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Early start after a comfortable
night's sleep - reveille at 6.30 am.
As we re-packed our bags, we saw our 3 Toyota Land-Cruisers outside the
hotel below. We went down for breakfast at 7.15 am and again, a very
high standard of food c/o The Holiday Inn - all the usual fruit juices,
cereals, an extensive selection of fresh fruits and a hot breakfast
freshly prepared, with delicious savoury pancakes. All of this stood us
in good stead for what was to be a long day's travelling to the old
German colonial town of Iringa. First of all, we were introduced to our
3 driver-guides. Kamba, Steve and Fasilli. |
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With my memory for names - I
anticipated some difficulty with Fasilli - How's about "Faz" I asked him
- "Faz is fine" he replied to my relief - and Faz he was for the next
two weeks. Steve - short of a Mohican haircut - I likened to
the A-Team's "Mr. T" much to his amusement - and promptly asked if I
could provide the extensive range of gold jewellery to complete
the image. With the minimum of delay, our drivers packed the bags into
the Land Cruisers, and within a short time we were on the road to
Iringa. This took us out of early-morning Dar es Salaam and
towards Mikumi National |
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Park. It
was a hot and sticky journey for us, fresh from the Highland Winter. We
stopped every couple of hours, with further unscheduled stops en route,
courtesy of punctures to two of the vehicles - which was surprising, given
the good standard of the roads out of Dar - putting many UK 'A' roads to
shame.
We stopped for lunch at the Genesis Motel in Mikumi - a simple lunch of
potato soup, followed by cheese & tomato sandwiches with a side-serving
of chips - and, needless to say, an ice-cold drink. Then it was back on
the road and onwards to Iringa. |
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This journey - one of two or three
long days of travelling during the tour - proved a little uncomfortable
for some - but this is essential in order to reach the prime locations
that we were to visit. We finally arrived in Iringa at 6.15 pm, and
booked into The MR Hotel. This was one of two "basic" hotels that we
used during the trip - very simple rooms, clean, and with en-suite
facilities and the essential shower. Our window gave us a view
over the town, and the nearby bus-station, with all manner of vehicles -
the roadworthiness of many which would give me cause for concern.
Below, we watched |
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three school children
playing around chasing each other. Nothing unusual there - except for
the fact that the girl - probably 13 or 14 years old was carrying a
large plastic bucket of water on her head, and she never spilt a drop. A
reminder of how much labour is put in by the members of many Tanzanian
families to simply obtain water for all their daily washing and cooking.
Like other countries in Africa - toddlers too were often to be seen
carrying water. along with bicycles laden with barrels travelling to and
fro. It was good to see however that many villages on our travels had
centrally located |
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stand-pipes. These wells were
strategically placed to serve outlying communities, ensuring the
provision of safe drinking water. That evening, we dispersed in small
groups (to minimise the effects of a group of 17) to seek out a place
for an evening meal. Nancy and I, along with Mel and Ann, Kieran and
Elaine tried the nearby "Staff Rest Lodge" We tried various meals
between us - and were given a reminder that "fried chicken" is not as we
know it in the UK. African chickens, being largely free-range - are
quite scrawny in relation to their bulky (perhaps overfed) British
cousins. But the rice and veg |
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were very nice - and who could
complain at the price - 6 meals, 9 beers - all for 30,000
Tanzanian shillings - about £15. We returned to our hotel - but our night at Iringa was
to be a disturbed
one - courtesy of a neighbourhood dog - which seemed to delight in
engaging local cats in the small hours, as well as answering the calls
of distant dogs in the night. Despite the best efforts of the dog,
and the still heat of the night, we managed to get some sleep,
in readiness for the very-much anticipated drive to the Ruaha
National Park the following day. |
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Other
Photographs of The Day |
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