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Currently sitting in a sweltering internet café in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's capital after an epic journey to get here from Uganda which took 3 days and a total of 40 hours sitting in a bus! We set off on the 6th from the Bus Park in Kampala…due to a severe lack of sleep I fell asleep straight away only to wake to find everyone in hysterics as the journey actually took us through Kenya then onto Mwanza in Tanzania which was our final destination. Due to obviously being british this means we need a visa and the shock of maybe having to shell out 50$ didn't fill us with much joy! However we decided to stay on the bus and after setting off at 3pm we arrived at the Kenyan boarder at 9pm and managed to get a transit visa only costing us 20$ instead. We got to Tanzanian immigration at 5 in the morning after paying 20$ to see Kenya in the dark! After getting through Tanzanian immigration which involved a fancy visa and our photos being taken…although not looking my best sleep deprived at 5 in the morning we got through and slept our way to Mwanza which was about another 3 hour drive. We found somewhere to stay and headed in to town to find some food and had some serious communication problems with people as everyone mainly speaks Swahili and if they speak English it is limited and very jumbled. Me and Blair later headed in to find the bus park for the next morning after finding our original plans to head to lake Tanganyka had been ruined by a lack of buses and trains for a few days so we were headed for Dodoma. We walked around for ages looking for a bus park only to be directed to a lamp post before establishing it was out of town and we needed to get a car there. The journey back to the hotel involved a rugby scrum to get back in the taxi and I had to be pulled in or I would have been left behind! The next morning anticipating a lack of transport we got up at 4 for our bus and started walking the 3 miles to this lamppost! Fortunately a pick up truck full of Mwanza police drove past and picked us up which was extremely lucky as we would have missed our bus plus the cold air gave us a good wake up! After getting on the bus at 6.30am we thought our journey would end in dodoma at 2pm…however apparently the coach company ran by Swahili time and therefore got in at 6pm….Logest most depressing journey ever! We then spent one night in dodoma before boarding yet another bus to Dar es Salaam…our final destination…well for a day or two! We arrived in Dar two days ago and firstly had a traumatic experience trying to find accommodation in the dark with prices seeming quite high compared to Ugandan standards however went to a water park yesterday and spent the day like 5 year olds playing on the slides and in the pools! We managed to sustain a few injuries…however the sunburn was minimal which was surprising as to how hot the temperature is! Last night we went out to a restaurant before crashing and going to bed…unluckily mine and sarah's fan doesn't work in our room so we spent the night awake and sweating! Today we have done a lot of hand washing and are heading to a market this afternoon…before going to Zanzibar tomorrow!!!
- comments
Patricia Harrington It may have been your most depressing journey Naomi, but I was turning greener and greener as I read down the page.... sooooooooooo envious!! Glad is all is well and you're having a fab time! Loads of love Pat xxx
Dad Sounds amazing if somewhat stressful at times no doubt. Seeing lots of wonderful things too I guess. Have a fab time in Zanzibar. Love you lots x x x x x x x
Nanna Great to hear your news.Never thought our grandaughter would be picked up by the police! All sounds very exciting. Much love Nanna & Grumps.