Tanzania 1st episode

Tuesday 17th April

After looking around Livingstonia we descended the hairpin bend road and then proceeded up the road back towards Karonga. Thanks for the email, Jean and the advice but we didn’t go down into Malawi very far. After stocking up at Karonga and getting tyre punctures repaired, we headed further N up to Songwa river and the border into Tanzania. The border crossing was fairly quick and painless and we were through by 4pm but that was of course 5pm in Tanzania as they are 1 hour ahead. The change in the country side was immediately evident and quite dramatic. There was of course much more land as Malawi only has a little land alongside the lake, the soil was a different colour and looked very fertile. The agriculture looked so much more organized and in fact there were fields upon fields of tea on our right hand side and banana plantations galore on our left hand side. We traveled for about an hour and then because of the late hour we pulled off to a mission station where we camped for the night for R21 a couple – so that was a real bargain. Last night, however, did challenge us all as it poured with rain and even the ground where we were camped was water logged! This trip is not always a piece of cake.

Our costs in Malawi were
Border processing fee R63
Internet Café R30
Petrol R1 675
Camping fees R328
Groceries R191
Drinks R306
Sight seeing R99
Gifts R70
Tyre puncture R184

Wednesday 18th April

We left at 7am which was really 6 am on our Malawi time scale so we did really well. We headed straight up for Mbeya where once again it was the normal routine of atm’s, petrol, internet cafes etc. Then we headed E for Makambako and then S for Songea. We are not quite at Songea and are camped at a bush camp but it is a 100 times better than last nights “bog”. I have made pumpkin soup and it was quite a story liquidizing it with a whisk – life in Africa can be challenging but we manage and actually it is quite fun. Today we drove through terrain much like Ashburton with thorn trees etc and then when we headed S it was like the Natal Midlands! Just when we think we have seen the absolute extremes with bicycle transportation, we enter a new country, and we find a further extension to the simple bicycle! Today we saw guys transporting HUGE baskets of tomatoes on the back school suitcase carrier with an additional 50kg bag of tomatoes strapped over the back wheel mudguard! Unbelievable!



Thursday 19th April

We left at 8am and drove down on good tar road to Songea. At least the tar roads in Tanzania are not full of pot holes so the going is quite rapid. We reached Songea at 11.30am and stopped at a very colourful hotel with purple tables, turgoise chairs and a huge display of animals in the front porch! There we had a drink before leaving for Makambako and here our troubles started- first of all it was a dirt road and an appalling one at that – but half an hour into the trip we came across a river with a bridge and there in the river was the 12 ton truck loaded with 20 tons on top of the collapsed bridge! This had happened 5 minutes before we got there! See the photograph. Luckily there was a local Landcruiser with us and he said that he knew a way around so off he led us at breakneck speed – him, followed by us 4 and we picked up a local police van at the rear. I have no idea what the local villagers thought as we roared past as they probably never see traffic on this back road, and there we were, an armoured convoy! Anyway half an hour later we were back on the road and back to our slower pace. The road was so bad that our pace was 30kms per hour! So of course it was a bush camp again.

Friday 20th April

Today our daughter, Carmen-Jo, graduates with her B.Comm Accounts and she got her degree Suma Laude (I think that is correct?) coming in the top 3 in her whole class! So we are extremely proud of her and I am feeling quite homesick that we are unable to be with her. Babes, we are so proud of you and we are thinking of you the whole day. You are a star!
We have had a tedious day just grinding our way along this appalling road at a rate of 25kms per hour! Why are we doing this? Anyway, after a refreshing shower, at our bush camp, we all feel better and are ready to tackle tomorrow.

Saturday 21st April

We left and proceeded on our laborious road but finally reached tar road at about 1pm –Yay! Our average speed increased to 85kms per hour and soon we were on the Tanzanian coast at Lindi. This is a real dive of a town and we decided to proceed down to Mikindani where we are now. We found a lodge called 10 Degrees which is situated right on the bay and the view is breath taking. We have had ice cold drinks and a delicious dinner of calamari and prawns! We certainly deserve it after a grueling 3 days of driving.
The terrain we drove through these past few days has been more like Malawi and not as fertile looking as when we first crossed over to Tanzania. Also the people and villages that we have been through have been really poor.