Mon 22nd Jan
Drove right across town to see the very nice Macedonian dentist, Dr Tanya. Ian had a chipped tooth fixed and I had a protective coating put on an over-sentitive tooth. Then spent a large part of the day trying to find somewhere with internet and wifi working well enough. Very frustrating. Finally sat sweltering inside the truck at Sable Square where the applications were finally in by 3.30pm.After We had a very nice tea in the garden with Maria and Manfred. The green (red-billed) wood-hoopoes were having a big ding-dong, cackling away and flying to and fro. There were at least seven of them. I gave M + M my bird list. Later on we went up to the house to pay and had a drink and a chat. We tried Konyagi, a local spirit made from sugar cane. A bit like schnapps. Tues 23rd Jan . After two weeks of preparations we left Arusha and said a very sad goodbye to everyone at the farm. We don't expect to be here again and I cried a lot saying goodbye to the staff . We hope to see the Lieke's again somewhere, somewhen. We drove west towards Moshi. Fluttering across the road were thousands and thousands of the white butterflies. The countryside was very green with lots of yellow-flowering trees and some of the orange-flowering ones that I think may be flame-trees. Halfway to Moshi we realised that we hadn't bought the Comesa insurance and would have to stop in Moshi to do it. Long story short - we got it at the National Insurance Corporation. We continued to Marangu. 34 degrees outside and over 40 degreesin the cab. We have to get used to this again. Marangu very green and leafy. We camped at the Marangu Hotel. It has a number of chalets set in a lovely garden, plus a bar and restaurant. The campsite is small but nice with grass, big trees and good ablutions with lovely hot water. Plenty of birds, too, as well as a view of the top of Kilimanjaro framed by trees. Fri 19th January
Ian went into town to get the aircon regassed. I started trying to fix our mattress protector. The elastic round the edge has completely perished. Monas took Imelda on his piki-piki (motorbike) to buy elastic for me, while Maria and I struggled to figure out how to get her old Singer working. We didn't manage this and I resigned myself to sewing by hand a channel for the elastic all the way round. I didn't get this done either, however, as we decided to do our big food shop. This involved visiting three different shops and took us about four hours. In the early evening we took a different walk and spent a long time watching a family of six bee-eaters. They are irresistible as they flash their colours, zooming around chasing insects. At the moment there are thousands of cabbage-whites everywhere, which the bee-eaters seem to like. Finally the truck was ready for us to sleep in it, so we did. Hooray!!! 20th January I spent hours stitching the wretched mattress cover and threading the elastic through. Horrible job, so I hope it works. The quality of the elastic is not what I would prefer but then it's a Heath-Robinson arrangement now anyway. Sunday 21st January A very quiet day on the farm with almost no staff around and the family also out. No music or voices from anywhere, just the birds and the dogs, Bello and Pluto the (huge) puppy. Very hot. For us another day of sorting and organising, squeezing our stuff into every corner of the truck. We gave some more stuff away. Out to Smiley's at Sable Square for dinner so that we could use their WiFi. Barney is tearing his hair out trying to apply online for our Visas for Kenya. It is a nightmare because if you lose connection or power you have to start again from scratch. A few days ago Barney installed two lovely quiet marine fans into our sleeping quarters. They were worth the expense because they are making so much difference to our comfort by day and night. 16th January
Three hours at the tyre place, Superdoll. One tyre had developed a nasty bulge since Last year and had to come off, so it was time to get a spare on and swap the tyres round a bit. Although it took ages, we had a friendly and sociable time with the guys there and Ian got talking current affairs with the women on reception. We also toured around battery places to see what was available. In the evening we walked down to the korongo (little ravine) for some fresh air. The river was flowing quite well and we saw a thumbnail-sized frog and identified a brown-hooded kingfisher. 17th January Bought the most expensive batteries we had seen, as they were also the most powerful ones and a reasonably reputable make, Varta. Did some food shopping. Disappointed to find some really big weevils in the new packet of rice. Sorting that out will be a fun job! 18th January The noisy African night! I do like to hear the insects but they also keep me awake. Sometimes it's as if an alarm-clock is going all night long. last night we also had thunder followed by rain that sounded like a huge downpour on the metal roof of the guesthouse. In our room we heard beating wings and wondered whether a bird had got in, but it was a moth the size of my hand; brown, rather ragged, with an eye-spot on each wing. Today Barney fitted the new batteries, which amazingly exactly fitted the size of the battery box before he had modified it, so it wasn't too hard to de-modify it and hey-presto the batteries were in! When the huge moth appeared again in the evening we managed to persuade it outside, hoping that it wouldn't get immediately eaten by a bat or an owl. 15th January
We realised that we couldn't drive in the truck until we had cleaned it, it had acquired so much dust while in storage. So I swept and wiped down the cab, Barney washed the roof and solar panels and the fundi cleaned the rest of the outside. By the time we had done some other sorting it was 4.30pm. We visited the shiny new supermarket at the shiny new AIM Mall, and gawped at the prices of the western foods, even buying a few. In the evening there was a tremendous thunderstorm with both sheet and forked lightning; the sky in strange rainbow shades due to the dust in the air, I suppose. 11th Jan
Found weevils in the rice box, so had to do some careful cleaning. We ate lunch with the family and some visiting friends and had a happy and fun meal. B changed the blistered wheel for the spare. He wanted to make sure he could do it by himself. In the evening we walked to the river, which was actually flowing. We saw a paradise flycatcher in full mating plumage, snatching insects from the water. Back at the farm we had good views of red-chested cuckoo and a slender-tailed nightjar, both calling like mad. 12th Jan Barney busy with truck-related things like changing the engine-oil. I have been finding homes in the truck for the things we brought with us. Saw a long-crested eagle in flight. 13th Jan They are building a big new road nearby and we both had a poor night's sleep due to night roadworks; also a really noisy party somewhere. I made a start on cleaning the living quarters and Barney serviced the rear portals. Gave various items of clothing/shoes to the workers we know on the farm. Tea in the garden with Manfred and Maria - always a nice occasion. Maria showed me a carnivorous cactus they have in the garden. Met the British consul later, while we were sitting on big rocks in the middle of the stream. He was wearing wellies and walking down the stream with his family and three big wet dogs. 14th Jan A new bird: African Emerald Cuckoo. Quite spectacular. The weather is getting hotter. Berndt took us to the nearby new A1 Hotel and Resort for dinner. It took ages but we had an interesting evening. A nightjar was sipping from the swimming pool while on the wing. Great views of Mount Meru before dark. |
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