a muddy day

Today was a muddy muddy day.

We left Baobab Valley Camp in high spirits, reached Mikumi town soon after and turned off on the B127 in hopes of seeing some of the back roads of Tanzania.

While we were letting some of the air out of Foxy's tires (for better off-road conditions), a man and his hired help passed us in his yellow truck, slowing down to ask us if everything was alright. We told him we were just fine and he carried on up the track. Little did we know we would be asking him the same question, him answering to a different tune altogether.

Just a few kilometres into our track, the road became pure mud, squishy and wet. We had a few near misses and slid off the road a few times into the shallow ditch. Hoping it would get better, we carried on, but the mud soon became thicker and the ditches deeper.

Up ahead we could see the same yellow truck stopped sideways, wheels spinning in the muddy ditch. His truck didn't have 4 wheel drive, so we offered to pull him out. Our first Foxy rescue, how exciting!! We broke open our brand new rope and attached one end of it to the back of truck and after a gentle Foxy tug, he was back on the main road. He thanked us profusely, "May God be with you always." He had had enough and was going to head back home back down the hill.

We had heard this part of the country was experiencing extended rainfall (Dar es Salaam was completely flooded apparently, as was Zanzibar) so we weren't surprised the tracks were so muddy.

We continued on this muddy track for several more metres, but as we were literally just inching ahead, continuing on like this for several hundred more kilometres seemed plain silly. We decided not to risk it and after a slippery 3-point turn, we returned back to rejoin the perfectly good tar road which we knew would be passable.

We looked at our map and considered going back to Iringa tonight and trying the A104 highway to Dodoma tomorrow, and then linking up with the B129 towards Rwanda. It meant backtracking again but there was no way we would make it through this road, unless we intended to do it over a course of several days. And there was of course the worry of not being able to get help if we needed it since we were only a single vehicle (without a winch or a satellite phone).

So back we went, eventually choosing to camp at the Riverside Campsite just 12 km outside Iringa town. We arrived in good time to do a load of laundry, shower and relax for a while. We opted to eat dinner in their dining room, along with the other guests. Another treat awaited us: a large Indian buffet was being served, and then chocolate brownie for dessert (with nuts, unfortunately for me).

Riverside Campsite offers Swahili lessons to tourists, families, or anyone who wants to learn the tongue. Staying there were several missionary families who had moved out to Tanzania to do some Bible translation and were partaking in an intensive language-training course.

During dinner we gained some insightful information on the roads we were hoping to take tomorrow. We soon realized the extended rain that was plaguing this region was just too unpredictable and everyone thought we should just stick to the main tar road, just to be safe. So it looked like we would be backtracking again towards Mikumi and heading north that way. We decided that since we couldn't do our original plan, perhaps it was best to go and see the famous Serengeti National Park and Ngorogoro Crater. It would cost a small fortune, but when would we be back in Tanzania again?

The whole evening felt a bit surreal: yesterday we were sitting and chatting with 4 Maasai men at a deserted campsite along the Ruaha River surrounded by enormous baobab trees. Tonight we are surrounded by families and young children and a handful of babies, feasting on scrumptious Indian food and watching BBC News!

The semi-final match of the Champions League was being played tonight between Liverpool and Chelsea at 21:45 local time. Although it was quite late, we were desperate to see the match and asked anyone and everyone who was interested in going into Iringa town (12 km away) to watch the game. One guy, a Norwegian here on a 16-week Swahili course with his wife and 16-month old son, was also a die-hard Liverpool fan. He said we could all go in his Landy if we would drive. It was the perfect solution since we didn't want to pack up Foxy's tent, only to set it up again a few hours later. Matt promised the guy that he never did the drinking and driving thing, and that he was a safe driver and would be extra cautious tonight.

The game was good, the result was not. Liverpool lost 3-2. Due to the match going into extended time, we didn't get back to Riverside Campsite until close to 1am, but it had been worth it, even if Matt had to drink Coca-cola.

Start: Baobab Valley Camp, Ruaha Village, TAN. 8:30
End: Riverside Campsite, Iringa, TAN. (again!) 15:00
Distance Traveled: 241 km
Road Conditions: mud + steep hills = impassable road
Temperature: bit drizzly but comfortable