Day 13. Thu 3rd October
Dodoma to Udzungwa
We finally arrive in Dodoma about 02:00. Ken wakes us one station before,
and we grab our luggage and stagger off the train still half asleep. Outside
the station we are reunited with Pete, Auxies and the Land Rovers who
have been waiting for us since 21:00. The hotel is only a few minutes away
and we hardly wake up before we are tucked up in bed again. It seems that
hotel has booked us all into double rooms, and no one, least of all Ken,
has the energy to argue, so finally the inevitable happens - Andy and I
have to share a bed. However, they are huge beds, and under the circumstances
we hardly notice.
Dodoma is, in fact, the capital of Tanzania, not Dar Es Salaam as most
people think.
The hotel is actually extemely nice (Andy reckons it's better than
the one he stayed at in London the night before the flight!), and it is
a shame we only get half a night there.
After a full English breakfast we pile into the vehicles and set of
for the second of the national parks that we visit, Udzungwa. On the way
we stop at MoroGoro for petrol and Andy buys a souvenir Masai spear.
We stop for lunch at a little place with a collection of snakes and
reptiles, and are told about the various African snakes and what happens
to you when they bite you! I am offered the opportunity to handle a python,
but the keeper seems to have great difficulty getting it out of the cage,
and Chris, who comes into contact with snakes in her job, reckons he doesn't
know what he is doing and is angering the snake. With respect for her superior
knowledge I change my mind and beat a hasty retreat.
Thre is also a nice little curio stall over the road. I am well aware
that we should not encourage the exploitation of hardwoods by buying ornaments
of mahogany or ebony, but, without thinking, I do buy two really nice figurines
which I am told are made of ebony. It's all right though, for when I get
them home I realise that, like many such carvings, they are made of softwood
darkened with boot polish, so my conscience is clear.
The scenery is magnificent, and on the way we also pass through the
Mkumi National Park and get our first sightings of some large mammals,
zebra, elephant and giraffe, as well as warthog and impala. We are with
Ken in the Disco, and at one point he somehow mistakenly identifies a group
of zebra as elephant, which causes great amusement. For the rest of the
trip zebra are referred to by all of us as Smith's elephant, to his great
embarrasment.
We are at the sourthernmost edge of Masai country here, and we occasionally
see Masai walking along the road. They are a fascinating people, tall and
slim, wearing their distinctive red blankets. Initiated Masai always carry
a spear, the unititiated a wooden cane. Unfortunately I did not get any
photographs of the Masai. They are a proud people who speak their own language
and retain their own customs even when they are at odds with the law of
the land. Most not only speak no English but little or no Swahili either.
The Masai believe that all the cattle in the world belong to them, and
periodically attempt to reclaim their property. Apparently they have even
planned trips to England to repossess "their" cows - so far these plans
have not been put into practice!
We arrive at the Udzungwa Mountain View Hotel about 17:00. The rooms
are OK with decent loos but no hot water. The rooms actually have air conditioning,
but when I switch ours on it fuses the generator and cuts all the power
for the whole hotel!
We settle in and enjoy an al fresco dinner of impala goulash, which
is delicious and certainly makes a change from fish, beef or chicken.