The Eastcott Family Blog: Hakuna Matata – Cairo to Moshi in Transit

We left Cairo on Tuesday afternoon to get to Dar Es Salaam and then on to Moshi. Our flight left in the afternoon so we spent the morning packing, had one last meal at Kazaz and then walked to catch the public bus to the airport. We got to the bus stop and the guy at the desk asked us if we read Arabic numbers (as all the buses were in arabic), we of course said no so he wrote out the numbers and said “Now’s a good time to learn Arabic”. About 20 minutes later the bus was there and about an hour later we were at the airport. Along the way we passed a small riot at some Mosque steps, saw a Hardee’s Burgers and Cici’s Pizza as well. Once at the airport we had some issues with checking in as we didn’t have visas into Tanzania yet (as you get them upon entry). After talking to the head of Oman Air (who turned out to be an awesome guy) we were checked in and were on our way to Dar Es Salaam via Oman. During our layover in Oman we walked around the airport looking for internet, finally found it but came to find that the Sultan of Oman does not allow Skype to be accessed, which was the reason we were looking for internet in the first place. Our flight from Oman to Dar Es Salaam was great, it was nice and empty so we both got 3 seats each and were able to lay down and have somewhat of a proper sleep (it was an overnight flight).

We arrived in Dar Es Salaam around 5:30am Wednesday, paid our money for the visas and got a taxi to the bus station. The ride from the airport to the bus station took about an hour because of the traffic; although the driving is much better than in Cairo and horns are not used nearly as much. We did however see an overturned bus on the side of the road, all the passengers standing outside it and another truck trying to flip it back over. Although that could have been caused due to cramming about 30 people over what the bus can actually hold and people jumping on and off as they are driving, which is what the bus system is like. Upon arriving at the bus station we were immediately pulled into an office and told that all busses were filled and we would have to take their company’s bus. Luckily Dave had read online to go straight to the bus rather than stopping outside the terminal. After more hassling we finally found the ‘full’ bus which clearly had seats left. We got our stuff in the bottom and hopped on for the next 8 hours. The bus was supposed to leave around 7am, we got on at 8am and it ended up leaving at 8:30am. Time is something that doesn’t matter in this area (they also do their times weird so approximately 6am is “midnight” or 0:00Swahili time).

We were finally on our way to Moshi. Driving through the countryside was unreal, there were random villages all around, some had houses made of sticks, others mud, some both. The poverty over here is unimaginable until you see it. The bus had many stops along the way for either check in points or to buy things. One of the ways the villages make a living is to tout the busses when they pull up, they sell water, food, soda, fruits, necklaces, bracelets, anything you can think of. In some instances they even jump on the bus and ride it 30 minutes up the road until the bus driver stops to drop them off (we assume they catch another bus back down). There is also a bathroom break, which consists of pulling over on the side of the road, everyone getting off the bus and going into the bushes, it was quite an experience and completely normal for them (we were the only non-African’s on the bus). We continued to drive and then stopped at a little highway restaurant (mostly for the busses) to grab some food. We decided to split some rice, pasta and chicken and it was surprisingly very good. That stop also had buildings for toilets, although the toilets were still just holes in the ground (there were stalls though). After a 20 minute break we hopped back on the bus and were on our way once again. At another stop we picked up a guy selling bracelets and necklaces so Dave bought two bracelets from him. He also was helping the bus driver and assistant turn paperwork in and buying things out the window for people who wanted things. At one stop a family bought a bag of tomatoes and a bag of onions for about 3,000 TSH which is about $2 USD; things are fairly cheap over here as well.

Eventually we came to a point where we could see Mount Kilimanjaro so we knew we were close; a little while longer and we were entering Moshi. We made it to the bus station around 5pm, jumped off, grabbed our bags and started on our 30 minute walk to the hostel through town. The walk was fairly enjoyable and we only had two people talk to us; one guy tried to sell us a Kili trek, the other one just wanted to practice his English. (We later found out that their schooling here is in English so it is a requirement that they learn English, if they talk in Swahili in school they get a punishment at the end of the day.) We made it to the hostel around 5:30pm, got checked in and unpacked, booked our Kili trek, took a visit to the ATM and then went to bed. The next morning we got up and got ready to start our Kilimanjaro adventure (next blog).

Some Swahili words:

Hakuna Matata – “No worries”, yes it’s a real saying and they use it!

Asante Sana – “Thank you”, you can also just say Asante for “thanks”

Mambo – “Hello”

Lala Salama – “Sleep well”

Pole Pole – “Very slowly” (pronounced pole-lay, pole-lay)

Twenda – “Let’s go”

Ako Tayari – “Are you ready?”

Simba – “Lion”

Rafiki – “Friend”