What a wild adventure December has been. There is no question this month has been the craziest, most exciting month of my life. From Arusha, Tanzania to Cape Town, South Africa, I have enjoyed a wild ride.
I am amazed at how the pieces of my adventure continually fall perfectly into place. I have never been much of a planner, which seems to be a necessary skill when traveling through Africa. My life has been organized and planned for the past 22 years, so traveling to Africa with a loose idea of what I wanted to do is exactly what was needed. I have traveled through Africa by bus, purchased plane tickets the day of my flight, and continually changed travel plans. This month has been the definition of "winging it," and I've enjoyed every second of it.
When traveling from Zambia to Tanzania, most people would assume that flying would be the safest and most convenient option. These people would be correct in making this assumption. To the dismay of my mother, I had other plans. Why not take the bus from Lusaka, Zambia to Arusha, Tanzania? I can’t possibly be the only non-African that decided to bypass the airport, right? Well, I was the only non-African that decided to bypass the airport. When Fr. Kabwe, the president of CLCE, dropped me off at the bus terminal in Lusaka on a Friday afternoon, I quickly realized this journey would turn into a pretty good story.
Lusaka to the Zambia-Tanzania border:
My first bus had two seats on one side of the aisle and three seats on the other (about 75 person capacity). I was seated in the middle of three seats for what turned out to be a 13 hour trip. Almost immediately after leaving the bus terminal at 3pm (scheduled departure time of 2pm), the bus driver decided to give us a little excitement. After a tight turn that resulted in the bus riding on two wheels for 2-3 seconds, we were on our way. When traveling in Africa, I always seem to find myself seated next to some great people. The older woman to my right was a Tanzanian, and she told me that her son would wait with me at the Dar es Salaam bus terminal until I was able to book a bus to Arusha. This was a major relief, as we were schooled to arrive at 10pm, and the Arusha buses did not leave again until morning (unfortunately, we ended up getting separated and put on different buses at the border). After driving through the night with almost no sleep, we arrived at the Tanzania border at 5:30am.
Zambia-Tanzania border:
Since I clearly stood out like a sore thumb, the bus company made sure somebody would be waiting for me to help with the border crossing. What a blessing, because without their help, I would have never made it to my next bus. I would like to call this immigration process controlled chaos, but there really wasn’t anything controlled about it. We jogged from the bus to the Zambian Immigration Office, which took about ten minutes. I filled out my departure forms, and filed into a line. Men were in one line, while the much more civilized group of women created a separate line. A mad rush to get to the front was followed by 45 minutes of pushing and inching closer to the office door. We were told that the office would open at 6, so of course it opened at 6:45 (this is referred to as “Africa Time”). When the door was finally opened, we could not get in because too many people were crowded around the entry. Keep in mind, I am the only non-African taking part in this process. Because of my friends, I was very close to the front of the line. I finally made it inside and received my departure stamp. This was followed by a surprisingly simple visa purchase on the Tanzania side. The “bus station” on the Tanzania side is basically a busy village with a line of random buses. I was taken to one of these random buses, had very bad luck with exchanging money, and found my seat. I trusted the man who helped get me across the border, but in the rush and in my sleep-deprived state, I failed to recognize my losses until he was gone. This was pointed out to me by another wonderful Tanzanian by the name of John.
Tanzania border to Dar es Salaam:
Thank God for John, because I would have had a major anxiety attack on this trip if I was alone. We left the border at around 9am and immediately stopped to get fuel. Another ten minutes and we were stopped at an auto repair shop. 20 minutes after that, the bus came to a rattling stop. Uh-oh. I’m smart enough to know that something was wrong, but the angry Swahili conversations between the bus crew and passengers left me out of the loop. John would fill me in every once in a while, but he didn’t seem to know when, or if, we would continue. After about an hour delay, we got back on the road, only to stop at the next town. We were told that a small part would be repaired, and the bus would return in 30 minutes. Well, from what I have learned about African time, we were in for a long layover. My exact words to John: “I’d like to stick with you, if you don’t mind.” He was more than willing to let me follow along. We had lunch, relaxed, and waited for the bus to return. 4 hours later, we were informed that the bus company did not want to continue the trip. After a few passengers made their way to the nearest police station, we were on our way. Another five minutes passed, and we were stopped to change buses. This was far from comforting, however, as the “new” bus had carpet on the ceiling that was popular in the 1970s. After burning breaks brought us to the bottom of a steep decline, we again changed buses, this time with a group coming from Dar es Salaam. We did not encounter any other problems on the rest of our journey, and arrived at the Dar es Salaam bus terminal at 9:30am, only 12.5 hours behind schedule. While I was forced to spend a second night on a bus, this meant that I would not have to figure out lodging in Dar es Salaam.
Dar es Salaam to Arusha:
The bus driver ran me to another bus that was leaving for Arusha, and after waiting to completely fill up, we left at 10:30am. Dar es Salaam traffic, road construction, and only one bathroom break got us to Arusha at 9:30pm Sunday evening. I was dehydrated, very smelly, and incredibly sleep deprived. All was good, however, when Elly, my Kilimanjaro guide and good friend, met me as I stepped off the bus.
This bus trip was incredibly inconvenient and very frustrating, but WOW what an experience! Never again will I complain about bad roads back home. I feel very silly for all the times I complained about our football and soccer trips to Torrington or Rawlins. I came to Africa for new and exciting experiences, and that is exactly what this bus trip gave me. Traveling by bus in Africa is something I will most likely never do again, but I will always cherish the experience.
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| Wreck on the drive from Dar es Salaam to Arusha. |
Enough of bus travel, onto the good stuff.
I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro with Elly in 2011, and he welcomed me into his home during my time in Arusha. What a beautiful family he has! Mama Derek (the name comes from their first born child) , Elly’s wife, has an English vocabulary of maybe 20 words, but always made me feel like I was part of the family. Derek is 6 years old, and continually talked to me in Swahili as if I understood what he was saying (wow, kids love to talk!). Jojo is 2 years old, and quite possibly has the best smile in the world. Elly had a last minute climb booked while I was scheduled to stay with him, which gave me the opportunity to get to know his good friend Abas. Abas, an assistant guide on Kilimanjaro, showed me around Arusha during the five days Elly was on the mountain. From visiting the market to spending the afternoon chatting with a small group of his friends, we saw just about everything Arusha had to offer. He welcomed me to his home for lunch one day, which was a major eye-opening experience. Abas and his wife live in a one-room home that isn’t much bigger than their queen size bed. The kids from next door came and sat next to me and wouldn’t let go of my arms. I wasn’t sure what they were saying, but Abas informed me that they had never touched a Mzungu (white person) before.
On the 10th of December, I traveled to Kilimanjaro Airport to pick up Jordan Edgcomb, who has joined me in Africa.. From a morning hunt with the Hadzabe (one of the last hunter-gatherer tribes in Africa... please check out this article: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/12/hadza/finkel-text) to lions in the Serengeti, we saw just about everything. I'm sure you would rather look at pictures, so here are a few of my favorites from the safari. Enjoy!
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| Celebrating the big 23 on safari! Dula (our cook), Douglas (head guide), me, and Noeli (douglas' cousin and guide-in-training) |
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| Squirrel for lunch? Morning hunt with the Hadzabe tribe |
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| Practicing with the Hadzabe (not really sure what I'm doing...) |
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| Pundamilia (Zebra) |
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| Duma (Cheetah) |
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| Twiga (Giraffe) |
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| Rock Agame Lizard |
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| Black Rhino in Ngorongoro Crater |
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| Kill of the Day |
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| Me-ow |
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| The King |
After safari, Douglas, our safari guide and Jordan’s good friend (this was Jordan’s third safari with Douglas), invited us to his home. Just like Elly, Douglas was an amazing host. Bibi (grandma) and the rest of his family were extremely excited for us to visit, especially Jordan. Douglas’ new-born baby shares a birthday with Jordan, and now he also shares his name! Family means everything to the people here, and we truly felt at home. I am constantly blown away by how welcoming our African friends are, and I hope I have the opportunity to welcome them into my home sometime in the future.
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| Douglas checking out Jordan's Quadcopter |
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| Noeli, Jordan, myself, and Douglas after safari |
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| Elly, Jojo, myself, Derek, and Momma Derek |
It's always difficult to leave good friends, but the flight out of Arusha was made a little easier because we were headed to Zanzibar, an island paradise off the coast of Tanzania. We spent time on the beach, went swimming with dolphins, ate at the night fish market in Stone Town, and enjoyed every second of our time in Zanzibar. Again, I'll let my pictures do the talking.
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| The Rock Restaurant. Nathan Peck was here two years ago, and I was so glad to find it too! |
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| Mr. Cheaper, he gives good prices |
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| The view from our resort in Zanzibar, overlooking the Indian Ocean. I don't hate it. |
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| Our friend "Captain Jimmiy" at the night fish market in Stone Town, Zanzibar |
After spending 23 days in Tanzania, it was time to return to Zambia. Jordan and I were originally going to leave Zanzibar on the 20th, but we were having too much fun on that little island. After booking two more nights, we found out plane tickets to Zambia were significantly cheaper on the 23rd. We stayed a third extra night in Stone Town, and then finally made our way to the airport. Zanzibar is a wonderful place to visit… until you have to leave. Recent policy changes meant that the departure fee was NOT included in the airline ticket. A little frustrating? Sure. This process was made much more difficult, however, by the fact that they did not accept credit cards, and the two ATMs at the airport were out of service. We were forced to rush back into town to get enough cash to pay the $48 departure fee. The fee ended up being about $55 after the . . . . very rude man decided he could change the exchange rate (not much we could do, had to catch our flight).
My return visit to Zambia was very short, unfortunately, but well worth the stressful travel. We landed in Lusaka at 11:30pm, where my good friend Sebby picked us up and had a bed waiting at a friend's house. I don't think we would have made it to Charles Lwanga for Christmas had it not been for Sebby. He brought us to the bus station, took care of our bus tickets, and made sure we got onto the bus safely. I was just as disappointed as he was that we weren't able to spend more time in Lusaka. I have made a lot of promises to return back to Zambia, so I keep saying "next time"! We stopped off in a small town called Mazabuka, which is where my good friend Busiku lives. I was originally supposed to spend a night with his family, but our delay in travel gave us only enough time for lunch. Busiku's mother was very happy to have us as guests, and just like Sebby, was disappointed we couldn't stay longer. Next time! Busiku offered to take us the rest of the way, so we made it to Charles Lwanga at around 4:00pm on the 24th of December. Two nights and one day gave me just enough time to say hello and goodbye to all the great people I had the pleasure of getting to know over the past few months. Like I have said time and time again, I have no choice but to return to Zambia sometime soon. If I couldn't spend Christmas at home in Wyoming, I think my home in Zambia is definitely the next best place. to be. Another short stopover in Livingstone allowed for Jordan and I to spend a night with John Mwamba's family. John is another good friend of mine from Charles Lwanga (he just completed his studies December 13th). He was a great tour guide, and even managed to get us the local rate at Victoria Falls ($1 entrance fee instead of the $20 tourist fee). His mindset describes exactly how welcoming and loving all of our African friends have been. He said that it was a blessing to have Jordan and I as guests in his home. I really hope I have the opportunity to share my home with these great people sometime in the future.
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| Busiku (to my right) and his family on Christmas Eve |
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| John and I at Victoria Falls |
This blog turned out to be very difficult to write. Describing the relationships you make and the impact people have on you can be very difficult to put into words.
I arrived in Cape Town, South Africa on December 27th. I'm too busy enjoying my time here, so the rest of this African adventure will come in my final blog. The plan is to fly home from Johannesburg January 8th, and be back in Buffalo on the 10th. See you then!
Chabota
joshdube6@gmail.com
