PART II: Tanzania – the Southern Highlands b) Mbeya to Songea ...

PART II: Tanzania – the Southern Highlands
b) Mbeya to Songea – “over the top”
We got into Mbeya in the early afternoon and tried to find the Rift Valley Hotel. We’d chosen it
from the list of hotels given in the Bradt Guide but, despite driving round and round, we couldn’t
find it. We gave up and looked for alternative accommodation, when what did we see at a corner?
The Rift Valley. Alas, it was a dump. We looked around some more but everywhere was full (the
president was expected). So we ended up at the upmarket Mount Livingstone Hotel ($35 pp B&B),
got laundry done and hair washed, and allowed ourselves to be spoilt for 3 nights.
Mbeya is a lovely town, surrounded by mountain ranges and peaks. Established in 1927 to service
the gold mines in nearby Chunya, it is an industrial city, a railway and road hub, with nothing much
to recommend the tourist. Despite this, there are some tour operators and a tourist information
centre in downtown Mbeya. We tried to consult them about Kitulo Park, our next destination, but
drew a blank everywhere. The two operators we asked didn’t know anything about the park, and
the Sisi kwa Sisi Tourist Centre was always closed (allegedly on tour with clients). And so we
decided to go into Kitulo ‘cold’ and take our chances.
Before going off into the unknown, we went on a 35km drive along the scenic Chunya road to see
Mbeya and the Usunga Flats from above, stopping at the World’s End Viewpoint – 08 49.518S
033 32.222E – that is so built up that there’s no view left, before leaving town. We did some salami
and cheese shopping at Ndiyo supermarket (lots of imported goods; it’s on the Tan-Zam Highway),
changed money at the only bureau de change in town (‘Blue Bird’, behind the Post Office), got more
cash at Stanbic Bank (only ATM that takes Master and Visa), bought postcards and stamps at the
post office (nobody else has any), combed road-side stalls for kitenge (found nice ones), and
refuelled once more before pulling out of town (TSh 1500/litre, uniform price for diesel).
We chose the spectacular ‘57-bend’ road to go up to Kitulo, turn-off at Chimala 78km E of Mbeya,
that climbs in steep hairpin turns to the first level of the plateau, from 1100m to 2000m a.s.l. There
is a big sign at the turn-off, showing a Denham’s bustard, the symbol for Kitulo Park. The road was a
bit hairy, especially when encountering truck traffic and speeding 4x4 dalla-dallas on loose gravel. I
didn’t dare look down, keeping my eyes glued to the road, despite the view being amazing (ok, I
had glimpses). I had been here before, four years ago, when the road was still in a very poor state. I
hadn’t dared to go up then, so was glad to have done it this time.
Kitulo Park is well signposted; although, when passing through the little town of Matamba, nothing
informed us that we ought to have bought our park permits here at Park HQ. We only learnt that
later, up at the next plateau level (2800m a.s.l.), at the park gate, when we encountered two
rangers. They promptly charged us the requisite park fees - $20 pp/day, $20 car – and the
compulsory guide fee ($10/day), despite the gate being unmanned and the plateau roads being
thoroughfares for public transport. Well, driving with a foreign number-plate always encourages
inquisitions. There is a camping place near the gate – 08 58.454S 033 56.552E – which, despite not
being finished, attracts a $10 pp/day camping fee.
We, knowing it would be cold – it was late afternoon by then and the clouds had descended onto
the plateau – pushed on to Kitulo Farm where, we’d been told by the rangers, accommodation
could maybe be had. We indeed found a room at the LMU Farm – 09 05.240S 033 54.113E – a
government-run dairy farm amidst a game-park (!), complete with cows and milking sheds. The

farm’s friendly Deputy Director let us stay at their community centre (2 guestrooms ‘for
emergencies’, a bar, kitchen and some dukas) which was a bit dirty (especially the bathroom – yuck)
but cheap and cheerful (TSh10,000). He entertained us with stories of the Livestock Multiplication
Unit’s history while Mrs Deputy Director fried chicken and chips for dinner and brought hot water
for tea and baths. Most kind she was! We found, the next morning at 8 a.m., that it was minus 1
degree Celsius outside! The car was white, covered in hoarfrost, as here we were at nearly 3000m
altitude (2845m, to be precise). Were we ever happy that we hadn’t needed to camp!
Kitalu sign at park entrance
Above Ndumbi falls, with guide Juma
At 10 a.m., as arranged with ranger/park-biologist Noel Mbise whom we’d met at the gate the
previous day, the compulsory guide arrived. Juma was not much of a guide – no English, no
knowledge – but he tried his best to show us around. We went on a game-viewing drive, through
billowing volcanic ash that covers the whole Highlands, not seeing any game and only a few birds
(sadly no bustards). The landscape is beautiful (IF you can see it through the dust), the flora worldfamous
(IF you come at the right time of year, Nov-Apr) and the forests contain little-known fauna
(a few years ago an unknown species of monkey was found).
Splendid Ndumbi falls
The brave climber Karen
We ended up at the famous Ndumbi Falls that we’d wanted to see. Alas, ‘seeing’ was not the word
for it. The falls are so hidden in a deep valley that we didn’t even hear them. Anne and I took one

look at the steep-steep path that led down to the Ndumbi Falls – 09 04.220S 033 58.539E - and
declined going. Karen and Juma valiantly took up the challenge and climbed down to take photos.
Two hours later they were back, tired but triumphant, with great photos to prove they’d made it.
Karen wrote in her diary: “It was very steep, Juma had to support me on the way down and haul me
up on the way back, with frequent stops to catch my breath. The waterfall is lovely, ‘high’ and
falling down in a nice cascade. The flora at the bottom was almost tropical, lots of plants with scent,
including wild sage. Some of the forests are cedar, and there were small bluish orchids beside the
path.” Needless to say, next day Karen had very sore leg muscles.
We’d spent another cheap and cheerful night at the Farm, then took off for Njombe via Makete.
Having come up from the north, we left the Highlands going south – we were going over the top.
Leaving the austere grey hills of the plateau, the road down was most scenic. It got greener and
greener as we drove through little villages - lots of brick-kilns, many banana farms, even pine
plantations. Near Makete we saw a lovely little waterfall, ‘Evilkima’ said the sign - 9 12.558S 034
06.334E, right by the side of the road. Despite dust, bumpy stretches and road works everywhere, it
was a really lovely drive.
In Njombe we pulled into the first hotel we saw, the Chani Hotel (TSh 28,000), because it looked
nice and inviting. And so it was. We spent a peaceful night, had great curry for dinner, and set off
towards Songea the next morning. Before leaving we had a quick look around Njombe, a bustling
market town shrouded in cool morning mist (Njombe is still quite high at 1900m), where we bought
several ‘milulu’ baskets (made from reed-like grass), some home-made bread (dense and round like
cheese) and, yes, more kitenges (Karen collects them, you see). We then drove on very good tar to
Songea, 237km of beautiful, undulating, hilly landscape. Interestingly, the closer we got to Songea
the less the villages and homesteads … and hardly any traffic. Odd. Everywhere else is so densely
populated. Maybe due to poor soil quality?
Street vendors, Njombe
Njombe town sellers
Songea is as bustling as Njombe, said to be the 3 rd biggest town in Tanzania. Once again we had to
hunt for accommodation. Once again we drove round and round without finding anything.
Full, full, full. In desperation we pulled into the White House Hotel, trying to beg space somewhere
– anywhere. Mr Mark Mbwila, the owner, greeted us warmly and offered a cold drink, saying he
knew of a place that wasn’t in any guidebook. It might be a bit expensive but would we be
interested? Of course we were. He then proceeded to drive there (phones didn’t work) to ask if
they had space. They had. Hallelujah! And so we ended up at Seedfarm Villas on the eastern edge
of town, a quiet, modern, woman-owned hotel – 10 40.004S 035 40.270E – popular with business

people. Here we stayed for two nights (TSh50,000 dbl, TSh40,000 sgl) in friendly garden surrounds
complete with traveller palm. By then we had done 3000km and it was time for AAP to get a full
service. Mr Mbwila recommended a friend with garage (the local Toyota dealer) who came the next
morning, collected the car and brought it back in the evening, well serviced and ready to roll ($350).
That evening we had dinner with Mark at his hotel, as thanks for his invaluable help. He gave us
information on the new Umoyo 1 bridge, the bridge across the Rovuma into Mozambique at
Negomane that’d been delayed by three years already. When would it open? He phoned an
engineering friend (he himself used to be an engineer before becoming a hotelier) in Mtwara who
said “maybe November”. Well, we couldn’t wait until November and decided to use the Umoyo 2
bridge at Mitomoni instead to get to our next destination, Niassa Park. We refuelled, chased around
little shops for some coolant (oddly, fuel stations in Tanzania don’t sell oils, water, coolants), then
consulted ‘Irma la Duce’ (my GPS talks to me and is therefore called Irma) for the way out of town.
20km on the road to Mbamba Bay an easily-overlooked sign indicates the beginning of the 128km
track to Mitomoni. The track was quite good, recently graded in anticipation of the president’s
opening the new bridge, and we reached the spanking-new border post by lunchtime – 11 34.372S
035 25.444E. No money-changers, no hawkers, no guesthouses (the last one I saw was 20km short
of the border) – not even any dalla-dalla traffic. We had nice long chats with the border officials
who don’t see many crossings (the last car had been through five days ago!) and are therefore
amenable to long chats; they changed shillings into meticais for us ($1=25MT), and bid us farewell.
Tanz: Mitomoni border, Umoyo 2 bridge over the Rovuma
Sign: built in 3 months!
Before crossing into Mozambique, I have to mention here that Tanzania’s ‘hungry policemen’ seem
to have gone, the ‘men in white’ (traffic police in Tanzania wear white) who prey upon foreignregistered
cars (to be fair, our Zambian police do that too), fine for fictitious infractions (I once was
fined for speeding while stopped at a traffic light!), or beg to be given kidogo, ‘some little thing’. We
encountered many road-blocks, had our papers inspected time and time again, but always it was
done pleasantly and politely, and not once did we encounter any ‘kidogo’ attempts.