progress! finally!

It was back on the Iringa - Mikumi highway again for us this morning. As beautiful a drive as it was, we were itching to cover some new territory.

After a very horrible lunch at the TanSwiss Restaurant in Mikumi (it took nearly an hour for our deep-fried "mixed meat platter" and "chicken and mushroom sauce" to arrive), we drove through Mikumi National Park where the main highway runs right through it. We spotted some elephants, giraffes, water buffalo, zebras, and lots of baboons.

We headed towards Morogoro town, where the Harvey family (whom we had met last night at Riverside Campsite) kindly offered their home for us to stay in, even if they weren't' there.

When we arrived, Robert welcomed us into the Harvey home. Normally Robert home-schools the Harvey kids but for this week he was house-sitting while they were on holiday. An interesting chatty fellow with family connections spread all throughout the world, he told us we could stay in one of the kid's rooms. It was the first time we hadn't slept in Foxy's tent but actually it worked out for the best since it rained all night and we would've had an unpleasant time packing up a wet tent in the morning.

We went to the nearby Morogoro hotel for dinner. Here in Tanzania, the food is fantastic, with always the choice of "local" food, Indian or Chinese. I'm loving it ALL. I'm becoming addicted to the chai (tea) as well, so sweet and smooth.

Start: Riverside Campsite, Iringa, TAN. 11:00
End: Harvey Home, Morogoro, TAN. 17:45
Distance Traveled: 348 km
Road Conditions: potholes and twisty-curvy roads looking a bit too familiar. Deja vu much?! Great roads after Mikumi National Park, but still lots of humongous speed bumps when passing through villages.
Temperature: beautiful sunny morning, bit of drizzle throughout the day, bit humid at night.