So I spent an extra day in Moshi recovering from my Kili hike and organised my bus to Iringa for Monday. I wasn't sure what to do about a bus to Iringa as there was conflicting information. The most legitimate/safest company had closed down which left Hood or Sumry. According to the guidebooks one should definitely steer clear of Hood - making trips in two legs instead if necessary - however some websites recommended Hood (the Tanzanian tourist board and Wiki travel) so rather than spend an extra night in Dar I bit the bullet and booked a hood ticket!

The bus itself was ……..fine. It had 3seats on one side and 2 on the other with a narrow aisle so rather cramped! Other than that the journey seemed to go without incident - bus journeys in Tanzania have a reputation for being dangerous (although I couldn't see very much, slept a bit, listened to my ipodand at one point we seemed to stop suddenly on a bridge and people looked worried).

There were some highlights to the trip; I woke up to hear a man giving some kind of presentation (in Swahili) at the front of the bus - initially I thought it might be some sort of political rant (there are elections soon and he seemed to be speaking with such passion and aggression) but then he started showing the products he was trying to sell - all with aloe vera. There was an aloe extract called flying panther (which reminded me of Anchorman - "sex panther - 60% of the time it works every time"). From what I could discern it cured all know ails, I did pick up that if you cut yourself it prevented tetanus and that you could drink it as a hangovercure - there was also a lot of talk of fungus.

The other highlight of the journey was that the Tanzam highway passes through the Mikumi National Park - so from my bus I saw giraffes, zebras and some different antelope.

Anyway that's definitely enough about the journey - my final comment is that the Tanzanians are a very, very friendly people (when not trying to scam/rob you in the cities). On the busses I've been on I have been offered food by a number of people and people have been extremely helpful when I don't know when I should get off!

So I arrived in Iringa, I'm staying in yet another budget hotel, this one is reasonable, there are few if any tourists around and I don't think there are any in this hotel. So I grabbed an early night. This morning I got up and headed to Isimila, this is a great archaeological site where many tools etc have been found. I used a dala-dala (local mimibus) for the first time to get there, which was without trauma - if anything maybe a little cramped - however I travelled over 20Km for 1000Tsh (less than 50p) so certainly no complaints from me. When I arrived at Isimila I was shown around by a "guide" who spoke no English! I was maybe expecting some fossils or something like that but there were none! The site itself is actually really impressive with big colourful sandstone needles all around the canyon.Other than that there was a very small museum which had some stone tools that had been found and what appears to be an early beer bong!

I returned to Iringa on another Dala-dala (this one was actually quite spacious and another 1000Tsh and I was back in the city centre). I then visited a local craft centre (NEEMA) run by disabled people. From here I decided to visit the Gangilonga rock - the only place of interest left in the guidebook. This is just a big rock on the hill, but a place a famous chief used to sit and contemplate chiefy things and offers quite stunning views over Iringa. It was an enjoyable walk and I enjoyed the view although my walking sandals did snap on the way which is a massive bummer and now I have silly flip flops with a bit between my toes L

So I'm off to Mbeya tomorrow (Wed) which is the last stop in Tanzania before Malawi. Not sure how long I'll stay there. I had planned on maybe trying to do a safari out of Iringa but as there are no other tourists it's a bit too expensive so I need to try and get to Botswana with enough time to spare to do a bit of a safari!

I forgot to add some thoughts about Iringa. It is a friendly place - I have noticed as I have moved away from the main touristy places that people are friendlier and I feel less intimidated - although there are still plenty of people trying to seperate me from my money either by legitimate or other means. The most amazing thing about Iringa is that there is a pedestrian crossing near the bus station and the traffic actually stops - there are rules to the road here and people adhere to them! Also liking the reduction in the cost of things as I head south!