Mon 6th May. Technically an 01:00 sailing is the morning of the next day. I was one of the first to get aboard. Chose my seat on the upper deck at the back. We left at about 01:40. Just over 5 hours sailing. It seemed to take ages to dock, perhaps the currents were a bit tricky. I tried everything…in my seat and in the aisle…but was very uncomfortable and hardly got any sleep.
Having been bundled into a dala after we landed, we were off to Dar. My concern was the rough road after all the rains but the dala sailed through. There was one interruption when a hill was too steep and most of us got off the dala to lighten the load and enable it to get up the hill.
We didn’t have to stop again and after an hour and a half reached Bungu, shaving a half hour off Tuesday’s time between Bungu and Nyamisati. Then 2 hours to Dar. But to the outskirts; had to walk 20 minutes between stages, then got on a dala to Kariakoo. First stop was the Congolese pub for a couple of Safaris, then checked into Riki Hill.
The nice surprise was that the surrounding roads have been tarmacked…all since I was here in Feb. Good timing considering all the rain recently, otherwise it would’ve been a mud bath. I settled in then went to my usual DTB ATM for some cash. I bought a little cup of black coffee from a street seller and learned something new in Swahili. I asked for milk knowing full well there wouldn’t be any. I said ‘ na chokosa’ and he suddenly backed off. I said to the guy next to me that I was only teasing. He explained that kuchokosa is fairly aggressive and used to provoke and is telling someone to go away. The correct word is kutania which means ‘joking’. I checked with bro Alan and he agreed to never having heard of ‘tania’. It’s interesting how you learn things, but I’ll ask people I know about how they use the 2 words.
I went to A T Room and had a samosa, kabab and tea and had a little chat with Happy. Back to my room to change. Then to the Congolese pub. I thought about food but nowhere appealed to me. I went to 24/7 where I had a little bottle of K Vant with a soda water; then to my room across the road and snacked on a small packet of chevda before falling asleep.
Tues 7th. Well at least I arrived in Dar in dry weather conditions. Today it’s been raining all morning but was determined to get out. After a nice Riki breakfast of omelette, sausage, bread, fruits (watermelon, pineapple & banana) and 2 coffees, I went to the Tahmeed booking office to buy my bus ticket for Wednesday. Unfortunately the bus leaves 03:00 and reporting time 02:30.
All the time I was braving the rain. I looked around for somewhere to have a tea, but to no avail. I ended up back at 24/7 where I had a nice tea. Once the rain died away altogether I went walkabout in the CBD. I found a nice café I’ve used before and had a delicious coffee.
As part of my planning I looked at my Ethiopian flight schedule and to my surprise saw that my flight on 24th was at 16:45; I always thought it was at 4ish in the morning. That’s because 4am was the flight time last year; I remember catching a 1am taxi from Segerea. As the Ethiopian Airlines office wasn’t far away I took the opportunity to go and check with them. In fact the flight is now about an hour later, which is fine with me. And if everything else remains the same it means an hour less transit in Addis.
I took photos of interesting metal sculptures on a couple of roundabouts and headed to A T Room. I chatted with Happy and had a tasty chicken curry. From there I bought a packet of chevda from my regular lady, then went to the Congolese bar for the last time. I drank 2 beers very slowly.
I went back to my room, showered, packed and got into my slightly damp jeans. They got washed in the morning when the weather looked slightly promising, but after that there was no hope of them drying properly.
At 11pm I was in 24/7 and I drank 2 beers over a period of an hour and a half before I went back to my room to prepare for the early morning bus to Moshi.
Wed 8th. There wasn’t too much time to kill in my room. I left 02:15 for the less than 10 minute walk to Tahmeed on Lumumba St. Got into my seat no. 4 behind the driver and we left just after 03:00. Such an excellent trip. 4 hours to Segera; with little or no traffic on the road the driver really put his foot down.
5 hours to Mombo.
7 hours to Same.
8+ hours to njia panda.
8 and three quarter hours to Moshi. Amazingly quick. We had just the one stop after Mombo at the Liverpool restaurant which had reopened after what seemed like years of renovation. There was lots of low cloud around the Usambaras & Pare mountains. I actually got some sleep on the journey, which is unusual for me, but I really needed it after not getting any sleep that night.
The Tahmeed office is on Boma road, so 5 minutes after arriving in Moshi I was at Aroma Coffee for a much needed toilet break and a masala chai. From there I went to Kindoroko to check in, and I was given my favourite room 102. The cost went up very slightly to 19,000 (£6).
By then it was after midday. After 3pm I walked over to the Police Mess. Catherine arrived half an hour later and we had a good chat, even if a bit intense. Am very careful about who I give my number to, but this one slipped through the net…and she’s rather annoying.
I went over to Kaka’s. The guys were all there…good to see them. I ordered my tandoori and nan and it arrived quite quickly, which I didn’t mind as I was very hungry. I left the guys to their heavy drinking and smoking dope and ate my dinner in the room next door.
I went straight back to the hotel, no stopping at Awara like I normally do. I had a small bottle of spirit in my room anyway.
A very successful journey from Dar to Moshi. And I enjoy visiting Moshi a lot. No sign of Kili though…much too much cloud.
Back to Taveta the next day.