Usambara to Dar Es Salaam: 3.8.09

Today was a long driving day – 8 hours in the truck. Not much happened, just looked out of the window. At one point we drove past a bush fire that was right up against the road – you could feel the intense heat through the window – bit scary.

Dar es Salaam is the former capital of Tanzania and is still the commercial heart – it’s a big, busy, modern, dirty city. We preferred it to Nairobi as it still has a small amount of colonial architecture – and it’s based on a port, (we always like a waterside!). We didn’t really spend enough time there to get a good feel for the place but I can’t say we were particularly impressed – all a bit drab really.

We had to cross the harbour on a ferry and one of our group had a pick pocket try to get into her fanny pack. He messed with the wrong one – she’s a prison officer at one of New Zealand’s highest security prisons so knows how to handle herself – she grabbed his arm and bundled him to the side of the road, where she got our guide to hold him whilst she checked her stuff – nothing was missing so they let him go – bit exciting though!

We camped in the night on a beachside campsite and it was nice to hear the sound of the ocean. It’s MUCH more humid here on the coast though so the tent was steaming.
Zanzibar tomorrow – Yee Haaaa!