HEADING SOUTH - THE ROAD TO DAR ES SALAAM Leaving the Amani Centre for Street Children in Moshi was a difficult thing for us to do. Throughout our trip so far we had focused on getting to Moshi to spend time at Amani and had made some very special bonds with the children. Now we had to contemplate the next leg of our trip - one with no set deadlines, no places to be and no people to meet at certain times. For the next three months we would be our own masters, dictating the speed we would travel and the sites we would see. Our experience so far had made us realise that 'seeing less and enjoying more' is as good an indication as any. This means we will choose our destinations wisely and aim to spend more time at them rather racing around every country ticking off all the interesting sites, as dictated by The Lonely Planet. Leaving Moshi, we agreed on only one thing - to arrive in South Africa in mid April in time to celebrate our joint 30th birthdays. This seemed as fitting a time as any to finish our journey from Kennington to Cape Town. So we headed out towards Dar Es Salaam on a magnificent tarmac road taking us through maize, tobacco, coffee and sisal plantations. Sisal plants look like stunted palm trees and were planted in immaculate straight lines for as far as the eye could see. We broke up our journey camping on the banks of the Pangani River where the wind swept through the camp. Baboons and bush babies were our only companions as we endured a night in our roof tent which felt more like a windsurfing lesson. One area, we had heard, not to miss was the fantastic hiking opportunities to be found in the Usumbara Mountains, about 300 kilometres north of Dar Es Salaam. The area was discovered by the early German colonialists who made it their own 'touch of Austria' up above the oppressive heat of Dar. We had been recommended by our family friend, Claire, to buy red wine and cheese produced by nuns in Lushoto and sure enough, as we entered the town we found the shop run by Tanzania's enterprising nuns. The cheese could have been entered into any Wiltshire cheese festival (the rolling variety rather than the tasting versions) and we don't expect to find Usumbara wine on the shelves of Tescos any time soon. Needless to say we didn't do much hiking in Usumbara but spent our time quaffing the delicacies of Tanzania's very own 'Sound of Music' brigade. By sheer coincidence we met up with Tony and Martine Lunch on our way to the Irente View Point in Lushoto. Tony went to university with Rich's father and has set up an enterprising volunteers programme, called Mondo Challenge (www.mondo-challenge.com). We had met up with them both for dinner in Arusha but neither of us had realised each other would be in Lushoto...it is a small world. We also made great friends with a chameleon...and they really do change colour!