From Zambia to Tanzania



Days 10 - 13 – 20th – 23rd June 2019

On the way to Mutinondo we stopped in at Kundalila Falls.  The falls are were really impressive, but the height of them could not be properly photographed from the view point.   This was the best we could do at the top of the falls:


Kundalila Falls

After the stop at the falls we pushed on to Mutinondo, where we stayed at a campsite that had a lovely round shelter with a fire place.  We were looking forward to the birding here.
Mutinondo is a proper wilderness camp and ideal for hikers.  One needs to take your rubbish with you upon departure, the toilets are long drops, but the showers are decent and the water is warmed by a donkey boiler.

Not a bird was to be seen or heard, so we decided to push on to Kapishya Hot Springs the following morning.


Kapishya Hot Springs

We absolutely loved Kapishya Hot Springs – the hot springs, the camp site, the birdlife.  We decided to stay for three nights instead of the planned two, camped on the banks of the Manasha River.





A White Browed Robin Chat visited us every afternoon, singing for a small piece of cheese.  Our next afternoon visitor was not as welcome – we think a black cobra, easily two metres long – swimming in the river along the campsite.  Then are there we decided that the porta-potties were going to be put to good use during the evenings going forward!


Dinner was had at the Lodge on one evening and the remaining dinners were done on the fire.  We had heard that the road going north from hereon was really bad, which meant two long days on the road lay ahead – one to Kings Highway Kulunga, and the next across the border to Mbeya, Tanzania.

It was indeed a long road to Kings Highway Kulunga the next day.  The road in sections was so potholed that you really didn’t know where to drive, as the dirt next to the roads was just as bumpy.


Our destination was however really, really nice – tucked away in the bush where there was just you and the owls who put you to sleep with their incessant hooting.

We had banked on at least two hours of getting to the border post (54km’s), but fortunately some repairs had been done on the road and only 15km’s of the last stretch to Tuduma was really bad.  It still took us about an hour and a half to do the 54 km’s.

The border post was another matter – a “one stop shop” border that still took three and a half hours to cross because of all the red tape.  After paying US$25 for road tax and TShilling 150 000 for 3 months’ third party insurance, we were on our way to Utungele Coffee Lodge, another 2 hours from the border, owing to the segregation of trucks and light vehicles travelling on certain sections of the road up the mountain.

We settled in to our first night in Tanzania to three great tastes of the coffee grown at Utungele Coffee Farm – really great!  Everyone was so friendly – a huge super-duper welcome to Tanzania!  Of course a few “Killies” were savoured before dinner, and we all look forward to what awaits us in Tanzania.

Tomorrow we make our way to Iringa, and then on to the Ruaha National Park for three nights.

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