Travel log Tanzania - part 1
Saturday 26-08 (500 km)
In view of the long distance we have to cover, we leave early: 08.15 hours. What we have not really anticipated is the terrain: by the time we reach Mzuzu we have reached an altitude of 1500 metres. Our petrol problems make it difficult to maintain speed up hill and we have to stop twice. Just beyond Mzuzu, we pass an area with extensive rubber estates and Remigius buys a natural rubber ball for the children in Mbande. Half an hour later, Paul begins sniffing and then looks at me. What he smells is a rotten meat smell and we both wonder what supplies Remigius has smuggled into the car in Mzuzu. Then Remigius begins sniffing as well and the three of us wonder whether there is a dead cat somewhere in the chassis. It is only a day later that we discover the source of the smell: the ball made of untreated natural rubber! After over 20 hairpin curves down hill, we are at lake Malawi again and reach the Malawi-Tanzania border without further delay. The northern part of Malawi we have been driving through, looks relatively prosperous. There is a lot of activity along the road, many small shops, stone houses with corrugated iron roofs and many fishing villages. People go well dressed and most of the children even wear shoes. We pass the Malawi side of the border within 30 minutes, but on the Tanzanian side we run out of luck. The custom officer who has to stamp our Carnet de Passage is stone drunk and very offensive. We argue with him and he becomes even more offensive. Remigius, first only embarrassed by the man’s behaviour, is getting angrier and angrier and finally finds the man’s superior and launches an official complaint. By the time the Tanzanians lift the barrier and let us through, it is an our later.
The road to Mbeya is excellent but, quite unexpectedly, it goes up hill again. From 400 we climb to 1600 metres and when it is already dark, and negotiating uncountable hairpin curves, we pass 2400 metres. To our utter surprise, Wa Bashasha’s engine keeps running and we reach Mbeya without further problems. There, and in the dark, we cannot find the guesthouse – Stockholm Hotels – and it takes another hour before Paul can switch off Wa Bashasha’s engine. Remigius has made the reservations and to our embarrassment we find ourselves in a kind of executive suite. Clean, comfortable and spacey, but too expensive really. We have a good meal and turn in early.
Sunday 27-08 (322 km)
It is my birthday and I open the parcels from Holland. Books! Very appropriate, because we have to stay in Dar es Salaam for almost 3 weeks. We hire a taxi to drive to the centre of Mbeya in order to try and get some Tanzanian shillings. The first ATM is out of order, but the second one yields, to our utter surprise and within 5 minutes, the equivalent of US$ 1300!! Long live the VISA card with pin code. The only card that really works in Africa so far. The road to Iringa goes over the mountains again: from 1800 to 800 to 1400 to 1000 and back to 1800 metres again. In Mbeya we fill two of Wa Bashasha’s tanks with new petrol and the car gives us no further problems. For hours we drive through mountains with pine trees and ferns and sometimes we have the illusion that we are back in Austria. Saw mills everywhere and it is obvious that we are at the heart of the Tanzanian wood industry. After a short and very steep climb, we reach a cold Iringa. Remigius has made reservations and we end up in the MR Hotels. A clean place with, again, an executive suite for us. In the afternoon, we stroll over the market and I buy a pair of toe slippers.
Monday 28-08 (300 km)
In the morning we first go to the market to buy 3 big bags of rice and a bag of cucumbers for Mbande. My living space in the rear is once more further reduced and to get me out of the car, Paul first has to remove the bags with rice. But then, viewed through African eyes, the car is still rather empty! Increasingly, the Mbande posters on our car draw attention and more often than not it facilitates passing police road blocks smoothly. Along the road there are He-He people with herds of cattle and goats. Half way to Morogoro, we pass a mountainous area again and the otherwise excellent road deteriorates rapidly. Whilst Paul tries to avoid the potholes and to keep some speed, we are overtaken at breakneck speed by huge busses. They apparently do not care whether they can see anything and the driver’s and his passengers faith in God or Allah must be total. Descending again, we see that this faith is often not justified: at the end of almost every hairpin curve, a vehicle has crashed through the railings recently and fallen down the slope. Shortly before we arrive in Morogoro, we pass through Mikumi National park and stop a number of times to see small herds of elephants crossing the road. In Morogoro, Remigius has yet again arranged a perfect guesthouse: Twins Lodge. When we have unpacked, we take a taxi and tour Morogoro. Through a lane bordered by 150 year old mango trees, we drive up the mountain to the places where the rich and influential live. Then we descend again to the old centre of town, where we buy some charcoal roasted maize from a road stall. Morogoro, it strikes us, is an exceptional city. The towns we have so far seen in Tanzania leave a rundown impression. Potholed roads, no pavements, grimy buildings, heaps of garbage everywhere and far too many open sewers. Morogoro is the exception. Roads are generally in good condition and some roundabouts are even transformed in well kept flower beds. The main market and the main bus stand are exceptionally clean and many buildings look decent or thereabout. The District Commissioner, or whoever else is responsible, is apparently genuinely concerned with the quality of his/her city and the results are clearly visible for everyone!! Back in the guesthouse we have a delayed birthday dinner.
Tuesday 29-08 (200 km)
Today we are finally to arrive in Dar es Salaam and Remigius is in the best of moods. He has been an excellent travel companion for almost a month: humorous, patient, resourceful and very observant. We not only laughed a lot, but also learned a lot because of his special way of looking at things. Yet, he is glad that, around midday, we are nearing Ubungu. We do not quite share his feelings. Dar es Salaam is busy as ever and within 10 minutes we hit the first traffic jam in 3 months. Remigius has been in contact with Dafrosa Wangoma, an old friend of ours, and at a street corner in Ubungu, she is waiting for us with a colourful placate with “welcome” written on it. After the usual hugs, we take her along for some kilometres and drop her off at a photocopying shop. We will see each other again during our stay in Bagamoyo. Crossing the centre of town, we finally arrive at the Kilwa road junction and head in the direction of Mbagala and Rangitatu. Although the road was reconstructed some 5 years ago, it has deteriorated again to such an extent that for kilometres on end we cannot drive faster than 20 km/hour. At Rangitatu, we turn to the right, almost passing the old CICA house, on the road to Mbande. The road is bumpy, but at least the asphalt is, by and large, still in tact. Half an hour later we are at the centre of Mbande village and five minutes later we park in front of Remigius’ house. We are made welcome by Dominica (Remigius’wife) and Rose (one of Remigius’daughters) and enjoy a late but excellent lunch with chicken and fish. Afraid to have to drive in the dark, we leave at 15.00 hours and head for Bagamoyo, some 60 north of Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean.
It takes us three hours(!) and it is almost dark when we arrive at our beloved Travellers Lodge. The roads in Dar es Salaam have once again deteriorated to such an extent that one even wrecks a 4x4 vehicle and when we enter the road along the university, it has disappeared almost completely. Paul carefully tries to save his springs, shock absorbers and steering rods, but then we, and others of course, are forced off the road into a stinking muddy ditch by an oncoming cavalcade of official cars. A minister or member of parliament and his aids? Paul swears and says some very unkindly things. Any minister or member of parliament, in any European country, would be immediately sacked after such a performance. Politicians are there, we believe, to serve their citizens and not to push them of the roads. In the lodge, there is some confusion about our reservations, but eventually all problems are solved. When we check our mileage, we see that we have driven almost 14.000 km so far and that we are, effectively, half way back home. We will stay in Bagamoyo for 3 weeks and intend to spend most of our time on the Mbande Village Clinic project. We intend to report on the project’s progress under the relevant heading on our website and will only resume our travel log when we continue our tour to Kenya and beyond, somewhere after the 20th of September. What route we are follow from Kenya onwards, we are not sure yet. The information from the border area between Kenya and Ethiopia and from the Sudan, is not really reassuring. We may, therefore, ship Wa Bashasha and ourselves from Momabassa or Dar es Salaam to Jedda and drive back via Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Turkey. We will let you know once we decide.
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Dear all, we are both still in good health and in good spirit, but travelling through Africa day after day has made us a little travel weary. We will enjoy our rest here, give Wa Bashasha a thorough check-up and then head north. Sibratsgfäll in Austria is only 14.000 km away and Veldhoven in the Netherlands 14.764 km! And so are Marius and Bo and Belle!!
Continue reading Tanzania part 2
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