Short: Drive, Drive, Drive, Sleep, Drive, Drive, Drive, Horrid road, Vehicle Issues, Vehicle repairs, Drive, Drive, Drive, Fog
Long: We had an early start this morning, leaving the apartment before anyone else woke. We both have accepted the fact that we will have to put in some long driving times in order to complete the trip, while also still relaxing along the way. While driving in Rwanda, we saw a few people working on the side of the street in pink overalls. We learned that they are prison inmates imprisoned for crimes related to the genocide. There are still around 100,000 of these inmates in Rwanda! We passed the Rwandan-Tanzania border around noon and had no issues. At the border we collected as much information about the roads and learned that, luckily, the roadway to Singida was in good condition. Unlike the road of the German couple crossing the border right after us, since the area they were going through was known for rebel activity and they would have to find armed guards. After a fourteen hour drive we pulled into Singida around eight and found the hotel recommended in our guide. Unfortunately, the hotel was full, but the staff coordinated to have an employee show us, on his motorbike, to another one of their hotels. The hotel was nice, although our chicken dinner was absolutely disgusting.
The next day we readied ourselves for another long drive. In Singida we, once again, collected information regarding the roads. This time the news wasn’t as good. We were told that half of the road to Dodoma was paved, and we soon confirmed this. After an hour of wonderfully smooth, new, road, it all came to an end. We spent the next few hours being shaken on a small, unpaved, poorly maintained, road to Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania. The worst part was that right next to the dirt road we were driving on, a beautiful paved road was being built (see picture). We arrived into Dodoma around noon, used the ATM, and ate lunch at a roadside café. Dodoma, similar to some other countries capitals (Australia comes to mind), is the geographic center of government in Tanzania, but not where the politics really unfold. While the parliament physically meets in Dodoma, the epicenter of political and economic life is really in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city.
While taking on fuel we asked about the road from Dodoma to Iringa and were told that it was unpaved, but not as bad as the road we had just traveled. We left with high expectations and were extremely disappointed a few minutes later. The road was absolutely horrible. We hesitate to say it was the worst road we have traveled on because the national parks in Botswana were terrible, but our expectations there were very different. In Botswana you couldn’t go fast, the roads were simply that poor, and you accepted, and planned for, the fact that you would average 10-20 km/h. The road between Dodoma and Iringa is fairly long and, at one time, was designed for speed. If we had averaged 10-20 km/h it would have taken us more than a day to travel. We averaged around 60 km/h on terrible, corrugated (rippled), roads and a few hours in it began to wear on Betsy. First, the door to a compartment over the right rear tire opened and began rubbing on the rear tire. We stopped and found that it wouldn’t close. The fix? DUCT TAPE! We duct taped the door shut and we were on our way. A few minutes later a loud clang developed under the car. After riding on the back for a short distance and then rummaging around under the car I found the culprit. Our right rear disc brake cover plate had come loose. The fix? DUCT TAPE!...and we also tightened the last remaining bolt on the plate. While fixing the brake cover we also noticed that our differential was leaking. Out of all the issues, this was the most worrying. After wiping the differential clean and re-assessing how much fluid was leaking, we continued on towards Iringa. Only a few km’s outside of Iringa we hit a bump and the metal clasp holding our jerry cans on top of the car snapped in half…another repair would be needed. Oh, and we also ran out of brake fluid… Despite the vehicle issues, the drive was desolate and the scenery was beautiful. After winding through the mountains we arrived into Iringa around 5 p.m. and quickly found a mechanic. He assured us that we could make it to Tukuyu with no issues, pending we fill up the differential with gear oil. We would make proper repairs in Tukuyu. $10 in oil and $5 in labor later, our differential was filled, and we drove to the center of Iringa for dinner. While at dinner we were seated next to two Danish guys working for a road building firm. They had both just moved to Iringa with their wives and were planning on living there for two years while their company builds a new road north out of Iringa. Wow…What a place to based for two years.
The sun set while we were having dinner and we found ourselves, once again, driving at night as we left Iringa. Luckily we drove this road northward a month before and knew it was in decent shape. We made excellent time to Mbeya, in far southern Tanzania, and then continued south towards the Malawi border. As we drove south we entered the mountains and our progressed soon grounded to a halt because of fog. At times the fog was so thick you couldn’t even see the lines on the road and we inched our way towards the town of Tukuyu. After a nineteen hour drive, we pulled up to a hotel in Tukuyu around 1am.
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