Iringa and Mikumi

FRIDAY 12/1

Hello all,

After enjoying a lukewarm shower last night and then some dry clothes, I was feeling much better after our exhausting hike!

Elton cooked us maize, chicken stew, peanut butter cabbage and beans last night. He's Zimbabwean and he said it was a typical meal he used to have as a kid when they had visitors - yum!!

I then headed outside the gates of the camp with Emily and Sarah to look at some souvenirs. Now that we basically only have Tanzania left (Kenya is just one night at the end), I can get lots of money out in one currency so I wanted to spend my remaining Malawian money on a nice souvenir. The three of us ordered a wood carving from a man who told us his name was 'Mr Happy' (people here make up their Anglo names - one guy yesterday introduced himself to us as 'Chicken Pizza'!!!) and because all three of us got one, he gave us each a free necklace too. I paid $25 USD for a decent sized wood carving with Africa and different animals on it that he made from scratch overnight. It's so freshly made that it's sitting in my locker on the truck and perfuming it with its treatment chemicals/varnish (which is lucky, because my wet clothes are still wet and they STINK!). 

This morning I trusted my phone's weather app that it would rain at 4.30, and I'm glad I did! Rob and I got up early and put our pillows etc on the bus before the rain started. None of anyone's washing dried though, it was very wet and sticky overnight. 

Then we left just before 6 and drove for two hours to the Tanzanian border. I had heard this one could take ages, but again we had good luck! After having our yellow fever certificates checked and our temperature taken, we got our visas. Then we drove towards our camp in Iringa. The landscape completely changed and was hilly with lots of palm trees, then with huge flat areas with rising hills. Tanzania is beautiful!

I managed to get a few hours of sleep against the window and then watched some TV on my iPad and played cards with Kat, Cam, Michael, Maddy, Adrian, Tahlia and Andrew. Today my legs are really sore from the big walk yesterday and we were all limping around, especially when we got up from our seats at a stop. 

The drive took FOREVER because Tanzania's police are all corrupt. We were stopped probably once an hour in our bus because they always want to find something wrong with it to fine us. Apparently they also photograph you and claim you're speeding but with no evidence, and then you have to pay. Very frustrating and makes me grateful for the police force we have at home. Even more glad that I got my police certificate for my stolen money in Malawi now. The third time we were stopped, it took 15 minutes to get through. We all watched out the windows as Elton gestured angrily. 

Eventually we arrived at our campsite. Our tents were soaked because of last night's rain, so 12 out of eight of our group accommodated. Rob and I are camping anyway. This camp was amazing as it had steaming hot showers (it's cold in Iringa due to being 1800m above sea level), freshly cooked chocolate brownies and hot chocolate with amarula (South African alcohol like Baileys). Yummmmm!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox

SATURDAY 13/1

Hi everyone,

Last night was the best sleep I've had all trip because it was so cold. Apart from my stupid alarm going off at 4.15am, I didn't wake up at all. 

We set off at 8am today and were on our way. I had to wear leggings and my polar fleece - woohoo!

Today I noticed a couple of things along the way. Firstly, lots of houses here have been labelled with a green 'X'. Elton told us this means the government have decided it's too close to the road and needs to be demolished. This to me seems absolutely ridiculous, as I would have seen hundreds of houses in this situation today. How counterproductive in a place where most people are already quite poor. Something else I noticed was that lots of families buried their dead relatives in the middle of their fields in the area we were in today. 

In the middle of the drive, we drove along cliff faces and saw a number of overturned trucks and trucks that have gone off the side. Scary! No one nearby looked very worried though. 

We got to our stop today, Mikumi, and had lunch at a local restaurant. It took 1.5 hours because the guy stuffed up our orders. As Elton continues to say though - "TIA" (This Is Africa)!

Tonight's camp wasn't in the itinerary and is instead of us staying in Chipata a few days ago. This way we break up the drive to Dar Es Salaam which continues tomorrow. We have upgraded to a room and it is so nice! This is the last time we will be upgrading for the trip. It was a bit expensive but the air con (YES), pool and cleanliness of the place is well worth it. Zanzibar soon in a room anyway!!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox