For 3 straight days I would be heading almost due west, traversing Tanzania from Dar es Salaam to the border of Malawi, and mighty Lake Nyasa. It turned out to be 3 glorious days of motorcycle riding in supreme weather in central Africa, through changing landscapes. Peaks and valleys, farm land, pine forests, pineapple fields, and even lush green tea plantations in the southwestern part of Tanzania. Some of the best riding days on the trip so far, the type of conditions every avid motorcycle rider dreams of.

The first day I rode about 350 km from Dar to Morogoro, followed by another 400 kilometer day to Kisolanza just south of Iringa. John from the Jungle Junction days in Nairobi had suggested that I stay at the Old Farm House at Kisolanza. I spotted a sign at the road, and found the place very easily after a few hundred meters along a dirt road. Rachel, a young Canadian lady, who had started as manager of the Farm House a few months earlier, welcomed me. The farm, which has been in the hands of the Ghaui family for over a century, was originally based on the farming of tobacco. It is still a working farm, but more recently the Farm House was established to give people travelling from Zanzibar to Malawi along the old Cape to Cairo road, a convenient place to rest. It now has a restaurant, conference facilities, spa and a range of accommodation from camping, to basic rooms and up to luxury bungalows. They had one room left st $ 100 or the campsite at $ 10. An easy choice for me - I quickly set up camp, and prepared one of the freeze dried meals I had brought along, pasta bolognese, washed down with an ice cold Kilimanjaro beer from the bar. Life is good.

Earlier in the day I had one of the most exciting experiences of the trip, when I followed the road right through the middle of Mikumi National Park. It is the fourth largest game park in Tanzania, and a trip of some 50 kilometers through the park. There were plenty of game - with giraffes, eland, buffalo, zebra, warthogs, baboons, various buck and other animals on both sides of the road, as I was driving through the reserve. One of the disadvantages of being on a motorcycle is the fact that you are not allowed to enter game parks, due to predators. I am not quite sure how it works at Mikumi, as I subsequently read that you are able to spot all the big 5 in the park. Nobody stopped me when I drove through the entrance gate on the bike. A very special experience- and I lived to tell the tale!

Leaving the Old Farm House, the - by now familiar scenario - played out again. An adventure type motorcycle kitted out with all sorts of luggage, next to a tent, and an old bearded and gray haired man, preparing breakfast and coffee on a small stove, is simply irresistible to someone with an adventurous spirit and soul. An elderly - 63 year old German - he told me a bit later, approached the bike, having noticed the Danish numberplate and wondered how I had come to Tanzania. He was a really nice fellow, and we ended up talking for quite a while. He was a motorcyclist himself, and had done an interesting trip in Australia a couple of years back, from Darwin to Sydney. He was two years from retirement, and would dearly love to do a trip like mine, along the east coast of Africa. I encouraged him to do something about it. 

Do you really want to boost your ego! Then do a trip like mine, or something along the same lines. It never seizes to amaze me how a lot of people are completely in awe when they realize that I have been driving the bike all the way from Denmark. Some of them shake my hand earnestly, others take a bow in respect. I have even had a couple of guys kneel down before me. One Malawian guy wouldn’t let go of my hand, having shaken it already ten times. Others simply utter the word: “respect”!

When I finally got going, I headed for Utengule. Rachel was there to wish me a pleasant journey, and sent me off with the words - you are an amazing man! The gate was barely wide enough to accommodate my broad shoulders when I left the Old Farm House! Utengule is situated just west of the city of Mbeya. I was going to try and get in at Utengule Coffee Lodge, once again recommended by Wayne. Getting to the lodge required an 8 km ride along a really challenging dirt road. What a beautiful place it turned out to be, situated at an altitude of 1.500 meters, sparkling pool, a multitude of trees and plants, birds of all kinds and, not least, an “out of Africa” bar cum restaurant. Debbie and her staff gave me a hearty welcome. One room left at $ 100,00, camping site $ 11,50. Would have loved a room, I told Debbie, but will take the campsite. Debbie must have sensed that I wasn’t too keen on camping that day, and suddenly mentioned that they had just finished renovating a bungalow, with 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, big lounge and kitchen with fridge, stove, and kettle. They weren’t “serviced”, and I would have to provide my own linen (sleeping bag) and towel. There was nobody booked into the place at the moment, and I could have the entire place all to myself for the same price as the campsite, $ 11,50. I immediately booked in for two nights, and had to tear myself away from the place when I left two days later. I had two incredible days there. The Arabica restaurant offered a choice of 4 different main meals every day, as well as choices for starters and desserts. I had chicken masala with roasted potatoes and steamed vegetables one evening, and beef stroganoff with rice and vegetables another. I dined like a king, and put on the kilos I had lost the previous two months.

The lodge and farm are situated on the slopes of the Mbeya mountains on the edge of the Rift Valley. The lodge business is a minor side of this enterprise. The major income is from the coffee farming. Utengule is not just ANY coffee farm - in 2017 they were voted one of the top brands in the world, in the gourmet coffee category. They produce around 80 tons of coffee per annum, of which 80% is exported. I did a most interesting tour of the farm, expertly done by Abdul, and got really clued up on the coffee industry - the planting, the growing, the different types of coffee, selection, “floaters and sinkers”, roasting, and much much more. I will most certainly appreciate my cappuccino even more in the future. The tour ended with a cup of espresso and cappuccino, brewed on prime quality Utengule beans.

The farm was purchased 8 years ago by a Swiss guy and his Danish wife, passionate about the farming of coffee, from a family who had owned the farm for 3 generations. Abdul told us a story, which happened at the 100 year anniversary celebration of the farm, recently. The previous owner said in his speech: “In my life I have made two extraordinarily brilliant decisions - the first one was marrying the wife I did (I can say exactly the same for my own life) and the second one was selling the family farm to Hans (the present owner). I could never myself have built it into what it has become today, and developed the brand in the same way Hans has done”. A lovely end to the tour.

I REALLY, REALLY want to re-visit Utengule Coffee Lodge.

My time in fantastic Tanzania had come to an end, and it was time to move on to Malawi.