Early Tuesday morning (7th) we set out from Matema, being picked up by an express cattle truck, (express in this case meant it burned along a dirt track road at about 50mph). We clung to the back/top of the truck for about an hour before a relatively normal bus with the usual chickens and other weird sights and smells!
We stayed in Mbeya for a few nights and even found a pizza restaurant which we visited on our second day there. After 3 weeks of rice and beans and chipsi-myeye, it was amazing! Then we had yet another 6am bus journey to Dar Es Salaam, scheduled to be another epic 12 hours. Once in Dar the disappointment of being rejected from the fully booked and very scabby YMCA, didn’t last long as we bumped into Anoek from VAP and familiar face for Helen. Anoek kindly invited us to stay which was very kind. At dinner that evening we met people from the project and discovered we would leave for Lushoto on Sunday morning, giving us a few days in Dar.
Anoek stepped up as the hostess, to show us some of the sights of Dar, and we must admit it was nice to be looked after, not having to worry about which bus to take, who had the passports or where/what to eat next - god it’s a hard life! We visited the Slipway, which gave us a totally different view of Dar, very western and modern indeed. It also provided us with a rare opportunity for some retail therapy, getting new books to read for all those long journeys.
On Saturday we headed across the bay on the ferry to the island of Kigamboni, to spend the afternoon at the beach. It was amazingly busy and there was almost a Glastonbury headliner style crush in the scramble to get tickets for the ferry. The beach was packed for the end of Ramadan celebrations and there was an amazing atmosphere as people partied up and down the beach dancing, drumming and cheering. Again we saw another side of Dar, beautiful beach resort in a stark contrast to the dusty, chaotic city centre.
The bus journey to Lushoto was pretty spectacular heading up into the Usambara Mountains; very lush and green in stark contrast to the dry and arid south. We checked into our home for the next 2 weeks, a pub come guest house in Lushoto. On Monday we had a walk around the town including a visit to the COCAFA centre where we are volunteering to teach English to tour guides. Later that afternoon we went to a political rally where Tanzania’s president Kikwete was due to speak, only it went dark and he never turned up! However we did see him the following day and after his speech as he drove past us, he waved to us, although both Helen and I forgot to wave back!
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