So I know you guys all think I have come out here on an extended holiday and yes, I would much rather be here than home, we get the odd long weekend, and even the normal weekends we can go to a beach, on safari, climb mountains to name just a few so I guess I shouldn’t complain but it has also been really hard work out here! IT had been a while since I had had a week off…around 11 months actually so I was definitely ready to take some time and see some more of Africa!
Jose had arrived a couple f weeks previously and we did find it tough as I had to leave him in the house bored every day while I went to work..so time away together was on the cards! We started by heading 6 hours north to Nkhata bay, a beautiful site on the Lake, and stayed in an awesome backpackers lodge place – set on a steep hillside with huts and camping sites available. It was relaxing to say the least, we swam, canoed, ate and drank for 2 days…meeting some interesting people along the way. A man called King David took us on his boat for a trip of fish eagle feeding – it was called Condaleeza Rice and had a wing span of about 2 metres and you could feel the wind from her wings as she passed us, cliff jumping, and playing games on the beach. As usual the highlight was the kids…who all came to see us on the beach, where we spent ages throwing them off our shoulders into the Lake…they could all swim like little fishies.
We didn’t really fancy leaving this little corner of paradise on the Lake, but we had much more exciting things ahead so we started a long journey from there to Arusha…northern Tanzania – roughly 2000km from Nkhata bay! A few scary minibuses and a night bus later we were at the Tanzanian border, where Jose was lucky to pass for free, whilst I needed to part with $50.. Unfortunately, a group of boys who wante to change our money at the border – and nearly got us that way, but we were quick..then took us to a bus to get to Mbeya – charged us double the prize and put us on a bus where the driver was driving seriously dangerously. Jose was not comfortable so we got off and on to another one for half the prize…that’s the problem when in a new country – it takes a while to suss out whats the going rate etc.. anyway safety first I guess!
Mbeya is the largest town in south western Tanzania and is set high up in the mountains so has a very cool climate…in fact we found it really cold! It was a beautiful setting though with good views all around and this is where we first met the friendliness of the Tanzanian people – they were so keen to chat with us and show us around the town. The town wasn’t really set up for tourists and so there wasn’t a whole lot to do but we occupied ourselves for 2 days with wandering the market, trying out different restaurants and playing snooker with some local guys..
Then it was time to move on, next in our journey was an 16 hour bus journey direct to Arusha, which I told myself was going to be 24 hours as we had heard many horror stories about break downs etc.. Luckily ours went to plan and when we arrived after 18 hours I was quite pleased! Tanzania we discovered is beautiful to travel through on buses, we went up and over a huge stunning mountain range ( nearly died in the process…the buses were in convoy racing over these hair pin bends with cliff drops on one side..we saw several overturned lorries on the way none of which seemed to slow down the drivers!), we went through a National Park and saw elephants right by the roadside, and passed through many small very African villages.
About midnight, we pulled up to a deserted dark Arusha bus station, where bless him, Gideon, our Tanzanian friend and host to be for next 2 weeks was dutifully waiting. He had been there a while though, and his (safari like) jeep had run his battery down with im listening to music, so a little push and we were off. It wasn’t long before we realised exactly why he needed a jeep to get around..Tanzania’s roads aren’t as well developed as Malawi’s, and we had to scale a rough potholed road to reach his house..we would soon get used to being thrown around in the back of a car!
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