Mbeya, Iringa & Marangu - Tanzania

The drive from Makuzi to Mbeya is a long haul of around nine hours so we needed to get away handy. We left at 8am after paying just $10 for our overnight campsite, we felt a bit guilty at only stopping one night, especially as Brett & Lara are so accommodating but we needed to be in the Masai Mara for August so time was of an essence. 

Thankfully the main roads in Malawi are excellent, far better than in Zambia, Tanzania & Kenya, with very little traffic so we made good time to Mzuzu, the next town of any size going Northwards, arriving just before 10am. Here we stopped just long enough to re-fuel before pressing on.

As is common in Africa and Malawi in particular as you leave the town there is no sign post to indicate the road Northwards to Karonga and the border, so for those who are thinking of doing the trip you turn right on Lumbinga Road.

After Mzuzu there is no where of any note until you turn off towards Rumphi and the Nyika Plateau but today we would be pressing on. The road starts to climb very steeply as you near the hill top mission station of Livingstonia and the Mushroom Farm, neither of which hold fond memories for us. The drive is hairy to say the least as pass evidence of numerous places where vehicles, probably trucks, have gone over the edge into the valley below.

Up to here we had been driving someway inland away from the lake but as you crest the hills and start the steep descent you get some stunning views of the lake below, which also gives you a feeling of how high you are. This part of the journey is virtually the only place you can pull over for a comfort break as everywhere else is constantly full of people walking along the road.

From here it is about 100km to Karonga the last biggish town in Malawi before you cross the Tanzanian border 45KM further on. We reached Karonga just before 1pm which was good. All the police road blocks so far had been good with us either waved through or just a friendly enquiry of where we were heading, we reached the border at Songwe at 1.25pm and where all finished with Malawi immigration and customs by 1.50pm, excellent. 

We had been worried about how customs would react once they saw the Carnet which showed Rupert had been in Malawi since January as we were told by the RAC you are not supposed to leave your vehicle in a country on a Carnet while you leave the country for more than 30 days.

At first the customs officer seemed to hesitate as if trying to work out how much time had passed so we held our breath but then he stamped it and happy days we were on our way - Malawi is by far the easiest country in the region to travel through and long may it continue to be so.

Tanzania however is not so user friendly as you need to visa's  and road tax etc so it was 3.10pm before we got away from their border post, mind you there is also an hour's time difference between the two countries so we lost an hour through that.

It's should be exciting getting into a new country but usually we are so stressed from the border crossing to appreciate it The officials are not usually so bad it's fighting off all the sellers of currency, insurance, speed stickers etc that wears you down.

A ploy in Tanzania and Kenya is to try and sell you 80kph stickers for your vehicle which the hawkers say you must have to meet the law, but this only applies to commercial vehicles not private cars however it still doesn't stop them trying and be warned they can be aggressive.

From the border it is 118km to Mbeya and we arrived around 5pm, first stop was to go into town to check email etc so it was nearly 7pm and getting dark by the time we headed out of town to Utengule arriving just before 7.30.

Francis was there to meet us warmly, Fiona was still out on a walk with some guests, we had dinner and a few beers in the restaurant then drove over to our cottage by now very tired, so a nice shower, cup of tea and into bed just after 10pm 

Next morning we were up at 7am unfortunately we couldn't relax as we had to get Rupert into the garage at Mblazi for a safari service. We always take the chance to do this here as it's the best place outside of Southern Africa to get any jobs done. This time however we were also hoping they could sort us out with a new driving battery.

It's a day virtually written off as we hang around while the work is done. I need to stay to keep an eye on things and Sue would rather be with me than back at the cottage alone so she sit's it out reading or writing up her notes as the day drags on.

Around 2pm we got a lift from one of their drivers into town as we needed to get more cash, luckily he brought us back as well, however the day was very hot and sultry so we were feeing it when we were still at the garage by 5.30pm as they battled to get all the jobs done before the weekend.

The garage had sent a guy into Mbeya, about 30mins drive away, to get a new battery but he had come back with one slightly too big, which I only realised when I caught them trying to force it into the space below Sue's seat!

It clearly wasn't going to fit so I told them to forget it, we would have to try again once we reached Nairobi. 7pm and we are still at the garage, we had been there since 9.15am!

The garage is run by Ari, a Swiss evangelist, his parents started the place years ago but they now  run the hospital they have now also set up and other training schools for the locals. This time there was also a new young mechanic out from Switzerland called Mateus, a very thorough guy verging on being a perfectionist, not a bad thing out here.

After a test drive by Mateus we finally get back to the cottage at 8pm, 11 hours since we left this morning, what people don't realise is the time and effort you must put into your vehicles out here as they are literally your lifeline, as we showered and went to bed Sue started to complain the left side of her neck felt painful.

Next day was Saturday so we had a leisurely morning, doing a few cleaning jobs on Rupert. Around 2pm we decided to head into town to do internet and buy a few supplies, jump into Rupert but he wouldn't start, it now looked like the fridge battery had also gone flat after just one day of inactivity, a bit worrying after the long drive we had up here.

We had left the old driving battery on charge at the garage in the faint hope it might rejuvenate it so this new development meant we could hardly risk leaving without it or a replacement. The immediate problem was just getting out today, most of the other cottages were unoccupied so I phone Francis but he's out in town himself. I walk over to the hotel instead in the hope somebody there could help.

Surprisingly for a weekend the place was almost deserted but two white women were sitting by the pool so I asked if they had a vehicle I could use to jump start Rupert. They had an old Landy but didn't want to get up and drive it over to the cottage but I was welcome to drive it over myself which I was thankful for.

As soon as I connected him up to the other Landy Rupert started first time so we knew a decent battery was all we needed. Eventually we left Utengule at 2.30pm not too bad considering, first stop on the way into town was the Ndiyo Mini Mart, one of only two places in Mbeya where you can find decent supplies, the other being the petrol station supermarket! 

Ndiyo is owned by a Russian woman and her Tanzanian husband, it's not a place you can walk around you just stand at a small counter while an assistant spirits things out of the back room so it's  just pot luck what you can get. The Russian, who doesn't look as if she ever get's into the sun is sat at a table watching everything while counting the cash, a strange combination really, but it does well.

As we arrived Marcus, Ari's Dad was leaving with Jacob one of the mechanics from the garage so we told them about the problem getting started. Jacob mentioned there is a place in the market where we may find a battery to fit the small space left for the driving battery.

Even though it's his day off Jacob offers to show us where the place is so we squeeze him into Rupert and head off through the maze of back streets. The place was a small shop run by Indians and checking they did have a battery small enough to fit into the space and cheaper than the one the garage was going to give us as well.

We decide to see how the old battery fares on charge before we commit to getting the new one as we still felt if we could make it to Nairobi we would have a better choice. After that we went off to Postnet to do emails, one and a half hours cost less than 50p excellent value if you need access here.

Next and final stop was OilCom the other 'supermarket' to try and get stuff Ndiyo didn't have so it was after 6pm by the time we head back to Utengule, by now Sue's neck and ear was very painful and swollen below the ear, we were getting worried she had come down with a nasty infection.

Back at the cottage we had just settled down on the stoop watching the sunset with G&T's in hand when our peace and quite was interrupted by one of the security guards doing the rounds.

The guy was very tall and although he could not speak English it was obvious he was saying he was a Masai and by the looks of him either pissed or on drugs as he was acting very strangely.  He kept mimicking killing a lion saying Masai are so brave they just use a spear while Mzungu's (whites) need a gun, shit this was just what we needed to end the day.

He kept offering me his long stabbing knife which are about two foot long but I just joked with him that I already carried a knife and showed him my six inch clasp knife which I keep on my belt.

Clearly he didn't think much to that but eventually he gets the hint and buggers off to let us enjoy what was left of the sunset. By now Sue was really suffering with her neck and ear so straight after dinner she went to bed, by now the whole side of her face was swelling up an she was felling very low.  

Next morning after a restless night she was no better but sods law it was a Sunday so no where was open. We didn't know what the problem was but just in case it was an insect bite, she took some antihistamine which at least made her drowsy and helped her to sleep better. She spent the day in bed, thankful at least that we didn't have to travel.

Monday morning and her neck was still very painful to the touch below the ear but thankfully at least the swelling had gone down. I had to go back to the garage to sort the battery and some jobs that couldn't get done on Friday but this time we decided Sue would be better staying back at the cottage.

I left just after 8am leaving our UK mobile with Sue, the plan being I would call her using the Sat phone with progress reports. The driving battery which had been on charge all weekend was still knackered so I quickly popped into town to buy the one we saw on Saturday.

Around 10am I tried ringing Sue to check how she was, I was worried about her ear infection and that the Masai guard maybe still around, it rang once then I lost the connection and after that could not get through.

By now Rupert was up on the ramp so I couldn't just go back at the drop of a hat.  I tried calling Francis to ask him to check on her but again couldn't get through. Eventually using the garage landline I briefly got through just long enough to ask him to go check on Sue, apparently the mobile system was down and the landlines here are next to useless, typical!

Francis went over around midday to check on Sue and she was fine but worried she had not heard from me. At least now though she knew the system was playing up.

Francis said the Masai guard had been sacked for being drunk on duty, Sue just hopes he doesn't think we are to blame as out here a lot of attacks are by disgruntled employees! Later on Fiona dropped in to see if Sue has seen a doctor about her ear but offered no clue as to where we could find one!

Meanwhile I'm stuck at the garage out of communication with everyone so all I can do is just keep trying the Sat phone on and off. By 6pm I'm still at the garage and still unable to get through to the cottage or Francis.

For sometime we had been hearing a loud clunking sound off and on when driving off road and dropping down on the front offside wheel. Up to now no one had been able to find the cause, the shock was ok as was the wheel bearing but I was determined if possible while here to try and get to the bottom of it.

Eventually after much pushing down on the front we got it to make the sound while Mateus was underneath and he discovered we had a hairline crack in the front chassis member cross joint. By now it was 8pm and he and I were working in the dark so I decided to stop in on the way to Iringa in the morning and get it welded then.

It was 9pm when I finally got back to the cottage, Sue was not best pleased but very relieved to see me,  just one of the joys of travelling in Africa when the comms systems break down.

Up again at 7am the day was cool and cloudy for a change, we packed up Rupert, showered then after a quick breccy and paying our bill at Utengule we headed off.

Back at the garage to get the chassis welded, it was  starting to feel we would never get away from here. Re-fuelling and getting more cash slowed us down further so it was nearly 2.45pm before left Mbeya for Iringa 320 kms away.

The day had been heavy cloud all day and by now it was cold so we had to wear our sweatshirts, two hours later we drove into torrential rain, unbelievable for this time of year and it was still raining heavily when we pulled into Riverside Camp at Iringa, it was nearly 7pm and dark.

Luckily we had called ahead and warned Will and Amanda we were coming so the gate man directed us to a tented Banda, we would have preferred one of the chalets but they were all taken, seems Will and Amanda were doing well running courses in Ki Swahili these days.

However, the being experienced in all weathers and situation now we soon had the tent cosy with our lamp and candles. The Banda had a double bed , bedside tables and power which was a big help, the only drawback was we would have to use the showers and loos in an adjacent ablution block.

Sue had used her day at the cottage to cook up some Spag Bol sauce so all we needed to do was cook the Spag and heat it up, what a girl! Her neck was still painful to the touch but slowly getting better so we hoped the infection was clearing up.

Up again at 7am after a good nights sleep, this morning was much better bright and sunny. We packed had a quick breccy and got ready to go, till now we hadn't seen Will & Amanda but they came around to say hello. 

The last time we had passed through Will had been really grumpy complaining he had a sore foot so we were shocked when he drove up on a sit on mower, his foot had been amputated!

It turned out in Dar they had discovered he had cancer of the bone and the specialists had decided to save his life to amputate just above the ankle. We were really shocked as we thought the problem was minor so this seemed really drastic.

Surprisingly Will was quite chipper about the whole thing, feeling he had escaped death by a whisker, in fact he probably had as he had only gone to Dar as a last resort when the local Doctor's couldn't say what was wrong. He was now waiting for their daughter to bring out a prosthetic from the UK. It just served as a reminder once again not to waste the time you have.

The road out of Iringa is a series of winding hair pin bends, scenically very pretty but time consuming, especially as the route is very busy with buses and trucks going to Dar. The bus drivers especially drive like maniacs and sure enough as we rounded a bend one coming the other way shot up a stone which crashed against the windscreen right at my eye level so now we had another bullet hole to get used to!

The road to Dar passes through a national park called Mikumi where speed bumps slow you down even more, it's 50km through the park but you normally see very little in the way of wildlife and sure enough all we saw was two zebra, a small group of Impala and some Ele poo, but at least Sue could have a pee stop along here as there are no pedestrians or villages! 

The main town between Iringa and Dar is Morogoro, which we reached at 12.40pm, re-fuelling once again just in case. There is a road from here which runs due North through the centre of the country to Dodoma. This would be great for us trying to reach Marangu on the Kenyan border if it was any good but we knew from others that most of it is dirt and in an atrocious state so it is actually quicker to travel onto Dar in the East then cut North at a place called Chalinze, it may add on another 100 odd kms but at least your on tar all the way.   

As it was we reached Chalinze at 2pm, then it was just a long haul Northwards to Korogwe where we could at last start to turn West along the border. This is probably the journey we dread most in Africa as it is just a long haul through rural towns and villages with many holdups at the frequent police checkpoints.

However, this time we didn't do too badly reaching Korogwe around 4pm. The next part of the journey is very pretty however as you skirt along the border with the Usambara mountains on your right.

Tonight we had that beautiful late African sun which no where else on Earth can copy, with the MP3 playing our favourite songs it was great to be alive, especially as all through the day we had passed one accident after another some minor some not so!

At 5pm we passed yet another, making that the 12th we had passed that day, so it was a relief to pull into the Marangu Hotel dead on 7pm, just in time to check into our favourite room for a freshen up and then a quick drink in the bar with Fionnuala, Roger and Trudi who are waiting to greet us warmly before dinner - it was good to be back and in one piece!