Bus to Arusha

Let me back up a bit and tell a little of Tanzania and our trip to Arusha.

First a little about Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. We didn't seen much of it but what we have seen is pretty sad. Our hotel was right in the middle of what would be called a slum in the US. The hotel entrance is down a passageway in an alley, but then opens in to a small lobby. The actual rooms and the hotel are quite nice. There is a Thai/Chinese restaurant on site. We had an all you can eat buffet for about $10 each. The food was excellent.

Shortly after we got here we told the front desk that we needed to obtain some US dollars to pay the balance for our Safari. The young man who had carried our bags to our room escorted us about six blocks to a shady little hole in the wall place guarded by a guy sitting in a doorway with a rifle across his lap where we could exchange some currency. We had to pass some neighborhoods I wouldn't have liked to have been in alone. Our guide advised us to guard our valuables, had me carry Linda's purse. None of this made me feel terribly secure.

Tomorrow morning he will likewise guide us a couple of blocks to where we can get a bus to Arusha where our Safari will begin. Could be a ten hour drive. Hope it's not a "chicken bus".

For the first time on our trip, we screwed up. I had set my alarm to get up in time to catch the bus to Arusha, but unfortunately I had left it in airplane mode and it had not adjusted to local time so we got up an hour late. Richard the nice young man who helped us yesterday to the rescue again. He got us a cab and took us to where the bus was waiting at its first stop on the way out of the city. He actually rode with us in the cab and got us settled in the bus, someone else was in our seats so there was some shuffling around to do. English is one of the national languages but many only speak Swahili.

The bus was not a "chicken bus" it was a bit like an old greyhound that had seen its better days. The Africans who rode along with us were mostly dressed up because for them this was considered upscale traveling. If you only make about a hundred a month, the $25 fare is a significant investment. The bus had no air-conditioning so we drove with the windows mostly open. I got a real windblown look. The trip gave us a chance to see how the locals really lived. Most of the places we passed through would have to be considerably upgraded to be considered slums. There were an incredible number of little shacks often made of miscellaneous boards and sometimes mud over sticks. Each was someones little store selling everything imaginable, lots of little bars and eateries where patrons sat on planks over a dirt floor. Each store seemed to specialize in one product, maybe fruits, maybe nuts and bolts, maybe shoes, each one typically less than fifty square feet and open to the front. 

After eleven hours on the bus with only one bathroom stop (no bathroom on the bus) we made it to Arusha. Arusha is a much nicer town than Dar Es Salaam. Our hotel was very nice, very upscale, even by US standards. Quite a contrast to our bus ride.