21st January- 30th January

Dar es Salaam-Arusha-Nairobi-Kampala-Jinja-Kampala-Mubende

So once we got back to Dar es Salaam we got to YWCA and washed our clothes; after a while Molly and I took the trip to the bus park, to book the bus for the next day. We wanted to go to either Moshi or Arusha and managed to get a bus to Arusha for 7am the next morning. On our hour journey there we had spotted some clothes piles, so on the way back we went to have a look and each bought ourselves a nice pair of pajama bottoms for a bargain price. That night at our favourite restaurant Snoopy's we all splashed out on sundaes, I had a caramel one-it was amazing! Next day we were up nice and early at 6am and off we went, we got to the bus park on time and were greeted by the large man who had sold us the tickets the previous day. He informed me (whilst holding my hand) that we would be paying a baggage charge of $25, to which I told him we most definitely wouldn't be-trying to rip us off. We were then sat on the bus for quite a while and a very old man (who was very scary looking) insisted on waving his walking stick at me-so I closed the curtains because I couldn't close the window; he then told me to 'f*** off' several times even though he couldn't speak English! The 8 hour journey lasted 11 hours and we arrived in Arusha just as it was approaching dark (like normal). For once we had some luck with accommodation and got free private transport to 4000Tsh accommodation per person (£1.50), which I was really thankful of as some bites on my foot had conjoined and swelled up.

Next day Molly and I decided to go to a market that was mentioned in the guide book, called Namagamtoni Market. It was out of town so we had to get a dalla dalla, on the way to the dalla dalla we got followed by some creepy old man who kept calling us 'his babes'! The market was really good with jumpers for 3p, the market was also full of masai people which was interesting. On the 24th the group split, going to Nairobi, with Molly going with them…so I was left all alone, well not quite. Naomi, Sarah, Blair and I were left and we just spent the day relaxing and doing not a lot. Next day we got up at 8:30ish and headed to the bus, which was rather small and then we were on our way to Nairobi. For the whole journey the conductor and his friend sat there smoking 'miraa' (like tobacco). Tanzanians teeth are all so bad (yellow and black and just generally rotting away) in comparison to Ugandans because they all chew this miraa, even at a young age. At the border crossing we found out we got scammed last time we entered Kenya, as we paid $20 and it should be $10! Blair also had a traumatic experience, as he gave Naomi a 10000Tsh note to buy him a fanta, which she handed over to the man as the bus pulled away, leaving the elated man with 10000Tsh profit! (the fanta should have been 1000Tsh!).We arrived in Nairobi and I was amazed at how huge a city it was, even more developed than Dar es Salaam. We got off the bus and sat talking to some Kenyans for ages, one man was so funny and lovely. Then we managed to find the other volunteers, booked the bus to Kampala, had supper and then it was time for the off. The bus to Kampala was a night bus and was the lushest bus we had been on except for the fact that my stupid window was letting loads of draft in, so I was freezing and uncomfortable for the entire journey! At the border there was a slight problem that before Rosie and Keziah got back on the bus, the bus sped off. We tried to tell the bus driver to stop but he just sped up more! They then told us that they could just catch the next bus of the same company and it would be fine-we were not so sure of how 'fine' it would be. At 9am we arrived in Kampala and then sat at the bus park hoping that they would arrive, half and hour later they did indeed arrive at the bus park even if they were on a slightly lesser bus than the one they had paid for!

When we got to Backpackers we met up with all the volunteers that had stayed in Kampala while we had been to Tanzania, it was really quite strange. Next day we did the usual, visited the markets and then we ended up going out in the evening. We went to a place called 'Steak Out' where I met a Ugandan with the poshest English accent, I voiced my opinion and then he told me he had been to Shrewsbury School for 6 years! I was like what!? We had a very long chat and I discovered although he was Ugandan and both his parents spoke Luganda-he couldn't even say a simple greeting in Luganda! On the 28th we went to Jinja for Benny's 18th Birthday, we all had a great time especially as we were staying in Jinja Backpackers which was lovely. On the 30th we headed from Kampala back to project, with mixed feelings on the end of our travels and the beginning of our 12 week teaching term.