Trip To Mekete - Day 1:

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Got picked up in Dar and made our way towards Morogoro once again. It seems that we are always on that road, but in reality it is the one road that takes you west before you go north or south. It is a nice drive but when you have seen it 3 or 4 times in the last month, it is a good time to sleep.

In Morogoro we had lunch before heading south toward the region of Iringa. In order to get there, we had to travel through Mikumi National Park. It is a 2 lane road. One lane for each direction and it cuts through the national park for 50 km. That means we are on the lookout for wildlife. Today we saw tons of elands, approximately 20 giraffes, elephants in the distance, and water buffalos. We can really stop and get out to take pictures so the few in the blog are from the truck window. Hopefully, I will get better ones on the way back. I never get tired of seeing the animals. They are so close to the road, it is quite amazing.

From there we were on our way to Iringa Town, where we spent the night. I have been in Iringa Town once before, during our first trip. We stopped here for lunch. It is a very nice little African town. It is approximately 1500 metres above sea level, so the humidity isn’t here. The landscape here is so much different than our last trip. While the road to Tabora was flatter and more desert-like, this trip is showing me beautiful mountains and very green hillsides. Again, all the pics are from taken from the truck, so they aren’t as good as I would like them to be, but you will get the idea of the lay of the land. It is quite chilly and to add to that, it is raining tonight. This trip could end up being a soggy one.

Bahati, who is on the TV team is originally from Iringa Town, so the gang has gone to her mother’s place for dinner and a visit. I have opted to stay at the hotel. They will be able to speak Swahili freely and not worry about having to translate everything for me. In addition, after the week that I have had, I just want to read a book and get some sleep.

More stuff for you tomorrow.... If there is any internet connections!

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