Dar Es Salaam to Malawi
It’s a 5am start in Stone Town. Breakfast, bags loaded through the mini bus window, weave through the morning traffic to the busy port, dodging porters and trucks to get into the crowd jostling for the 7am ferry. Passports checked, boarding pass stamped (economy) and checked again, bags scanned and ushered into the vip lounge.
“Well that was easy!”, exclaimed one of group members, “you should have it seen on the way to Zanzibar.” The ferry is a modern fast hydrofoil and the sea is calm for the 90 minute crossing. The economy seats are taken when we released from the lounge so we go out to the front deck. I pull my phone out to switch off my normal alarm and watch my ferry ticket get whipped away by the wind. I’m a little worried but a fellow passenger tells me it’s ok. It’s a mad crowd getting off in Dar Es Salaam, walking through the hoard past a moped with a stack of pizza boxes filled with live chicks, to the minibus loudly playing Afrobeats as we drive to our waiting Overland transport. It’s not a bus, it’s a truck!
The next few days are long journeys and early starts. Our group is now set for the trip down to Victoria Falls. We are six Swiss (including me), two English (also including me), five Australians, a well travelled El Salvadorian, and the four Kenyan crew. We overnight in a camp in the Mikumi National Park and the wifi password turns out to be “muotathal” which is also a small valley in Schwyz near where Martina used to work. The Swiss meet up with the owner, who is wearing an African inspired Edelweiss shirt, to chat about life in Africa.
It’s hot and humid in the tent and Martina hits me frequently for snoring. Bleary eyed I stumble into the last seat on the safari Land Cruiser. I wake up surrounded by giraffes, Martina is up front with a clearer view juggling cameras. There’s zebra, jackals, impala, hippos, with lions and elephants in the distance. I try with Martina’s new big boy of a lens but pass it back to her and take a couple of easy photos on the phone. I’ll leave that one to the expert.
The drive to Iringa takes us on Tanzania’s most dangerous road and I have no intention on cycling this one. It is laden with heavy trucks belching diesel fumes as they haul themselves up the steep mountain pass. The truck makes a lethargic leap past a fuel lorry, it’s built for endurance rather than speed. It’s belly houses two full size trestle tables, two dozen tents, and a fully equipped kitchen with food and water for the next few days. Martina is looking forward to what the chef can rustle up. At the top of the mountain pass yellow baboons wait patiently for treats from passing motorists.
The climate here is cooler and the stars shine bright in the dark night sky. It’s a 4am start for the drive to Malawi and we opt for the upgrade to a twin room instead of a tent. I sleep quietly on a comfortable bed, safely out of hitting range.
