Border??
As I mentioned in my last blog, we had successfully crossed
the border and had just under £15 in Tanzania shillings. We spent £2 of this to
get to the nearest small town where we were told we could get an onward
connection. It was around 4pm and with a possible 6-7 hour journey to our
destination, Mwanza. We were wondering whether it would be possible.
Low and behold, a mini bus was waiting, but we were told it
would take 2 hours to fill up. Well, with no other choice, we decided to go
find some food. It was a small town and it seemed everywhere served chips or
chippy omelette. We managed to find some good old beans and rice (another £1
gone).
We walked back up to the mini bus where our bags were. And
as the driver starts to walk towards us, we already knew what he was going to
say. They weren’t going to leave till the next morning.
So now with £12 to our name in local currency, we tried
desperately to find a cash machine. It was clear this town didn’t have one.
Weighing up our options, we checked the price of a small
hotel (the only one in the town). He told us the price was 8000Tsh, a mere £3.
Great! But we couldn’t afford to pay that and the bus the next day, so we asked
if we could pay him in dollars and that would mean we were sorted. He
apparently mistook ‘dollars’ for ‘toilet’ somehow and kept on saying it was
free to use. With some difficulty and slow and loud shouting of ‘US DOLLARS,
MONEY, PAYING, PRICE,’ we eventually got him to understand us, but he said he
didn’t take dollars or know the rate.
We eventually jumped in a taxi, with the driver assuring us
the next town, another 25km away, had a cash machine and definitely took VISA.
Although his face said different, we had no choice but to chance it.
Another £2 down from the taxi fare, we walked up to the
bank’s ATM knowing full well that they didn’t accept VISA or any other card but
theirs, but a small naïve slither of hope nonetheless!
We walked out the bank… still with £10 to our name, and some
kind guy who spoke fairly good English informed us the next town took VISA.
Great! Where is it, we asked. Oh, only 300km away!!!
At this point we just thought…BOLLOCKS. (Sorry Mum).
We had dollars on us, but nobody would take it for a room
for the night. We asked a few people about exchanging dollars. People kept
mentioned Fred’s shop, which we eventually found. He managed to give us such a
good rate (better than the banks), we ended up exchanging $50!!
He even called up a cheap hotel for us and got someone to
take us there, and even booked us a shared taxi the next day to Mwanza for less
than a mini bus price!
We dined on the town’s finest chips and beer that night,
feeling like we’d found an oasis in the desert.
The next morning, we got up at the ungodly hour of 4.30am,
and with a knock on the door at 5, we were up and in the minivan that took us
on a journey across half of Tanzania, towards Lake Victoria, over it on a
ferry, eventually arriving in Mwanza around 2pm. The journey took us off road,
right next to it in fact. It seemed that even though it was perfect tarmac, the
road was still ‘under construction’ and had fallen trees every couple hundred
metres over the road to stop people driving on it. I’ll never understand the
logic here!!
Mwanza
The skies opened up when we arrived, but instead of getting
our bearings, we dashed into the nearest guesthouse to find shelter. We ended
up staying 2 nights, not because there was anything to do, but mostly because
we didn’t want another 5 hour journey the next day.
We took a look at Lake Victoria, and saw some… yes, you’ve
guessed it, more Marabou storks! We popped down to the busy market to buy some
fruit and even found a buy one get one free offer in a supermarket for dairy
milk (little Easter treat to myself)!
Musoma
We eventually took a big bus onto Musoma. There was also
nothing to do in this town, except book another onward bus! This next journey
was a bit different. It was going to be a 13 hour journey, but was passing
through Ngorongoro and the Serengeti!! We had to part with $110 for gate fees,
but considering we weren’t going to do any safaris to these national parks, we
thought we might as well try and see some of it rather than taking a bus that
goes around them instead.
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| Hills of Ngorongoro |
Another early start, we were on the bus by 5.30am. We had
seats, but it became evident as the bus went on that some people didn’t, and at
one point there were 25 people standing along this bus. Uphill, we were going
at walking pace from the load!
We jumped out at the Serengeti gate and paid our park fees -
$60 each. The locals on the bus did too, don’t get me wrong… but it was a mere
$1. We worked out that we paid more together than everyone else on the bus
combined. Oh, Muzungu.
Serengeti had great, expansive views. The vast savannah just
stretched on forever, and was dotted with a couple hundred zebras and
wildebeest here and there. We saw a group of buffalos, and the inevitable
gazelles of all different kinds. Luke swore he spotted a cheetah by the road
too, but my poor eyesight couldn’t verify that for you!
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| Wildebeests at Ngorongoro |
We jumped out at the Ngorongoro gate to part with another
$50 each. And looking out at the road, Luke grabbed me excitedly and shouted
‘look at all the animals!’ I told him they were just trees…I was wrong!
As soon as we entered the park, we came across a group of
giraffes. Then before we realised it, we were in the thick of it and animals were
darting out of the road. We were surrounded… by THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of
zebra and wildebeest. They were everywhere, and as far as the eye could see. We
were in the middle of the great migration! It was a David Attenborough moment,
and I could just hear him in my head ‘the wildebeest migration, slowly making
its move up North to the Masai Mara, a number reaching 1.5million!’
We even drove past the crater, which was beautiful, and
rolling hills which held the livestock of the Masai tribe. We passed a couple
of their basic settlements – little compounds with straw roofs and cow dung
walls. We even dropped a couple of the Masai off at their homes.
I couldn’t believe our luck. We saw so much, and although
the bus was quick and the journey bumpy, we managed to get a couple of photos
that didn’t look too blurry or lopsided.
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| Bus through Serengeti and Ngorongoro |
Arusha
We arrived at Arusha at around 7pm at night and found a
guesthouse. Again, the usual, ‘we have internet, hot water and electricity,
just not now.’ We’ll take it! Too tired to argue…
We set off the next day, only a couple hours to Moshi. With
music blaring on the bus, Luke started to feel a bit more upbeat and was
starting to dance, moving his shoulders. “What on earth are you doing???” I
asked. His reply was ‘crimping!!!’ After I settled down from about 10 minutes
of ‘can’t contain yourself laughter,’ with him not knowing what I’m in hysterics
at, I just said ‘I think you mean crumping, you rude boy.’ Haha!! It wasn’t his
finest hour, not so worldly after all!
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| Masai at Serengeti |
Moshi
Moshi was great. It felt like the first touristy place in
Tanzania so far, and was probably the first time we had seen so many
‘Muzungus.’ Our hotel had a great balcony restaurant with views of Mount
Kilimanjaro when the cloud cleared, early morning or night.
We had a few beers –Serengeti
and Kilimanjaro were just a couple of our favourites! And even found an
Indian restaurant to relieve our taste buds of the regular beans and rice we
were used to.
We got back to our regular fruit salad mornings of banana,
passion fruit and mango. And we even found some mouth-watering jack fruit and
pears. Jack fruit lady and I got well acquainted… did you beaming smile when
she saw me mean she was grateful for the custom or ripping me off?? I didn’t
care, for 30p for a massive bag, you can’t complain!
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| Mount Kili |
I managed to get my rucksack sewn up again. It had started
to rip at the seams all the way down both sides, so annoying! Luke’s was
completely fine, same bag, so it was just a manufacturing fault. But £1 later,
and a little smaller, it looked good as new. Just hope it holds up!!
Dar es Salaam
We eventually left our little oasis for Dar es Salaam. We
were told it would be an 8 hour bus journey, but 10 hours later, we eventually
rocked up in Dar, starving, hot and tired. It was sweltering- probably about 35
degrees and so humid, there was no wind at all. We fell into a hostel and went
out in search of some Indian food. We collapsed into a restaurant and ended up
ordering some pretty decent noodles. We also found some delicious wada, which
is made from... heaven. It’s actually made of flour, carrot, onion and all
kinds of spices that just shout INDIA! And comes with this amazing coconut
sauce and chilli sauce… all for $1.
Zanzibar
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| Stone Town alleys |
We jumped a ferry the next day to Zanzibar, with Luke sweet
talking the lady when she said the next one was full, to eventually securing us
a spot. The ferry ride was around 2 hours…2 hours of waiting for beach time!
Although it had absolutely chucked it down in the morning, it led to bright
blue skies and scorching weather. I don’t know what all this ‘rainy season’
worry is about, when it’s sunny 3 out of every 4 days! That’s enough time for
me to get snorkelling and lounge on the beach, and shelter at a bar with a few
beers on that one rainy day!
So we arrived in Stone Towna t the port and were immediately
followed by a tout trying to drag us to a hotel. We headed for the centre of
the town, with no real idea of which place we’d end up at. We just wanted
something cheap! We managed to find a quiet place for just under £10. Not so
quiet it turns out… our bedroom right next to the speakers of a mosque. Can’t
wait for 5am prayer calls! Although these days, Incan sleep through pretty much
anything.
We went exploring that afternoon in the scorching weather. A
Muslim guy in a white robe and cap, watching the football, gave us some
directions and we eventually got our bearings. We ate an amazing vege biryani
(thanks Sharma for the recommendation)!
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| Melon man |
We sat at a bar on the beach on our first night, watching
the sunset as people took in the last of its heat whilst going for a dip in the
ocean. Boys were doing flips down the far end of the beach, and kids were doing
tumbles into the waves whilst small fisherman boats bobbed out further to sea.
The next day we set off for Nungwi, a beach at the Northern
end of Zanzibar. It was meant to be the best beach for tidal patterns. We
scouted out a good hotel to come back to in a few days, and found a spot on the
beach with crystal clear blue waters. It was gorgeous! We spent ages in the
water… mostly because it was too hot in the sun to even lay down for 10
minutes.
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| Stone Town beach |
I did warn Luke about getting sunburn and told him a story
of a man in Kampala that didn’t listen to his girlfriend and ended up looking
like a lobster. Apparently he didn’t want to listen again, and was he’ll bent
on using the suncream ‘sparingly.’ What a muppet…red again!
We got back on a dalla-dalla (mini bus), back into Stone
Town and headed straight for this little place we had gone to the evening
before. Where we had food with amazing coconut sauces. I had a gorgeous fish
dish, which both myself, and the meowing kitten under my legs enjoyed a lot! I
couldn’t help but feed her- she was skin and bone!
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| STAR Fish |
In the morning, we set off foe Jambiani beach, which was to
the East this time. Again, it was unbearably hot, and we were desperate for
shade. The tide was also out, so we couldn’t even take a relaxing dip! We
managed to find a lodge on the beach that had shut down for the low season, we
took shad underneath some palm trees whilst waiting a couple of hours for the
tide to come in. Eventually, it came! And we dove into turquoise waters that
felt like you were stepping into a warm bath.
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| Nungwi beach in Zanzibar |
The tide eventually started to come in right up to the walls
of the lodges, and it was time to go. We tried to flag down a dalla-dalla but
it was full, and someone told us there would be another in an hour! It was too
hot, and even the cows started coming up to us to drink from the small puddle
in front of our tiny bit of shade. We started trying to flag down anything that
was going in the right direction. A few smiling (but not stopping), Muslim men
poked their head out the windows, holding onto their caps, a few muzungos shot
past. But then…a little 4x4 stopped and two German guys, both called Sebastian,
offered us a lift. They were living here, building houses in the south
peninsula near Stone Town. Expecting to building 150 houses, they had nearly
completed 2, waiting to see the response and interest they get from locals. It
sounded pretty cool, and what a place to have a job! They were on a short
weekend break, but told us that this rainy season was unusual, in that there
barely is one! Agreed, and not complaining!
The following day, after an early morning wake up call from
the mosque, we packed up and headed to Nungwi. We settled into the room we had
found the other day, and did a mass load of washing (that needed to have been
done a few days ago), whilst waiting for the tide to come in. And before you
knew it, there it was! It was a beautiful aquamarine colour in spots, and dark
blue from coral reefs in others. We walked down and found a quiet spot and took
a long dip. I can’t remember seeing the sea this clear since Thailand. It was
just incredible! And to top off the day, we watched the sun disappear over the
ocean, whilst drinking a nice cold beer (and getting bitten by the occasional
sand fly).
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| Zanzibar sunset |
We spent 4 nights at the beach, happy to not be moving
around and just in love with the pure white sand, clear sea and a good book in
hand.
We got to know a couple guys who had just head up from
Malawi, having travelled from Cape Town, and it was good to know what was
coming ahead.
One day, we took a boat trip to Mmeba island for
snorkelling. Although you couldn’t go on the beach itself, the snorkelling was
pretty cool, with beautiful fish, starfish everywhere and gorgeous coral. After
lunch on a beach nearby, we sailed back and took in the beautiful beach views
as we went.
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| Fruit man |
After 4 days lulling on the beach and getting myself a
pretty decent tan (that I’m sure helped in getting me the name ‘cappucino’ from
a local guy in stone town trying to guess my background), we headed back for a
ferry to Dar. It was painful leaving the island! So hard to know that we
wouldn’t see the sea for another couple months! And that clear too.
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| Nungwi clear warters |
After much deliberation, we decided to skip Mozambique
because of the wait in getting a visa and the fact that we would just be going
there for beaches. We might pop in from South Africa at the end of our trip,
but we’ll have to see.
Dar –Iringa - Mbeya
We spent one night in Dar before jumping on a bus to Iringa.
The bus was pretty decent, but as ever, Africa time took over, and a 6-7 hour
journey turned into 9 hours.
The journey took us through a national park, and along with
the regular antelopes, buffalo and the like, we spotted LOADS of elephants,
right by the side of the road. It was pretty cool to have another drive by
safari.
We stayed the night and got up early the next day for an 8am
bus to Mbeya that we thought would take 4-5 hours, but ended up being near on
7. Finally getting the hang of these white lies, we thought we wouldn’t chance
getting to the border that evening with no money and the border being closed by
that time. So we settled in Mbeya for the night and booked a bus out the next
day for 6.30am.
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| Zanzibar house boat |
Turns out that this time they weren’t lying, and just over 2
hours later, we rocked up to the border, ready to make it to the next country.
Being hassled by money changers, motorbikes and taxis, we walked the 10 minutes
to the border and got our stamp out of Tanzania without them even looking at
our passport photo! Goodbye Tanzania…you’ve been amazing!
We spent a few days here and went to see Vic Falls from this
side. The others nearly got charged by an elephant crossing the road on their
way over, and Luke and I went to go find the elephants afterwards on the rail
tracks. 
