Tues 29th. Arrived Nbi after an 8 hour flight. Kenya Airways had improved a bit since I last flew with them about 10 years ago. 3.5 hours transit. Put 2000ksh on my Mpesa to send to Mercy for the annual PO box rental in taveta. I hadn’t realised we were stopping at KIA on the way to Dar. In fact we were going via Zanzibar as well. Only 45 minutes to KIA and I got to see Mt Kili. About 75 minutes to Zanzibar but very rainy and cloudy so didn’t get a good look at the island. About 30 minutes to Julius Nyerere Intl. Then with incredible speed I got into Dar city. Considering Precision Air is a Tz airline and therefore this was an international flight, I got through the airport very quickly. 30 minutes immigration and customs, including getting my 50usd visa. My rucksack was already through. I drew out money from the ATM. Ignored the taxi drivers and walked less than 10 minutes to the main road. Caught a dala dala for 500tsh..about 20pence..which took half an hour into Mnazi Mmoja in the city. From landing at 12:00 , I was at the Riki Hotel ( where I stayed last time) at 13:15. An hour and a quarter…quite an achievement.
I paid 35000 for a room with no TV but it had A/c. I then went walkabout. Found the A Tea Shop, which Mark recommended, and had a snack. Went to the Restaurant du Lac…and Bar du Lac I suppose, just a few mins walk from the hotel. It’s a little Bujumbura, frequented by Congolese people because a lot of Congo music is played there. Had a couple of Castle beers then went to 24/7 bar/restaurant to watch football before retiring to my room.
Wed 30th. Decided to go to Coco beach as I had never been. Passed the Greek Orthodox cathedral. Over the new bridge. Couldn’t figure out the dala dalas so I walked all the way. An hour and three quarters in the heat, but worth it. Walked to the end of the beach and chilled for about an hour. It used to be all small bands along the beach but the Govt is building lots of bigger more solid structures. I negotiated the bajaj down from 10000 to 7000tsh and I had a nice ride back into the city. A visit to A Tea Shop for a samosa and cup of tea snack, then headed to bar du Lac and on to 24/7 to watch football and eat a plate of chips.
Thurs. I walked to the seafront to the ferry company offices to try get information regarding ferries to Zanzibar, Pemba, Tanga. Was very confused and tried to get clarity at the Tourist Information but they weren’t too sure about the Pemba to Tanga leg. Lots of walking around and sometimes getting a little lost. A Tea Shop snack of course.
Fri 2nd. Walked all the way to where the ferries leave to go the fairly short distance to the peninsular opposite Dar. I found the SuperFeo office and booked my 35000tsh (about 13gbp) to go to Songea the next day. I was ultimately heading to Mbamba Bay. I met up with Alkanjello, who used to work with Emil, at bar du Lac . Good catch up. Much talk about our friend Emil who died in early Sept. I visited Emil a few times in Tarakea. I had dinner of beef, veg and ugali at du Lac and went to 24/7 for beer and football. My first 4 days in Tz were busy, and was now excited about heading for Mbamba Bay.