Rangwi - the Convent stop

There's no early start on this trip it seems. Breakfast at 8, cook lives off site. After we walked the first 2 km with the owner to his house, as we departed, it was likely it was him. The room was in need of a full rebuild and it was only the standard of the lodges I'd been paying $5 - 6 for. Throw in food and that's about $15 tops + $7 for the guide. At nearly $130 / day it wasn't great value. More good scenery though. The gardens continued right to the lunch stop the next day, around 40 km in length through the valley landscapes. At times no more than 500m in widths but often climbing the hills to expand that coverage. Around 2pm we arrived at the Nun's Convent our overnight stop, where we'd decided to push towards for a lunch stop as well, with the sky getting darker. They provided accommodation and meals to passing tourists. Nearly 70 nuns lived on site but many traveled to other districts to provide a range of educational and indoctrinational services. Catholicism is deeply entrenched in Tanzania, perhaps it's helpful. History will tell. Rangwi is a pretty small village which doesn't reflect the value of the surrounding agriculture. I'm not sure why. A quick loop around the village suggested the convent grounds were not much smaller. My legs were suitably tired so it may have been beneficial that the distances had been overstated despite my querying the advertised walking time. It was a bucket shower before dinner, a decent 20L pale of hot water supplied. To be diluted with the bucket of cold. Dinner and breakfast the next morning were hearty servings. The room temperature beer irresistible. A narrow single bed a real icon of the Catholic approach to sins of the flesh.Read more