A slightly different kind of start to a travel day on Fri 18th. Went across the road to the bus stand to catch a dala dala to Mtwara. No pre booking or super early start; by 7:30 I was leaving Masasi and on my way to Mtwara. The journey was boring…very flat terrain and long straight roads…but sitting right at the front made it a bit more interesting.
Once we reached the coast there were a few more hills….but otherwise not much of interest. After 6 hours I was dropped off outside town, as usual, and had to catch a boda into the town. I found a Bank easily enough but not a hotel. Eventually found Tiffany Diamond and got the room rate down from 120,000 to 90,000tsh…but still too much. The receptionist suggested the Cashewnut Hotel. After about an hour of walking in the heat, I found it…I didn’t seem to be reading my phone map very well.
I only managed to get the Cashewnut room rate down from 60k to 50k, but it was a nice looking place in a quiet area, with a swimming pool. So, not too bad for 16gbp. I had a cheap beans and rice – 2,000tsh – dinner up the road and a few drinks across the road from the hotel. The WiFi was a struggle; the hotel topped up with bundles…when they could be persuaded to do so. Basically, I hardly had any WiFi the whole time I was there.
The next day I walked to where there was a short ferry crossing to the tip of a huge headland…just to find out crossing times. On the way back I passed a bar with the name ‘ London ‘ something, so I had a soda there. Then I found the Tripple V sports bar , and that’s where I spent my last two evenings. It was only a 5 minute walk from the hotel. It played good music. It even showed some English football. And to cap it all, they made a delicious kiti moto.
Sun 20th. I got a boda to first take me to a bank ( I wanted to make sure I had enough money for Mafia Island). Then went to the bus stand to buy a ticket for Monday morning. Then was taken to the ferry. Well, the ferry left over half an hour late. I didn’t mind at all as I could see there were no buildings on the other side and nothing to do. It was a small ferry and I was crossing for the fun of it. It was only 10 minutes, and because of the delay, I was only on the other side for 10 minutes before going back again.
Nearly forgot to say, that on Sat 19th I travelled the 8kms or so to Mikindani to see the old German built Boma…a small fortress, I suppose….built in 1895 and bombed by the British during the 1st WW. The Boma was eventually restored and is now a smart hotel and conference centre. The old customs house/prison nevered recovered from being bombed around the same time and is in total ruins nearby. There was quite a history along that coast….Arabs, Germans, British and Indians. As for slavery…well…. I squeezed into a dala dala to get back.
My 3 days in Mtwara were enough. I utilised the swimming pool a couple of times. Had kiti moto to eat on my last night. And basically prepared for another early bus journey the next day towards Mafia Island…was really looking forward to that.