Tanzania : Day 9 : Namanga to Arusha

After a brilliant electric storm which bucketed down a heap of rain, we set off early the next morning towards the border of Kenya and Tanzania! Going through this border post was an experience in itself as we had to disembark from the truck, go through the Kenyan side, then walk across a patch of land called "No Mans Land" and enter the Tanzanian side ... and all the time dodging the traders and vendors who were so eager to sell their wares at all cost! I bought a really beautiful Masai blanket but of course, once you buy something, it makes the street sellers even more eager to hound you !!! We were unable to take photos around the border post areas but you can picture the scene ... streets lined with street sellers all selling the same or very similar trinkets and treasures and desperately trying to take advantage of the tourists who are forced to stop and walk around due to border requirements.

As we passed through the border, we were able to see the mighty Mount Kilimanjaro high above the clouds ... it is after all the world's highest freestanding mountain and is quite spectacular so to be able to see the top of it was quite special as it is usually obscured by fluffy white clouds!!





We then drove on to the busy town of Arusha where we spent a night at a great campsite with a cool bar ... we met 4 South African guys who were travelling overland from Cape Town to Cairo on motorbikes ... hard core boys! I also met an Italian woman who had been travelling on her own in a self designed and self made campervan (truck!) and she had been all over the African continent and had some very interesting stories to tell ... a bit of a loner but an interesting character nonetheless!