Day 36 - Arusha

Point of departure: Morogoro

Point of arrival: Arusha

Accommodation : Moivaro Coffee Plantation (www.moivaro.com)

Kilometres travelled today: 628km (cum 8 478) gravel 0km (cum 2 117km)

Countries visited so far: 5/16

Where to next: Ngorongoro Crater

Total number of photos taken: (cum 1 760)

We anticipated a long hard day of driving today and so gave ourselves an early start... away from Morogoro by 04h30. However, apart from two traffic incidents in the first 100km's or so, it was fairly smooth going. The first incident there was a major traffic jam of heavy vehicles 500m, at Chalinze, from where we needed to head north to Arusha. To get round this we followed the locals in their SUV's through local village/slum, even having to resort to low range to get through a particular muddy (and smelly!) section of black cotton soil. However, the detour worked and we left the chaos behind.

About another 20km later, a large truck and trailer had had what looked like a front wheel blowout and overturned, with the front half of the truck blocking half the road. Traffic built up quickly on both sides, along with spectators (and a bit of looting) with one of the trucks travelling in the opposite direction blocking the other section of the road due to a flat battery. The logjam was only freed up when a large articulate vehicle reversed back about 150m to allow us and other cars only going in our direction through.

After that pretty much the best day we had driving for a week or so, and with fewer villages, more open sections and speeds in excess of 100km at times. Taking the above into account, as well as a brief coffee stop, the 628km to Arusha took us a little over ten and a half hours to complete. Kilimanjaro was covered in cloud so we could not see it as we drove in - hopefully we can see it, on our return from the Crater or otherwise from Amboseli in Kenya.

Geographically, Arusha is half way between Cape Town and Cairo - so we will be celebrating tonight, (with champagne bought in SA for this occasion and for Cairo) - HALF WAY TO CAIRO! This will be followed with the obligatory photo at the clock tower roundabout in downtown Arusha.

The first half has been easy, the challenges of the second half still ahead and we know will not be as easy.

We arrived at Moivaro Coffee Plantation to a wonderful setting - lush and green gardens in full colour and a very pleasant room. Had a quick toasted sandwich for lunch, parked the Beast under a big shady tree (his home whilst we fly into the Crater and Serengeti for the next week) and sorted our clothing for the next week. Then the heavens opened - the short rains have arrived in Tanzania - it helped cool the air down and was most welcoming.