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Published: April 10th 2007
Easter provided us with the opportunity to get away for the 4 day break, but with distance and travel time here a big consideration we were never going to travel that far. We decided to go with 2 other teachers, Louise and Lauren, to the Usambara Mountains which are about half way between Arusha and Dar Es Salaam which is on the coast. We planned to do some hiking and relaxing in the mountains which by all accounts were a really beautiful region of Tanzania.
The only way to get there is by bus and you have many options to choose from. We decided to go with a more reputable bus company and even opted for the luxury bus as compared to the ordinary bus, which would still have been a big step up from the other bus company options. The luxury bus meant you had your own seat on a newish and reasonably clean bus with air conditioning and even a toilet, although neither the air con nor toilet worked properly in either direction. The trip was about 4 hours from Arusha to a mid way stopping point called Mombo, where we would get off and then get
The boys on the truck
Not an uncommon sight here in Africa. No such thing as seat belt laws, etc.a dala dala (local minibus transport) the final 1 hour up the hill to Lushoto which is in the heart of the Usambara Mountains. The first leg of the bus trip was fine although they did insist on having the radio play rather loud and annoying music for the first couple of hours which wouldn’t have been too bad if it had been tuned into the radio station properly, so it was half static and have annoying music. Finally they were out of range and they turned it off, but all of us felt as though we had been put through some sort of torture treatment. The worse part was that the only speaker that seemed to work in the bus was right above our heads. After getting off in the hot and dusty town of Mombo which is on the flat plains below the mountains we then were set upon by all the touts trying to either sell us something or get us transport up the hill. One older guy with excellent English seemed to look out for us so we went with him to organise our transport up the hill. We knew that the cost of the dala
Irente View Point
a view point in the Usambara Mountains that looks back over the plains dala was about TZS1,000 (Tanzanian Shillings) which is about A$1 or 50p. We of course got quoted a higher price (because we are white or Muzungu's) but agreed on TZS1,500 each - what’s the point of haggling over 50cents. The first dala dala was about to leave and of course the driver and ‘conductor’ tried desperately to get us on to this one but it would have been impossible to get into with our back packs, so we headed for the next one which was empty waiting behind - mistake number one. After stowing our gear in the back (with one person left on guard duty to make sure they don’t get nicked when they load more stuff into it) we got in and waited for more passengers to arrive. The dala dala's do not work on any kind of timetable but wait until they have sufficient passengers to make the trip profitable - which could mean a long wait, but there were plenty of people around so it wasn’t too bad. Eventually with the minibus full we set off only to then do 3 or 4 laps around the town looking for more people and even waiting as people
Irente View Point
Louise, Lauren Rach & Si got of the many Dar Es Salaam bound buses to see if they wanted to get on. When we could not fit even a chicken into the dala dala we set off and from where I was sitting close to the back I could physically count 27 people (and these are just a normal small minibus designed to maybe seat 12 in the western world), and I couldn’t see how many were standing in the door region, so I am guessing we had at least 30+ people, including a couple of people hanging on the outside. So the lesson for us was that when we thought the first one was full, we should have got on. The trip up the hill was reasonably uneventful until much to our amusement, the back door flew open (it was only held closed with string anyway) and half a dozen bags were dispatched onto the road at full speed (not ours as they were at the bottom of the pile). We decided that on the way down we would get our own private transport down which was only going to cost an extra A$20 between us!!
We stayed at a hostel in the
grounds of a convent which was really nice and a 30 minute (ish, we were told 30 mins but it was an hour and 30 mins) walk into the main village of Lushoto. The hiking options in the area were generally that you got a guide and then they took you around on either single or multi day hikes. We decided, after being given about 50 different options to go with a guide from the convent as they would get some of the money. We decided that we would do an overnight hike leaving on the Sunday morning and they would drop us at the bus on the way back on the Monday. They would usually use the convent’s minibus (nicest one in town) however we found out on the morning of departure that the driver was away for Easter so alternative transport was being arranged. Ready to go with our bags packed we noticed one small problem - the alternative vehicle (a car suitable for 4 passengers) which we were to be using, was not going to accommodate the 4 of us plus our guide, driver and our gear, although the guide thought we would all be able to
fit!! When we pointed out this small fact he said that we could take a bigger car (for more money of course), so we agreed to take the 4WD option until our guide, after discussion with the head nun, informed us that they wouldn’t trust our gear to be left with the driver so we should consider another option! Needless to say it was all a little too stressful, so when our guide came up with option 51 which was that we would just do a day hike from the convent we rechecked into our rooms and headed off.
Anyway, we walked all day and saw some beautiful countryside and visited small villages where the kids came out to say hi, waterfalls, and had a beautiful lunch at a German style lodge - for a while we thought we were back in Europe. We had a good time, and although the numerous options were stressful for a while, we were able to laugh at how typically African the whole thing was … ‘but wait, I have another option my friend’!! We enjoyed the walking and even had time to relax on the other days. The trip home was as
adventurous as the trip down and when our organised private transport to take us back to the main bus depot at Mombo turned up (organised by our ‘friend’ the guide from the walking tour) we thought ‘oh shit’ here we go again. Sure there were about 25 less people on it, and it was ours, but if it got up the hill out of the convent in one piece it was going to be a miracle. This dala dala wasn’t even good enough to be a dala dala, I don’t even think the locals would get in it. The thing was so old and in bad shape that the side sliding door had to be placed into position, and even when it was tied shut with string you could see the road through the bottom of it, and I was surprised that it stayed on.
The last obstacle was to get on an Arusha bound bus as we couldn’t book tickets, we were going to have to just try our luck that there were 4 empty seats. We had about a 3 hour window when all the buses for the day would stop at the Liverpool Hotel (a Liverpool
football fan who used the word hotel very loosely). It was basically a big road side rest stop with food and somewhere to go to the loo (the term toilet would be overstating the facts). It was also hot as hell. The reason we had about a 3 hour window was the difference in bus standards. All the buses seem to leave Dar at the same time, but some were mechanically more advanced than others. So the best buses turned up first and the crappy ones that seem to travel down the road almost sideways (bit like a crab) brought up the rear a few hours later. The bus company we wanted to get on had 2 buses about 1 hour apart. The first 3 or 4 buses (other companies) were full, and then the 1st of our preferred buses was also full, but they thought there were seats on the next one - the luxury bus (same as we came down on). We had a man from the ‘hotel’ (that seemed to be co-ordinating all the buses arriving and leaving with his very authoritative mega phone announcing that so & so bus was now leaving), trying to organise us
the buses, but he was obviously on commission as whenever a new bus pulled in and I looked like going over to ask the driver for space, he would come right over and tell me to relax he would sort it all out. Anyway, the preferred bus arrived and they had 4 seats available (they shoved existing people around to get four seats together - not by our request). Of course the ‘bus master’ and his Gollum like assistant, asked us to get them a coke each for all their hard work, and when I proceeded to buy them one and saw as the bus pulled away that they went and cashed them in at the stand. The luxury bus air con was not working again and the toilet this time was full up with some sort of foam that nearly filled the whole cubicle, so it was cross your legs and don’t drink too much. We even had a movie to watch (Face Off - John Travolta and Nick Cage) to pass the time.
Anyway we had a great time, enjoyed the experience and saw some lovely African countryside along the way. We did come to the realisation
during the weekend that while our perception is that things in Africa are simple, this only really relates to certain things like living standards, food, entertainment etc. When it comes to actually organising anything or doing certain things (that westerners tend to do regularly and take for granted), things can become very complicated. Even though we ended up with many hassles during the weekend, it’s still a place worth visiting even if just for the adventure of the trip. Now the next stop is the big Safari…
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