Long 2hr drive to Isimila Stone Age site near Iringa. Expecting great things from this but all we see is a pile of rocks which we’re told are Stone Age implements. Disappointing. Highlight however is a walk into the nearby canyon with stone pillars that have been formed by the river eroding away the valley but leaving numerous freestanding stone pillars. Amazing landscape. Reminds me of Monument Valley and other similar canyons in the USA but on a much, much smaller scale. Steep scramble down to the valley floor passing vertical stacks upto100-200ft tall. Good walk along the sandy dried up river bed. Amazing views.
Iringa is a bustling town high up on an escarpment and we’re all dumped in the middle of town and left to our own devices for 2hrs.
Hmmm. A few skip lunch on the grounds that there doesn’t appear to be anywhere decent and hygienic to eat. Bus station is a hive of activity and one bus is jacked up about 3ft on one side to carry out running repairs but this doesn’t stop people boarding. All the buses look full and the sort that you would share your seat with a chicken or a goat. Bit native.
Find the vegetable market accessible by a narrow door opening out to rickety wooden stalls laden with produce protected from the sun my low slung tarpaulins. Have to stoop.
In need of a pee find the public library. They’ll have a public toilet won’t they? They don’t but they let me use the staff toilets. Lad has to find one with running water first. It’s all a bit manky. Surprisingly large library and all the books look like they’ve fallen out of the 70s & 80s. Quite a selection.
Long 2.5-3hr drive back to the train and pass a “Tim Dighton, Thorney, Peterborough” lorry. Assume it’s been exported rather than on a delivery?
Dinner with the two Dutch girls and a Brasilian lady. Brasilian lady is from Porto Alegre where I used to work and her husband owns the hotel I stayed in. Small world! Dutch girls tell me they’re known on the train as the “Crazy Dutch Girls”. Hmmm. They’ll feature in the diary but not the blog. Are you reading this girls? ;o)
