RTG Southern Cross Daily Dispatch low-res - Flipbook - Page 35
15 February to 5 March 2020
Day 18
Ngorongoro to Taita Hills (380 km)
Our day started at 2,400m at a chilly 11°c and
finished at around 1,100m and a balmy 25°c. This
was going to be a long day, but an easy one with
only the Tanzanian / Kenyan border to interrupt
the flow.
4 March 2020
Passage Control, next to the road at the Cafe Kabisa coffee
cart. This little barista’s barrow, served up superb, hot brown
nectar all morning with just about everyone who tried a cup
proclaiming that it was the best brew of the entire rally.
Jamie Turner and Sarah Ormerod, manning the control,
barely controlled their palpitations long enough to stamp
the timecards as they came screeching in from the highway.
A barbeque lunch followed at the excellent Arusha Coffee
Lodge, whereafter dozens of amazed American tourists
pawed over the cars and shot dismayed looks from their
tour bus as the driver gunned the engine for the next leg of
their journey. The next chapter of our journey though, was
the border crossing and, thanks to some recent roadbuilding
around Arusha - a one time bottleneck - we all made good
time and suffered no hold ups at all.
As well as boasting some excellent new roads Tanzania
also has (possibly) one of the most efficient traffic police
departments on the continent. Willy van Loon was not alone
in making a couple of valuable contributions to their coffers
over the course of the afternoon. Denis and Jill Wilson on
the other hand were seen to be pulled over by the side of
the road near Moshi because they’d lost their brakes. Andy
Inskip, soon on the scene with the Destros, got them moving
Rogier and Marjan Quekel, 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE
When we woke we saw that there was still a light rain falling
after last night’s deluge and, within the first few kilometres
of the route, one section of road was in danger of being
totally washed away. The local Maasai had even resorted
to wearing wellington boots as they made their way along
it with their cattle, though in places a pair of thigh length
waders might have been more appropriate.
As they poked their noses through the hotel gates,
many of the crews might have regretted washing their cars
yesterday but, luckily, they only had around 30 km of these
muddy roads to deal with before we left the Conservation
Area and struck out onto the tarmac. Before they hit the
blacktop, there was also one short Regularly to complete
along the rim of the crater, with a few sneaky speed changes
to shake the rally from its rest day lethargy.
When it finally arrived, the Tanzanian tarmac came as
blessed relief. And, it took us in short order to the first
www.rallytheglobe.com
