Finally we could answer the “where are you going?” question with “Dar”, for me a rather exotic sounding destination, time will tell.
We left an icy & wet Kisolanza and headed north on the road which is being constructed by Denmark. I assume these donor countries feel that they have fulfilled their social responsibilities however it is sad to see how quickly these gestures fall into disrepair as the locals do nothing in the way of maintenance. About 70km’s outside Iringa, which is at an altitude of 1500 m, the road starts its descent towards the coast. The beautiful pass is covered in Miomba marred only as Uli says by ‘civilization’ litter and graffiti. Yellow baboons play chicken with the cars & trucks as they pick though the discarded blue water bottles & other debris. The Miomba gives way to mixed Baobab/thornveld and finally as the Udzungwa mountains rise from the valley, the dry slopes are totally covered with Baobabs. At this time of the year these leafless giants branches take on a silver appearance and the dry hot slopes that rise up at 45 degree become covered in
bright pink Impala lily flowers. The road continues to run parallel to the Great Ruaha on its route to the Rufiji river, which runs through Selous to the sea. Our intended stop in Mikumi is full, the weekends fill up quickly, so Uli suggests we head south to the Udzungwa Mountains NP.
We left an icy & wet Kisolanza and headed north on the road which is being constructed by Denmark. I assume these donor countries feel that they have fulfilled their social responsibilities however it is sad to see how quickly these gestures fall into disrepair as the locals do nothing in the way of maintenance. About 70km’s outside Iringa, which is at an altitude of 1500 m, the road starts its descent towards the coast. The beautiful pass is covered in Miomba marred only as Uli says by ‘civilization’ litter and graffiti. Yellow baboons play chicken with the cars & trucks as they pick though the discarded blue water bottles & other debris. The Miomba gives way to mixed Baobab/thornveld and finally as the Udzungwa mountains rise from the valley, the dry slopes are totally covered with Baobabs. At this time of the year these leafless giants branches take on a silver appearance and the dry hot slopes that rise up at 45 degree become covered in
bright pink Impala lily flowers. The road continues to run parallel to the Great Ruaha on its route to the Rufiji river, which runs through Selous to the sea. Our intended stop in Mikumi is full, the weekends fill up quickly, so Uli suggests we head south to the Udzungwa Mountains NP.
The mention of the Iringa Red headed Colobus, an endemic primate only seen in this reserve, is enough to get Lorna & myself to agree. The road towards the reserve runs through lush rain forest covered mountains, it’s hard to believe we are on the other side of the same hot Baobab peaks we just left behind. We cross many rivers that drain out of the forest and the landscape takes on the look & feels of an Indian ocean island, coconut palms and all. The road deteriorates badly and the last 20kms are slow and dusty. It take quite a while to convince the officials that we need to drive to the campsite as our roof tents are attached to the cars, but do not want to pay the US$40 fee for the car as there is no where else to drive in the park. They even offered us porters to carry the tents to site, obviously not many visitors use their facilities, once again probably due to the cost, and certainly not with roof top tents.The anticipated dawn chorus does not happen, but it’s still magical to wake in the dense forest. The plan for today is to walk up to the Sanje Falls, which drop in three steps of 70,30 and the final 170 meters. In true African style the guide is late so we head up alone, leaving Ludwig to catch up. The steep ascent is made easier by the good path that has been cut trough the forest.
The falls are spectacular from the view point, so we decide to walk down to the pool where they cascade into. As I sit on the rocks in the shade of the overhanging trees looking up at the water as it plummets down, I think to myself, how truly blessed we are to experience such grandeur.Back on the road to Dar, we get what I am sure will turn out to be the only free game drive in Tanzania, as the main road slices through the centre of Mikumi NP. Giraffe, elephant, buffalo, zebra, ground hornbill and large herds of Impala graze alongside the highway, seemingly oblivious to the traffic. The final 107km’s into Dar are like a grand prix, except that the vehicles are travelling in two directions. A double white line means you can overtake if you are fast enough, a single if you are as fast as the car you are overtaking and a blind rise on a bend is the ideal place to launch your attack on the truck in front of you. The traffic, cars and people in Dar make for a chaotic blend, with everyone trying to get in front of the next. The gps leads us flawlessly until the ‘the lady’ announces that we are to board the ferry…………………we have gone the wrong way down a one way. Tsh5000 later the smiling cop stops the traffic to allow us into the constant stream of cars, we board the ferry to our camp site on the south beach of Dar. We have arrived.
As we started on the last blog with a tail ender, heres this blogs one.
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