Love Thy Neighbour

The Rovuma ferry crossing was a tale of woe. The ferry apparently only goes on demand - which, needless to say, isn't too overwhelming (about 3 cars a week, I was told) - and operates (at high tide only) from the Tanzanian side. This means one has to go across the wide river (meandering like the Luangwa) by dugout. Then one has to go by dalladalla (minibus) to the 5km distant border-post to get to a phone, call the ferry operator in 48km distant Mtwara, and wait for someone to come. Of course I got royally creamed, I was such a 'sitting duck'. The dugout operator took $10, the car watcher $3, the translating escort $3, the dalladalla $2, plus the call $1. The actual car transfer normally costs $50, but for me, relaying my tale of woe, it was $40. Talking to the captain and the engineer, I learnt that the ferry travels most days, that all my problems had not really been necessary, and that in the rainy season when the river is high, the ferry operates independently of the tides. The crossing took 45 minutes; the waiting had taken nearly half a day. To appreciate the enormity of the cheating: a beach B&B in Mtwara costs $10, dinner (fish and chips) $3.50, and beer $1.

Tanzania was easy but expensive to enter: $50 for a visa, $20 for car import plus $2 for road tax. All of Malawi and Mozambique had cost me $450 in total (borders, fuel, accommodation and food), and here at the border I was relieved near instantly of more than $100. But what could I do? I put in a rest-day in Mtwara's 'Millenium Village' ($10) for laundry, e-mail, post, sightseeing, and then carried on northwards along the coast. International

telephoning in Tanzania is done by phonecards, i.e. TTCL prepaid cards that require long numbers to be dialled first (most people have cellphones and don't need to bother with public phones). In Mozambique 'phoning home' is done at TDM Telekom's telephone offices, of which there are only a few in larger towns. Generally Mozambique has a good phone system, but only for internal calls.

The road to Dar was tarred up to near Lindi, then it became The Horror. I had stopped at historic Kilwa (3-hr guided tour by Jamila $5, dhow transfer $10, harbour fee $2, car watch $0.50), another of those Arab/Portuguese ruin-studded picturesque islands (which sadly is being 'renovated' in colour-clashing cement), and got trapped for a day by pouring rain. From my hotel (Kilwa Seaview Resort, $45) I saw a stately dhow, inadequately secured, being smashed to bits by huge waves. I stopped briefly at Mikindani, where the Old German Boma had been refurbished and transformed into an elegant hotel ($95-120) by an idealistic Englishman, then northered onwards.

The road between Lindi and Kibiti was under construction, entailing deep-muddy diversions with busses, trucks and dalladallas all stuck. Trying to navigate around these obstacles I got stuck too. It needed 8 strong lads to push me out (for a fee of $1 each!). The Rufiji River's new bridge was up and functional, and the access road to the Selous Game Reserve was sandy but ok.

Selous Park is one of the few parks in the Eastern/Southern African region I had never been to. Which of course can't be had! I stayed at German-run Mbega Camp ($50 full board, game-drive cum guide $30, park-entry $30) which was most pleasant. Generally, guides in Tanzania's gameparks are untrained and ignorant (even at some up-market lodges), but Sasha Heep, Mbega's owner, makes an effort to train his guides. I had Mr Mpogo who was, amazingly, even interested in birds!

The park itself was a disappointment. Not much game, and what was there was very skittish. This is due to the southern Selous Reserve being a hunting area. As everyone knows, hunting and photographic safaris simply don't go together. Animals associate cars with guns and death and run off. Next day I explored the park by myself (car $30 day-entry + $30 pp) by driving clear across it (entering via Mtemere Gate and exiting at Matambwe Post). It gave me the chance to see the western mountain area, and I drove the 30km to Stiegler's Gorge (a nice view of the Rufiji) simply to 'have been'. I looked at Tembo Safari Camp ($250); and Mr James Birungi, the manager, demonstrated the old, fixed-up-by-him cable car by him giving me a ride halfway across the gorge. It was worth the journey - I saw eland and roan, crested guineafowl (those with the curly 'hairdo') and griffon vultures.

Coming back from the Gorge, it started raining. The road got very slippery, especially the stretch past the gate. I wanted to reach Sable Mountain Lodge, 12km from the gate, but found the lodge full. There was no accommodation nearby, and I was forced to return to the gate and ask for help. Chief Warden Foya was accommodating and let me stay in an empty researcher house, but wanted to get paid $50 for it ("with receipt" he said). I bargained it down to $30 ("no receipt") and wondered why a man in his position had to resort to such measures.

Next day the sun was out, the roads dry, and the Uluguru Mountains beckoned. Central Tanzania is surrounded by a ring of mountains, the Ulugurus and Udzangwas being their southern extension. Last year, during a trip through western and northern Tanzania, I had seen the Pare and Usambara 'Eastern Arc' Mountains, now I was curious to see the rest of the 'arc'. On my way to Morogoro, I drove through the majestic Ulugurus, offering superb views of the Selous plains and mountain waterfalls. Similarly the Udzungwas, a recently established National Park, which is gaining in popularity with hikers and birders.

In Morogoro I spent an age looking for the praised Kolo Hill Hotel. I just couldn't find it (it turned out to have no signposting) and ended up at 'Aika Family Park' ($5.50) where I met Joyce, a young jobless woman, mother of two, fluent in English, who came with me to help with translations (I had to go to a garage and bank). I invited her for dinner in the end, and heard her story. She'd been working in the hotel industry but, when her government-owned hotel was privatized, she'd lost her job. Now she couldn't find another. Next morning, before I pulled out of town to go to Mikumi Park, she came to say thanks and goodbye. How very sweet! I hope she'll be well.

Mikumi Park was terrible (entry $15 pp/day, $30 car). I had first seen it about 20 years ago when it was still teeming with game. Now all game seemed to have disappeared. I did two all-day game-drives - one day in the northern, the next day in the southern part of the Park - but saw very little: a few wildebeest, some elephant, hippos, impala, giraffe, a couple of waterbuck and a small herd of reedbuck, but that was all. Driving around the northern part, I suddenly ended up in a village. No wonder that there's so little game: people live right on the edge of the small park, and a major road goes through it (the Great North Road to Dar es Salaam). Despite speed-restrictions and vicious bumps, speeding trucks and busses claim animal lives every night. I looked in at the 'Foxes of Africa' lodges, but preferred to stay in Mikumi town at a little guesthouse, right next to a major truck-stop, where food stalls and bars kept open all night.

In one of my guidebooks (I always travel with 2 or 3) I had read about the Kilombero Valley, its floodplains and amazing birdlife, and decided to have a look. It was 'only' 100km out of my way, with a fairly good road leading to Ifakara and the Kilombero Ferry. Well, it rained and rained that day, the Udzungwas were hidden in cloud, and only when I got into bustling, ugly Ifakara did the sun emerge for a bit. The praised Kilombero River's floodplain was all burnt over, and the Ferry (5km south of town) a spectacle of traders and fishermen (I saw several mzungu 4x4s coming off the boat, clearly back from a southern Selous hunting trip), so I turned around and went back to Mikumi to my comfy though slightly loud B&B (Wayside Superior Guesthouse, $8). The way back to Mikumu was much nicer than the way down; I even caught sight of the big Sanje Falls plus several other waterfalls coming off the mountains after the heavy rains.

On to Iringa! Passing through the Ruaha Valley with its baobab forests and great scenery is always a pleasure. I stopped and said hi to Steve at popular Baobab Camp ($30 chalets, $5 camping) who claims to have the best showers in Tanzania; I 'discovered' a hotel/restaurant at the western end of Baobab Valley (62km east of Iringa) that's not described in any guidebook despite its 10-year existence (Comfort Hotel, $20-45, between Engen Station and bus stop). I got the grand tour by Manager Msyangi, who showed me the different kinds of room on offer, all very acceptable.

At Iringa I checked into the Lutheran Mission ($4) because of its safe and quiet location (had to do e-mail and bank in town) before carrying on to the Southern Highlands. The sights around Iringa I had 'done' in the past except for the Gangilonga Rock, which offers a great view of the town and its surrounds.

The Mufindi Highlands, 76km west of Iringa, are wonderfully cool and scenic. I spent a night at Mufindi Highland Lodge on the Fox's farm (cattle and horses) cum tea plantation ($45) and drove around for half a day, enjoying the views.

To see more of the Southern Highlands I turned off at Makombako and drove the 56km to Njombe, the 'capital' of the area. Njombe is surrounded by wattle plantations (used for leather dyes) which was a change from all the bright-green tea-fields I'd been seeing so far. 'Impoma Garden Lodge' offered the best value for money I'd encountered on the whole trip: central but quiet location, hot showers, DSTv, safe parking, free carwash, full breakfast, all for $8! I walked around Njombe market, checking out the goodies for sale. Lots of fruit and veggies of course (mainly potatoes and onions), but also piles and piles of shoes! Salaula too, but I've never seen so many shoes in one place! Maybe it's the cool and rainy weather that causes people to buy/need more shoes?

I also explored Uwemba's Benedictine Mission (35km south-west of Njombe), a nearby powerstation cum waterfall, and the Ruhuji and Hagafilo Rivers' waterfalls, before driving towards Mbeya.

Tanzania is opening up more and more game reserves and parks, and it was into the Kipengere-Mpanga Reserve with its Kimani and Nyeugenge waterfalls that I ventured on my last side-trip. The former I never found, the latter were reached on a 15km terrible track (but it was well worth it: the falls are spectacular), then on to Mbeya. I gave a lift to a young man who had a shamba above the falls - though he lives in Mbeya! Can you imagine having a farm more than 100km from your house? Pity I couldn't interview him properly... language difficulties.

The Mbeya Peak Hotel is nowhere near any peak but in the middle of town. Unfortunately, Canadian evangelist Peter Andrew was preaching each evening, with loudspeakers at full blast, right in front of the hotel. Huge crowds had gathered despite the rain (he kept asking folks for umbrella hallelujas) that were rewarded with miracles - the deaf started hearing, the dumb were speaking, and the crippled threw away their crutches - Hallelujah, Praise

the Lord!

Some repairs on the car and my glasses were necessary - the bouncing about had loosened a back light and both glasses' lenses. A fundi in the market repaired everything quickly and efficiently for $10. I then followed the advice of a splendid little book, "Guide to the Southern Highlands of Tanzania", that suggested to use the Chunya Road to drive into the mountains above Mbeya. Higher and higher I went, beyond the point that claims to be the highest trunk road in all the land (2,494m) and enjoyed the views, first of Mbeya town, then of the whole Usangu Plains (adjacent to Ruaha Park). Again I gave lifts to people who oddly always wanted to pay me.

Last inconveniences - at Mbilizi a policeman nabbed me for not having proper/COMESA insurance. Arguing that I'd been stopped zillions of times and that no-one had found anything wrong didn't help, I had to pay a $10 'lunch money' ... unless I wanted to go back to Mbeya to police HQ and argue it out there. I didn't. (Note: Tanzanian police are very 'vigilant' – Zaccariah Phiri could learn a lot!). At the Tanzania border the usual chaos reigned (the Zambian side is much more orderly), and touts pretending to be clearance agents tried to 'help' unwary drivers. I had no problems in crossing.

A last night at Mutinondo (camping $7), then on to Lusaka for the final stretch. My total distance covered was 7,800km. I didn't get sick once (I'd religiously taken Paludrine), and I came home happy as a clam. People who wish to visit the Southern Tanzania Highlands should reverse the above journey. It is most definitely worth it.

Site hosted by Niner.Net Communications

Home About Us Links Photos Archives Contact Us