Mbeya town

Mbeya has expanded enormously over the 60 years or so since I was last there. Then it was a little town with a population of about 10,000. Now it has grown into a city of over half a million people.
However, the part down the hill from our hotel, near the central bus station is very, very pleasant, and not like a city at all. This is me walking towards it with Joseph, a staff member at the hotel.
The hotel itself is set up on the hill with a lovely view of the nearby mountain, Loleza, from the window and from the balcony. When we lived there, you could see Loleza above us from our dining room window. There was a tree silhouetted against the skyline halfway up and I used to wonder about it and why it was all by itself.



On the way down the hill there is plenty of greenery.
Down the hill, in what seems to be the main street, Mbeya still feels like a small town, clean, low-rise, relaxed; but with the amenities of a much bigger one. Banks and ATMs are easy to find, as are a foreign exchange bureau and a chemist shop.

That is Peter on the way to the coffee shop.
We enjoyed talking to this nice man in the chemist shop. As so often on this trip we were impressed and touched by the kindness and helpfulness of the citizens.
'You want to know where to top up a sim card? It's just round the corner. I'll walk you there and do it for you.'
'You want to find a coffee shop? There's one upstairs next door. I'll come out of my own shop and show you.'
'You want to change money? There's a place down the end of the alley first left. You look a bit uncertain; I'll send the junior to show you.'
'You think you left your credit card in the ATM machine in our bank? It's a busy morning and there's a long queue but I'll go now and look. Oh yes. Here it is.' (And quite rightly he checked our passports, etc.)
Then when we were feeling a tired and wanted to find a tuktuk or something to take us back up the hill to the hotel, a security guard wanted just a small tip to phone a bogaboga (at least that is what it sounded like). Two motorbikes arrived and we each climbed on to one of them and were taken up the hill for a couple of quid. 

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