The road to Moshi, is again another uneventful tour through changing landscapes and few towns. Fertile soil and aloe farms give way to dry dusty landscapes in the shadow of lush forest mountain ranges. Moshi is a tourist town, a gateway for those travelling to Kilimanjaro, filled with curio shops and safari tour operators. They had a Nakumatt, which we have found to be a westerner's best friend in terms of availability of the luxuries of the South African supermarkets! We bought lunch, but unfortunately there is nothing in a big African town like a park to have picnic and if there is to find one without pestering hawkers would be impossible, so we picnicked in the supermarket's parking. We also filled our gas bottle and got the price for a Kili climb ($1200 pp, just for interest's sake) before heading to TanzaniteOne.

Just before entering the Mount Kilimanjaro Airport a dirt road breaks off to the right and 15km down the road we were at the gate to TanzaniteOne. It is the only major tanzanite mine in the world as this area is the only known source of tanzanite, and will expire in 20 years. Mervyn Dettmer, who we contacted through his brother Hilton who we know from church, welcomed us and set us up for the night. Being offered accommodation at a mine, we weren't quite sure what to take - but were told to take just our clothes for the night and everything else would be provided! Joey had pictures in her mind of bunking down in a dorm with 20 other men, all of whom hadn't seen a lady in a while! It was quite different to what we imagined! Mervyn took us to our room - which was the best accommodation we had had in 2 weeks! It was a beautifully furnished room with an ensuite shower and towels etc. provided. We stayed in a guest room with the best view of Kili we could have wished for! The mountain is best viewed at 6pm and we had a clear night to enjoy it from the boma. It was wonderful to watch the Sharks smash the Stormers in South African company while eating braai meat of all variants.

The next morning we had a bit of trouble starting the car and had to call the mechanic, until we realised Joey hadn't turned off the immobiliser! It was drizzling and overcast which made pleasant weather to travel in. In Arusha we bought some coffee at the Arusha Hotel, calculated to be the exact halfway mark for the traditional Cape-To-Cairo route, so a good landmark and a very snazzy hotel. At the local Shoprite we found a single cooker plate which we'd been looking for after we met Andre and Anne who used one for their coffee, meaning we didn't need the gas in the morning to make breakfast.

On to Ngorongoro, with great anticipation of a wonderful time! We had been advised to enter the reserve at noon so we'd have until that time to exit into Serengheti on Monday. We visited Lake Munyara on the way and visited the tourist center ($35 each not worth an hour visit!) before climbing the escarpment into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area which we did with a troop of South Africans (9 vehicles). They were older couples, friends all on Safari, following a guide. We were lucky we made it to the gate before them as otherwise it would have taken a while. And then the paying began! 2pm and we were at the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge for the experience of a lifetime!