Greetings from Iringa!I've bagged myself two hours on the internet this time, seeing as most of the time you pay for out here is spent waiting for the pages to load - it all goes hand in hand with the 'Pol-e Pol-e' (slowly slowly) way of life here. On the upside, this keyboard seems to have keys for punctuation marks - all the faves - commas, full stops, exclamation marks and semi-colons. But enough of that. You can see that I've managed to upload a few photos, including this one from Iringa market of some nice looking pineapples.
We travelled from Dar Es Salaam down to Iringa in the south of Tanzania yesterday, by 'Scandinavian Express' coach (they are recommended as the drivers tend not to crash into things and drive the wrong way down the highway - good enough reasons for me). It took about 9 hours, but the majority of it was spent driving right through the heart of the Mikume National Park, where we were treated to a few fleeting glimpses of Zebra, Elephants and Giraffe. We also saw a baboon sitting under a tree, looking a bit fed up and lots of Gazelle and Antelope. I don't think the locals were too impressed when they had to endure Kate and I squealing with excitement like 12 year old girls at the sight of an elephant (which to them is probably like someone getting overexcited seeing a pigeon in Trafalgar Square) but it seemed to pass the time, and after a long meandering journey through the mountains, we finally arrived in Iringa just after sunset.
We've both decided that Iringa is, so far, our favourite town. It's cooler than Dar Es Salaam, and the people seem much more friendly. They have real pavements and we even found a cafe serving real coffee this morning. Even though the lifestyle is still very much as laid back as everywhere in the country, there seems to be more energy and pro-activeness, which is really refreshing. Our hostel is great, with massive rooms and hot water. Last night, we had to share with a Dutch lady called Saskia - but she turned out to be very pleasant, and even gave us some tips on where to go/stay in Zanzibar and some information she had picked up about Safaris.
Today we arranged our Safari, which will begin tomorrow, and will take us into the Southern National Park of Ruaha. We are going for four days, before heading back to Iringa and then back to Dar, where we'll meet Kate's friend Sarah who will be going with us to Zanzibar the following week. The Safari was surprisingly easy to arrange, and we've managed to bag ourselves our own 4x4, driver and guide for the four days. We also visited a crafts workshop recommended to us by one of Kate's friends, which is staffed and run entirely by disabled locals - most of whom are deaf. This is where we enjoyed some real fresh coffee and watched some locals making cards, quilts and cushions. This afternoon, we headed to the local market and stocked up on food for the next few days (buying food and water during Safari can be quite expensive). I took a picture of a chicken, which has just taken me about 15 minutes to upload - not the most revealing insight into our travels, but a nice picture of a chicken nonetheless.
Seeing as I've worked out how to upload photos, here are a couple of highlights - the first of which was the view from Irente Viewpoint in Lushoto. The second photo is of a Dhow on the beach at Kivukoni Fish Market in Dar Es Salaam (much like the dhow we sailed to Meziwe - the one that subsequently broke on the journey home). Hope everyone is well, and I'll probably be updating the blog after the Safari.
Hakuna Matata! (Which I found out today is an actual Swahili phrase, not just a popular song from the Lion King. As the song correctly states, it does in fact mean 'no worries' - who knew?)
xx
We travelled from Dar Es Salaam down to Iringa in the south of Tanzania yesterday, by 'Scandinavian Express' coach (they are recommended as the drivers tend not to crash into things and drive the wrong way down the highway - good enough reasons for me). It took about 9 hours, but the majority of it was spent driving right through the heart of the Mikume National Park, where we were treated to a few fleeting glimpses of Zebra, Elephants and Giraffe. We also saw a baboon sitting under a tree, looking a bit fed up and lots of Gazelle and Antelope. I don't think the locals were too impressed when they had to endure Kate and I squealing with excitement like 12 year old girls at the sight of an elephant (which to them is probably like someone getting overexcited seeing a pigeon in Trafalgar Square) but it seemed to pass the time, and after a long meandering journey through the mountains, we finally arrived in Iringa just after sunset.
We've both decided that Iringa is, so far, our favourite town. It's cooler than Dar Es Salaam, and the people seem much more friendly. They have real pavements and we even found a cafe serving real coffee this morning. Even though the lifestyle is still very much as laid back as everywhere in the country, there seems to be more energy and pro-activeness, which is really refreshing. Our hostel is great, with massive rooms and hot water. Last night, we had to share with a Dutch lady called Saskia - but she turned out to be very pleasant, and even gave us some tips on where to go/stay in Zanzibar and some information she had picked up about Safaris.
Today we arranged our Safari, which will begin tomorrow, and will take us into the Southern National Park of Ruaha. We are going for four days, before heading back to Iringa and then back to Dar, where we'll meet Kate's friend Sarah who will be going with us to Zanzibar the following week. The Safari was surprisingly easy to arrange, and we've managed to bag ourselves our own 4x4, driver and guide for the four days. We also visited a crafts workshop recommended to us by one of Kate's friends, which is staffed and run entirely by disabled locals - most of whom are deaf. This is where we enjoyed some real fresh coffee and watched some locals making cards, quilts and cushions. This afternoon, we headed to the local market and stocked up on food for the next few days (buying food and water during Safari can be quite expensive). I took a picture of a chicken, which has just taken me about 15 minutes to upload - not the most revealing insight into our travels, but a nice picture of a chicken nonetheless.
Seeing as I've worked out how to upload photos, here are a couple of highlights - the first of which was the view from Irente Viewpoint in Lushoto. The second photo is of a Dhow on the beach at Kivukoni Fish Market in Dar Es Salaam (much like the dhow we sailed to Meziwe - the one that subsequently broke on the journey home). Hope everyone is well, and I'll probably be updating the blog after the Safari.Hakuna Matata! (Which I found out today is an actual Swahili phrase, not just a popular song from the Lion King. As the song correctly states, it does in fact mean 'no worries' - who knew?)
xx
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