Iringa to Tukuyu - Monday 1st Feb

We are still heading for Malawi and will be travelling only 320 kmshowever Jan tells us that this will take the best part of the day due to the state of conditions of the roads plus the numerous 30 or 50km p/hour speed zones, police check points and speeding camera police.

 The road is the main transport line for the port of Dar Se Salaam to central Africa so the trucks and buses drive like crazy to get to their destination before dark as they aren't supposed to travel after dark so need to keep alert today . Tukuyu is about 0 kms south of Mbeya which is very close to the boarder

We headed off about 9 and wasn't long before we saw the first couple of truck crashes

Note the tree branches on the side of the road- these are used to alert oncoming drivers that their is an issue coming up and to slow down

We had only travelled about 50kms when the traffic came to a complete stop in both directions. A quick check with the one of the local police ( the lady in white below who we called big momma )revealed that they had been a truck breakdown that was blocking most of the road and then as other trucks were trying to squeeze around on either side they became bogged .

Another truck roll off just down from where we were stopped. Jan said that the most truck crashes he had counted on 1 single day on the router was 20 ! Should prove to be an interesting day no doubt.

Nothing to do now except get out a camp chair and wait

After about 2 hours they had managed to get the right side cleared so it was all action stations hoping that the semi's or buses in front of us wouldn't get bogged. The main truck in the middle had lost its axles and diff  so they had parked it in the middle of the road as this was the most level part to put it up on wooden blocks to start the repair job- brilliant thinking by the boys- not

Got through about 12 noon so then it was off to try and pick up some lost time. Lots of road works and 30km zones and numerous police checks kept the journey very slow. Avoided any radar speed  cops and didn't get  stopped at any police checks however I made sure I had the 3 essential things in your car- fire extinguisher , hazard triangles and medical kit. The police are generally pretty bad on this road and are keen to find anything wrong to fine you and they inspect for these 3 things first hoping to catch you out.

As we got close to our town it was very much like driving around Nambour /Gympie region as they were lots of pineapple and banana plantations  They also grow lots of tea around the area as well

As the buses come into each town and start to drop off their passengers they are descended on by the snack sellers using the 30 seconds between stops  to transact with the bus passengers via the windows

Finally reached out motel for the night about 5.30 after a long day on the road. Couple of quick drinks followed by dinner and then off to bed early.