Its fair to say it took us a while to get to the first golf course, partly due
to the weather and partly due to there not being that many golf courses (13) in Tanzania, especially on our intended route, which we had to change anyway!
Arriving we head north east towards Dar es Salaam.
We found a wild camp site, Marry Leaky, by the river. Very isolated and a lovely spot to just pitch up and break up our journey - then the locals arrived and asked for money to stay there - plus an entrance fee - oh wow, this wild campsite suddenly became less wild although it was completely off-grid, but we got on with it and paid our dues, only grumbling slightly. There were no facilities, and we were glad we pulled off the road to stay here. We fed the night watchman, gave him shelter as best we could - then went to bed as the sun went down. Next morning, bright and early and we were told we had to pay the night watchman - wait no one said anything about that, we assumed it was in with the various fees we’d already paid!
After breakfast and seeking out where to pay, we hit the road again.
The nice thing about doing what we do, is we can just pull over and stay where we like and we found a lovely campsite with lodges at The Old Farmhouse, Kisolanza near Iringa. Lodges and camping, we were a little spoilt for choice then the owner agreed to host us, and we were so happy as it’s the perfect spot for a stopover plus we had some luxury too!
Our thatch roof lodge had a fireplace in, great for the cooler African nights. Being in the living come bedroom, we benefit from the open fire right up to falling asleep. We loved the bathroom, large and with a shower that dominated the room. A coiled structure which wrapped around in the middle of the bathroom, with the wall dropping down to greet the entrance. We dined in a discarded termite mound - that’s how big these African termites make their mounds!! This termite mound come dining room has a roof on it to prevent any further deterioration of the mud structure by the rain. Where the walls don’t quite meet the roof in height, there’s a gap - simple yet incredibly effective, especially when you’re after a slight breeze.
Enjoying locally produced food in the onsite restaurant, sat in amongst the interesting crags of the former termite mound. Not really being close to any big towns, it was great to taste such fresh food and wonderful the owners had maximised their farm produce and served not just great eating food, but also good looking food.
A walk before breakfast the next day takes us across the farm lands, open and refreshing, we were ready for our breakfast back in the termite mound for a good feed before we drive towards Dar es Salaam - or so we thought.
Helpful owners told us of a cyclone that was hitting Dar es Salaam so playing golf at their coastal courses might not be a good idea, so instead we flex and changed our plans and headed north.
Stopping to buy roadside produce, the avocados are huge and taste great from the roadside, and of course they are cheap too. Served by children is always fun and of course you cant haggle here!
Our next stop is at TPC Moshi. TPC is not as we’d expect in the golf industry but instead the name of the sugar company that own this land and golf course.
Staying in one of their lovely clean fresh open lodges we were able to enjoy all TPC Moshi had to offer, including a nine hole golf course for its members and sugar plantation members.
Grabbing a couple of caddies we set off, and before long our socks are full of cut grass. Now I’m a real princess and a pea kinda of person, so this did irritate me, but I was having such a nice time, I forgot to be irritated as the grass stuck like needles into my socks. A flat course with monkeys darting from the sugar canes to pick through the cut grass which was piled high in places. It is a fun course to play and not massively difficult or arduous to the walk, it’s fair and we both scored OK. The ants on the green were a hit it and move on quickly moment, but the large trees, often in the way, were lovely to see. Some quirky holes where you might double back on yourself to get to the next tee, and you can tell this is a course you’d need to play a few times to get the measure of it.
This is golf course number 64 of our Africa 100 challenge and the score, once played is Stephen 32.5 and Sarah 31.5 Looks like I’m on the back foot once again, but as that back foot is covered in spiky dried out cut grass, theres not much i can do about it!
Dinner in the restaurant overlooking the course is a family affair with the workers bringing their families to join them at this friendly bustling main hub.
Next day, we were given some bikes to cycle around the estate. They weren’t the newest of bikes, and not being as fit as we’d like, it was a lovely albeit short ride as the sun set over the sugar cane fields.
With Kili golf calling, we leave TPC Moshi and head towards our next accommodation, The Safari House, on the Dolly Estate.
The Safari House is a luxury boutique hotel with a just 10 rooms. Served by a central common area outside which is the pool, its a popular spot to stay when on safari or when playing golf. It was a bit rainy when we arrived, so the once clean Andi the Landy, was now dirty again. Realising we were fighting a loosing battle, we didn’t worry about the new red earth colour Andi had now adopted.
Dining on long trestle type tables you can either join someone or make your own space. We met with a nice German couple doing the safari run. She was vegetarian and I was curios to see that she was only given. Her plate consisted of vegetables, the same ones we had on the side as meat eaters, nothing else. she said it happened a lot in Africa.
The Safari House is pristine and managed well, but as we’d been via the golf clubhouse and eaten there, we didn’t really want a full dinner at $25 p/p, instead we opted for soup and a bread roll which we were told was $10 p/p. reasoning that if the soup is $10 and the full meal is $25, we might as well have the full meal, at which point we were told, no they had made a mistake, it was $35 for the full meal?
Some rooms had a kitchenette, others like ours, whilst big, spacious and comfortable, didn’t have any options to make your own food.
Our room overlooked the back garden where you often saw dik dik grazing on the lush green foliage. Skitzy if they heard any noises, their presence made for nice breakfasts views.
A lovely place to stay set within a tropical gardens with everything you might need for a special stay.
Getting to Kilimanjaro Golf and Wildlife Estate to play golf is easy and just a short drive from the Safari House.
Kili Golf is, was, going through a major transformation whilst we were there, nearing an end, it was quite clear this transformation is a massive success. Post covid the resort had been left but with new hands on Management, it will once again get the reputation it deserves. That said, it was still worth playing in it’s current state, as it really wasn’t bad at all. On the day we played it was slightly wet underfoot, but buoyed up by promises of our first sighting of the infamous Mount Kilimanjaro, we set off in high spirits. The golf soon took over, its difficult to remain focussed on a non-golf thing when you’re presented with such a nice course. even the slightly longer grass, which when wet stopped the ball from rolling so far on the fairway, (but weirdly rolled well on the greens), didn’t deter our overall impression of love at first sight for Kili Golf. A narrow exits off the tee at number 7 from the back tees, opens up to be a little more friendly from the forward tees. Houses, of all shapes and sizes line the fairway, without intruding on the golf views or giving us a feeling of being closed in by concrete. Green is my favourite colour and seeing the varying shades contrasting with each other as they graduated from grass to shrub to trees, was easy on the eye. Hole nine allegedly has views of Mount Kilimanjaro, but as it was covered in cloud the day we visited, we just have to take their word for it!
The blue sky appeared on the back nine and the difference was remarkable, giving us a spring in our step. Hole 12 had water right, in fact water does make an appearance a number of times and of course whilst in renovation mode, you have to look through rose tinted glasses to see the real shape of the hole and what it will be when it come back from its harsh cutting and clearing - and all we can see is the what it can be. (and we’ve heard since we left, what it has now become)
People digging, scraping and clearing like worker ants, we loved seeing the course taking its shape once again.
Hole 16 from the top has some breathtaking views down the long fairway, then as tee box 18 appears any trepidation sweeps in like a tidal wave as you’re confronted with an island green par 3, with little let up. Playing
160 yards from the forward tees, its all about club choice. Stephen chose wisely from his 173 yard shot and landed quite close to the pin. I was a little short of the green, but over the water. Not that this hole was important, but we were half standing on the 18th tee - so of course its important!. Steve made his putt for a birdie and took the match, I made par. Now Steve was 2 games ahead of me at 33.5 to my 31.5.
Must get one back at least - onto the next course with my fingers and everything else crossed.
Change of scenery as we check into a local B&B, Bushbaby Cottage. A quaint cottage in the garden of its owners. Greenery aplenty and the nightly presence of the bushbaby made for a pleasant stay. We were self catering and we did have a problem with the water supply, but we got by, as we always do. A big bed in a family small bedroom, or maybe the bedroom was a good size but the bed dominated, anyway, we had a spare bedroom to lay out our clothes. And we just relaxed and enjoyed our down time in comfort.
Next we’re off to play golf course number 66, Arusha Gymkhana, a short drive away. A nine hole zig zaggy course which meandered its way around a water course, that came into play far too often for me!. Lovely and green and set within trees, it was a bit tight in places and on hole 4 it criss crossed the water twice before you got to an elevate green set on high. So high you couldn’t see from the fairway. At stroke index 1,
its certainly a hole you need to play more than once, as unbeknown to us, there is a body of water at the top of the hill, directly in front of the green. Pretty silly to me, but then I lost about 3 balls on that one hole, and I was feeling quite disillusioned at the course by then. But being a professional I had to put that aside to appreciate its actually, nice layout. The enclaves of trees hugging onto the sides of ditches and despite the greens having been recently tined and top dressed, and therefore not looking their best, they played OK. Hole nine is a weird one as its almost squeezed into the space to make a longer par 4 finishing hole than opting for a par 3 finish. With a couple of longish par 5’s, maybe a finishing hole as a par 3 might have thrown it out of balance? With Arusha Gymkhana being in the centre of town, and bearing in mind that space is always a premium, they have actually carved out a nice course, with 10 greens and 18 tees to mix it up a bit.
When we left Arusha we jump on a ferry across Lake Victoria to stay at Rocky Bay campsite.
With one more golf course to play in Tanzania, Lake Victoria Golf and Country Club. We were told about this course, so wanted to visit, not only because it was located on a golf mine - honesty!
We arranged entrance into the mine and were escorted to the golf course to meet our playing partners. It was clear from the very beginning that we were in for a bit of a laugh as these guys obviously work hard and also play hard. Off we go in our six ball - yep a six ball, and every person contributed to the fun element whether good golfers or not, and thats what its all about. The first thole is a ninety degree dog let right, and you can choose to take on the corner or not on this stroke index 11 hole. Steve went over, I went round and we both ended up with a bogey. Then the fun starts as hole two is over a dam. I asked about the surface of the golf course as it seemed very hard to me with little green grass growing. Amazingly they had carved a golf course out of the
laterite surface, so no wonder it was hard. But actually it didn’t play too badly and as our exuberant six ball came to it zenith the final hole once again was one to watch as all I needed to do was play to my handicap. Sadly my handicap eluded me and I blobbed the final hole whilst Steve played it like a dream and made a par. Unfortunately this wasn’t enough as I did finally get one back with the final score now sitting at Steve 34, Sarah 33.
We did a lot of exploring Tanzania as we drove around, but this article is just about golf we played. We did plan to go to the coast and add two more to our tally, but that wasn’t to be, so we only managed 4 courses, that said, they are 4 very different golf courses you could ever image, and for that, we loved it.
