In search of Father Jack.

[Drumacoon Lad.]

The descent back to the lake proved quite steep and the warning below was not misplaced but it didn't mention the road surface being badly worn in places, but I learned that soon enough. This baboon wasn't alarmed at my presence and was probably wondering if my old fashioned drum brakes were up to the steep descent. This was the view from the top, looking down on the lake.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

The rivers were clearly in full spate as can as seen. Was good to be back down by the lake, looking great with Mozambique in the distance. This magnificant tree caught my and I know there are other tree lovers here too.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

The next scene made me stop and turn around for the photo, as I'd never seen plowing with oxen before and in fact here's two slightly different views. The next day I saw a number of farmers moving thir plough along the road to the field pulled by oxen.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

I was stopping that night at a town about 50km from the Tanzanian border. There were limited accomodation options and the best about the one I went for, was the undercover parking for the bike. The evening meal was so bad I refused to pay full price and gave myself a discount of 33%, as I'd only eaten the chips. The next morning I was glad of the shelter for the bike but it meant a wet ride to the border. The rain wasn't a downpour but heavy and steady. I arrived at the border, dripping. This was my first African border wearing full waterproofs. The exit from Malawi was easy as expected. On the Tanzanian side
The first step was to fill in a medical details in a ledger and later a form. I filled in the ledger with dripping hands and gave the page wet look.
The visa cost $50 as expected but I was then told that as I was over 60 I did not need to have biometrics taken. In fact they refused to take biometrics(fingerprints etc.) even though I said I wanted them taken, so I could get a local SIM. They still refused and I'll discuss the consequences later.

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[Greyrover]

Yes a great looking tree Jim but it would look better with a couple of Srixon imprints on the trunk! Seems like you are getting almost as wet as us here in UK? Enjoyable read safe travels.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Yes a great looking tree Jim but it would look better with a couple of Srixon imprints on the trunk! Seems like you are getting almost as wet as us here in UK? Enjoyable read safe travels.

John, as long as you don't bring your golf clubs to Malawi, that tree is safe.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

Riding away from the border the rain eased and I continued to climb. The landscape was very green and a tree covered valley streatched into the distance on my left. I had some company on the road as bike taxis were everywhere, in these cases 3-up. Not sure of the relationship of the men with the lady but she seemed pretty cosy. I spotted the guy on the muddy track by the side of the road struggling with the heavy load. The back wheel was spinning in the mud after the rains. Strangely he waved my down, apparently recognising a fellow biker used to riding heavily loaded. I declined the offer and continued uphill on the tarmac.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

You'll see from the darkness of the pictures that it remained overcast and the main crop being harvester was sweet corn. These signs were common, warning about obeying the signs and there were lots of police on the side of the road to ensure you compiled.

Pretty soon the kids appeared coming from school. It took me a while to work out why they look so cute and then it dawned on me that their clothes are too big for them. One of the biggest expenses for parents is buying the school uniform and these will probably have to last a few years so they are too big at this stage. The kid on his own, seemed to be having a bad enough day with a guy on a motorbike staring at him, while he took a photo with his helmet camera. Must resolve not to frighten children as I pass.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

The road continued to climb and I topped out at around 2,300 metres and the bike and I had to work hard. I was a bit envious of the bus passengers who just sit there and have food passed to them in every town they pass, anyone for a banana or twenty? Eventually I got to Mbeya, my destination and the traffic was busy. I had not bargained on these little tuc-tucs. In cities I use the centre of the road to filter and overtake, but so do these guys. So we were competing for space and they are bigger than me and change direction rapidly. In the centre of the road, surrounded by tuc-tucs I got a bit claustrophobic at times. I survived and noticed the petty plants for sale as I approached my hotel. The hotel had a reputation for Indian food and I met the Indian owner on arrival. Once checked in I parked right outside my room and looked forward to the Indian meal that evening.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

Once installed, the first of my three requirements in a new country, I focassed on the next two. The receptionist pointed out the bank with an ATM close by and a mobile phone shop along the street. The MasterCard worked in the ATM and my wallet was full again, two down and one to go, I was on a roll.

In the Vodacom shop the receptionist readily put a SIM in my phone and directed me to her colleague. Maybe this wasn't going to be easier than I thought. The next lady checked my passport but then asked me to place my finger on the fingerprint sensor. My heart skipped a beat, and not in a good way. I explained what happened at the border and that there was no fingreprints stored. She asked me to try anyway, although futile I did as asked. It of course failed and she explained she could not register my recently installed SIM. She then explained there were 2 options, first she would email head office and they would liaise with Immigration and seek approval, which would take 48 hours for a response. Option 2 was for a local person to take out a SIM on my behalf. Neither of these sounded appealing and I headed back to the hotel less than optimistic.

At the hotel I spoke to a few of the staff about my dilemma but got no encouraging responses. I had some thinking to do and an extraordinary meeting of the trip planning committee was in order this evening, but not on an empty stomach. The moderately hot curry did not disappoint and this clearly was a place people came to dine. The curry was well spiced and with a good sauce. Eating this meal early in the evening was perfect, as lunch had been somewhat overlooked with the rain, border crossing and the climb and of course the tuc-tucs.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

The outcome of the planning meeting, chaired by myself and being minutes here, was to continue with my plans to travel to the next town, Iringa, and not wait the 48 hours for the outcome query to Immigration. In addition I'd call into the Vodacom office before leaving and ask if the office in Iringa would get the answer and could register the SIM.

When I called in I was dealt with by another lady. She checked on the system again and was not allowed to register. She said that the office in Iringa would be ably to see the response but she would check with the person at headquarters before I left. He was in a meeting, I waited. Finally I said I would need to leave soon, and she called the guy. She explained the circumstances but despite my poor Swahili, the look on her face told me the news was not good.

The guy told her there was a process for dealing with a lack of fingreprints in place for locals, and they were building one for visitors but it was not in place yet. The response from Immigration was never going to be positive. I'd come to the end of the SIM road. However, all was not lost. Due to the generosity of an individual who was aware of my difficulty, I was helped in getting a SIM for a month. The phrase, The Kindness of Strangers was never so true(a book title by BBC foreign correspondent, Kate Adie). I'm not disclosing details in this open forum but I will always be grateful to this person. So I left Mbeya in high spirits with a SIM loaded with 20GB of data for the princely sum of £7.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

Now that on the road and riding again, there may be a chance of some pictures. I had left the hotel with waterproofs but by the time I finished in the phone shop it had cleared up. Getting out of town was not too bad and I resolved to give the tuc-tuc drivers an easy time, it is their town, they are working and I was in good mood. With 330km to go I filled up in the knowledge that if pushed I could get all the way to Iringa on a tank full. Once out of town I remembered I was at nearly 2,000 metres with a chill in the air and the my airflow jacket was not keeping me warm enough, so had to stop and put on the waterproof jacket.

This gave me a chance to look at the local housing which was better built than in Zambia or Malawi with bricks and corrugated metal roofs. These houses on the outskirts of the town were a superior quality than further out in the country but the same style of construction was used. The landscape was again very green with some panoramas stretching away to distant hills.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

On leaving Mbeya I stopped to take in the scene in the first picture below. I'd seen stone breaking in the hills of Malawi and here it was again. This guy was hammering stones to make the piles of gravel seen in the photo. A hard way to make a living. The wide load truck sign amused me, as clearly the truck was no wider than others but it was an interesting piece of artwork. It remained dull all day and not conducive to good photos from the helmetcam. The road was initially pretty average with some potholes but improved about half way and gave me a good run into Iringa. With the late departure I was pressing on to get to Iringa in a reasonable time, which I did. Comfortable accomodation was in the Neema Craft establishment, recommended by two german ladies who stayed there and I'll describe it later.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

As I'm resting up, this may be a good time to remind myself of the person whose the focus of this RR/blog. He was quite a character. This article was printed in the Glasgow Herald during WWll, so of course must be true, however incredible it sounds. I'm not saying every detail is correct, I just don't know, but knowing the man, its not impossible. I certainly believe the last sentance, that he was "Idolised by his men".

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[barak666]

Really enjoying this, Jim.... Father Jack sounds like he was an amazing character.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Cheers, Barak!

The Neema Craft establishment has a cafe, craft shop, workshop supplying the craft shop and around 10 en-suite rooms. What is unusual about it is the workers and management all have a disability. Many of the waiting staff are deaf, so you write your order. It all works well and the craft workmanship is excellent, as some people in the UK and Ireland will find out.

Its located near the centre of town and its just a 5 minute walk to the main market. I met the German ladies at their favourite lunchtime venue. We were served chips, with a spicy sauce and salad in a tiny alleyway just off the market. The chips tasted great but you had to be careful of the spicy sauce which was not for those with a weak heart. Being a generous soul and still in shock from the spicy sauce, I said I'd treat the ladies. The bill, including drinks came to all of £2. Aah well, you can't take it with you.

The market wasn't very photogenic but I have this one of the curled up smoked fish.

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[gspod]

Cheers, Barak!

The Neema Craft establishment has a cafe, craft shop, workshop supplying the craft shop and around 10 en-suite rooms. What is unusual about it is the workers and management all have a disability. Many of the waiting staff are deaf, so you write your order. It all works well and the craft workmanship is excellent, as some people in the UK and Ireland will find out.

Its located near the centre of town and its just a 5 minute walk to the main market. I met the German ladies at their favourite lunchtime venue. We were served chips, with a spicy sauce and salad in a tiny alleyway just off the market. The chips tasted great but you had to be careful of the spicy sauce which was not for those with a weak heart. Being a generous soul and still in shock from the spicy sauce, I said I'd treat the ladies. The bill, including drinks came to all of £2. Aah well, you can't take it with you.

The market wasn't very photogenic but I have this one of the curled up smoked fish.

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I loved smoked fish - they look delicious

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Iringa is at the proverbial fork in the road and particularly for me. I would fork right to Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, left fork goes directly to Arusha. After checking on ferries for the bike to Zanzibar and finding the arrangements complicated, it swung the decision away from Zanzibar. I was only mildly attracted to it, and mainly because of the name, as its wonderful beaches are not much of a pull for me. There were two other factors in the decision, one uncertainty with the Coronavirus and what happens when it comes to Africa in greater volume. I also realise that about 6 weeks is the sweet spot for me to be away on these trips. I like the idea of being on the road for years, and could probably handle it physically, but I do get itchy feet from a month onward, ready to head back to a life more settled for a while. I've been in Africa on this bike about 5 months of the last 14 months, more than I would ideally do in such a short time. Its been great but I'm ready now to ride to Arusha, do what I need to there, and fly home.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

Enough of these words I hear you say, let's have more pictures. Well I did take a ride out to a Stone Age site I'd seen on the way in to Iringa and there was also a canyon on the same site. The stone age museum was a disappointment, as many of the displays were at least iron age and more recent. The tour of the canyon was more interesting and I took a guide, once we'd renegotiated her fee. The canyon is quite striking as can be seen below. It reminded me of Cappadocia in Turkey. There are thin colums formed by the soft sandstone being eroded, mainly by rainwater. The colums form when a hard rock crust resists the erosion and protects the soft sandstone below.

The guide told me this erosion started 150 years ago, which I found hard to believe. This would require a significant change of use, perhaps in farming, removing the crust on places and allowing the rainwater to get directly at the sandstone. Anyway the results are stunning and its quite an atmospheric place.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

The two things that excited me the most however, were the reptiles below. The first one appeared as I arrived and ran fast. I didn't have my zoom camera to hand so chased it with my phone. It conveniently ran up the side of the building where I got this photo. The less colourful one appesred as I was leaving and I snapped him with the zoom.

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