Firstly, let me apologise for the lack of punctuation in the following post - this keyboard is from Sweden and is proving too difficult to find apostrophes and question marks.
Kate and I are back in Dar Es Salaam after a long coach trip yesterday from Lushoto. The weather is definitely much hotter down here, although the cool weather in the Usambara mountains was a welcome break (and let us get over our sunburn from Pangani).
Our highlight of Lushoto was renting bicycles to cycle up the mountains (around 7km) to the Irente Farm and viewpoint. Anyone with half a brain would be able to tell you that cycling up a mountain isnt the easiest of tasks, but we finally made it (despite one of the bikes having no working brakes). Halfway into our ascent, it started raining heavily - which didnèt please me too much - and I think Kate and I provided an amusing sight for locals, having donned our massively oversized raincoats and skidding around in the mud on a couple of rubbish mountain bikes. The rain, however, did ease a bit as we arrived at Irente Farm, which we heard served amazing lunches with locally produced cheese, butter and jam. The farm certainly didnt disappoint, and we ate lunch overlooking the Usambara mountains and valleys. After eating, we continued up to the Irente Viewpoint - an outcrop of rock where the Usambaras suddenly stop, and give way to wide plains as far as they eye can see. When we first got to the top, we couldnt see anything but mist and cloud, but luckily the fog lifted and we were able to take in the spectacular views (Ive stolen a photo from the internet to give an idea of what we could see).
We havent done anything particularly exciting since we have been here - just arranging our onwards journey and, more importantly, our Safari. Its taken us a bit of shopping around to find something to suit our taste (and budget), but we are finally sorted- and heading south to Iringa tomorrow (9 hours by coach) before embarking on a 4 day safari in the Ruaha National Park. We are promised sightings of Elephants, Giraffes, Lions, Cheetahs, Gazelle, and Zebras as well as loads of bird species and my personal favourite, the Lesser Galago, more commonly known as a bush baby (according to the guide book, they have inquisitive fingers and a fondness for bananas).
We enjoyed a Lebanese meal yesterday evening and were even treated to a whole free Kingfish by the chef, who came and placed it on our table (probably after he saw us hungrily looking at other diners plates)We are also currently very excited by the fact that we have just discovered a supermarket selling Weetabix and Kit Kats (amongst other things). Weve mainly been eating dry bread and jam for breakfast for the past few days, so this discovery is good news all round!
Hope all is well with everyone, and Ill hopefully be updating again either from Irente or after our Safari. x x
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