The Final Stretch

With one week left in Africa we hoped to rent a car and explore the southern Tanzanian coast. As it turns out, renting vehicles in Tanzania is very difficult and comes with many strings attached. Most require chauffeur-driven only, limit where you can go, require 4WD out of town and are very expensive. I think it primarily results from the high expense of having a vehicle here, the bad roads, the moronic drivers, rampant theft, customer abuse and not enough demand. After going all over Dar last Friday looking for a rental, we eventually threw our hands up in the air and tried to figure out if there was enough in Dar to keep us occupied for 6 days. But, with hopes deflated we tried talking to one more small outfit Saturday morning. After a little finagling and 4 hours of waiting we finally got our hands on a Rav 4. One of the bargaining chips we used for the car was that we would only put about 720 km on the car. This would only get us about 60% of the way down the coast toward Mozambique. As we wanted to 'see it all', you can imagine our surprise when we realized the odometer clocked miles and not kilometers. In other words, the owners of this vehicle, with about 88,000 miles on it, had been recording the distance on the odometer as kilometers and not miles. Mozambique, here we come.

Minus a 60 km rough patch, the road south is pretty good and we were able to move along at a good clip. Much like Zambia, it's somewhat white-knuckle driving as there is no lighting (street or ambient), people and animals are always in the road, there are no real rules of the road and there is very little law enforcement presence. There are, however, many police checkpoints. They are pretty lazy in the day, but at night like to hassle you a bit more. I most enjoyed their efforts to signal you to stop: As you approach the checkpoint, unsure whether you are required to stop, they may or may not pull a rope tight across the road giving little time to stop. I'm not sure what happens if you hit the rope...

First stop on our blitz south was Kilwa Masoko, a small town jutting out on a peninsula about 310 km south of Dar. The next morning we were surprised to find we could easily arrange for permit and transit by chartered dhow (sailboat) to Kilwa Kisiwani. The small island is dotted with 13th to 18th century ruins from powerful Sultans who used the island initially as a trading center for ivory and gold, and then eventually slaves. We purchased a handy guidebook of the ruins and began touring the island solo. However, this is pretty much impossible in Africa, as somebody always tries to be your 'friendy' and put themselves into a position (without your request) to leverage money out of you. Our 'friendies' this time were two 8 year old boys, Jefar and Dada. At first, we tried to shake them, but they we too nice and thoughtful and not aggressive enough to be a nuisance. Long story short, after about 3 hours of sightseeing we were completely dependent on these kids. Jefar had the itch to be a guide as he led us around very proudly and always insisted that he carry our guide book of the ruins - it added to the official aire I guess. The ruins were quite neat to explore and the small villages were incredibly friendly. For me, it was also nice to visit a site of such rich history as there are have been very few historical relics and ruins to visit in Africa, relative to what I was encountering in China.

After a peaceful dhow ride back to Kilwa Masoko, we hopped in the car and headed down to Lindi. It was a much bigger town than we expected, yet still nothing too remarkable. It did however contribute to what was for us a building impression of a region of Tanzania that is altogether unique. All in all, the the coastal region is a little more laid back and a lot more friendly toward foreigners. Additionally, we hardly encountered any touts or people trying to solicit something. I think it is likely the result of a reduced tourist impact overall and 'the market' for such soliciting has just not gotten a foothold yet. Of course, that said, we did get harassed by a guard with a machine gun for taking a picture. While taking picture of a funny sign, we think there was a small jail in the background that got them all riled-up. You are not allowed to take pictures of government buildings or officials in Tanzania.

From Lindi we worked down to Mtwara, the southern most point we were able to reach in Tanzania. We only breezed through the town but did get to check out the beaches where fisherman were auctioning off their fish to women to sell around town. From there we headed back north to Mikindani, our favorite place along the coast. Once again, there was nothing too exceptional here, it is just a small town on a bay. But, character goes a long way and Mikindani has a whole hell of a lot of character - that and great fried calamari. We spent several hours wandering through dusty village streets throwing out our 'jambo's here and our 'mambo's there ('how are you' and 'hello', respectively) as much as we could. - we nearly always received jovial responses. We spent a nice night there, went for a swim, got some decent drinks and waded out into the moonlit shallows following fisherman attracting and netting bait-fish by gas-soaked torches.

The following, and unbeknowested to us last, day turned into a long drive back to Dar. We stopped in Kilwa Kivinje intending to stay the night. However, we immediately felt turned off by the uninviting, small beach town. We stopped and got some food and never once felt welcome. But nevermind that because upon arriving there the engine started overheating. We waited for the heat of the day to wear off a bit and the engine to cool down and decided to get back to Dar as soon as possible. If we broke down on the main road, we stood a better chance of catching a bus back to Dar in order to make our flights. Amazingly, I was able to find some coolant at a roadside stand. After topping off the radiator, everything seemed to be fine and we finally got back to Dar late last night. The trip back of course was not without its icing on the cake. As we got back to Dar a "police officer" with a machine gun ran out in front of us directing us to stop. Apparently, I was going the wrong way down a one way street, which you wouldn't know because there are few signs and everyone drives in your lane anyway. He jumped in our car and directed for us to pull down a nearby road - always obey the man with a machine gun. He threatened to impound our car and fine us, but then told us he could 'fix the problem' for a fee. Needless to say, after greasing his palm we were on our way. We were fortunate that his follow-through with extortion was not very good as we only gave him about $7.

We spent today hanging out in Dar milking the last of our car rental. Tomorrow, both Arianna and I fly back home. I would be lying if I said we were not ready. Truth be told, we even broke down last week and went to see a movie when we first arrived in Dar. This really has been a fantastic trip though. As per usual, all the best stuff was unanticipated. But I am ready to get back to a little routine and responsibility. As for me from here on out, when I get back it will be time to switch gears back into reality. I am moving to Wyandotte, Michigan July 1st to start work for BASF. There is a lot of things I need to take care of in the interim, a wedding (no mom, not mine), orientation, catch up with friends, move up north and other odds and ends. I am sure in due time I will get the itch to travel again. I have never done South America but am dying to go back to India, who knows at this point. But hopefully this little hiatus will hold me over for at least a little while. I would like to thank all those who have been following along. As I have mentioned before, this blog has been more for my own documentative purposes, but it has been quite nice to have a connection out there, knowing friends and family are checking in now and then. Thanks.

Btw, I apologize for the recent glitch with the picture albums. I have been working on this for a about a week and have yet to figure out why the pics are not showing up. I have not had a chance to upload pics for any of the Kwilas, Mtwara, Dar or Lindi. But if you follow the link you should be able to find the pics for Moshi, Lushoto, Stone Town and Kendwa Beach under their respective titles on the left column of pics. My aplogies for the inconvenience.

http://s671.photobucket.com/albums/vv79/rufoley/

Spice and All Things Nice

So,we scrapped the car rental plans, reshuffled our long term outlook for the remaining two weeks in Tanzania and caught a Moshi-bound bus out of Arusha. I had some fledgingling hopes of flirting with Mount Kilimanjaro, but the park fees are too expensive so we bought a t-shirt instead. Moshi is a nice, lively little town. Nothing too unique but it rates up there with Iringa and Morogoro as cool Tanzanian cities to visit. It is typically a jumping off point for Kili adventures or park visits but we did nothing of the sort, except a little shopping that is. We found a place called Shah Industries which has been around for about 50 years and specializes in leather products all made by disabled locals. I'm not a very good consumer but some of their stuff struck me as quite cool. After browsing for a bit, I ended up buying a chair, table and safari chair. This will more than suffice as my big purchase for this trip. Equally as fun was trying to figure out how to get it home. After lugging everything to the post office I got a first hand experience in complete inefficiency. Long story short, after 3 hours, I was happy leaving my boxed furniture with what I believed to be a 50/50 chance of actually making it home. Btw, Mom/Dad, please sign for the strangely packed and over-taped boxes if they arrive before I do. (ha!)

Some other Moshi highlights: Continuing with the trend of the last few weeks, the food is getting better and better. Street vendors are starting to appear. Some of it is complete crap, but we did find a few places selling pan-fried meat and veggie stuffed patties - I ate several. I also felt due for a haircut and couldn't resist getting a shave at 'Black Money'. No complaints for $2.50, way better than Supercuts. The local market was pretty good too. I found a large spoon, or rather a small oar, that will be perfect for beer brewing, assuming I can get it on the plane. Top of the list though was the coffee shops. Situated outside the fertile Kili coffee growing region, Moshi has some excellent fresh Arabica - expect some upon my return Mikey.

From Moshi we bussed it to Lushoto, a small village in the Usumbara Mountains. From town we hiked about an hour or so to Irente Farms. Most of the farming has been abandoned and new efforts are directed more towards tourism offering camping, guided hikes and a few local grown products for sale, such as museili and preserves. We brought a few beers up to the local viewpoint in time to catch sunset and the tail end of a church revival for some local villagers. The following day we payed a guide to lead us on a hike through the mountains. I generally am opposed to the idea of paying someone for me to follow. However, as there are no maps and tons of criss-crossing paths made by villagers you would be pretty lost without a guide. It turned out to be quite a deal - Yassin spoke fantastic english and was quite informative about local village life. He could even explain the process, or lack there of, by which a local villager can obtain title for his or her land. When we got to the top of the mountain he earned his keep by whipping up a giant bowl of fresh guacamole served with chapati. I know, it seems like a strange food for Tanzania, but avocados are everywhere - ask Arianna, she's the avocado queen. After spending a night in Lushoto we set off for Zanzibar.

Zanzibar is a world-renowned vacation destination with fantastic beaches, great diving and a very laid-back island life. It is therefore not surprising that it would draw tons of tourists and it thus ranked low on my list. Admittedly, I was a little reluctant to go but in hindsight I have to confess it has been pretty good. I should of seen this coming as our transport from Lushoto to Zanzibar via Dar es Salaam was nearly seamless. A long bus ride put us in Dar in time to find a guesthouse for our return from Zanzibar (more importantly, a place to store stuff we didn't want to have to lug to Zanzibar) and then just enough time to get to the port to catch the last ferry of the day to Stone Town. We wandered the streets of stone town eating up all the zanzibar pizzas and grilled octopus we could find. The big gem was the waterside food vendors serving up skewers of fresh grilled tuna, kingfish, snapper, marlin and lobster. We finished it off with banana-chocolate pizzas and and some beers from the upper veranda of the Africa Hotel - good stuff.

On our way north to Kendwa Beach, we filled half the day with a spice tour. Seems a bit cheesey at first but with a good guide and a small group, I found it quite enjoyable. Wandering among 'fields' appearing more like thick underbrush our guide pointed out various types of fruit and many spices. Among them were coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, lemongrass, pepper, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, vanilla, durian, oranges, jackfruit and coffee. The tour was rounded off with a visit to the Sultan's Bath followed by a fantastic lunch. We were then quickly shuffled to the north of the island and were settled in at Kendwa Beach a few hours before sunset.

We had a few complaints about Kendwa Beach Resort in terms of the quality of food and accomodations relative to the cost, but overall it was a really nice and relaxing place to visit. The white sandy beaches were near the consistency of XX confectionary sugar and oddly enough stayed cooler than the ambient air temperature. The greenish-blue water was crystal clear. All in all, no complaints on the beach front!

We are now back in Stone Town and plan to hit up the food vendors hard tonight. Tomorrow we head back to Dar on the afternoon ferry. With one week left, we are setting our sites on a blitz tour of the coastal region south from Dar to Mozambique. By my next post I will be better able to comment on our success...