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Published: September 3rd 2014
Total Distance Travelled Today: 588 km
Elapsed Travel Time: 12 hrs 26 min
Lodging for the Night: Mikadi Beach Resort (campsite)
Today was a travel day. We had to make the journey from Moshi, near the Kenyan border, to Dar Es Salaam in our trusty overland truck, Umfolonzi. The distance was not too far, approximately 590 km by road from campsite to campsite, but the traffic in Dar Es Salaam gets nasty. To try and arrive at a decent hour we had to leave early... very early. We woke up at 3:30 so we could eat breakfast and cleanup the campsite in Moshi at 4:00 and be on the road by 5:00 am. Our guide Masivu told us that the earliest they had ever made it to the campsite in Dar Es Salaam was 8:00 pm, even when they leave Moshi earlier than 5am! Everyone tried to get some sleep on the truck while we were driving, but the road was so bumpy that the sleep was impossible. We had to drive with the lights inside the vehicle off until the sun came up- apparently there are hooligans out there that will throw things at the
truck if the lights are on. Crazy!
We made good time to Dar Es Salaam, having only stopped for a couple of essential bathroom breaks and once for fuel. At the fuel stop there was a guy with a friendly monkey that kept going after the beer bottle that one of our fellow travellers was holding (he had just bought it so it was still full). As it turns out, the monkey loved beer and that is why he kept going for the bottle. The monkey's owner poured some of the beer onto the floor and the monkey started to lap it up! He also really likes girls so he kept jumping up into Elysia's lap to sit and savour his beer!
We made lunch on the truck and played some cards to pass the time. It was cloudy over Mt Kilimanjaro, so once again we didn't have a very good view.
Our last stop before entering the city was a quick highway-side bathroom break at 3:00 pm. We spoke to the driver Antony, thinking we were making good time, to ask how he thought we were progressing. He said we were doing well but that he
En route to Dar Es Salaam
Typical Tanzanian countryside, with very green vegetation and mountains in the background. Taken from the window of our truck.had been at the exact same spot at the exact same time before, and still not made it to the campsite before 8 pm. So, we hunkered down for a long slow drive through Dar Es Salaam. The campsite was on the other side of the city, in the outskirts by the ocean.
The traffic was absolutely insane. We would literally sit in the same spot for 20 minutes. Then we'd roll forward a few truck lengths and sit again. It was definitely the worst traffic either of us had ever experienced. To top it off the weather was sweltering and humid. With the truck sitting in traffic there was no air flow to clear the air up. Eventually, we made it through the city and to the campsite. We had set a record by arriving by 5:30! It had taken us 12.5 hours to travel 590 km!
The campsite, called Mikadi, was very nice and very safe. There were signs, however, around the campsite that said that we were safe in the campsite but should we venture beyond the walls of the campsite, we would not be safe. So perhaps the area was not that safe after
More Tanzanian countryside
A very typical little town in Tanzania all, but we had a local Maasai warrior as a guard at the gate, equipped with his sword to protect us.
The campsite was right on the beach, which made it all the more exciting that we had arrived in daylight. The place had outdoor showers and bathrooms, with unique bamboo privacy fencing (but no light). After grabbing a couple of ice cold ciders from the beach bar for both of us to enjoy, Mike went for a swim in the ocean with a couple of guys on the trip. Elysia decided to skip the swim and hangout on the beach with Anna from New Zealand. There were lots of locals in the water around the resort, but they weren't supposed to be on the resort's property. There were some odd characters around; Anna was asked if she wanted "sex and orgy" as she walked by some locals that were using the resort's pool.
No one had cooking duties tonight because Masivu had ordered dinner for us at the campsite's restaurant ahead of time, expecting that we would get in very late as they usually do. We enjoyed barbecue chicken with rice and salad at the beach bar
for dinner. It was a great way to cap a long day.
After speaking to Antony, we learned that some of the neighbourhoods that we drove through were really rough. One of the other overland trucks that was at the campsite had had it's dipstick stolen while the truck was sitting in traffic. Someone had actually climbed in the engine compartment from underneath the truck while it was running and taken the dipstick! Even worse was that the driver then needed to buy a new dipstick, which is not something that is often carried at the local stores. There was, however, a few stores that apparently thieves sell their loot to, and the driver went to one and found his stolen dipstick and had to buy it back for $100!! Antony also said that they definitely can't let passengers out in those areas because the locals would steal the watch right off your wrist! It didn't look that dangerous from our position inside the truck, but you never know!
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Andrea
Ah yes, Dar traffic, we too experienced that hell too. Sounds like you had a safer time of it than us though. I will be sharing that story on my blog when I get to it. I enjoyed the beach on the other end of it though but was happy to leave.