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Up early once again
- bags all packed and ready to go (There's a song in there somewhere)
Before we left we donated a new football to the young chefs who had
looked after us for the three days. This ball was one of four I had
brought from the UK - and the amount of room they took in our bags seem
to increase each time we re-packed, so it made a little difference to
rid ourselves of one.
We left at 8.20 am and made our way - via Iringa - to the Isimila Stone Age
Site. Discovered in the early 1950's the site is though to be the site
of an ancient factory site engaged in the manufacture |
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of early stone-age
weapons, ranging from axe heads, spears and sling shots. The absence of
human remains is thought to indicate that this indeed was a place of
work to where workers travelled from their own communities. The site
dates back to around 60,000 years, and has given up animal skeletons of
ancient giraffes, with shorter necks than those of today, and creatures
closely relating our present-day hippos. We had an excellent
guided tour by Damatus one of the museum's guides. Having shown us various
exhibits, he guided us through a maze of monolithic pillars, some |
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over 100 feet in
height. I commented on the unsightly line of pylons and power
lines running through the site. It was however the installation of the
power lines that led to the discovery of the site.
The pillars actually lie in a dried river bed, and it is the ferocity of
the river in flood and constant drying out and erosion that has
led to the formation of this lunar landscape. Again, the temperature had
reached the psychological 38°C/100°F, and after a walk of around an hour
and a half, we had a picnic lunch in the welcome shade of one of the
site's enclosures. It was soon time to hit the road again, |
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and we were soon on route to our next
destination - and hopefully to the cooler mountain climate of the
Mufinidi Tea Estate. We were given a tour around the tea factory.
Starting with the arrival of the leaves themselves - some 139 tonnes a
day are brought here from the surrounding fields - we were guided
through the process of making a perfect cuppa. From the air-drying of
the leaves, all the processing and grading - and ending up with the
finished product being packed into special foil-lined sacks. Interesting
to note here - that amongst the sacks of variously grade tea - some were
marked |
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"Dust" This was
destined for the tea bags of Ty-Phoo we were told This was collected
literally by spreading sheets of paper beneath the conveyer belts along
which the tea was graded, and collecting the falling fine grains. Not
quite the "sweepings off the floor," but not too far removed. We were
treated to a tea-tasting demonstration by our guide - the site manager.
Similar to the familiar wine-tasting-type slurping and spitting into a
bucket - nobody responded to his offer of trying out the process. On
completion of the tour, several of us purchased some tea for taking home
- then it was off to meet |
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host for the next
two days at the "Foxes Fishing Lodge. "Here we were welcomed by
Geoff Fox. Geoff has been a resident of Tanzania for the last 46 years.
Originally he worked here as am employee of Brooke Bond Tea. His family
now own several safari camps throughout Tanzania, managed by other
members of the Fox Family. We were shown to our log cabins, situated
amongst well-cared for gardens and trees. Again, we were treated to a
delightful dinner - chicken and ginger, roast pork, olive salad, and
lots of fresh vegetables. Within the lodge, conveniently set close |
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to the bar, there was a
magnificent open fireplace, with a welcoming log fire. On the walls were
"sporting trophies" of skulls of various big game. This delightful
setting, I imagine, would be as close you could get to a post-war
colonial outpost. I was half expecting a guy to appear with a
clapperboard ..... "Take two - Action !!!" We had a little get-together
on the balcony of the lodge, overlooking a quite magnificent lush
landscape. Nearby there was a sheepdog trials ground, set out with the
familiar layout of gates and pens. Geoff invited us all to view his
shepherd in action the following |
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morning. Others had also taken up his
offer of joining him for a horse-ride. Geoff was a "full of energy" type
of character. He has established a charity here and is developing
facilities to house and look after the 150 or so orphans that inhabit
the surrounding villages - a fair proportion of the 3,000 population.
Aids of course is still rife in Africa, and 95% of these orphans are as
a direct result of the HIV virus. We had hoped to visit the village
school whilst at Mufindi. Unfortunately , it was the weekend, but we
left it with Geoff saying at the end of the evening, "I'll see what I
can do." |
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