Steve and Marietjie African Trip 2016: Tanzania

The Kitchen at Coffee Tree

The beautiful dining room at The Old Farmhouse

Our next destination in Tanzania was Iringa, The Old Farmhouse Campsite. The distance to Iringa was about 280km and after breakfast and our tour of Utengule Coffee Farm, we left at about 11h00. We were on the main tarred road for a short period when we encountered roadworks. The roadworks continued for the next 200km! Road users were mostly big trucks and fuel tankers who do not adhere to traffic rules or road signs. They pass you on a blind corner or hill. A solid white line on the road means nothing. On the dirt road it was even worse. To slow down the traffic, severe bumps had been created in the road. In some places the bumps had been partially flattened by the big trucks, so they choose to drive on the side that had the smallest bump. More often than not that side would be the side we were driving on! To 'stay alive' we started doing the same - it was horrendous! It was a matter of 'push in or get pushed out! We eventually arrived at the camp site just as it was getting dark. We were met by 2 Masai warriors, complete with red cloth attire and spear. We set up camp as quickly as possible, had a tuna sandwich and collapsed into our beds. Ros and Theo discovered a 'coca cola spill' in their trailer, and first had to unpack crates and fridge, wash and clean, before going to bed. The next morning, after breakfast, we had a long chat with Nicky, the owner. She gave us invaluable information on National Parks to visit, accommodation, tour operators, and which roads to drive in order to avoid roadworks.

Breakfast at The Old Farmhouse We had been travelling for two months and had covered about 10000 km! The four of us sat down with maps and Nicky's info, and had a serious talk about the distances that we could cover in a day, how much time we had left, and everything we would still like to do. Dodoma was the next 'big town' and we had to sleep there for one night. On Nicky's recommendation we stayed over at The New Dodoma Hotel. By now we were getting fed-up with small towns with bad accommodation facilities and no camping, so we set our minds to drive further the next day. We drove via Singida and Babate towards Tarangire National Park. Ros found accommodation for us at Zion Campsite, just outside Tarangire NP. We got there in the dark and were the only campers. Dinner was Bully beef with 'smoored' tomatoes and onions. Ros added penne pasta to help fill those hungry stomachs! We had been traveling for six days and needed a break. The next day we entered Tarangire NP with one vehicle. There was a long que of mainly tour operators waiting to enter the park. We had never seen so many tour operators in one place, all waiting with their customers to get into Tarangire.

Tour operators waiting to enter Tarangire NP

We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of animals we saw in Tarangire. It really lived up to its reputation as the park with MANY elephants. We also saw great herds of Blue Wildebeest, Zebra, Giraffes and Buffalo, and sighted the rare Thompson's Gazelle! Tarangire boasts a massive grass plain aptly named Little Serengeti. Enormous Baobabs covered the landscape. The park closed at 18h00 and we made it with a few minutes to spare! We camped at Zion for a second night and cooked fillet medallions with a mushroom sauce and a wonderful salad for dinner. Arusha was an important stop for us. The Cruisers needed to be serviced and we had to get quotes from at least 2 tour operators. Once again it was Friday. Toyota could service the cars on Monday. We spoke to 2 tour operators and decided to drive to Kilimanjaro for the week-end while we waited for a quote to come through. As we left Arusha, we came upon another section of roadworks. We were glad to leave the town and the roadworks behind us as we drove to Mount Kilimanjaro. The last bookings were made in Zambia, so every time we neared a village we started scouting around for accommodation, using our internet connections, Tracks-for-Africa GPS, or the BRADT book for travelers. This time we struck gold and our Tracks-for-Africa led us to a small piece of heaven called The Coffee Tree Campsite, situated in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. It is a small, neat campsite, grassed with a well manicured garden.

The Coffee Tree Campsite

The kitchen at Coffee Tree

The first night at Coffee Tree we got a reasonable quote from a reputable company, and we were very excited. We confirmed the booking, changed our Cruisers to be serviced on Tuesday, and decided to stay at Coffee Tree for 3 nights! It is a lot cooler here and we love it. (By the way, we had the whole camp to ourselves!) The next day Daniel took us on a 2 hour guided walk through the villages and right up to the entrance of Kilimanjaro National Park. Everyone we met greeted us with a friendly 'Jambo' (hallo in Swahili). Daniel is 54 years old and is actually a guide for hikers to the top of Kilimanjaro. He told us that he can only manage two groups to the summit in a month, as he is getting 'old'. I took this photograph of Daniel and Steve in front of a local shop. When Steve said to Daniel: Come stand here with me, we are the same., Daniel looked at him and said: The same, except I am flat!