The road less travelled
Mbeya to Kigoma … 1,300km of dusty, bumpy and at times winding roads with ever-changing beautiful scenery is possibly the quickest way to describe the route from south to north on the western side of Tanzania.
The trip itself is anything but quick though and quite honestly one wouldn’t want to rush it as that would be an absolute injustice to the beauty of a region probably less frequented by foreign travelers Having said that, it was back in 2009 when I embarked on this adventure as part of a Southern and Central Africa exploration and there may very well be a lot more adventurous folk over-landing that way now.
Accommodation was sourced along the way as this was part of the adventure and in keeping with the spirit of being flexible and spontaneous. Let’s not ignore adventurous either; there were a few occasions when come nightfall with no village in sight the best option was to head off-road a few hundred metres and wild camp in the proverbial ‘middle of nowhere’.
One place definitely worthy of mention, and fortuitously discovered via word of mouth enroute is Lake Shore Lodge; to be found on Lake Tanganyika near the village of Kipili. It’s a slight deviation to the west off the ‘main’ road about a third of the way up from Mbeya. Started up in 2007 and owner run by Chris and Louise Horsfall this is a veritable oasis with the local community very much involved. Sure, it’s a little off the beaten track, but getting there is part of the adventure and without a doubt worth the effort. Here’s their website if you ever head that way … www.lakeshoretz.com
Lake-shore Lodge .... relaxing sun-downers and alfresco dining on the beach
While talking ‘off the beaten track’, I was initially under the impression that this was a road for serious 4x4 vehicles, which required some looking after along the way, but upon being introduced to the local transport / bus service / carry-all’s plying their trade up and down this piece of dirt strip I couldn’t help chuckling at my uninformed ignorance.
Every day we passed numerous precariously-leaning, colourful buses loaded with everything imaginable including quite literally the kitchen sink and a few chickens. Traveling in the centre of the road and so precarious in fact that one felt obligated to move over into the bush to make space for them to pass, lest they try moving over and end up toppling over.
On the map one will see that this road bisects Katavi National Park from south to north (as that was the way I was travelling) and if one is passing through it makes absolute sense to spend a few days there enjoying one of the few truly wild areas remaining on this planet of ours. Besides the usual herbivores and predators that abound one could also get to see some of the largest crocodiles to be found in Africa along with an incredible array of bird life; all of this in amongst the most beautifully natural setting.
A rather large crocodile Palm-nut Vulture Katavi sunset
Another important aspect of adventure for me is sampling the local food along the way and there was plenty of that on offer. Most villages have a roadside market with friendly vendors braai’ing (barbecuing) and frying meat, chicken, eggs and potato wedges; all perfect for a quick ‘take-away’.
In the larger towns with a little searching you will find restaurants selling simple wholesome meals; my favourite being a healthy plate of beans, rice and spinach.
A word of advice - look for the busy places as that usually means the food is moving fast and should therefore be fresh. I’m sticking with this logic as it worked for me and not once along the way did I get a single stomach upset.
Almost eight years have passed since I travelled this route, but the memories remain strong; possibly an influence of the adventure of it at the time, but more so I think from the interaction with some of the folk along the route and experiencing - ‘the more remote, the more friendly and welcoming'.
