After breakfast we needed to stop at a grocery store in Iringa, and get bread for our trip into Ruaha National Park. The largest grocery store in town was about the size of our mini-marts back home and it was closed. Iringa is not a small town they have over 150,000 people. So off we went on our next safari without fresh bread for our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Our tsetse fly bites were really bothering us. They were not a pretty sight! They were very big and red, and were looking like they were infected. On our way out of town we stopped at a pharmacy to get a lotion to put on the bites.
It took us about 3 1/2 hours on mostly dirt roads to reach the gate of Ruaha National Park. We paid $30.00 per person for entry, and $30.00 per person to camp in their public campsite per day. It cost $9.00 a day for our vehicle, and a VAT tax of $46.44. The total came to $304.44 for 48 hours in the park.
After filling out the paperwork and paying our fees of $304.44 we were allowed to drive into the park.
Not too far into the park we came to a river with a picnic area. We stopped and made sandwiches on our leftover stale bread. The sandwiches were not so great, but the view made up for them.
We drove around the Ruaha park. We watched an elephant shake a baobab tree and then walk around it eating the fruit. When we talked to other people on safari, we found that it was a rare sight to see.
That night we were the only ones at our campsite, well the only humans. We had a very large troop of baboons invade the camp. We set up our tent inside the huge dining hall and slept in there. If you don’t know about baboons, baboons can be very aggressive and mean. We were thinking about leaving the park after this one night with the baboons.
When driving around the park we discovered that there was another public campsite next to the river. We were very glad to find this other campsite, because we did not want to spend another night with the baboons. This camp had signs that said be careful of hippos, and crocodiles. We could see and hear the hippos. The crocodiles we could see sun bathing on the sandbars. What would we rather have at camp, baboons, or hippos and crocodiles?
We chose the hippos and crocodiles! Again we were the only people at the campsite, so again we set up our tent inside the dining hall.
Ruaha National Park did not sell fuel either, and our gas tank was getting low. So our last morning we decided we had better not drive around the park much, and just head for Iringa.
On the way back to Iringa we saw some local people that had a stand, and were selling their handcrafted goods. We stopped and bought a few items from them. They seemed very excited that we had stopped and bought a few things. We had also brought some clothes to give away and we decided that we would leave the clothes with them. Sometimes just a shirt, or a pair of shorts, especially for a child, make a world of difference for these people.
When we arrived back in Iringa the first thing we did was to buy fuel for the car. We were driving on fumes!
Next we drove over to Neema’s. Yea, they were open! They did not have any rooms available for the night, but we did have lunch.
This is called a rolex. No, it is not a watch, it is an egg omelette rolled up with a bread called chapati, that is similar to a tortilla.
We returned for dinner and shared a lasagna, so we would have room for dessert.
Drew said that their homemade cherry vanilla ice cream was some of the best ice cream that he has ever eaten.
The next morning we left Iringa, and we decided that we would head towards Dar Es Salaam.
On the way we passed a couple of National Parks, but we were feeling like we had seen enough parks and we wanted to do something different.
There were areas that we drove through that had hundreds of baobab trees.
We were now seeing more trucks on the road. The driving was getting a little more difficult, because you really had to pay attention to the traffic. Cars and trucks like to pass one another on curves and over solid lines. Also, you have to watch out for the motorcycles, loaded with goods, that may suddenly show up on your left or right
Down the road we stopped for lunch in a town called Mikumi. We stopped at a place that our Bradt book had recommended, the Tan-Swiss Inn.
From the outside it wasn’t much to look at, but inside it was wonderful! They had beautiful manicured gardens. A large restaurant with outdoor seating. A crystal clear swimming pool for their hotel guests. They even had campsites available. It was a very welcoming place!
Continuing down the road we drove through Mikumi National Park. We had to be careful, because the main road went right through the national park.
Now, not only did we have to watch out for other vehicles on the road, but we had to watch out for the animals!
On this section of the road we did see giraffes, buffaloes, and impalas. The signs listed the fines for hitting, and killing various animals. We thought it was interesting that the fine for killing a giraffe was $15,000 U.S. dollars, but a lion was only $4,900 U.S. dollars. We thought the lion would have been more.
We ended up spending the night in Morogoro at the Nashera Hotel. This was the best room of our entire trip. The hotel was a little difficult to find, but it was worth it! We had a huge room with a comfy big bed, and a beautiful view of the mountains!
At breakfast the hotel had baobab fruit juice for us to enjoy. After a delicious breakfast we continued down the road towards Dar Es Salaam.
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