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.

Day 246 Kenya/Tanzania 06/07/2011, Namanga – free camp in a quarry near Mt Meru. 46.33miles/74.63km, 5hr16minutes, Av 8.8mph.

What a lovely nights sleep; I particularly enjoyed the noisily barking dogs, the large lorry arriving late that kept its engine running for what seemed like hours and of course that well known sleep disturber the early rising rooster. Debs meanwhile had taken the wise precaution of earplugs!

The border turned out to be a little further than 2km, but not by much. The town of Namanga is a proper border town and seems to exist only for that purpose. Suddenly the good roads gave way to a pot holed partially surfaced track and we were at the border.

Before heading to immigration we changed our remaining Kenyan shillings for Tanzanian ones at a nearby exchange office. We may not have a lot of cash, but it should be enough to get us to Arusha. Getting stamped out of Kenya was painless, although as both borders are open and no one was checking, it would be quite possible to walk straight through into Tanzania! The Tanzanian immigration department was a little trickier, as for some reason they don't have the forms that you need to fill in available before you queue up. In the end though, it was pretty much a case of handing over $50 each and then waiting for our passports to come back. The whole process from arrival to leaving took about an hour and then we were on our way.

The bad road surface for 91km sign proved to be untrue, although an off road diversion right at the start of our Tanzanian odyssey had us a little worried. Clearly in the last year there has been some serious road building going on, as another westerner at the border had told us that she was in Tanzania last year and the road was awful.

Our immediate impression of Tanzania, was that the people, especially the Masai, were more openly friendly. What did become apparent however, was that there was no chance of the road levelling out any. If anything it was even hillier than it had been in Kenya, plus we had the joy of cycling against a strong headwind.

Our first stop of the day came at the town of Longido, some 27km from the border. A helpful police man showed us a small restaurant and we had a refreshing drink and waited for the chips that they were preparing to be cooked. The chips took quite a while, but we were kept entertained by a young staff member who spoke very good English, although she was playing truant from school! We opted to have the chips with an egg each and were a bit surprised when it arrived as a chip filled omelette, it was no less tasty for it though.

Back on the road we slowly wended our way towards Arusha, slowly being the operative word. The scenery was nice but it did start to become a little repetitive and we still haven't seen Kilimanjaro as it has been too cloudy. By way of a diversion I stopped and chatted to two young Masai men who seemed to think having their photo taken was hilarious.

Debs then later assisted a thirsty Masai by giving him some of her water. See, not only seeing the world from a bicycle, but providing a service as well!

As the day wore on, the hills and relentless wind started to take their toll. The town that we were expecting to buy water at, didn't materialise and there was no way we were going to make it to Arusha. It has to be said that making it to Arusha was always going to be a long shot anyway. Eventually we reached a small village and thankfully managed to buy some water. All we needed to do now was find somewhere to camp, which was made more difficult by there being Masai everywhere that looked promising. We would have happily asked them if camping would be alright, but since getting closer to Arusha all they have done is ask for money. It seems for the time being we have left all the friendly ones behind us.

With our reserves of energy running out, we went back to investigate an old quarry that we had just passed. It may not be the most glamorous place to camp, but it is certainly not owned by the Masai, we can't be seen from the road and we are unlikely to be bothered by any wild animals.

With any luck the 40km journey to Arusha tomorrow will be painless and we will be safely camped at Sakina camp-site. Provided we can find it of course!