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| Bus needed to get on ferry, so there was a long wait while people got off |
We spent 11 hours traveling by bus from Mombasa to Dar es Salaam. Joanie did a fair amount of sleeping, while Yehudah watched the countryside change from coastal palms, to scrubby vegetation, to mountainous, back to scrub, and finally urban. Great road all the way, relatively few people on a big bus.
The bus stopped half way to allow everyone off to pee by the side of the road. The women go to one area in the bush, the men line up to the right. This was the highlight of the trip!
Plus when we stopped in a town someone on the bus bought a large crate of chickens, which was put in the luggage area under the bus!
The bus stopped half way to allow everyone off to pee by the side of the road. The women go to one area in the bush, the men line up to the right. This was the highlight of the trip!
Plus when we stopped in a town someone on the bus bought a large crate of chickens, which was put in the luggage area under the bus!
At another stop the guys took the chicken crate out for a breather, then put them back in the locked compartment. At the same spot guys were trying to sell half a raw goat carcass. Luckily no one purchased one of those! Imagine raw meat sweltering on top of our luggage! That was a lucky pass...
We spotted a few baboons along the way. In one spot they were concentrated where people seemed to traditionally throw food out the window to them. We passed a few side roads that went down into the coastal and mountain national parks that are rarely visited being in competition with the well known ones like Serengeti.
I had contacted Marshad Mohammed 4 months ago, at the beginning of planning for this trip and he had promptly replied, saying he was now living in Dar, teaching computers at the University, rather than living in Zanzibar, where he is from, and that it was too far in advance to know what he would be doing for the Music Festival, but that we were welcome to stay at his place in Dar. This was through CouchSurfing.
We have continued to connect with him, and, finally, we have met. He picked us up by car at the bus station with a friend. We stopped to get bottled water, chicken and chips, drive back to his place. He lives on the top floor of a building very close to the water, although the beach here is not good for swimming. It is 15 minute walk to town, pretty close to the ferry terminal.
He lives with his cousin, who runs his own web design business plus the friend visiting is running his own business consulting firm. They are all young guys in their early 30's, so this is a bachelor pad - no food in the frig or freezer, some pasta in the cupboard, sparse furnishings, but some things looks like they are family heirlooms.
Marshad loves Zanzibar. Today we will explore Dar - walk along the beach, pick up shells, then tomorrow we will leave our bags here, pack lightly for the beach! We will take the ferry, stay in the north at a cousin's backpacker's place, stay in Stone Town a few days for the Music Festival, explore the south for dolphins and the East because it is quieter.
Marshad is coming to Zanzibar for 2 days of the festival next weekend, so maybe we will see him. He comes from a big family in Zanzibar.
Here are some photos from our walk along the beach:
It is now Sunday, Feb 9th. We leave on the 22nd, so we will return here for the final day, then get ourselves by taxi to the airport! Marshad might be on holiday then, but his cousin, Said Said, hopefully will be here so we can get our stuff. His sister also lives close by.
Marshad's sister is a nuclear physicist. She has two lovely daughters and is a devoted mother and wife. Her husband works in the oil industry. She cooked both lunch and dinner for everyone today and Marshad and his cousin often turn up at her place nearby for a meal. Turns out the whole family of 10 children are all well educated professionals. One sister is married to the Tanzanian Ambassador to Dubai. The cousin's family of 9 brothers and sisters are also well educated. Marshad's mother worked in the Dept of Education in Zanzibar and made sure all her kids received good educations. Quite the family! Others are in marine biology, telecommunications, business degrees - both men and women. I taught the daughters some songs and dances, including "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" and "My heart goes thump!"
Up to date! Now to publish all of this today at a wi-fi place!
No great luck! All the photos to upload require super good wifi and it just doesn't exist here.
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