On Monday we travelled to Morogoro, the next logical place to stay before the long drive up to Dodoma. Mikumi to Morogoro isn't far, the drive took us through the National Park again (but this time not having to pay entry fees as we were just "transiting"), shortly after leaving Tan-Swiss we spotted Ann & Clive parked in a lay-by in the park - they had decided to have their tea/coffee there whilst (illegally) watching any animals (there's a sign at the start of the park warning that you're not allowed to look at the animals if you're transiting!!!). We chastely continued, there wasn't a lot to see (even if we had been looking, which of course we weren't....!), there were further signs indicating the fines for killing various types of animals on the road..... The day was hot and got hotter as we approached Morogoro. Our initial impression of the town was that it was chaotic, busy and difficult, however once we'd found somewhere to leave the truck we were soon wandering around with almost no-one seeming to notice our presence (this is a difference in Tanzania with most other countries - the Tanzanians seem to mainly get on with whatever the were doing, whereas in other places the presence of 2 Muzungus can create some interest). Sue managed to buy a gitenge (it's spelt slightly different here compared with Zambia/Malawi), some mangoes and a cucumber - everything was very friendly and relaxed. We found ourselves wandering through the police compound, on turning a corner there was a group of men surrounding a guy with a mobile stand - he had coconuts! As we slowed down to have a look, a senior-looking police officer asked if we wanted one - when we decided that we did, he promptly handed us the coconut that he'd just been given, saying that he'd get another one. The seller then cut us another one open, followed by a replacement for the policeman. We stood around drinking and eating fresh coconuts, chatting with the various guys around, when it was time to pay, we didn't have any small change so there was a lot of spliiting of notes amongst the small crowd as they helped us get the money right! All very kind and pleasant! (oh, and the coconuts were delicious!).
We headed out of town to the Kola Hill Hotel at the foot of the Uluguru Mountains where there was supposed to be a campsite - on getting there we found the entrance and looking it didn't seem to be open, in fact we wondered if there was anyone there at all.... We parked outside and walked in, a girl appeared at the door and told us that yes, they were indeed open, and yes there is a campsite. She showed us a green lawn round the corner which served as the campsite, we parked up and Ann and Clive arrived a little later.
We headed out of town to the Kola Hill Hotel at the foot of the Uluguru Mountains where there was supposed to be a campsite - on getting there we found the entrance and looking it didn't seem to be open, in fact we wondered if there was anyone there at all.... We parked outside and walked in, a girl appeared at the door and told us that yes, they were indeed open, and yes there is a campsite. She showed us a green lawn round the corner which served as the campsite, we parked up and Ann and Clive arrived a little later.