Iringa
Tues 9th. I woke up early. Only a 5 minute walk to the bus stand, so I had more time than I thought. The bus headed off after 05:30; I closed my eyes initially as it was still dark anyway. I was in seat no. 9 eventually as seat 11 was double booked. I was moved to no. 37 then back towards the front. It was 12 hours to Iringa but it didn’t feel too long, maybe because it was mostly new terrain.
Highlights….I got huffy with the immigration lady at a Babati checkpoint because she asked to see my passport and nobody else’s ID. She said she was doing her job….and I backed off after a bit of a glare. Those sorts of officials are so good at their jobs…they have a quick answer for everything. A 10 minute comfort stop where I bought a tea. We reached a dam and big reservoir and I was rebuked for taking a photo. I hadn’t seen the ‘No Photographs’ sign, but I muttered an apology and put my phone down; no further action was taken ! A steep climb up a range of hills and then down into Iringa. The 12 hours went by quickly, helped by a comfortable bus and interesting scenery. That last section being the most beautiful.
First time visiting Iringa. Arriving at 5:30 was later than I had hoped, and I still had over a kilometre to walk from the bus stand into the town centre. I stopped at about 4 hotels ranging in price from 25,000 to 70,000, but went for Kakenga West at 25,000. The room was okay, except the lights didn’t work at some point. Time was getting on so I stayed the whole evening in the hotel. I ate a chicken curry with rice; I was starving as ate hardly anything the day before and absolutely nothing on the day of travel. The Wi-Fi only worked on the ground floor, and after some beers I went to bed.
Wed 10th. Breakfast was very average but enough coffee at least. I asked about views from the hotel as Iringa is surrounded by hills, and ended up being shown a room on the 4th floor with great views, so I decided to switch rooms. It cost an extra 5,000 but was much much nicer.
Following a comment Tor made about the Isimila Stone Age site, I decided to visit it.
I hadn’t planned on going there originally. Late morning I went to the coaster stage, and after 20 mins waiting for the coaster to fill up, we went the 20kms to Isimila. The Stone Age site was over a km walk from the main road. I caught the guy in the ticket office by surprise and immediately launched into joking and laughing with him in Swahili and told him I was a resident of Tanga. The result was that I got in for just over a 1$ instead of the non resident entrance fee of 10$..!!
So, the Stone Age site. What’s written below is copied from the internet……
This site was discovered first in the year 1951, it’s the site of a dry bed of former shallow lake, amid a landscape of small canyons and eroded sandstone pillars …
People habited this site since the stone age, this is proved with the discovery of stone age tools and cultural Isimila people’s cloths which are believed to exist from 300, 000 to 400,000 years BC, Tools found in Isimila canyon that is divided into two, include spears and slingshot that were used for hunting, the second canyon has amazing pillars.
Isimila site is also equipped with a hammer used for the preparation of other tools and axes used to break bones, shades and knives.
Inside the area, skulls and bones were found; the bones that were found corresponded to the current giraffe, but are giraffe with short neck.
I have to say I didn’t see the 30mtr high pillars. I was certainly in a canyon; I hope there wasn’t another one that I missed. There was a tiny stream that I had to criss cross numerous times. The eroded sandstone makes for interesting shapes and gulleys. Otherwise, it was well worth the visit as it was all very fascinating…and I had the whole place to myself.
I walked back to the main road and caught a dala to Iringa. Except that it stopped short at Ipogolo and I had to get a shared bajaj the 2 or 3kms the rest of the way. That was fine…I was stared at the whole way by a baby with very cute big eyes.
I checked out my new room with a balcony and watched a rainstorm encircle Iringa. Right opposite my room is a massive mosque being built; I wonder if the Imam will tone down his preaching a little bit, otherwise the hotels won’t be happy..!!!
My next mission was to walk to the Orthodox Church and Hellenic Club which, according to the map, were next to each other. It was about a 25 minute walk….but I didn’t see anything as unfortunately there was major renovation going on at the Club and the gates were padlocked with the work going on inside. There was a huge Greek community in and around Iringa once upon a time…mainly tobacco and possibly coffee.
Anyway, I walked back into town; had a chips mayai at a restaurant across the road from the hotel. I then relaxed in the hotel bar/restaurant ; had a chat with Phil…then retired to my nice room. I really liked Iringa, but my one regret is not seeing that second canyon with the sandstone pillars; I should’ve paid for the tour guide!!!