It was a long day's drive today.
Just as we joined up with the main highway M1 after coming down from Livingstonia (another hair-raising ride full of sheer drops from cliff sides and S and U-shaped turns which required some reverse hill starts at the worst ones), there were about 15 young men who were clustered around this enormous tree that had obviously fallen recently.
The tree lay on the side of the road and partly on the road itself. Long before we got to this "roadblock" we could see the boys pulling the biggest branches onto the road to block it some more, forcing motorists to stop. One of the boys came right up to Matt's window, the rest of them huddled around Foxy, ready to pounce. It was all a bit freaky as they each had huge axes in hand. I couldn't bring myself to take a picture, even though i desperately wanted to.
The boy came straight out and asked for a "toll fee". We gave him 3 Malawian Kwacha which, when he announced the amount to the rest of the group, resulted in big whoops and cheers.
We couldn't understand why. 3 Malawian Kwacha is about 2 US cents!
We arrived at the Malawi/Tanzania border at 10am, our intended time. Procedures were pretty smooth again, there was just a bit of a wait while someone had to find the customs official to stamp our carnet.
After getting our passport and visas sorted ($50 US for single entry), I was told to go to the back of the office in a private (air-conditioned) room to pay the car fee of $25 US. Behind the glass wall was a tall, broad woman in a beautiful dress. It was the first time I've seen a woman in such a "position of power" since leaving SA, and I was quite impressed. She immediately came out and asked "Are you from Burma?" when she saw me, which totally took me aback. I have never heard of many Burmese tourists getting to this part of Tanzania. When I told her "No, I'm of Chinese origin", she launched into a bit of Chinese goobly-gook that she knew, which was basically a whole lot of nonsense. We had a good laugh. I paid the money and she took my hand and bid us farewell.
There is a lot more evidence of life this side of the border. It seems the farther north we go, the more populated the regions become.
Fields upon fields of sunflowers grow here as well (we saw a lot of these in Zambia), a delicious sight. We passed tea plantations where women with huge women baskets on their backs were picking tea leaves. Incredible sight: dark green foliage punctuated with the colourful headscarves and wraps of these hardworking women. Like a flat Christmas tree decorated with bright lights and tinsel.
This morning the clouds looked like puffy cotton balls, ready to explode and let loose a waterfall of wetness. Luckily we were out of the danger zone by noontime and didn't feel a drop. Climbing up and down the Potoro mountains rewarded us with some spectacular views. So many shades of green. Did you ever know there were so many? The Eskimos have dozens of names for the word "snow"; I wonder if it's true in Swahili.
As we zoomed down these relatively smooth roads, there were some scary moments of over-taking and passing pedestrians carrying mounds of coal, firewood, fruit, etc, on their head/bicycle, wagon.
The sign "Speed thrills but it also kills" we saw in Malawi flashed in my mind several times today; it seems Tanzania could do with a few of those billboards as well.
There are also a surprising number of police road blocks here in Tanzania. We even spotted our first speed camera since leaving SA! But like everywhere else, so far we've just been waved on after a quick chat about where we are going and where we're coming from.
"Jambo!" is used as a friendly greeting to tourists, who are usually assumed to not know any Swahili and so denotes "Hello, how are you, please continue speaking to me in English."
"Hujambo!" is used to mean "Hello, how are you, I'm willing to speak a little Swahili with you."
But be careful, once you use "Hujambo", people will normally engage rapid-fire- Swahili-mode. We did at one of many police blocks. We told him we had literally just crossed into Tanzania and it would take us a few days to get used to a few more phrases. Luckily he was kind and let us through, but not without telling us "you must learn Swahili".
People-watching is fantastic here. Older men wear full suits and ties with matching shiny black shoes. They look incredibly elegant and poised, walking stick in hand.
The women, I've remarked, are a lot taller, broader, fatter, prouder. More often than not, they are carrying a baby on the back, wrapped up tightly in a sarong. Most of them are walking with baskets of food or fuel for the night's supper.
Men are usually clustered around bicycle or automobile shops, probably discussing how to fix this or that, and for what price.
Children are left to play on their own, no adults or child-minder necessary. They make up games, chase each other and are allowed to run free. Most of them always wave as we zoom by.
Adolescents are normally clumped in gender groups. Girls stroll down the streets, elbows locked, engrossed in what I presume must be the latest gossip. Like women, men tend to gravitate towards other men in small groups, watching, observing, lurking at whatever passes by. Some smile, some smirk, others just stare. A few can be seen alone with a girl, usually taking her on the back of his bike or teasing her in that playful/teasing kind of way that men all over the world do. Girls do too, I admit.
And everywhere we go, there are children, teenagers, adults and elderly people on bicycles. It seems everyone has a destination, including us.
We arrived at the beautiful Kisolanza Farm, just 50 km south of Iringa. Check out their website: http://www.kisolanza.com/
This is yet another shining example of what long-term sustainable development can do for a community and its citizens. The Ghaui family have been running the farm for years (the 4th generation was just born today!) With a secluded camping site (perfect for my yoga sunset stretch), there were hot showers and a clean long-drop toilet.
Dinner was the best we've had so far. We sat on low chairs in a thatch hut and were served piping hot carrot and cardamom soup for a starter, followed by pasta, meatballs and cheese and fresh vegetables and herbs from the farm. Yum.
Before going to bed, we placed our breakfast order for tomorrow morning. Bran flakes can wait another day.
Start: Livingstonia, MAL. 07:26
End: Kisolanza Farm, 50 km south of Iringa, TAN. 17:00
Total Distance: 541 km
Road Conditions: fair, but lots of heavy traffic on road (buses, trucks, bikes, pedestrians, animals)and plenty of police road blocks
Temperature: bit humid down on the plains, nice in the mountains
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