Mbeya to Kyela

It was 14 hours of bus ride from Dar to Mbeya. The luxury Scandinavian bus made it an easy and painless. It was the best bus ride on the trip. The bus wasn't even filled up! While I was waiting for the bus, I chatted with an agricultural expert Dr. Mataki who was on his way to Mbeya for a government consultation. He mentioned that very few Africans study Agriculture and understand the technology and that African people have difficulty of applying the handed out machines and equipment to farming.
The bus passed a few national parks where some animals were seen wander around. The landscape was very diverse along the way.
I checked in " New Visitors Lodge" in Mbeya. The hotel offered multiple international channels on TV.
I liked Mbeya for its highland ambiance and cool air. I embraced the morning cool breeze from the surrounding mountains and took a walk around the town with a company of a local girl named Bibina.
Around noon, I checked out the hotel and hopped on a minibus to Lake Naeser ( Lake Malawi). I wrongfully believed that it was only 4 hours away from the Lake and I would get to the Lake before evening. It turned out a 24 hours journey!
The landscape changed dramatically as the minibus kept moving toward south. The highland mountain scenery became lavish tropical vegetation. The minibus made many stops. Finally it shopped at Tuyuyo and we got out the bus and joined another minibus. This type of mergers are common on the road to maximize the capacity and save fuels. Some villager women were desperately selling the local small bananas. A huge bag of small bananas were being sold for $2 on the road side. I had to buy some. I was struggling to eat them up.
It was 5:00 pm when bus reached Kyela. I could hardly believe my ear when I was told that it would be at least 4 hours away from the Lake. Kyela was a very small town, which mainly serves as a transit point en route to/from Zambia and Malawi. At Kyela's bus station, I miraculously met a couple of fellow Chinese Zhang and Zhou! They were from the same region where I grew up. Zhang is a sharp man who had lived in Tanzania for a little over one year. He can speak fluent Swahili.
I ended up staying at Kyela for that night. There was no electricity. I walked in the dark to a restaurant for dinner with Zhang and Zhou.