We went back to Iringa from our campsite - two hours on a mostly corrugated road. The villages we passed through were remote from "civilization". It takes two hours to get to Iringa but the Park was well worth the visit.
In Iringa we visited the information centre and book store for a late breakfast and some internet time. Whilst we were there three young USA girls came in and told us they are there for three weeks on an adventure mission. WE were able to give them some of our remaining Bibles to give out at their mission. Our load is definitely getting lighter.
We had a happy trip from Iringa. I did most of the driving to give Mark a break after the rough roads yesterday. All was going well until we had a "puncha" (the Tanzanian version of puncture). My wonderful husband changed it quickly and we were on the road again. Apart from the tension over the tyre situation we did a lot of teasing about who has the most traffic fines. I am very careful not to get another fine because at the moment the score is 2 all. Mark is hoping I'll get one more so he can gloat.
We checked out our Bradt guide and decided to phone ahead to a guest house in Mbeya for the night. Setting up the tent and taking it down in the morning takes a while and tomorrow we have a border to cross so we decided to take the easy route and go to a guest house. We have passed many guest houses all the way along the Tanzam highway and many of them are right on the road. One has visions of sleeping in a hot room with big trucks roaring past all night - and believe me there are MANY trucks on the road. We arrived in Mbeya at rush hour and my heart sank. Surely this place won't be on that busy road. Well we got hopelessly lost and ended up on the far side of town without seeing any of our landmarks. We stopped at a garage and one of these wonderful, kind and helpful Tanzanians offered to drive ahead of us and show us the way. We went all the way back and took a side road and then another left and we landed up at Peace Guest House. What a wonderful surprise to find such a beautiful guest house in this busy town. It has a very high standard at only R300 bed and breakfast for both of us. TV, Aircon, fridge, shower and loo en suite.... Wow! Sheer luxury.
So here we are. We've just watched Netherlands knock Brazil out of the running. Mark is fixing the "puncha" outside and we can look forward to a peaceful night's sleep after a long and busy day. We're starting to look south towards home but we're still enjoying our travels. I think that a trip like this when we spend most of our time together in the car is a real test of our relationship. So far we're holding up...
Tomorrow it's the Zambian border. We pray there won't be any corrupt border police there.
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