After the Amarula and the late night, we didn’t fancy an early alarm, although we had been told that the cattle-dipping would take place today. Luckily we were up and more or less ready at 7.30 when one of the Masai came to fetch us. Not sure whether they had waited for us or whether it was lucky timing, but they started the first group of cattle as soon as we got there. They use a sort of spray bath rather than a dip. We watched for an hour as all of the cattle went through, including the bull with his weird hump, and the small calves last. We met Clement the farm manager, and we watched as he and eight cattle-men put the cows through in groups, having a good look at each one and sorting a number of heifers to stay with the bull. It was interesting to watch the Masai gently working the cattle. The Masai themselves are always interesting to see anyway, wrapped in their shukas, dagger at the waist, sandals or wellies, white-beaded anklets, and the inevitable mobile phone. Much as we don’t like to see the desertified, over-grazed areas near Arusha, it’s clear that the Masai know how to handle livestock. To (mis) quote James Herriot, “They get it through the titty, you see”.
We had quite a good chat with Nicky today. She told us that the reason B has seen two snakes is that the rains ended, the snakes all found their dry-season holes, and then the rains started again, so holes are getting flooded and the snakes have to find new ones. Nicky also told us about a bizarre village up near Mwanza, whose name translates as “drop money”. The village is so poor that every night they put the old people out beside the road to die. Sometimes hyenas come and take them. Truck drivers and others in the know drop food or money for them as they go by. It’s euthanasia really. Very odd. Around 4pm we set off for a walk. Clouds were building so we put everything under cover first. B wanted to see how easy/difficult it was to operate the pump on the borehole. Answer: probably quite tiring if you need 150 litres, which we do. We also looked again at the feathery crop that we now know is artemisia, an ingredient in malaria medication. When crushed it has a strong herby smell, quite nose-clearing. The amur falcons were on the wing, eating the huge flying ants that were emerging. By the time we reached the next field with the maize crop, we noticed that some of the clouds were now very deep blue and dropping rain, while claps of thunder were also sounding nearer. We thought we would get wet and we were right! The big drops were really cold. Soon we were soaked through, squelching in our shoes, and trying to find the dry patches on the tracks, which were fast becoming rivers. At the gate to the campsite one of the Masai came with an umbrella but it was too late for us. We more or less waded back to the truck, stripped off in the doorway and put everything in the bucket. Next B noticed that the battery-charger wasn’t working again, so we put everything away to enable him to take the battery box (domestic) apart and investigate. I made some hot chocolate. Barney’s notes: After a couple of hours dismantling everything I found a bad connection, which I cleaned and tightened (it really needs a new connector). Everything was put back together but it still didn’t work. Suspecting a problem with the mains supply I went up to the restaurant, where David told me that it was on “half power”. Aha! … The next morning more of the same. Michael and Ines’s coffee-maker wasn’t working either. Later on I retried our charger. Suddenly all was OK. A few hours work for nothing again! Today we met Ines and Michael who are also staying here for a few days in their campervan. On this trip, they are the first people really overlanding that we have been able to get to know a bit. During the day we bumped into them a couple of times and started exchanging stories and travel tips. Then in the late afternoon they came by with some beers (ginger for me). We gave them our Malawi guidebook and info about our experiences five years ago. They told us about some of the places they have stayed and about their various problems at police road-blocks. We talked while the rain came down, and we all sat under our thatched banda. Our bottle of Amarula came out, and we talked while it got dark and cold. They invited us for dinner so we took the rest of the Amarula over to have with the delicious veggie meal prepared by Ines. All a very tasty treat! We sat up until almost 11pm, which is just about unheard-of for us. It was good to finally meet some other people on the road and have time to chat with them. Very nice people.
The last post we made was when we were in Uganda, since then we've been to Rwanda, back into Tan, gone to Arusha to make repairs and restock, then headed south towards Zambia on the 2nd stage of this trip. We've either been on the road, busy or not had internet connection to keep the posts updated (as if they ever are).
We are currently close to Iringa in Tanzania waiting for the Easter weekend to pass - the campsite we are on is usually tranquil, most other places in East Africa will be hectic and noisy over the coming weekend. The internet here is via satellite so no photo uploading, but we will try to get some text updates done for the last couple of weeks. An even quieter day. I had a massage at the lodge/campsite at their occasional spa. Not completely surprised to be offered this as I had my hair cut here when we visited before. An overland bus has come in on the other campsite but we’ve hardly noticed them.
We used the minced beef we had bought in Iringa, most of the veg we got from the kitchen here and some of Maria’s lentils to make a big stew that we flavoured with our peanut and sesame paste that we bought in Fort Portal. We thought we’d done well but when we came to eat it in the evening we weren’t too impressed. The sesame doesn’t really give a definite enough flavour to be used in this way; or I am ding it wrong somehow. In the early evening we walked on the farm again, enjoying the mellow light and long shadows and the birds. There are lots of stonechats and a good selection of flycatchers; and there are pin-tailed whydah on the campsite!! We’ve been here so long that the Masai on the gate have started speaking Swahili to us instead of just making monosyllabic replies. I think it’s taken them a while to realise that we are speaking Swahili to them, just not very good Swahili. Dad’s and Barney’s birthdays. Gave Barney his tiny present that I had bought at Wildebeest and kept hidden since then. Went to The Jolly Farmer on the way to Iringa and bought some odd-looking smoked cheese and a couple of other bits. In Iringa we parked nearish the market and the streets of useful shops. We bought a WD40 alternative and got almost everything else on our shopping list, visiting two small supermarkets, a pharmacy and the fruit and veg market. This last is something we hardly ever do but B had got chatting to an English woman who told him that it’s the safest market in Tanzania. And we did enjoy walking around the market, finding everyone very friendly. We bought tomatoes, two papaya, six small mangoes, an aubergine, a cucumber and some tiny bananas. It was fun. Then we walked to Hasty Tasty Foods for lunch. We were able to sit in the shade outside and watch life going by. Our food was OK but definitely not special. On the way back to Kisolanza we bought a new spade for £2 at a place I had noticed before. Everyone in the vicinity was highly amused at us stopping there. Back at the campsite I had a nice snooze before my shower. We had one of our simple suppers and then ate the whole of one of our good bars of chocolate, in honour of Barney’s birthday. We later had a quick word with Nicky and she gave us love from Archie, who apparently remembers us as well as we remember him. We played backgammon later on. We had been going to watch the cattle being dipped but at 7.30 got a message that it would not happen today. As we were up and dressed, we went for a walk on the farm under cloudy and drizzly skies. It was lovely to walk for an hour or so in the countryside, absolutely undisturbed. A farm truck drove by once; Rick also came by and just checked that we were OK. We saw a gorgeously iridescent beetle, also one or two yellow mongoose, plus a number of birds (many LBJs). The red-collared widowbirds are lekking and this was really nice to see on foot; the males making short flights with their wispy long tails streaming out and the females following after their favourites. We saw stonechats, a black-shouldered kite and a number of common waxbill.
For lunch we made egg and bacon etc. Fresh passion fruits for dessert. We decided to stay here until Easter Monday so as to avoid carpark camping or other less-than-ideal locations during that long weekend. It’s rather a long time to be in one place but as it’s so peaceful and lovely it feels like the best solution. Went to the bar to use the internet but someone else had used up all the wifi allowance, so I looked at our photos while B read the Zambia guidebook. Bought some veg from the kitchen. It was so nice to wake up knowing that we didn’t have to get up and that we had no particular plans for the day at all. I did a bit of laundry. We did a crossword. Spoke to Nicky, the owner, to check that they didn’t have any large-scale bookings over Easter. Spoke to her very in brother, Rick, about Tunduma vs Kasesya borders into Zambia. He gave us details of the agent he uses at Tunduma but we think we will chance the difficult road from Kasesya to Mbala unless we find out that it’s impassable at the moment.
After lunch we sat in the bar trying to gather information and plan ahead. I have not been looking forward to Zambia at all but actually the direct route to Lusaka need not take more than a week and there are several interesting places to stop at along the way. So I feel better now, apart from worrying about the state of the roads we might find. That could slow us down quite a bit. Saw the birds of prey again and later sat down with my book. I reckon that they are Amur falcon. Dinner in the restaurant, which was just as we remember it: mud walls and and dimly lit by candles, very intimate. The set menu was: carrot and groundnut soup with fresh coriander leaves; T-bone steak with new potatoes in butter and parsley and stir-fried veg; apple pie and ice-cream or fresh berries and ice-cream. The steak was extraordinarily good! When we were here in 2013 the campsite/lodge were being managed by a very likeable English lad called Archie. Nicky is still in touch with him and it was nice to hear how he is doing. The donkey had not been stoked properly so we had a tepid shower. At least we had had a very peaceful night, so we were glad of that. B diagnosed the battery problem and was able to solve it with a new copper washer. That meant we didn’t have to scour Iringa for new batteries. Tried to repeat the lovely walk we had done five years ago but the path had not been maintained and was too overgrown. Instead we walked on the vehicle track for a little while, enjoying the local scenery.
On our return to the campsite it was obvious that they were getting ready for a big barbecue. In fact we knew that 65 people were coming and would be sharing the two toilets with us, so after a very quick lunch we got underway back to Kisolanza. And, phew! There were very few signs of yesterday’s party, just a few tents. All was peace and tranquillity. We parked in a good camping spot, got our chairs out, poured some juice and sat down. We both suddenly felt completely relaxed for the first time in weeks. It was lovely. Here we had security, hot water and clean ablutions, wonderful peace and quiet and a properly run campsite with no-one hanging around. What a relief! We took a bit of a walk before dusk and saw a number of small birds of prey passing overhead. It was a bit of a puzzle. 5.30 alarm. First light showed that our askari was still there, now wearing a grey suit jacket over his Masai shukas. Barney paid him and off he went. Then we had a bit of a nightmare: the truck wouldn’t start at first. B suspects that the batteries have come to the end of their life, so we have kept the engine running all day, even while refuelling.
Another day of green and attractive scenery. We drove through forests of baobab trees with sunflowers and maize planted in between. Green trees, blue sky, orange earth and houses made of orange bricks. Very striking. We reached the dam on the Great Ruaha. Here, on each side, we were asked for water by the security staff. It was all very odd. We thought they must have some kind of scam going. We gave what we could from the cab and were sent on our way. Somewhere along the way, I was almost asleep, head nodding, when B suddenly called out. I looked up in time to see our spade slide off the roof-rack, over the bonnet and onto the road, where we ran it over, breaking the wooden handle. We didn’t stop and get it. We made it to The Old Farm at Kisolanza by 3.30. We had stayed four nights here in 2013 because we found it so pleasant and well run. Big disappointment. There was a corporate do there with tents all over the place and VERY loud music starting up. We turned around and headed back to Iringa, to Riverside (or River Valley) Camp, hoping for better luck. Again, it had been well run in 2013. Things do change. We had to pay upfront: usually a bad sign. They kept trying to light the campfire, which we didn’t want, but there was no hot water because the donkey was damp and stone cold. They had a job to get it going but managed this while we were at dinner. However, we still didn’t get a shower there because both were occupied by staff. We gave up and had a shower at home instead, feeling a bit grumpy, especially after three hours extra driving. The nice black lab was still about, though, looking a bit grey around the muzzle and a bit lonely. I gave him some of my leftover chips from dinner. |
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