Day 21 - Hotting Up in Tanzania

Dodoma to Mbeya today and a couple of hard and fast rocky gravel competitive sections on the way. The first was more to our liking and though very rough in places. We overtook the leader Andy in the section and took a 2 minute benefit. The second was more to Andy's liking being an uphill rocky hillclimb where suspension travel and mid-range grunt is paramount; both of which we have in short supply. So we should be 1 minute closer to him. 

Then a long road run to Mbeya through progressively greener and even more lush countryside. Beautiful well tendered fields and stunning forests stretching to the background hills and mountains in the distance: quite stunning. 

I didn't actually sightsee all of the 300km. Bob drove and I had a little snooze, having been since 5 spanner checking the front hubs. I tried on the London to Sydney Rally some years ago to find a way of sleeping in an upright rally seat and avoid the 'nodding dog' syndrome. We tried on that event a foam surgical collar which velcros around the neck and on which to rest your chin. Even with belts tight it didn't quite fit the bill so I experimented with a velcro strap to hold the collar back to the seat. 

This must have looked rather odd - surgical collar, intercom headphones, sunglasses and a velcro strap round all to keep my head from flopping about. It might have looked odd but - I was out like a light for over an hour, essential when we are surviving on 5 or at most 6 hours sleep a night. Just outside Mbeya, we were stopped for speeding at perhaps the 5th or 6th Police speed check on the day. I've no idea when the limit was but we were doing 48km/hr an the officer's radar display. Bob was driving so - 'tut-tutted' and the officer we must pay a fine of 37 Shillings. I worked that out at just a few pence so we very happily offered to pay it straightaway. Bob toddled off to see another man and soon returned, 'they mean 37000 Shillings!' Now that's over $200. They were intrigued by the car though and when we pleaded poverty and told them we were raising money for schools in outlying areas of Africa, they let us off. 

We arrived at the rather less than luxury hotel in Mbeya to be greeted by the 911 crew Joost and Jacques who had cracked a bottle of champers. Chilled and crisp after a long day in the dust, this is the way to go rallying - its winning me over. This was followed by gin and tonics. When we unloaded our dusty gear for a clean out and re-pack, they watched astonished that we would carry so much gear. Joost very kindly offered to carry some of our kit in his 911 which of course we accepted. He is now officially carrying our sand shovel to reduce our weight and increase speed, very sporting (either that or he knows we have some more soft sand sections coming up). So there you have it, the 911 has become part of our service and support crew. Who would have thought it.

Bad news reached us when we heard that Rod Taylor and Ian Morgan had rolled their Toyota this morning which was badly damaged but drivable. Fortunately, they were unhurt. They were lying third so it will very disappointing to Rod and Ian and I look forward to seeing them back, hopefully tomorrow. This puts our service barge the 911 in third, which ordinarily would be the perfect position from which to hand us our sand shovel should we need digging out. Unfortunately, they are so much quicker in that rocket-ship of a car, that they run first on the road useful to scare away the wildlife. 

Considering I'm in the heart of safari country my animal count is miserable. Others boast of seeing elephants by waterholes, giraffes through the trees and wildebeest sweeping majestically across the great plain. I've only seen a variety of monkeys, mainly because I'm usually driving and it doesn't pay to look elsewhere when traffic can be so erratic and potholes abound.

Day 21 southern Tanzania after finishing competitive sections involving some very muddy watersplashes.  

And afterwards. Got a punctured tyre repaired at same garage. 

Just road sections tomorrow so a break from outright competition. We pass into Zambia.