1 June, Saturday: Visiting Steve Lawrie's farm in Iringa

A friend of Nana and Pa, from Eshowe, had seen our facebook page and said they are based in Iringa and if we need a bed, we are welcome. We made contact with Steve Lawrie who invited us over. Although we'd only cycled two days, we decided a warm bed and familiar faces would be worth taking a detour for. We found a mini supermarket, the most stocked one we've come across and saw the most white faces we've seen since Dad and Pippa left us. Iringa is a beautiful lively city, a bit more established than the others we've passed. It seems there are a lot of expat farmers in this area.

Steve preparing the donkey for a hot shower

We now journeyed on to go and find Steve. We followed a long dirt road, eventually bumping into him and meeting him for the first time. He lead us further down a dirt road, now much narrower and not seeing a sole, we really going into the depths of Tanzania. The road got worse as we went along, surrounded by rolling hills of green plants and tall trees, we crossed a few bridges with little streams running under. An hour and a half later, we got to Steves farm, completely secluded and literally in the middle of nowhere. Steve warmly welcomed us as we entered the two bedroom brick house, we heard the whistling sound of the kettle going off and the crackling of burning logs in the fireplace. The air has an icy wind, and the temperature about 14 degrees. We sat with a hot cup of coffee on the verandah in the sun, overlooking Steves avo plantation and and pine trees in the distance. After the formalities were over, we made ourselves at home, hung up our laundry while Steve got the donkey going in prep for a hot shower.

Steve's lovely warm cottage on the hill overlooking his a go fields

Its extremely rustic out here. He lives on his own with no electricty, only turning on the generator in the evenings. There is no TV, no washing machine, a bar fridge plugged into a battery...nothing westernized about his lifestyle at all. He lives a very simple, happy life out here. He has a borehole supplying him with water and 3 dogs keeping him company. We took a drive down to the river, in all our winter clothes, keeping us warm. Its so beautiful out here, so peaceful and quiet and safe, ocassionally hearing the sounds of livestock. Steve doesnt seem to mind being alone, he makes a town trip about once a week where he stocks up on supplies. He made a delicious curry for us and we sat around the fire enjoying a home cooked meal.

A walk down by the river