Drive Back from Dodoma

We got up and ate the breakfast provided at the lodge (toast, boiled eggs and tea) and left around eight (late by the Allisons' standards, quite early by mine ;) ).  We were blessed with another day of beautiful sunny weather with fluffy white clouds for our drive.  It's pretty flat around Dodoma, with some occasional outcroppings here and there, but it got hillier as we drove north. 

I took some pictures of the countryside along the way; sorry they're not great as I didn't roll down the window for most as we were trying to get the air conditioning to keep up as the day warmed up.  

The dirt in central Tanzania is very, very red; you can see a bit of it at the edges of the road but none of these photos really capture it.  I love driving here, seeing farms and villages along the way, and many baobob trees.  We don't have many baobob trees right around Monduli and Arusha, but in most of Tanzania (and much of East Africa) they are common.  They are such iconic African trees, and I love to see them.  

We thought the roof on this little guard house was interesting.  Must have been a lot of fun putting the metal roofing on that.  The corn is really coming up, too! We chatted about music for a good while; the Allisons had a pretty good mix of country music on an iPod, and I played some Home Free, Secret Sisters and Chris Stapleton on my phone. 

We stopped in Babati on the way back to get some fresh vegetables at the market, since it's a bigger town than Monduli and therefore likely to have more variety, and so we wouldn't have to stop once we got back home.  I found a little bit of broccoli, but they didn't have much, but I also got my usual staples, bell peppers, onion and carrots.  The Allisons wore their masks while there; I didn't have a mask (and no locals were wearing them at all), but I did wrap my scarf around in such a way that I could pull it up to cover my mouth and nose when in a crowd.  However, I mostly just managed to confuse people; in their experience, Americans (which I clearly am) who come to Tanzania are generally Christians, but I was wearing a scarf on my head, so was I Muslim?  At least it was a conversation starter to have a nice chat with an avocado and green bean seller.  

Below, the gates into the market place: 

Above: the street that runs alongside the market in Babati.  

We stopped for food at a rest area a bit after Babati; I bought some chapati and some mishikaki (beef on a stick) for lunch, and the Allisons found some samosas.  They only had beef samosas, though, and I prefer the chicken ones.  I really need to learn to make good chapatis or find a good place in Monduli to buy them.  My friend Upendo can make them, I know, but she's pretty busy these days with her laundry business.  

We stopped for gas in Makuyuni, where the road turns toward Arusha.  If you turn left in Makuyuni, the B144 runs out by Lake Manyara an on to the Ngorongoro Crater and eventually the Serengeti.  After Makuyuni, we could see the crater wall of Ngorongoro in the distance for several miles.

I finally did roll the window down briefly to get a good shot without glare.  What a beautiful day!

We made it back to Monduli by three in the afternoon.  The photo below is driving up the TMA road into Monduli.  It's so green here after the recent rains!