In Iringa we parked outside the police station (checking with them that they didn't mind), and went shopping - following Archie and Nicky's instructions we found the hardware shops where we purchased not only a new spark plug for the generator, but also the jubilee clips that I've been looking for since Windhoek - not only were they the right size, but they were also good quality! I was instantly impressed by Iringa! In fact this small town has a very relaxed feel about it - almost organised in fact! We found the recommended supermarket - we had a "wish list" of things that we would really like to buy but wouldn't expect to be able to - we found almost everything in the one shop! Including a bottle of port as we'd found that not carrying much to drink beyond a few bottles of beer meant that if anyone invited us for a drink on a campsite then we could never really take anything in return. The shop was expensive though (we even decided not to buy bacon - the first that we'd seen for quite a long time as it was so dear).
We tried to buy some fruit & veg on the market, but being tired and hungry from the drive here didn't help, combined with the rats running all over the produce meant that we got a bit stressed and left without buying anything - we must try to eat before going shopping.....
On the way out of town, after filling up with fuel, a truck driver flagged us down and explained that the road ahead was closed due to the president having visited and being on the point of departure. We parked up and waited - the police had indeed closed the road, everyone waited, and waited. Suddenly police motorcycles and army bakkies shot past followed by a courtege of maybe 30 vehicles, mainly new-looking Toyota Landcruisers with tinted windows - people were out to their president - he didn't stop or slow down to greet or thank them, just shot by....
We left town down a winding road that was full of vehicles trying to make up for time lost by driving as quickly as possible - only problem was that not only was the road winding, it was also lined witht he infamous Tanzanian sppedbumps - it seems that Tanzania has taken the design and construction of these menaces to a whole new level - on this particular stretch they were spaced about 200m apart for maybe 3km, each one being so violently steep on both sides that the only way of crossing them without risking damage is to slow down to 10k/h max - most Tanzanian drivers don't seem bothered about damaging their vehicles (or do they all drive someone else's vehicle?) - so they all try steaming ahead over them, causing some interesting scenes as they try overtaking on blind corners, crossing speedbumps, with vehicles coming the other way trying to do something similar. All very amusing if you weren't driving yourself....
We camped at River Valley just outside Iringa - to get there you follow a trck off the main road which descends between trees, getting smaller all the time. When we got into the grounds I could see what looked like a wooden bridge ahead, so we elected to stop, get out and walk to have a look. The security guard on the gate was keen to get us to keep going - but we've seen this sort of issue before, so ignored him. It turned out that the bridge didn't lead to the main campsite, so we were ok, however there was a truck - a Mercedes truck - an English-registered Mercedes truck - in fact registered in the same year as the Mog - parked in the campsite - we were intrigued (but hungry).
As we got something to eat ready, a couple appeared from aforesaid truck, approached us and greeted us with "Sue and Ian we presume?" They'd already heard of us - in fact had heard of us from quite a long tome ago - having met the Colin & Diana Windley somewhere in Mozambique who I had met in Windhoek in April and then Ellen and Vince more recently in Malawi. We got chatting - they are a very well-travelled couple (having been to the far east in their trucks previously) who had driven UK-Singapore then shipped across to South Africa to drive up that continent! Make us seem like real beginners! We took our new bottle of port round and polished off 1/2 of it in 2 hours chatting!
The following day we stayed at River Valley to get some laundry done - I profited by using the jubilee clips to modify the left hand front portal oil system to stop oil-pumping and a couple of other small jobs around the truck. We walked to a waterfall and back - at this time of year there wasn't too much water flowing, but it was nice - and interesting to see the irrigation channels that had been built into the head of the falls. The campsite dog came with us - in fact it seemed that she somehow knew that we were going for a walk as she turned up outside the truck about 15 minutes before we went, and waited for us to go!
River Valley campsite hosts a Swahili School - it was full of missionaries (mainly American) who were learning Swahili before being sent off to do their thing. We had dinner witht hem that evening in the on-site restaurant - there was no proselytising (?) luckily, in fact we got chatting to a very nice American teacher from Dar Es Salaam who gave us some good tips/information. Then we finished the bottle of port off with Clive & Ann in their truck - that didn't last long!!!!
We tried to buy some fruit & veg on the market, but being tired and hungry from the drive here didn't help, combined with the rats running all over the produce meant that we got a bit stressed and left without buying anything - we must try to eat before going shopping.....
On the way out of town, after filling up with fuel, a truck driver flagged us down and explained that the road ahead was closed due to the president having visited and being on the point of departure. We parked up and waited - the police had indeed closed the road, everyone waited, and waited. Suddenly police motorcycles and army bakkies shot past followed by a courtege of maybe 30 vehicles, mainly new-looking Toyota Landcruisers with tinted windows - people were out to their president - he didn't stop or slow down to greet or thank them, just shot by....
We left town down a winding road that was full of vehicles trying to make up for time lost by driving as quickly as possible - only problem was that not only was the road winding, it was also lined witht he infamous Tanzanian sppedbumps - it seems that Tanzania has taken the design and construction of these menaces to a whole new level - on this particular stretch they were spaced about 200m apart for maybe 3km, each one being so violently steep on both sides that the only way of crossing them without risking damage is to slow down to 10k/h max - most Tanzanian drivers don't seem bothered about damaging their vehicles (or do they all drive someone else's vehicle?) - so they all try steaming ahead over them, causing some interesting scenes as they try overtaking on blind corners, crossing speedbumps, with vehicles coming the other way trying to do something similar. All very amusing if you weren't driving yourself....
We camped at River Valley just outside Iringa - to get there you follow a trck off the main road which descends between trees, getting smaller all the time. When we got into the grounds I could see what looked like a wooden bridge ahead, so we elected to stop, get out and walk to have a look. The security guard on the gate was keen to get us to keep going - but we've seen this sort of issue before, so ignored him. It turned out that the bridge didn't lead to the main campsite, so we were ok, however there was a truck - a Mercedes truck - an English-registered Mercedes truck - in fact registered in the same year as the Mog - parked in the campsite - we were intrigued (but hungry).
As we got something to eat ready, a couple appeared from aforesaid truck, approached us and greeted us with "Sue and Ian we presume?" They'd already heard of us - in fact had heard of us from quite a long tome ago - having met the Colin & Diana Windley somewhere in Mozambique who I had met in Windhoek in April and then Ellen and Vince more recently in Malawi. We got chatting - they are a very well-travelled couple (having been to the far east in their trucks previously) who had driven UK-Singapore then shipped across to South Africa to drive up that continent! Make us seem like real beginners! We took our new bottle of port round and polished off 1/2 of it in 2 hours chatting!
The following day we stayed at River Valley to get some laundry done - I profited by using the jubilee clips to modify the left hand front portal oil system to stop oil-pumping and a couple of other small jobs around the truck. We walked to a waterfall and back - at this time of year there wasn't too much water flowing, but it was nice - and interesting to see the irrigation channels that had been built into the head of the falls. The campsite dog came with us - in fact it seemed that she somehow knew that we were going for a walk as she turned up outside the truck about 15 minutes before we went, and waited for us to go!
River Valley campsite hosts a Swahili School - it was full of missionaries (mainly American) who were learning Swahili before being sent off to do their thing. We had dinner witht hem that evening in the on-site restaurant - there was no proselytising (?) luckily, in fact we got chatting to a very nice American teacher from Dar Es Salaam who gave us some good tips/information. Then we finished the bottle of port off with Clive & Ann in their truck - that didn't last long!!!!