Advertisement
May 17th
It was the normal routine in the morning, we all creeped out of our tents to the African morning and had our tea and toast. We packed up the tents and in the process I realized I had a friend sleep with me the night before. Okay not exactly
with me, but rather underneath me. Coiled up under the tent was a huge centipede or millipede, it was about a foot long! I took a couple pictures and then showed the Germans, I remembered they loved insects because they were taking picture of cockroaches the night before.
The six of us said our goodbyes to the Tan-Swiss lodge and headed for south Tanzania. We were to go through the Baobab Valley and along side the Ruaha River. The drive was really really pretty, and Wendy declared later that it was her favorite drive on the trip so far. I wouldn’t go that far, I really enjoyed the drive from Arusha to Korongwe more, but the Baobab Valley was impressive with lots of colors in the trees and also the upside down trees were spectacular.
After getting through the valley we stopped through a roadside town (the
name eludes me) to have a bit to eat and do whatever shopping we needed to get done. I bought a new pair of sandals after one of the ones I got in Kenya broke. After I got my shoe apparel sorted out, we left the town and headed for the city of Iringa, in the south of Tanzania. It was there that I was able to get online and get some blogging done, and I was also able to get some ridiculously priced batteries for my video mask. It was a necessity though since in Malawi we all planned on diving and I wanted to get it all on video with the mask.
With our internet fix given a nice dose we left Iringa and headed 60 kilometers to the south where our campsite was waiting for us. We stayed at a place called Ye Old Farmhouse, it was a very rustic campsite (no electricity!) in the mountains. It reminded me a lot of the Black Hills actually. The staff had some fresh vegetables waiting for us so after everyone had sorted out their accommodation, Farron and Justin got to work on dinner. They cooked a really good
bolognese sauce but since there wasn’t pasta we had it with rice. We actually ended up calling the dish Peppercorn, since a cooking mishap led to an abundance of peppercorns in the dish!! It was tasty though, I enjoyed it.
After dinner we sat around in a hut that was also known as the bar. It was really cozy, and even more so when we started drinking the hot chocolate with marula, a liquor that taste like Bailey’s but it is naturally that flavor. I received my first phone call on my African cell that night and I was really excited about that! Thanks Lerina!!
We slowly retreated to our sleeping quarters after warming up a bit, (it was a tad chilly in those hills!). I slept in the truck which turned out to be really comfortable in my sleeping bag and 3 layers of clothing, I think I even broke a sweat at one point. Wendy was really happy with her upgraded room (bed, mosquito net, huge quilt) and so were Nicio and Justin. Cameron slept in a tent and had troubles getting to sleep because of the cold winds. We all went to bed pretty early
as we had to wake up at 5am and head for the Malawi border.
As always, hope you enjoy the photos!
-Until next time, pura vida and hakuna matata!
-Brendan
Advertisement
Tot: 0.087s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 12; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0429s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Sylvia Habeck Stern
non-member comment
My First Day
Brenden, your mother talks often of your great adventure. How true as she shares your excitement and adventure with you. This is my first time on your blog so I have alot of catching up to read of your travel. Neat pictures. Stay safe.Sylvia