I'm making is as follows:

28/7 Snake Park – according to Boyo, this is pretty much the centre of overlanding in Africa.

29/7 Crater Lake - some sort of Masai Village visit.

30/7 Game driving on the Serengetti.

31/7 Snake Park – it does sound like a cool place to hang out, though.

1/8 Tembo – A visit to a Heritage Centre, whatever that might be.

2/8 Mibati Beach

3/8 - 7/8 Zanzibar – diving, spice tours, prison...

The only flight I could get out was on the tenth, so I'm thinking about remaining in Zanzibar when the others leave and then flying back from Dar es Salam to Nairobi on the morning of my flight. I considered Dar for a few days, but it's Rob's least favourite place in the whole of Africa (and, tweaking his objectivity slightly, the place he spent a night in a police cell). Rob reckons there's plenty of diving and snorkeling to be done in Zanzi, and he knows a few decent people running hostels and dive boats there. I also wonder if there might be a bit of windsurfing, but we'll see. It's into the unknown of 'independent traveler' again, but I've done it a few times now (albeit briefly) and I've never regretted it. In fact, indirectly, it's the reason I'm here – meeting Rob and Boyo in Jo'berg.

Part of me would like to do it on my own – to strike out and see where life takes me. This is the quickest most convenient method of seeing the place, though. I just have to ensure I make an effort to mix with people not on our truck when I have the opportunity.

So does anyone have any tips as to how I can kill a few days in Tanzania (preferably near Dar es Salam)?