Kilosa District

I got up at 4.30am for another very early start and packed up my tent which was painful as the urchin spine in my ankle continued to give me regular spasms of pain when I moved. We had a quick breakfast and boarded the truck for the long drive to our next bush camp. The pink and orange brightening sky heralded the arrival of the hot African sun. We quickly passed into Mikumi national park where the main road goes right through with differing fines if wild animals are knocked down, up to $15000 for knocking down an elephant or giraffe. It was an absolutely beautiful park with lush grasses and all kinds of different trees filling the landscape. We also saw lots of animals with many giraffe near the roadside. We saw wildebeest, kudu, zebra, eland, impala, gazelle and a jackal. We even saw some large elephants amongst the trees in the distance. It was lovely to see wild animals again and I reflected how these animals once roamed all over Africa and are now much more contained in the parklands as the human population grows ever larger. After buying some capattis by the roadside to add to our meagre breakfast we ventured up into a mountain range under darkening skies. There was a large orange muddy river running through the mountain range which we followed for many miles. It reminded me more of Amazon rivers with trees thickly covering the steep sides of the mountains. As we descended the other side of the mountain the valley sides began to be populated with baobab trees, the famous 'upside down' tree with a very thick base to hold water during the dry season with thinner, bulbous branches. As the mountain range gave way to an open, wide plain and the baobab trees grew larger, the land was more cultivated and populated with humble, mud brick dwellings. At the end of the plain, we entered an area of unusual geology where all the hills seemed composed of large rounded boulders which protruded from the landscape - this geology continued for mile after mile, through villages and along a boulder strewn muddy river. I was so tired from the early starts to our journeys that I managed to put my head back and fall asleep on the truck for the first time of the entire trip - it was only for five minutes but it felt like some kind of achievement that I hoped to be able to repeat in the future. We ploughed on towards our destination through stormy clouds and some rain. Often, the driver, was pulled over three times by the police for no good reason and was expected to pay a bribe before being allowed to carry on - corruption is a serious issue with the road police in Tanzania and the company even have to budget for this. We passed through quite a heavily farmed area with huge flat plains leading beyond, all the way to distant mountains. We then entered a national park of volcanoes and wilder tree scapes which is where we left the road and wild camped in the bush. It was a lovely spot among the trees with hills and mountains all around us. We all had a pasta meal with less insects this time and retired early to our tents as it started to rain. As I tried to settle down to sleep having managed to turn my ankle in a way that sent shooting pains from the embedded urchin spines like razor blades down my feet, the rain began to fall very heavily and lightning filled the tent with white light. There followed an elemental thunderstorm with great lightning flashes followed by earth shaking thunder that rolled around the surrounding mountains like an echo chamber for the gods. Some of the strikes came very close to our campsite with one great, air splitting crack falling simultaneously with an intense flash that must have hit very nearby. I lay listening and watching my tent light up with that mixture of exhilaration and trepidation I always get with thunderstorms but with the extra frisson of feeling exposed and vulnerable in a tent with a metal frame. My tent coped very well with the intense rainfall that came with the storm, and as the rain abated I was able to fall asleep in the cooled, wet night air.Read more