I knew I'd have to leave my quiet beach sooner or later, so when the time came, I caught a dala dala to Stone Town. Dala dalas are local buses and there seems to be a few different vehicles types. In Zanzibar the dala dalas are like pick up trucks with an extended bed where low benches line the sides and a short roof offers protection from the sun and low branches. Now that I think about it, the roof is where all the cargo goes: furniture, sacks of food, gas canisters, you name it.
On this particular morning, we stopped to pick up about fifteen bundles of what I presumed to be fire wood. The conductor quickly clamored up to the roof, secured the bundles, and we were on our way again. It was mid morning, so the dala dala never got packed, unlike an earlier trip when I counted twenty five passengers including a ten year old boy who fell asleep leaning on me, not to mention everyone's luggage and parcels, and the conductor hanging off the back of the dala dala! I was jammed into the dreaded corner so tightly that my feet and legs went completely asleep! I was a little concerned how I'd be able to move when we reached my stop, but fortunately I had regained enough sensation in my limbs to walk without tripping over myself and landing in a ditch. But on this morning trip to town, I had plenty of space and the only mishap occurred when one of the wood bundles fell off the roof and we had to back up so the poor conductor could pick up all of the sticks that now lay scattered across the road. This adventure took about ninety minutes altogether and cost about $1.25.
In Stone Town, I bid farewell to Zanzibar and caught the ferry to Dar es Salaam. Once every year or two, some overcrowded Zanzibar ferry inevitably sinks, tragically resulting in hundreds of casualties. A ferry sank earlier this year. One company is known to have a clean safety record, so I made sure to travel with them. The ferry was large and modern with comfortable seats. I managed to sleep for most of the two and a half hour trip, though I did wake up when the water grew choppier and many of the passengers around me were making use of their seasickness bags. I knew I'd be ok so long as I didn't see or hear what was happening around me so I grabbed my iPod and watched the Wesley Snipes boxing/prison movie on the TV for the last forty five minutes.
Over the past few days in Dar, I've run lots of errands, most of which involved the Internet. Since I never know when I'll next have wifi access, I took advantage of a local cafe's wifi and downloaded several ebooks and podcasts and uploaded Kilimanjaro photos to Dropbox. I also met up with a new friend, taking five buses for the round trip journey which cost a grand total of ninety five cents.
When possible, I try to practice my limited Swahili. I know a few basic greetings, courtesies, and numbers. Today I added “stop” (“shosha”) to my repertoire after hearing it repeatedly on the bus.
The plan is to head to Mbeya next. Located in the southwest corner of Tanzania, Mbeya is, according to Lonely Planet, a “thriving town” nestled between two mountain ranges and near Lake Nyasa (also known as Lake Malawi). I'll let you know how things go in Mbeya!