The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Sunday, February 14, 2021

Where we are staying for the next two weeks

Yesterday's post was a little late, so if you missed it you can read it here first...

https://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2021/02/long-day-to-get-to-usambara-mountains.html

So, the taxi was bringing us along this dirt track that was not much wider than a walking path. I had seen pictures of the property, so I kind of knew what to expect, but from the looks of this path I wasn't sure we were heading in the right direction!

We came to an old wooden gate, and the driver got out to fully open it so we could get through. He seemed confident that we were going to the right place.

Scenery along the way.

Sure enough, we came to a clearing where we could see the house.

Yep, this is the place!

I'm trying to learn some more about the history of this old house. It seems so out of place here in rural Tanzania. During the German colonial period from the 1890s to 1918 the area was popular with settlers. Large farms and plantations were created in what was a pleasant mountain climate.

I believe that is when this big old house was built.

The current owner does not live on site, but there is a large local staff. The property is beautiful, and while the house is a little dated and needs some work, it's a beautiful location. We do not have access to the master bedroom, but otherwise we are the only ones here besides the staff and we have the run of the place.

Ruth on the property.

There is a fishing pond.

Our bedroom.

Our bathroom.
There is a shower we can use in the downstairs bathroom.

The living room.

The living room is huge. What you are seeing in the photo above is only half of it! There is seating for 12 people! We are pretty comfy sitting in there. There is also a big fireplace that the staff have offered to light up for us, but it really hasn't been necessary yet.

Ruth in the kitchen.

We have full use of the kitchen, but the staff will also cook for us. We have not yet checked into the prices!

The dining room.

We have booked in for a two week stay at 70,000 shillings ($38.50 CAD, $30.25 USD) per night for the two of us.

We had a rest, but then did the short walk back into town to pick up some supplies. It will take us a few days to figure out where the best places are to buy things. There is no larger grocery store so you have to go to several shops to get what you're looking for, and even then we found it difficult. Again, hopefully after a couple of days we'll get things figured out.

The road into town.

We were having a hard time finding fresh chicken. Asking some questions using Google Translate in Swahili, we finally found someone who spoke some English. He said "do you want plump European factory chicken, or do you want local natural chicken?"

We said local chicken. We probably should have chosen the plump European one!

We were brought to a stand that had several skinny chicken carcasses on it. They asked if we wanted it cut up, which they did (including removing the head for us!) and then proceeded to tell us that would be 15,000 shillings ($8.25 CAD, $6.50 USD). We think we got taken, but at least we had dinner! And, we'll get two meals out of it for the two of us.

There seem to be a lot more Muslim people in Lushoto, so booze is maybe not that common. But we found a place to buy some beer and a bottle of the local stuff.

Next up was some fruits and veggies.

Ruth, buying some veggies.
The lady does not look overly impressed with me.

We both slept great last night. The bed is a little hard, but the sheets and pillows are good quality which made for a comfy night's sleep. 

They are calling for more rain today, but the forecast for Monday through Friday is supposed to be beautiful. We are looking forward to getting out and exploring the area.

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Decent deal on this Kindle Paperwhite.

And in Canada...



24 comments:

  1. How in the world could you find a place like this to rent and what app can indicate a restaurant in such a tiny African village? I'm so impressed !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Airbnb for the accommodation, and google maps for the restaurant.

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  2. What percentage of tip do you normally leave at restaurants or what is the standard at the restaurant you where at yesterday or the day before?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have been told to tip 5% or to just round up but we normally leave about 10%. The locals don't tip and if you are in a fancier tourist type restaurant that you should tip a little more but we normally stay away from those preferring to use the small local mom and pop type of restaurants.

      Delete
  3. "We probably should have chosen the plump European one!"
    Now that was funny! I wonder if they actually fly in the plump "European one!"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol, we have yet to find a "plump European" chicken, in fact it seems to be hard just to find a fresh chicken anywhere in this town! We have tried several of the butcher places and have come up empty.

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  4. Very nice place...and reasonably priced. I love chicken & rice with veggies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a nice place and we will enjoy our time here! :-)

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  5. I love following your adventures but am going to have to stop reading as the ad generating program has become too annoying for me. Safe travels...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just download Add Blocker. I've never seen an add on their amazing blog. Cheers!

      Delete
    2. I was holding my tongue and putting up with the ads but it has become more and more difficult to read your Blog while negotiating around the ads. I downloaded Adblock and see that it has blocked 45 ads on just this one page. I appreciate that you use these ads to generate income and I put up with it as long as I could but it just became too much. I am afraid you have a small revolution on your hands.

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    3. As Kevin mentioned in prior comments, he was experimenting with the ads program and was trying to see if it made any difference. It didn't seem to make a difference moneywise other than to annoy you our readers so he has now put it back to the way it was before, it may take a day or two for it all to go back to normal.

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    4. Thank you, Kevin! As I mentioned before, I was originally blocking ads, but after you told me that that was a bad idea, I unblocked them. It really was hard to deal with the number of ads coming up, much worse on any other blog I read. Thank you for making this change!

      Delete
  6. Yes your new adds under the pics stink and distract too much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kevin has reverted the ads program back to the way it was before he started experimenting with them. It may take a day or two for the change to take effect.

      Delete
  7. Looks like a wonderful place and I hope you can get some more history on it. The living room looks perfect for a chat and tea during the rain. Enjoy and get some rest after doing something the majority of the world will only know through pictures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have asked our host for some history on the place but she hasn't passed it along to us.

      We will definitely be enjoying this area. :-)

      Delete
  8. A bit late, but a huge thank you for taking us along on the Kilimanjaro experience. It was epic! About ads-I've seen them on here, but in checking back tonight, I have none. Don't know why, still using facebook if that helps.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So glad that you enjoyed reading about our adventures climbing Kilimanjaro, it was definitely and epic adventure for us and we are proud to have succeeded at.

      Facebook wouldn't have any effect concerning the ads that are on our blog, they are two totally different entities. Perhaps you already have an ad blocker activated.

      Delete
  9. What a lovely house and setting! I don't think the town looks very good, though I've seen similar in Guatemala. At least you two are always up for the challenge, and Ruth is so talented at creating meals, it looks like you'll do just fine. Hope you enjoy your time there and the rain will hold off for a bit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It seems that most towns look like this here in Tanzania. Other than the main road, all the other roads are dirt roads and will get muddy when wet, and very dry and dusty when it is dry out. There really is nothing that stands out as beautiful when it comes to the buildings, they are all very basic but the people and the culture are very interesting and different from what we see in most other countries that we have visited even from our visits to Namibia and South Africa which seem quite a bit more modern than here.

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  10. What a lovely house and property in the middle of nowhere! I wonder how often it gets used even pre-Covid. Are those flowers in the living room artificial? I’m very pleased to hear that Kevin will do something about the AD placement. Looking forward to a better reading experience. Safe travels.

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    Replies
    1. The house is really pretty but it needs lots of TLC, it is getting quite run down in places. We really aren't sure how often it gets used by either the owner or by people like us using it as an Airbnb.

      Yes, the flowers in the living room are all artificial!

      What you are seeing in the ad placement is what Kevin has reverted back to, you missed when he was playing around with them.

      Delete

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