Our house in Iringa

I don't think I've ever blogged about our house in Iringa and during a recent nostaligic reflection on our life in Moshi, we both realized how fleeting memories can be and I wanted to capture the uniquness of our Iringa house in full. 

I believe we started renting this house in April 2020. Prior to this we had friends living in Iringa and we always stayed over at their house. In those days we were only coming to Iringa town maximum once per month for purchasing and the trips were usually only two to three nights. When they departed Tanzania we suddenly found ourselves quickly tired of the local guesthouses. We love living in a rustic field camp but this means the expectations of relatively comfortable amenities is reasonably high when we come to town. 

After some arduous searching we finally found a place that really suited our needs. Many of the places that I found that were nice were simply too big. They would require a ton of furnishings and then due to our come and go nature, we'd also need to have some kind of security arrangement. The place we landed on is actually a kind of smaller house on the property of a retired East African Indian couple. They live alone in the larger house on the compound and we have an oddly designed though serviceable dwelling. 

The house is quite clearly the combination of two small houses. We have a main sitting room with a bathroom complete with a shower and toilet. One thing I must mention is the excellent water pressure of the shower, one thing typically lacking in Tanzania. The water heater takes about an hour or two to heat up, something to note in the chilly Iringa. There is then a narrow corridor a few steps down from the main room that serves as a tiny kitchen. A few steps down is another room, similar to the first one with a complete bathroom and a door to the outside. 

The house has one wall that is adjoining to the exterior wall. This leads to a build up of moisture and mold in the rainy season. It also means there are no windows on one side of the house and in certain hours of the day the house is pretty dark. It is also a cold house, in the winter months its chilly throughout the entire day and even when its warm the lower room barely warms up. Iringa gets quite chilly and is not your typical tropical climate!

I also repurposed our dinner table as my studio, so we eat on a small table in the living room. This further diminished the ability for the house to host guests, although we have had some friends and family stay over, we don't really have a very comfortable and spacious setting. 

You may ask why we have remained here for five years with so many less than ideal features? Well, the first thing is that the presence of our landlords means we can come and go with ease, park vehicles for extended periods, and have someone look after the house if needed. The peace of mind and flexibility was huge as we traveled more and more for work. The second reason is that the price was right relative to our budget. Towards the end of our stay we did consider if the economics added up, after all there were extended periods, I'm talking three months, where we would not spend a night. But it was also important for us to have a home in Iringa town. We have friends here and really love the town. 

The location is also stellar. It's located on the last road high up on the eastern hills that line Iringa. The views are spectacular and there isn't any traffic beyond the residents that live on the road. It's literally the end of the road beyond our house and we have a five minute walk up to Gangilonga Rock. It's a nice private area without being in a pretentiously affluent area of town.  

Our neighbors have cats which are constantly reproducing at a rapid rate. We feel like we've seen a dozen litters and the attrition rate is relatively high. There are Vervet Monkeys that prowl the neighborhood and they would not doubt snatch a kitten. The landlord feeds them, of all things, bread, which I've never seen before but it seems to be sufficient sustenance. 

We've enjoyed our five years here and sad to say goodbye. Despite its shortcomings, it's provided a comfortable and cozy for us during our time in Iringa.  

 

Studio set up