Getting to Zanzibar

Travelling as light as possible, I loaded the rusksack onto my back and plodded down the hill to catch the bus.  I tentatively made my way up to and down from the post office, where i was rewarded with a letter (I had already given up hope of my Christmas food parcel arriving in time, so no real surprise there!).  The road was extremely damp and by the time I boarded the bus shorty after 8:00am I had red mud up my legs and the soles of my sandals were and inch thick with the stuff!

An hour down the hill to Mwnaga and then two hours waiting there for my bus to Dar.  I occupied myself there by writing my journal (had fallen a few days behind) and eating Chapati washed down with Stoney Tangawizi (ginger beer). The bus arrived shortly after 11 (I had been told to be there at 10:30, hence the early start allowing for long waits in Usangi - I was quite fortunate to have found a bus as quickly as I did).

The bus ride to Dar Es Salaam was long and hot, but at least I had my own seat, which had legroom too. Eventually got to the depot, through the hectic Dar traffic, at about 7pm.  Dar was a bit of a culture shock as I've not seen traffic lights or dual carriageways since Nairobi!

Found my friendly hotel, who were on the brink of giving my room away and spent the evening with a German girl, dealing with inept waiters and unreliable taxi drivers.

Driving home, having eventaully found both good food and a taxi, I saw a little more of Dar - scruffy streets, mostly unsurfaced, and people sleeping rough, whole strtches of pavement resembling dormitaries in some places.  A city is a city I suppose......

The following morning I walked to the bus station to book my return ticket.  The streets were quiet but I felt very safe as all the locals were friendly and did not hassle me, unlike in Arusha. I then took a taxi to the port, where I was directed to the office selling tickets for the next ferry to sail to Zanzibar 'fast boat...blah blah blah....'

Bought ticket, went to wait for boarding, was told the crossing would be about 2 hours. Boarded. Sat. Waited for departure.  Waited some more. Other passengers had been told different things about the journey time ande started to get worried..... To cut a LONG story short, we spent over 7 hours on the boat, watching the fast ferries zoom past us, having left four hours later from Dar.  I managed to find some chips to eat and had luckily bought a large bottle of water with me.  I wasn't exactly thrilled when I realsied during the crossing that I was on an old Greek ferry, which reminded me of various news stories I remember hearing about sinkings in the Aegean! I was fortunate enough to have got talking to a South African man who ran a hotel not too far from mine and who offered me a lift accross Zanzibar to my hotel on the east coast.  Without that I would have arrived in Stone Town after dark and had to have found somewhere to stay for a night as I could not have afforded a taxi accross the island.

Anyway, we finally disembarked and I was transported to my hotel.  I met up with the other volunteers later in the evening and, having eaten and calmed down a bit, ended up dancing to random western music with other volunteers and Maasai in their shukas and jewellry!

A good end to a hideous day, but worse things happen at sea.....