Sun 19th Jan … Dar
I chose to leave Lindi a day earlier than originally planned because I figured it would be quicker getting through Dar on a Sunday. And I made a good decision to change my original plan of getting off at Temeke, but disembarking at Mbagala instead. I confirmed with my fellow bus passenger that it was a more direct route into the city. I caught a dala to Posta… not far from mnazi moja.
Got money out of DTB. Keys hotel were being silly with their prices. Went to Riki and negotiated the room from 45,000 to 40,000.
I contacted Mark and went over to see him at Sophia; it was good to see Baraka again as well. I went to 24/7 for a couple of beers. Got talking to Husein from Somaliland but who was born in Ethiopia. I wasn’t hungry and just ate cashews in my room for dinner.
Mon 20th Jan
Bfast was nice. I made sure I got a receipt for 40,000 (£13) for my room. I booked my Tahmeed bus for Tues…at 20,000 (£6.50). I walked over to Harbour Suites and got an Airtel top up.
I met Mark at A T Room. I had 2 samosas. The Congolese bar still wasn’t ready.
I bought some chevda from down the road. I went to the railway terminal/office to get info for Robyn re dates/times from Arusha to Dar. I washed a shirt. Room 208 is ok but the wifi is very poor.
I passed a Sisal bale on a bicycle and couldn’t resist taking a photo. I went to 24/7 and met up with Husein again. Dinner in my room was some chevda.
Tues 21st Jan …Tanga
A short walk to arrive at Lumumba at 04:30.
Leave Lumumba St 5:02. Only half hour into the journey the gears were giving problems. About 7:30 we pulled over passed Kerenge..outskirts of Dar..to await a replacement Tahmeed bus. It arrived about 09:00. Delay due to traffic jam at Mwenge lights. Then had to transfer luggage/parcels from one bus to the other.
Whilst waiting around I bought a coconut from a guy on a bicycle; he made very good business from the stranded bus passengers.!!
We left Dar eventually around 11:30.
We arrived in Tanga after 5pm. So, getting on for 6 hours later than planned. I hopped on a boda for 2,000 to Ocean Breeze. Checked in to room 118 and immediately went to Splendid. I didn’t fancy a meal anywhere; I just snacked on peanuts in my room later.
Wed 22nd Jan
Ocean breakfast was the usual mediocre fare. Got an Internet bundles top up.
I went walkabout to the Anglican church, and the Greek Church is just across the road. The original Anglican…where Mum and Dad got married…is still used, but a huge new one is being built next to it.
Went to the Greek guy’s house but he was in Lushoto on business, and it turns out he’s half Greek, half Italian. I left my phone number at his house.
I went all the way to Mkonge for my coffee. I met a half German half British lady born in Iringa. She and her friend had a major complaint because there was no water in her room; apparently the manageress was choosing to ignore them. You can pay a lot of money and get a very poor service. She paid about 165,000 compared to my 25,000 !!
Back to my room and then over to Splendid. I borrowed a hoe from Adolph.
This time I did go to SeaView for a nice chicken curry, after dropping off the hoe in my room.
Thurs 23rd Jan
Before breakfast I went to DTB and was then able to pay for two more days at Ocean. After breakfast I walked to the cemetary and spent about an hour clearing the area around Gpa’s grave. Hot work but satisfying. But I was tired from the heat.
I bought some much needed water on my way to Mkonge, then settled down to my coffee. Heard from Mark that he was leaving Pangani for Tanga.
I took a dala back into town, and got off near Foodie Food where Mark was about to have a snack. I was too tired to eat, and just happy to chat. We went back to Ocean and had a couple of hours rest. I washed my sweaty shirt and it dried and was ready to wear again later.
At 15:30 , on the way to Splendid, Mark bought a new electrical plug and we checked prices of bottles of wine in preparation for going to Amani on Saturday.
We had a couple of beers each at Splendid, then went to the Tanga Institute for a chicken curry. We both agreed that it was very good , and 3,000 (£1) cheaper than SeaView. We shared a small bottle of Hunter’s Choice on Mark’s balcony then I retired to my room for the night. It’s nice to have someone to share ideas with on your travels.
Fri 24th Jan
Breakfast of course to start with. I went to the cemetary for a bit more grave tidy up. Mainly it was a matter of adding more pebbles/stones which I collected from across the road. On walking through/passed the graves to leave, I noticed a few graves with the same date of death. There were about ten of them with the date of 29 March 1953, which were the result of a plane crash at Pangani. Graveyards can provide interesting stories from the past.
From there I went to Mkonge for my usual coffee. I caught the dala back to town. The gate to the German 1stWW monument in the garden opposite the Tanga Institute was open, so I visited it for the first time ever.
I went across to the Blue Room where Mark was meeting a friend of his. I didn’t stay long, but was told it’s illegal to enter a public place with an open blade…which makes sense…but a hoe is classed as an open blade. Apparently that’s also the case in Kenya; it’s to guard against someone running amok and doing serious damage/harm.
I returned the hoe to Splendid…no sign of Adolf. From there I went to SeaView where Mark joined me a bit later. There followed a tasty chicken curry. The children’s playground wasn’t blasting out music anymore.
And then there followed a snifter in Mark’s room before I went to my room to sleep. We were both really looking forward to our trip to Amani the next day. I certainly manage to keep very busy in Tanga.