Iringa and the sunset hotel

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We were feeling pretty grumpy when we got to Iringa. Part of the journey had been up a steep hill with many, many hairpin bends stuck behind enormous trucks moving at walking pace. The rest of the journey had been mostly spent travelling at 50kph as that is the speed limit most of the time and people seem to obey it. It was also punctuated by vicious speed humps which caused passengers to hit their heads on the roof and land back down in gaps between seats as there were not enough to go around. The bus didn't actually go into Iringa but to a small drop-off area a few kilometres out of town. We managed to get a taxi straight away and felt pleased with ourselves negotiating such a good price to get to our hotel. That smug self-satisfaction was short-lived as he wanted to take us to the town centre bus station and had no idea where our hotel was despite us stating that as our destination. Google Maps came to our rescue and we were soon paying a very disgruntled taxi driver as the roads from the town to the hotel were very rough, bumpy dirt tracks.

The Iringa Sunset Hotel was a bit of a splurge, beyond the limit of normal backpacking. Everything about it was nice, except the ridiculous wait for food from the restaurant. If you go there, allow at least an hour, probably 90 minutes, even for something as simple as grilled chicken. The attitude of the staff was quite casual towards this problem too, but that aside everything else was wonderful. The highlight, and what attracts non-staying visitors, is the bar with its sunset balcony overlooking the town and the surrounding countryside. Bar prices are extremely reasonable and the views are extraordinary, even if the sunsets were a little disappointing. We certainly didn't regret splashing out to stay there, even though it was a good half hour or so to walk into town and more to get back. Dirt roads are not much fun in the dark either, so in the evening you are pretty much confined to barracks, not that it is a particular hardship.

There were three main things we wanted to see in the town,and they were all very close together. Firstly we wanted to pay our respects at the Commonwealth War Cemetery. This immaculate plot of land is tended to by a really friendly man whom we met. People like this are the unsung heroes of the organisation. The cemetery in Iringa is slightly unusual in that there are German graves there too. Next up was Iringa Boma, which houses the Regional Museum and Cultural Centre. The museum gave a really good insight into the history of the area, and also answered our questions as to why there seems to be a Greek presence in the area. They came in the 1950s and arrived to tend to the tobacco crops. Finally we wanted to have some local coffee at the Neema Craft Centre. This wonderful art space is run by deaf people and you have to write everything down for them or try your hand at sign language. They were so friendly and produce amazing products, both culinary and craft-wise. Wandering round the rest of the town, the market place and the bus station was quite a visual feast.

We had also thought about doing a safari in the Ruaha National Park but the cost was prohibitive. It was going to work out at over $400 just for a day trip, with no lunch provided. It was pretty steep getting a tour of local sights too. Instead we set out to find the Ligereke rock paintings by ourselves. The advice given in the guidebooks about getting to Ligereke is not entirely accurate. We managed to get a dala dala (minibus) going directly to the village, although at times we thought we must have been in the process of being abducted and taken into the middle of nowhere. At the end of the line we had a short walk up to where a sign said we had to have a guide to take us to the rock art. There was nobody around though so we had to try by ourselves. Before climbing up the rocks, a pick-up truck pulled over filled with boisterous young men. It was a little intimidating but it turned out all they wanted to do was say hello, shake our hands and have selfies taken with white people!! The climb up the rocks was pretty tough but we managed it. The scenery and views were spectacular but the rock art evaded us! Still, it was a worthwhile trip out and we found an easier track on which to descend down to the village. Getting back to Iringa was easy as there was a dala dala waiting for us.

We can't write about Iringa without giving a special mention to Hasty Tasty Food. It's a bit of a rustic place to find great food, but what they served was a gastronomic delight. The chickpea curry was superb. We were also introduced to potato chop. This huge ball of mashed potato had some delicious meat at its centre. They also serve something called egg chop which is akin to a Scotch egg! Their samosas were great too, especially with salad vegetables from the market and some cheap South African wine from a shop!

Getting from Iringa to Mbeya, our last stop in Tanzania, wasn't as straight forward as we had hoped. In fact, things got so confusing we asked the hotel to get tickets for us and arrange for a 5.30am taxi! The confusion all came about because of Swahili Time. It wasn't something we had heard of before but ticket sellers kept going on about leaving at midnight or 1 o'clock which made no sense to us. In Swahili time, the day starts at what we call 6am. So, their 1am departure was in fact 7am to us. Got it?! In the end it was lucky we had got the hotel to make the arrangements as the taxi didpn't turn up and had to be woken up by the hotel manager. And then he put us on the wrong bus, but it all worked out ok in the end!

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