7 June, Friday: Mfumbi Campsite -> Mbeya, Cycling rest day

We woke up to the smell of fire and there was Moses, sitting, waiting and watching for us to get up. Again, we now had to let him know nicely that we are fine thank you. Five minutes later he was back to stoke the fire, eventually giving up and ignoring the intense stares. We left the beautiful, tranquil spot where we had the most incredible unexpected day by the river. We headed for Chimala, the village where our friendly Muslim family had invited us over. We cycled 5 km before we saw Ikram, Maharocks son, eagerly waiting for us on the side of the road to show us the way. Their house was just off the road and we arrived to the entire family all dressed smartly, waiting our arrival. Once we got there, the family were all so thrilled we came as they had thought we would'nt come.

Kathryn, Kayla and Maharock and her family in her home, Chimala

The house had clearly just been cleaned and they spent the night making us samosa's and baking biscuits and cakes. Mom mentioned yesterday that she drinks coffee so Maharock went out specially to buy Mom coffee and this morning she apologized, hoping its ok because she's never made coffee. Her sisters all live around in the same area and were all so keen for us to go and see their houses. They all had tupawares of food to give us, insisting we take the tupawares. Zenah brought a bag of dresses that she so desperately wanted to give me, as a reminder of her, she was so scared I'd forget her. Chris mentioned how he supports Manchester United, so Ikram gave Chris his personalized ManU shirt with Ikrams name on the back. Their kindness, generosity and welcoming was a bit over the top and completely unusual for us but we made the most of it and accepted all the gifts and appreciated that by just being there and visiting them, we had made their lives.

The lovely treats all the women prepared for us

We struggled to leave but eventually we got back on our bikes and headed for Mbeya, exhausted already just from making conversation. The road got really bad just as we got out Chimala. There was no shoulder to cycle on and potholes everywhere. The Chinese clearly havent reached Mbeya yet. The road was dangerous and narrow, we decided its safer we dont cycle and we drove straight to Mbeya, where we planned to stay at the Coffee Lodge. We arrived around lunch time to a gorgeous coffee farm on the Mbeya Mountain and were shown to our cottage. its so bizarre, all these beautiful spots we've stayed at, we landed up going through townships and such bad roads, always getting us wondering what kind of accommodation are we staying in and we are always so pleasantly surprised.

Today has been a particularly tough day emotionally as it was Amy's funeral and it was hard not being with my friends as we all mourn the loss of a very special life. Strangely enough, I learned that Utengule, the village that we are currently in means the land of the peace, so I took this as a sign and I am trying to be at peace knowing that Amy is one of Gods Angels now. So coming to this piece of paradise, we celebrated the good life that Amy had by spending the afternoon in the sun around the pool, with a few baby bunnies hopping around, obviously putting a smile on my face.

Tomorrow Chris's parents, Deby and Erick arrive. Helouise, Chris's older sister was supposed to be joining with Deby, but she announced that she is pregnant so Erick is joining us again. Helouise is also a keen cyclist and loves adventure so it would have been amazing for her to join, but we are over the moon at this very exciting news that there will now be another family member joining the world.