15 July 2008

Day 136

Nairobi - Arusha, Tanzania (Masai Camp)

Km

BRUCE: It was a rainy start to the day and as always Jungle Junction was bustling from first light. We stopped off to fill up the tank and all the jerries with diesel which was a huge wack but hopefully we won't have to fill up again until Dar. I can't believe that in Libya we filled all this for less than £7 and this time it cost £140, but at least they sell beer in Kenya! Tough choice I recon, cheap diesel or beer?! WE also picked up some new rear brake pads from Impala spares who were great and then we hit the road for Tanzania.

The border crossing was easy enough. We got away with not paying the Kenyan road toll again as we'd only been in the country for 3 days. The Tanzanian visa cost $50 pp, $20 for the car and $5 for processing the vehicle papers. We were done in about 2 hours so not too bad.

We headed straight to the Masai Camp in Arusha which seems a little disappointing but then again Se and I are so bleak about leaving Uganda it could be just that. There was another English couple there who were driving a defender from Cape Town to London so we had a little catch up with them before having a budget meal of boerie and beans.

16 July 2008

Day 137

Arusha - Loshoto (Irente Farm Camp)

Km

SARAH: It's raining in Tanzania and Kili was well hidden behind clouds. Our last chance of seeing it was at Moshi but it was still hidden, so that's goodbye to Kilimenjaro. We were appreciating the good tarmac road and that's the reason we decided to come this way. We finally made contact with Taco and Brenda and are meeting them tomorrow in Loshoto - Yay! The campsite that we wanted to stop at was closed so we pushed on to Loshoto and Irente Farm Campsite. The mountains are just stunning here and we enjoyed the spectacular views and waterfalls as we made it up the mountain pass. By mow we were back on bad dirt roads but feeling happier for being in Tanzania. We camped at Irente Farm and walked the 2kms to a beautiful viewpoint past all the kids shouting 'Jambo'. It started to rain in the evening but luckily there is a covered shelter here. After spag bol we had another scrabble championship which was a tie (I have to win the next one).

THE RETURN OF TACO & BRENDA

17 July 2008

Day 138

Loshoto (Irente Farm Camp)

0km

BRUCE: It was pouring with rain this morning so we only managed to escape our tent at about 10am. Se made us a killer scrambled egg on toast, making the toast on the gas cooker which was a real labour of love, and we spent the rest of the day relaxing under the shelter and read our books. In the afternoon we heard Taco and Brenda coming up the hill and it was great to see that familiar green Land Rover again (and it's occupants!). It was great to see them and we spent the evening catching up and they bought us an awesome Red Snapper and prawns that we did on the braai. They even had news of Philip who has been called up to the German Army and has left his bike with some dude in Addis Ababa who he now cannot contact! Mymymy! It was great to see these special people again and it's amazing that we have missed them by a matter of hours in a few places in Uganda!