Mbeya, Tanzania

Thursday 17th March 2016 – We awoke to our first morning in Tanzania. I felt excited, happy and ready to explore a new country with a new flavour. We left the Futian Executive Hotel which had been amazing value for money and climbed on a surprisingly comfortable small coach headed for Mbeya. We were not expecting the serene, calm driving that we were encountering. Nowhere so far in Africa has a driver been so careful and safe on the road as today. We sat back savouring this unique experience watching visions of mountains glide past our windows. Stopping at small villages en-route we viewed the most bananas we had ever seen in one place…it really was banana city! I was loving the flavour that Tanzania was offering us. It reminded me very much of Kenya…the people…the Swahili language and the landscape. I felt goosebumps prickle on my arms, recognising the familiar welcoming feeling that my old home of Kenya always gave me. Arriving at Mbeya we got a taxi into town intent on finding a hotel with wifi connection…we had a lot of catching up to do…especially blogging! Our first three hotels we visited were without wifi but we were given the name of a nearby rest house (gesti in Swahili) that did have internet by the name of ‘Peace of Mind Hotel’. Off we set at a good pace through the streets. A few minutes had passed when Aaron asked where our day bag was?! The bag with all our valuables in no less!!! He had left it at one of the hotels we had looked at! Panicked and desperate we ran like the wind…heavy backpacks on…back up the hill. Breathless and panting we were greeted by the manager of the last hotel visited. He had our bag…it was opened…so I checked its contents as thoroughly as I could…thankfully all seemed well and everything was intact. I felt such relief and insisted on carrying the bag myself through town ( Aaron normally does this but our bag was going to stay in my safe keeping for a while). At Peace of Mind Hotel we were informed they were fully booked for the night so instead we checked in next door at Mount Livingstone Hotel. Again it didn’t have wifi but we didn’t care by then…we had our priceless bag back…that was all that mattered.

Friday 18th March 2016 – After a sparse hotel breakfast…it really was Mother Hubbard…no cereal…no yogurt, just pineapple for me and egg and bread for Aaron, we left and booked into our first choice of hotel, ‘Peace of Mind’. Set in beautiful grounds with an inviting looking swimming pool surrounded by numerous cascading fountains, staffed by friendly, helpful locals…but above all it had free wifi! With so much going for it we decided that two or three days here would help us to catch up with all our chores of blogging, sewing, fixing and researching our next plans in Tanzania. I started to write some basic Swahili words in my diary, one of the staff helped me to pronounce them correctly…jambo (hello), asante sana (thank you), rafiki (friend), kwaheri (goodbye)…plus a few more. We strolled through the very pleasant town of Mbeya, visiting the ATM for cash in our pockets. The rest of the day was spent blogging, eating, drinking and relaxing by the multiple fountained pool.

Saturday 19th March 2016 – After a good nights sleep we feasted on a wonderfully prepared breakfast…you name it, it was there. Fruits of all kinds, fresh avocados, local delicacies, cooked breakfast of your choice, savoury and sweet pancakes, freshly made smoothies plus the usual delicious black African tea…yum! A little different from yesterday’s breakfast! This food would give us the brain power we needed for all that blogging we were so behind with. Aaron got to work while I woke myself up with a dip in the pool, drying out in the morning Tanzanian sunshine…heaven. Later I took photos of the wildlife in and around the hotel…lizards, a beautiful African snail and birds of all kinds. We blogged on and off all day…there was a lot to report. Later we treated ourselves to cadburys wholenut chocolate and watched old English movies in our room…bliss!