Traveling in Africa is all about the surprises you are met with along the way and the humour with which you take them. Enjoy your adventures and take everything in your stride.
With 39 million people, 945 087 sq km of solid ground, the highest mountain in Africa and the home to an abundance of wild animals and a corrupt government, Tanzania is an extremely exciting travel destination for any travel bug and photography enthusiast to visit.
With a return flight from Johannesburg to Dar es Salaam for R2 400 and with a very limited amount of money, a few items of clothing and my camera equipment, my girlfriend and I were on our way to explore and begin our adventure in Tanzania. Three weeks of endless photo opportunities, countless memories and experiences, different cultures, hundreds of bottles of water and a night or two spent sleeping next to the toilet bowl due to food poisoning after eating dodgy local food. Pure bliss!
The trip began with us arriving in Tanzania at 3am in the morning with a taxi organised to take us to our booked accommodation at Mikadi Beach Resort on the coastline just south of Dar es Salaam. It was no surprise that our taxi driver decided not to pitch up to collect us, or that he possibly could have come and gone already. We later found out that the staff at Mikadi Beach Resort had totally forgot to book the taxi entirely. After hanging around for another half an hour or so we decided to get a move on and organise a taxi for ourselves.
After careful deliberation we selected our taxi driver – the one that looked the safest and most awake – and off we went on our 30 minute roller coaster journey to a booked tent on the beach in Kigamboni. The streets were dead silent, the taxi was hurtling way over the speed limit, through red robots (traffic lights), and to top it all off: he didn’t even have his lights on! As the vehicle, if that shaggy piece of scrap metal could be classified as a vehicle, raced through the streets of Tanzania the windows would slowly creep open every time we flew over a speed bump or pot hole in the road.
We approached the port where we had to take the ferry across to Kigamboni. It was our ‘lucky’ night … we had just missed the ferry so we had to wait for over 45 minutes to catch the next one across. This gave us some time to get some ‘fresh’ air, that smelt very much like a combination of rotting fish, old feet and a smelly baby nappy. As the driver started to dose off in the front seat, I decided to have a look at this extraordinary scrap metal piece of machinery that was our transport. On my inspection I noticed that the windscreen wiper was merely an old rag that had been attached to the wiper arm. The rag was about as clean as a front line trench soldiers sock!
Finally, after ambling around for 40 or so minutes the ferry arrived and we managed to get across to our destination in one piece. Our next task was to try and communicate to the Masai guards, who couldn’t speak a word of English, that we had arranged for a tent on the beach for the first night until a banda (beach hut) was available. Lo and behold no accommodation had been organised for us … so there we were trying to resolve the mix up with a group of Swahili Masai at 5 am in the morning! Impossible … maybe not.
In the end, they managed to find the key to an available banda. By that stage I was boiling hot, sweaty, tired and all I wanted was a nice shower and to get into bed and snooze. Come shower time, the only water source they had was sea water, and if you’ve ever tried to brush your teeth with salty water you’ll know how horrible it tastes. Also, showering in sea water doesn’t give you the clean after-shower feel one hopes for.
Bedtime finally arrived and I was super eager for the sun to rise so that I could see where in the heck I was! Travelling in Africa is such a thrill and is a place like no other! Without all the crazy things that happen, travelling in Africa just wouldn’t be the same. Simply put – I’m proud to be African!
I have many stories to tell and photographs to share. Be sure to continue read my blogs to come.
Contact
Mikadi Beach Resort
Web www.mikadibeach.com
Tel + 255-754-370-269/+ 255-759-177-393
