View with a mango

A knackering but very rewarding hike from Morogoro town into the Uluguru Mountains, reaching this spot known as Morningside. This was a retreat built by the Germans in the early 1900s, being renovated now but only in use currently as a camping spot for hikers and students from the agricultural university and a place to perch and enjoy the view. The bloke who watches over the grounds cultivates strawberries, blackberries and peaches among other things that would have originally been introduced here from European cuttings.

I ate a mango whilst admiring the view, and then fell asleep, snoring on a picnic bench. When I woke up the skies were darkening and it was sensible to head down the mountain. There then ensued the unique experience of playing cat and mouse with swirling storm showers, which alternately swooped down and around the mountain, trailing us on the path. It was kind of exhilarating as we remained on the right side of drenched.

As mangoes here haven’t been selectively bred and de-stringed for western sensibilities, for the rest of the afternoon my mouth was more mango string than teeth. Back in Morogoro town, legs struggling to function, I headed for an Indian restaurant to load up on paneer dishes and naan bread. No matter what corner of the world I am in, I always stuff myself silly at an Indian restaurant. I will never learn. Is this a universal problem?