Tanzania - 3 March, 2001

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Travel Distance

Total:

26,821 km

5,901 km

We have a great nights sleep and then spend a couple of hours lazing in bed.  When we decide to get up, we do not feel too sore.  We are pleased with this - we seem to be getting in better shape for mountain climbing.

After a quick breakfast, we repack our bags, putting away the stuff we had used on Mt Meru.  Then down comes the camp site and we get ready to leave.  We head off at 10:30 AM.  The first stop is Arusha, where we spend a few hours on the internet, walking around and having a drink in a cafe.  We buy a pack lunch to take with us on the truck.

We then spend the next six hours driving in the direction of Dar Es Salaam.  We drive along the Pare Mountain range towards the Usambara Mountains.  It is a very nice drive, but it is very hot.  The temperatures are in the high 30ºC's.  Late in the afternoon, we turn off the main road and head up into the Usambara Mountains along a very narrow and winding road.  We have great views, but the road is a bit scary with the many blind corners and winding, narrow spots.

But we make it up in one piece and head into Lushoto where we head to one of the churches and set up camp in their grounds.  Getting there was a bit of an adventure.  We had first gone to one lodge, but there grounds were too small.  In the process of trying to squeeze out, we almost collapsed a rock wall and slid down a slope, but we were able to make it.  Then getting into the church grounds, we had a very tight squeeze.  It took quite a lot of maneuvering on the narrow dirt lane to get through the gates without falling over the ridge or taking out the electricity pole that was in the way.

We just took it easy until dinner and after dinner we relaxed around the fire chatting.  The one problem was that they asked us not to consume alcohol in the church grounds, but for some reason everyone was drinking lots of foamy "tea" or "coffee" from coffee mugs all evening long!!!