Songea
Mon 22nd. I awoke about 03:00 and couldn’t get back to sleep…not that I needed it. I was partly worried I wouldn’t be able to open the door to leave the lodge, although I was shown how to. I had a couple of messages from Sienna and had a short chat with her. I left my key at the desk and walked slowly to the Stand which was only 1 minute away.
We left bang on 06:00 in the big, smart bus and I had a front seat. Despite the uphill windy road we covered the 66kms to Mbinga in an hour and a half, so shaving half an hour from the journey in the opposite direction to Mbamba from Mbinga. Only 5 minutes stop in Mbinga…great.
What a perfect day. One of those really good travel days. It was three and a half hours to Songea, unlike the four and a half on Thurs from Songea to Mbamba. At the Stand outside Songea I was told I could stay on the bus and be taken to the booking office in the centre of town; all the other passengers had to get off and make their own way by boda or whatever.
I booked my ticket to Masasi with the same company. I walked the few minutes to Ugabe hotel and checked in…same room as last time ( for 25,000 ). I didn’t hang around as I was feeling peckish, although I was given a banana on the bus.
On the way to Aunty Monica’s for chai na mandazi I topped up my Airtel Sim with 10,000 Tsh of internet bundles. After my snack I bought some water on the way back to my room. I washed one shirt then went to the roof of the hotel and while my shirt dried in the sun, I sunbathed for about half an hour.
After a shower I went to Jordan River where I checked there was kiti moto available for later. So, I relaxed with a couple of beers until time to have my kiti moto and ugali. The dish wasn’t as good as the previous time, but perfectly edible.
I went to Golani thinking to meet the guy Terry mentioned. The guy wasn’t there so I had one beer and went to my room which was almost directly across the road. I hadn’t had any WiFi in Mbamba so now I managed to catch up with a FB post.
Masasi
Tues 23. Had a good nights, but still awoke a bit early…that travel day worry/nerves. Reporting time at the bus booking office was 08:00 and breakfast started at 07:00 so what could go wrong ?!
I went to reception to get my card that entitled me to breakfast, only to be told the staff hadn’t arrived. No problem, not a must. But I went 15 minutes later to try my luck…and they were there…and I managed a hurried omelette and tea.
Over to the booking office where I thought transport was arranged to the Stand out of town. But no, I got on a boda for 2,000 for the 10 minutes to Seed Farm. That was fun. Was there about 08:15 and half an hour later the bus arrived. It was supposed to be a 09:00 departure but we left about 09:20. Same bus company but the bus was not as modern as the one from Mbamba to Songea.
Not much to say….it was less than 9 hours to Masasi but it seemed to drag. About 5 hours Songea to Tundura because of all the stop, start, and a half hour stop in Tundura when we were told we had 10 minutes.
But then those amazing rock formations before Masasi made the journey much more interesting. I must read up about it again. Ummm.
Just read something but of course it means nothing to me..!!! The Mozambique belt is a structurally and metamorphically complex terrain that abuts the edge of the Tz Craton and formed during the
Neoproterozoic…!! Most rocks are highly metamorphosed pyroxene-gneiss, charnockite, biotite, hornblende…!! So that’s it…but really fascinating to see how they seem to appear out of nowhere.
At a police stop, guy in uniform said to plain clothes guy..”you know what he looks like”. He walked down the bus and picked out an Indian/Arabic man and marched him off the bus with his luggage. Minimal protest; they knew who they were looking for.
We arrived in Masasi at 18:00; at least we speeded up a bit after Tunduru. I immediately went literally across the road to my usual hotel for which there is no sign board or anything written on the walls. But I took note the next morning of the pillow case and sheet, and the place is called Yusfid Motel.
I took the cheapest room for 20,000(£6.50) which was absolutely fine. I rushed up the road to the Kibo pub for 2 beers. Sent a couple of pics to Kasembe in Makambako, as Masasi is his home town and he knows the pub. Back in the direction of the motel I stopped for a beer and dinner of maharage and wali (rice). Very tasty.