We were now on the way to Mombasa, to finally leave Africa by shipping our car to Oman. It was the second time we crossed Tanzania and we took the same route and the same places to stop. Not because we wanted it like that, there was just no other route which made sense or other campsites. We drove every second day or even stayed longer at one place as we had enough time.
Lunji Farm – Mbeya
We were looking forward to stay at Lunji Farm again. Not only as Edi is addicted to their coffee, but we just like this place. This time of the year, there were so many flowers in this beautiful garden and we enjoyed our stay with walks through the coffee plantation and talking to Clemens, Paul and Diana, the passionate owners of this farm. At this time of the year, the garden was full of flowers and birds, a pleasure to stay here a bit longer. We also met fellow travellers, as this an often used stop before or after the border to Malawi.
Kisolanza Farm – on the way
This farm is a great stop on the route along the TanZam road (road from Tanzania to Zambia), where you can go for hikes, enjoy their cakes at the farm stall or shop for some veggies there. At the restaurant we had a lovely dinner with a vegetarian version for us and it was great to talk to the owner of the farm again.
We had a completely flat tyre at the rear, luckily due to the double wheel nothing had happened. Edi first tried to repair it, but the cut was too deep, so he changed the wheel and we had the other one repaired at Mikumi.
Tan-Swiss Lodge – Mikumi NP
Another stop was next to the Mikumi National Park. We enjoyed the pool at the lodge and spoiled us with a last game drive into the park, not with our car but a guide from the lodge. It had rained a lot this year and the park was a bit muddy and wet but especially very very green. We saw big herds of antelopes and even a lion, but of course the special lion experience we had here more than one year ago was unmatchable.
Mikumi NP has an airstrip, which is used by people vacating at Zanzibar to do a day trip of game driving. Only a couple of days ago, 2 planes had crashed here, at the same day, but not at the same time. Luckily no passengers were harmed, but the 2 damaged airplanes are still standing there.
Simbambwanni Lodge – Morogoro
In Morogoro, we first went into the city for some shopping. We bought some Kitenge – African wax print cloth, printed in a traditional batik technique. Kitenge are often worn by women, wrapped around the chest or waist, or as a baby sling. They are also used to make dresses, and we admired many women all over East Africa, wearing this colourful and beautiful dresses. We also went to the local fruit and vegetable market, which was on the first floor of a building, which we didn’t immediately recognise as the market. Somebody immediately took charge, organised all the things we wanted and a young boy carried our shopping back to our car. This is Africa!
When we finally arrived at the campsite, it didn’t take long and we were cooling down in the pool. It is surrounded by tense tropical vegetation, a truly relaxing place. We camped under palm trees in their huge garden. During the first night it rained, but the next day it was nice again. During the second night it rained again and in the morning we woke to realise, we are suddenly parking directly at the edge of a river! Luckily the lawn wasn’t soaked jet and we could leave without getting stuck.
Edward’s house – Tanga
It was the second time, we needed a place for a stop in Tanga and contacted Edward, a young man from Great Britain, who lives there. He welcomes overlanders to park for the night in his courtyard, which we happily did.
The next morning, we drove to the border to Kenya, where we got a Visa on arrival without problems (100 USD went into a drawer and no questions asked). We stopped at the Carrefour in Diani, before we arrived at Twiga Lodge, the only campsite along the coast suitable for our size of car.
We are now preparing for our car being shipped to Oman – more soon!