Mbeya, Tanzania
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The strangest thing that has yet happened to us, occurred today: we were travelling on a minibus / shared taxi / daladala from the Malawi/Tanzania border to Mbeya, a two-hour drive through not much of anything. At various stops people got on and off, usually locals from the various hamlets along the way. After rounding a bend in the road, we encountered four teenage boys flagging down the bus. The bus stopped and they asked through the window if there was room for four. There wasn't and, shockingly, the conductor didn't let them on. The strangest part, though, is this: they were white Australians all dressed in boyscout uniforms. We left them where they were (the middle of nowhere), unfortunately, but I would have paid dearly to hear their story!
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The jacarandas and bottlebrush trees in full bloom have made Mbeya quite pretty. It's amazing how a few of the former's vibrant violet blossoms scattered about can make alligator-cracked asphalt look beautiful.
