Day 270 Tanzania 30/07/2011, The Old Farm House, Kisolanza – Free camp on the road to Makambako. 36.34miles/58.62km, 4hr09minutes, Av 8.7mph.

I seemed to be dragging my heels this morning, although we did have sausages, fried potatoes and eggs for breakfast, which was a bit more effort than usual. Eventually we got everything packed up and we were on the road by 8:40am.

We had been expecting hills and that is exactly what we got. The road is pretty relentless and not helped by lorries forcing you off the road as they pass. Some gave us plenty of space but others have clearly decided to give way for nobody. It is a shame that one of the lorries ruined a good descent for us. We couldn't believe he was going so slowly down the hill, but overtaking seemed a little risky. Perhaps it was a good thing that he was going so slowly as the totally wrecked truck with a prop shaft embedded in its engine, at the bottom of the hill, gave some clue as to what happens if you drive too fast! Still we are fairly used to it all by now and in general the traffic has been relatively light.

Being in the Southern highlands has provided us with plenty of beautiful scenery and for the latter part of today a large forested area. Making the long climb up into the town of Mafinga, we stopped for a drink and a chat with the locals before continuing on. At about 12:30pm we found a shady spot in some trees to have lunch and as we were getting ready to set off again we saw a cyclist coming down the road. Shouting hi he came over to say hello and we were shortly joined by his two friends. Jiten, Ria and Imraan are from South Africa and left there about 4 months ago with a plan to get to Cairo by December. Interestingly for us they had taken the route through Mozambique and recommended it. After a chat and some photos we exchanged cards and wished each other well, before heading back on the road. These are the first cycle tourists we have met in Africa; it will be interesting to see if we meet many more.

Having ridden approximately half-way to tomorrow's destination we started to think about somewhere to stop for the night. Our original plan to find a guest-house soon gave way to a free camp in the surrounding forest. We haven't seen too many places along our route through East Africa where we could easily stop, so this opportunity was too good to miss. We have found a nice flat spot, just away from the road where we should be untroubled.

Tomorrow we head for the town of Makambako.