2 June: Sunday Funday

We had a lazy Sunday morning by sleeping in and taking our time to get the day started. Chris and I went for a leisurely cycle around Steves farm. There are no fences indicating boundaries so we went whizzing down the hills, crossing little streams and pushing up hills, going past subsistance mielie and sunflower fields. It was nice to be relaxed, we were in our vellies and very casual. We stopped to take the scenary in and smell the strong pollen coming from the sunflowers. We cycled through lots of tall gums. Although the sun shone brightly, the temperature was cool with an icy wind. Mud houses stood firmly on the slopes of the hills and livestock roamed freely. We passed a few herders with their goats, carrying water tanks on a home made wooden wheel barrow. After an intense 10 km of cycling through the rural farmland we got back just in time for a light lunch. Mom had a sleep and woke up feeling 100% recovered from her cold.

Crossing a little stream to get up the hill

Steves neighbour, Hartmut, who also rarely has guests invited us over for the night. On our way we came across an unbalanced mielie truck on the verge of tipping over was not about to make way for us. We waited while Steve did some negotiating in Swahili and we were back on the road. We were greeted by a friendly Hartmut who eagerly showed us around his dairy farm. We made it in time to experience the milking process where we saw lots of cows walk into their mechanised milk station. We walked for about an hour and a half through the meadows, down the valley and by the river. He has an absolutely stunning property and we learned so much about dairy farming from him passionately describing his work. Hartmut, 11 years ago, bought this property which bore nothing. He started from scratch, planting whats now lush green grass, beautiful paddocks and is the first and only dairy farmer to have a mechanised milking system commerically run. He installed irrigation to water his grass, he has own lucern for feeding, he installed permanent electricty and now sells milk to local companies. He now has over 350 cows and a very impressive and successful diary farm. Theres a magnificent fast running river flowing through his property where hes kept the natural vegetation. We watched the sunset at the top of the hill overlooking his happy cows grazing.

A few cows getting milked

Just as the stars came out, we were back at the house where he had organized lamb from his farm on the braai. We enjoyed our delicious homey meal around the table with wine. We continued to drink wine late into the evening learning about life in Tanzania. The hospitality received by Steve and Hartmut was overwhelming.

Cycled: 10 km

Time: 1:08 hrs

Ave speed: 7.3 km/hr

Ascent: 155 m