Tues 14th. I was in no hurry as only going to Moshi. Over to Mercy for tea and 2 fried eggs and chat before 9:00. After 9:30 I hopped on a boda. Half an hour later I had passed through immigration and was at the dala stage and almost immediately was on my way to Moshi. An hour to get to Moshi…really good going, helped by the fact that we passed through any police checkpoints very quickly.

I had a coffee at Fresh. Went to the Mama Africa shop at the roundabout to check on something for Jennie in NZ. I was directed to the other Mama Africa shop near Union Café, and then went to check in at Kindoroko. Yes, room 102 !! I relaxed a bit before it was time to meet Catherine at the Police Mess.
Before going to the Police Mess I bought a packet of chevda from a supermarket near the Stand. Had a good chat and told Catherine not to be so controlling towards me…to which she accepted/agreed. By the way, in the week since my last visit to Moshi the Serengeti logo has changed colour from black to yellow, with the leopard facing the other way; it certainly took me by surprise.
I went to Kaka’s …saw my friends upstairs…then had my tandoori chicken and rice. There was an additional sauce to the chilli sauce and it was absolutely delicious. I couldn’t begin to describe the flavour…just that it was really tasty. I went to Awara for a nightcap then to bed.

Wed 15th. I skipped the useless breakfast and headed to the Stand for my reporting time of 07:00.. I already had my ticket costing 42,000..or about £13. My bus was late so I was switched to another one which left later than planned. But it was very comfortable.
We left at 08:45; I knew at that point we could be arriving in at dusk, but at least we weren’t going to Magufuli bus station.

The journey was good until we reached Dar. I was right to fear the Mwenge traffic lights because we waited there for well over half an hour. Then slow to Shekilengo stand. From there I got into dala dala for Kariakoo/Mnazi Moja. I theory not that far but the driver took a huge detour…. apparently to avoid heavy traffic.

I got off on Uhuru St, so not far from Riki Hill. Unfortunately they were fully booked but I got the last room at Keys hotel just around the corner on Uhuru St. By this time it was after 9pm, so the trip had taken at least 12 hours. I’d only eaten a couple of samosas so was pretty hungry. I had a chips mayai for 3,000 at a street café.  I  bought a packet of nice chevda then went to 24/7.

Wanted to do something different so bought a bottle of Serengeti and K Vant to mix together. I watched an English football match, so it was an nice evening after the frustration of the bus journey. From there to Keys to sleep…around 23:30. The room had AC and was very comfortable at the slightly higher cost of 35,000. No wifi though. But grateful that I got an alternative to Riki so quickly and so nearby.

Next stop Zanzibar…really exciting.