A fond farewell to/from Tanzania

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With Malawi next on my destination list, the obvious overland route is to bus it down to Mbeya, overnight there, then cross the border the next day. It's a 13 hour journey to Mbeya during which I have an entire double seat to myself. I recall reading in the paper that the cost of 1km of road in Tanzania has doubled to $1 million in just two years, and a mere 49km of new road were completed last year, a situation government critics are blaming on corruption and poorly-enforced contract conditions. This same newspaper also carried a letter in which the writer requested that all daladala conductors should be forced to tuck their shirts in, so there are clearly differing priorities in competition.

I notice that the porters at Dar's Ubungo bus station wear overalls that claim they are "buggage handlers". I'm not sure if this is a typo for baggage, a typo for luggage, or a correctly-spelled new word encompassing both concepts.

I doze for much of the journey, the seat's dark blue upholstery showing that the random brand of anti-dandruff shampoo I bought in Rwanda seems to have actually increased my rate of dandruff production.

We arrive in Mbeya after dark and I take a room in a hotel opposite the bus station, poised for the next day's morning departure. I have dinner in an adjacent restaurant where the staff speak little English. However they overcharge me for the basic rice and veg meal I eat, and the waitress tries to convince me, unsmilingly, to buy her a beer.

While searching on the web, I'd found many mentions of transport scams in Mbeya, the most common being to sell travellers a ticket to some destination in Malawi, claiming that they'll need to change buses at the border, but of course there's no bus waiting on the other side. No-one tries this on me, but I'm quoted inflated prices for the trip to the border, starting at double the cost I'd been give by independent parties (e.g. the bus station policeman). The real cost is less than $3, so even twice that is no big deal, but I'm irked by the constant assurances from the touts that they're not lying to me or giving me a mzungu price, when that's exactly what they're doing. I eventually tire of this when I have a price only 1/6 greater than it should be, and take a seat in the newest-looking minibus I've seen yet.

45 minutes later we set off, and maybe 2km along we stop at what looks like a market. The engine is turned off and the handful of other passengers gets out to browse. This doesn't suggest an imminent departure.

1.5 hours later there's a sudden rush to get in the minibus. I fear that my final journey in Tanzania will be as bad as my first but it's not quite as cramped. Five people sit across four seats in each row, meaning I have to abandon the aisle space that my legs had been revelling in and instead jam them as best I can behind the seat in front. I'm both amused and irritated when one of the other passengers suggests I'm taking up too much space, despite my obvious discomfort, when there's a much smaller guy at the other end of the row sitting in an expansive way that suggest he's receiving a BJ from the Invisible Woman.

At least the road's in good nick so the ride doesn't exacerbate the crowded seating, and after an hour we stop in another town. Everyone gets out and, as an afterthought, the conductor tells me I need to change to another minibus. I'm not massively amused to hear this, and snap at the luggage guy who seems intent on manhandling my rucksack despite my increasingly obscenity-laced statements to leave it alone. Some quirk of fate sees me get a better seat in the new minibus and the remaining hour to the border town passes in relative comfort.

As I trudge the remaining km or 2 to the actual border, a sense of relief builds within me. Tanzania has had more hassles than anywhere I've been on this trip since Egypt, with which it shares the characteristics of having large numbers of both tourists and English-speaking locals. But I have high hopes for Malawi.

Dull but possibly useful info
i. I took the Scandinavian Express bus from Dar to Mbeya, leaving at 6:15AM, taking about 13 hours, and costing TSh30,000. There are other companies doing this route (e.g. Abood) but they only go from Ubungo bus terminal - you'll be lucky to get a taxi to take you to Ubungo for under TSh15,000 whereas Scandinavian's terminal is quite close to the city centre (a TSh4,000 cab ride). Scandinavian also pick up from Ubungo on their way out of Dar. The bus had aircon but either it didn't work or wasn't deemed necessary. I'd say the seats were comfier than Dar Express.
ii. In Mbeya, I stayed at the New Millenium Inn, right next to the bus station, for TSh14,000. The rooms are small but have TV, ensuite, hot water, etc.
iii. To my knowledge, there are NO buses going from Mbeya to anywhere actually inside Malawi, so don't believe any tout that tells you otherwise.
iv. I paid TSh3,500 to get to the border town Kasumulu. This is actually the fare to Kyela, further along the route, so I think you should be able to get TSh3,000 (as I was told by various locals) but I couldn't get that despite trying hard. It took 2 hours to get to the border town. I don't know if a change of minibus after half the journey is normal, nor if there's any way of avoiding the interminable arsing around in Mbeya that I had before the journey actually started.
v. The border town is 1-2km from the actual border - I've no idea if any minibuses actually go to the border itself. You can get a bicycle taxi or walk. To get there, go back from the bus station to the main road then turn left.

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