Karibu! Karibu! You're in Tanzania.

I learnt quite a bit of Swahili on this trip I can say - I always wanted to pick up Swahili, and I reckoned because they speak such a pure version of the language, it might be great to start learning on my trip there. Although I must disclaim - I only know the phrases that every tourist learns. Pole pole (ah well, slowly slowly!)!

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SCENE I

Tue 12th Dec
Holy crack of dawn

I'm up and I'm excited. 'Bubbling', you can say. I'm up an hour early.
My bags are packed, all electronics are charged, toothbrush double-checked in the bag, tickets are all in place, the Rough Guide is at the top of my backpack ... all money has been sorted into 'Large Bills' and 'Small bills' and tucked away in separate secret pockets ... and I have two sets of sunglasses and my cheesy sun hat. I am as ready as I will ever be. But I cannot stop pacing around my room and checking everything repeatedly.

I still have to wait until midday for my flight to take off. I am going to Tanzania for a week, via Nairobi. I've been planning for weeks ... but I'm still a little nervous because without proper access to books and telephone in Juba, none of my plans could be 'confirmed'. I'll plan as I go. More fun!

Today is also a sad day ... and I have other things on my mind which I cannot push away, and are probably the reason I couldn't stay in bed this morning ... but I've decided that I will worry about it when I return.

Right now, my only concern is that the flight takes off today, and that I am on that plane. From Nairobi, I go to Arusha --> Moshi (Kilimanjaro) --> Dar es Salaam --> Zanzibar. All in 8 days! Yeeehah!

SCENE II
12 December
Late afternoon

It seems like my relationship with matatus are to be long and lasting.

I took a smallish bus/biggish matatu from NBO airport into town - was feeling a little too cheap for a taxi, and a little too energized by my recent departure from Juba. I had energy (adrenaline) in abundance - I could negotiate anything! And company is good ... nothing wrong with matatus!

The bus finally - through sardine-like human and car jam in the KenCom (short for Kenya Commercial) area - arrived at the stop and I alighted.

Item 1 on to-do-list: Get bus ticket for early tomorrow morning
My book says only take one of the three luxury companies ... DO NOT take any of the smaller shuttles from disreputable companies who probably do not have licenses and insurance anyway, and a lot of times drive very irresponsibly. The Nairobi -> Arusha -> Moshi route can be dangerous so it is best to dish out a little more and buy safety.

The initial plan was to fly from Nairobi to Moshi (Kilimanjaro) but the adrenaline caused me to drop that idea and want to go by road so as to get a better view. So an expensive bus ticket did not add anything to the calculation. I went for the most reputable-sounding one - Scandinavian Express.
I place a lot of faith in anything scandinavian.

Item 2 on the to-do-list: Arrive at my friend's place to spend the night
I finally did arrive at their place, but after going through basically all the distractions of KenCom. I bought mangoes, avocado, rings made of cow-horn, and an SD card from a shady dealer (which actually ended up not having the promised 256MB!). Its amazing how big city street vendors can seem attractive when you've not seen anything like them for months. I was THAT close to buying clothes from there.
And ALL this, with my bag and backpack on myself. I finally forced myself into a taxi.

That evening, it was declared unanimously that mangoes and avocadoes were either unripe, or bad.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. And besides, I am going to Tanzania tomorrow!

SCENE III

Dec 13 (Thu)
Nairobi
Early morning semi-darkness. It is 6am. Groggily repacking the things I’d taken out of the backpack last night, I was ready to go. I even got a free ride – score!
Time: 6:30 am; location: Scandinavian Express bus station.

I have a brilliant plan for touring Tanzania – start in the north at the mountains, and then finish in the south/east at the beach. All in one week … blame the Juba cabin fever for my ambitious plans. Although the distances are not great this time, it is a time-consuming journey because of the condition of the roads and the innumerable stops. But still, I have decided to run up and down Tanzania when I should be ‘resting and recuperating’ away from work.


The map shows my road expedition charted …enter and exit via Nairobi, Kenya by air. I wanted to travel inside Tanzania by bus. It will be time-consuming, but necessary in order to see the land from up close. And according to the book, the scenery is worth traveling overland for.

First stop: Moshi town, at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro (it looks a little high on the map ... Moshi is actually parallel to Arusha). Initially I wanted to fly directly to Moshi, but then decided to go through the Namanga border. More adventure surely!

The guidebooks strongly denounced all forms of road transportation between Nairobi and Moshi – buses, coaches, minibuses, microbuses, matatus, shuttles – except for three bus companies. At 7:00am my ‘luxury’ Scandinavian Express rolled out of the terminal, and I settled down with my Rough Guide.

Outside were vast expanses of savannah spotted with baobab trees (growing more laterally than vertically) and covered sparsely in short bushes. Along the pock-marked road, occasionally some tribal people appeared, jogging in a way so that their bodies remained as vertical and erect as the stick was horizontal at their side. I sat up and craned my neck every time I could see a Maasai.

The region south of Nairobi is Maasai land – the very famous, recognizable and very traditional tribe living in both Kenya and Tanzania. They are very dark, very tall and have a lean structural frame – accentuated by the various pieces of traditional ornaments and weapons they like to carry. Their spears have been replaced by shorter sticks, and their leather clothing by bright red, orange or purple wraps slung from the shoulder. Their white shoes add another dimension of starkness to their appearance, along with their blazing wraps. The women are similarly dressed, but with strikingly colourful beaded neck collars and ear-pieces … not sure if I can call them earrings.

(The bumps in the road were not small, but the ‘luxury ride’ was serving me well!).

Before I knew it, we were at the Namanga border! Time: 9:30am. I could really be in Moshi by noon! Quick, invisible victory dance was in order. The border was crowded with with buses and trucks in crooked lines, vendors selling crisps, groundnut and water (like any other border), Maasai selling their beaded jewellery (not found at any other border) and touts trying to sell you matatu rides. I walked firmly towards the immigration office, after letting the matatu conductors know that I would not be needing any transportation today, and certainly not of the matatu kind. But the offers refused to stop. Sigh.

Thump thud, thump thud of the stamp on passports – the immigration line moved speedily … the formalities between Kenya and Tanzania are rudimentary. I watched it with satisfaction while waiting in the visa line first, form (and $50!) ready in hand. When my turn came up, I presented the papers, but no stamp issued. Some shaking of the head… some leafing through passport … more consultation … more people appearing to peer at the passport, and the final heavy words. One official fetched a neatly laminated blue sheet, which stated clearly “Citizens of the following countries …”

I pleaded, harassed, bargained and showed outrage, but no go. I should have tried the trembling chin … no, I’m told that I should have tried the ‘under the table’ method. But but … I didn’t see any tables. The ordeal was familiar although I did not expect it in the least – all the books and officials told me I could get a visa at the border without any trouble, especially if I held a Kenyan visa.

I finally peeled myself away from the window; I have to get a visa from the Tanzania High Commissioner in Nairobi. Where is the High Commission? How long would the visa take? I embarked on a side-mission to obtain a visa.

--- x ---

As I turned back to face Kenya, I realized there were some absolutely gorgeous mountains behind me. The sun was just peering from behind them. Two factors worked in my favour – it was still early in the day, and that the High Commissioner was in Nairobi and not in Timbuktu (which is actually a real town, and in Mali by the way). In my disfavor were also two factors – the direct Nairobi-Moshi buses are only in the morning (I have to depart again tomorrow morning) and there are no buses going from here to Nairobi in the next few hours.

I finally may need a ride of the matatu kind.

As I stepped out of immigration facing the wrong direction, the swarm of matatu conductors shot at me. Successfully. I had no other option – in order to waste just one day and not two, I needed to be back in Nairobi by afternoon. I need the visa today. Putting expediency before safety, I took a matatu – it would take only two and half hours.

Time: 10am. In a matatu, the ‘bumps’ become ‘craters’ especially when your backpack in on your lap. As we left Namanga, more and more people piled into it, with children, shopping, bags, food, greens and whatnot. We were packed snugly, and the matatu began picking up incredible speed.

--- savannah --- bush --- Baobab tree --- Maasai --- small shop --- savannah --- bush ---Baobab tree

--savannah --bush --Baobab tree --Maasai --small shop --savannah --bush --Baobab tree

savannahbushBaobabtreeMaasaismallshopsavannahbushBaobabtree

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Oh dear ... I hope I get the visa today.


SCENE IV

Thu 13 Dec
Afternoon

Time: 1:30pm. By a miraculous stroke of luck – added with some extreme driving performance by the driver – I have arrived back in Nairobi. The story is not for the weak of heart. The matatu dropped me off at KenCom (Kenya Commercial) … no, I got off the matatu near KenCom because a half mile radius of KenCom is a veritable parking lot. I figured walking myself out of there was a better proposition.

By another divine intervention, the Tanzanian High Commissioner appeared at KenCom on the 9th floor of some building at 1:45pm.
1:50pm: I arrived at the offices and presented my case. The glass window clearly stated that it would turn into pumpkin at 2pm. More pleading … etc etc. This time, more showing of UN ID and talking with a high accent.

High accents work; I had a visa at 2:15pm. And without even a photo. Running out like a baboon out of hell, I headed for the matatu junction. I am going to Tanzania, and I am going there today. At 4:00pm, I am off again on the same road for the third time today. This story has a happy ending.


SCENE V

13 Dec
Night

If there were any fragmented journeys, then this was it. The one smooth bus ride from Nairobi to Moshi has now become a geometrically increasing number of segments. Although each time, cheaper.

I crossed Namanga border on 13 Dec at 6:45pm. It was dark. Matatus do not cross borders. I have to find another mode of transport, but that bothered me a fig – I was in Tanzania!

Jubilation lasted *very* briefly – there were no more buses to Moshi that day. I would have to overnight in Arusha … okay … no problem … I can figure something out. I opened the guidebook to new pages.

But this story developed new twists when an hour inside Tanzania, the bus slowed down – there was flooding on the road. The area is mountainous, and the rains have deposited a great quantity of mud on the road. SO much so that the tarmac was not reachable. As I was visually trying to trace the source of the flooding, our bus groaned to a stop. We were stuck in the mud.

How do you pull out a full-size bus? Maybe get a hauler or tractor? Some random thoughts slid around in my head as I stood outside in the moonlight with the rest of the passengers and at least two other marooned vehicles. I was too tired to think or act. Many of the passengers were foreigners, going to Kilimanjaro to hike the next day. We had a good chat for some fifteen minutes, but then we fell silent. A bus trying to haul itself out of a muddy pool is an entrancing sight. I have to say that the more it spun its wheels, the deeper it seemed to dip, but let me not bring in Physics here.

A few heavy vehicles passed from both sides without getting stuck, but it did not help us. I cannot remember on exactly which split second it was, but I found myself having decided that I would hitch a ride. Arusha isn’t that far. I was tired beyond I could fathom and I just needed a bed.

One truck. Another truck. One bus in the wrong direction. Another trailer in the wrong direction. One off-road SUV. I decided this is it – it is now or never. I needed all the grit and charm I could muster. Squelching through the muddy road, I launched myself towards the SUV. It was dark except for the moonlight so I didn’t see the markings on the side of the vehicle until I was right next to it.

It was a UN car! I was saved! I professed my UN ID. Leaving many of the other clamouring passengers on the roadside, the vehicle took me.

That night, I had a West African meal, and slept in the house of a very sweet Guinean family who works for the UN ICTR.

It was a day of good karma after all.