Date: 01/02/10
Location: Mushroom Camp, Livingstonia, Malawi
Miles travelled: 708 Miles (Segera to Iringa Old Farm house - 380 Miles, Iringa Old Farm house to Livingstonia - 325 Miles)
Weather: 30ºC
Today we mostly listened to: Trek, by Paul Stewart

We happily left the Serenga Motel as early as possible the next day and got on the road for the long drive ahead.  We had heard about a really nice place close to Iringa that was worth staying at - but it was quite a way to travel in one day.  As we drove along the landscape changed from flat plains to a more hilly, and cooler, environment.  We also ended up going through a national park where we stopped for a quick break and some lunch in front of elephants, giraffes and zebras.

As we motored on we got a phone call at about 2pm from a Tanzanian number we didn't recognise.  It was lovely George!  Unfortunately the call cut out so what we didn't hear him saying was that Monty had just sped past him at some roadworks.  However when we got to 'The Old Farmhouse' where we were staying we called him back and arranged to meet him the next day.  We cooked super that night - a large sausage and salad - Ric dropped the sausage on the floor, but we were so hungry that we envoked the '5 second rule' and ate it anyway.

The next day we decided to get Monty's electrics looked at whilst we were waiting for George to arrive so we drove in to the local town, Mafinga and were amazed to see the local garage open on a Sunday.  We managed to explain the problem - Ric had installed some new lights to replace the ones that fell off on the Moyale Road which didn't work because of a short circuit - also caused by the Moyale road. The electrician was called in and within an hour we had the problem solved.

When we got back to the farm George had already arrived, so we spent the afternoon happily drinking beers and catching up.  George has many interesting stories from his journey, particularly his time in Ethiopia where he couldn't out-cycle some of the small children on the uphill parts of the country.  His blog, which includes a complaints letter to the Ethiopian Tourist Board about said children, is highly amusing and well worth a read...... http://cycletocapetown.weebly.com/

We also managed to get some steaks from the farm for supper, which we put on the BBQ and enjoyed with some blue cheese sauce (from the mountains of cheese purchased in Eldoret - I think we have already eaten well over half of it!).

The next morning we enjoyed a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs before saying a fond farewell to George - the next time we will see him will hopefully be in Cape Town when he arrives.  We promised to have a banner and a cold beer ready!

We travelled on to the border with Malawi and finally reached it about 4pm.  After a very simple crossing, our passports and carnet were stamped and we were free to go.  We knew Pim and Git were staying further down the lake, but we couldn't reach the camp before nightfall so we decided to stay in Livingstonia (right up in the Northern part of Malawi).  The road up to the town is extremely steep and rocky.  At some points Monty was literally clinging on to the cliff edge.  After 30 nerve racking minutes we finally reached our camp for the night - the Mushroom Farm.  Unfortunately we hadn't anticipated that there would be no-where in this cliff-top retreat to park Monty that wasn't at quite a steep angle.  So we opted to stay in one of their tree-house rooms.

The view from our little treehouse was quite wonderful.  It looked down over a steep forest and out on to the sandy shores of Lake Malawi - see flickr photos for general idea.  Apart from the chap running the place and one other guest - Elizabeth, a doctor from England - we had the place pretty much to ourselves.

Date: 29/01/10
Location: Serenga Motel and Campsite, middle of Tanzania
Miles travelled: 528 Miles (Nairobi to Arusha - 285 Miles, Arusha to Segera - 243 Miles)
Weather: 30ºC
Today we mostly listened to: The complete history of Mau

We left Nairobi early and set off for the Tanzanian border.  We were a little apprehensive about whether we would have to buy the Tanzanian visa once again.  We had a multiple visa for Kenya, but not for Tanzania and we had heard mixed reports about whether you could get back in without paying again if you had been to Rwanda.  Technically Rwanda is out of the East African Union, although some people say it is now in the union.  No-one seems to know for sure, but luckily the border official we saw was half asleep and waved us through with a quick stamp.  So we were feeling flash with the cash having saved ourselves $120.

We motored on South and just before we got to the turn off to Arusha we got a message from our lovely Dutchie friends Pim and Git.  They were South in Mbeya with a major problem with Mitch.  The engine had blown up again and the garage they were in was quoting them ridiculous amounts of money to get the parts.  So, on a mission to find said parts we took a detour to Moshi to see if we could get them from some friends of theirs.  No-luck unfortunately so we ended up driving on to Arusha to stay at the snake park we had heard good things about.

When we arrived and started talking to the owners - a lovely South African Couple who moved there because in their words 'South Africa just isn't proper Africa' - told us that our planned route South was foolish.  Apparently the road from Arusha to Dodoma (the capital of Tanzania) is shorter than the long road  via Morogoro, but is a terrible dirt road that often gets washed away. So we decided that the best thing would be to go back via Moshi and take the longer route.  The result was we ended up going back on ourselves, but in the longrun (and grand scheme of our total journey) no big deal.

As we arrived late at the snake farm we didn't get to see the snakes until the next morning.  I personally hate snakes and find myself feeling slighly sick around them.  The first snakes on display were boa constricters and attached to their cage was a newspaper article about a snake that had killed a security guard at a refugee camp in Sudan.  The snake ate the chap and then proceeded to leave via the electric fence.  He got zapped and was found the next morning, bloated with the security guard inside him.  That was enough to make me sit outside whilst Ric went to look around the rest of the snakes.

We then visited the Masai cultural centre learning about how they drink cow blood and practice circumcism (when the boys are 15 and the girls are 9).  The latter is illegal now, but it stills goes on as it is deeply ingrained in their traditions.  Our guide told us that no matter how much the male circumsium hurts they are not allowed to cry.  Quite frankly, even though I'm female, it makes me wince.

We left the snake park and headed in to Arusha to find some parts for Pim and Gits car.  Luckily we had the call from them that the garage they were dealing with had suddenly come down in price - funny that!  So we were then free to motor on South.

All was going well until we got waved down by a white uniformed police official.  We had heard lots about this road being full of corrupt dudes trying to make a fast buck.  So the policeman showed us his speedgun that read we had been doing 79 km in a 30km zone.  This is incredibly frustrarating because we hadn't seen a speed limit sign anywhere.  To add insult to injury when Ric asked for proof that the 79km speed violation was committed by him and not someone else they proceeded to spin some story about a memory card in the machine capturing Monty's engine number - ridiculous!  Ric, with a little too much balls perhaps, said 'show me the memory card'.  The 'dweedle dum and dweedle dee police cops' proceeded to open up their hairdryer gun to show an empty space.  Apparently the memory card was back in the office.

The policeman then offered us two alternatives.  Pay 20,000 Tanz Shillings and get an official receipt and speeding tickets.  Or pay them 10,000 shillings and get no receipt - basically a back-hander.  Unfortunately at this point the cops had Ric's driving license and were refusing to give it back without some money being exchanged.  Ric, without thinking, said 'corruption is wrong, I will pay 20,000'.  Just like it isn't a good idea to insult a Ugandan immigration official, it isn't a good idea to insult a police officer - even a foul smelling corrupt one.  So Ric managed to skirt over the issue and get our official ticket  - afterall, we knew we were speeding, so should pay the correct fine. 

Feeling somewhat righteous in our actions we proceeded on, only to be stopped withing 2 miles by another fat police official.  Grrrr.  This time he wanted to fine us for not wearing seat belts.  There was no way I was paying another fine.  I couldn't help but feel that the policemen were out in force on a Friday afternoon wanting to get their weekend spending money.  So I stood my ground - perpared to go to prison for the consequences (sometimes, even I realise with hindsight I should keep my big fat mouth shut).  To my delight this time it worked and after much debate and 'I don't understand' looks we drove away without having to give over any money.

We drove on to Serenga and have found a place to camp.  There is no running water and it is really grotty but hey-ho, it is only for one night.  Hopefully we'll catch-up with Pim and Git in Malawi in a few days time.