From the 4th of July until the 7th of August we traveled in Tanzania. This time not only with the two of us, but Erik's brother Martijn joined us for three weeks! It was so nice to see him again and to spend time together.
But let us first start where we ended our previous blog, the border between Malawi and Tanzania. When we crossed the border, we immediately felt the difference between the two countries. We could clearly see that Tanzania was much more developed compared to Malawi. There was more choice in terms of products (radio's, solar panels, and even washing machines!). However, at the same time the level of English was way better in Malawi, which actually surprised us. Later we learned that the government of Tanzania introduced Swahili as the national language (while in Malawi the official language in English, next to Chichewa). What we liked in Tanzania was the mix of different religions, and how they live together (about 30% of the population is Muslim and 30% is Christian).
In total we traveled more than 4.000 km in Tanzania and we have been all over the country. We traveled both with public transportation and with our own rental car (Toyota Rav4). The map below shows the route.
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| The route we traveled in Tanzania |
We started in the south (Ipinda), took the minibus from there to Mbeya. The minibus was very crowded, and I had no space to put my lags, because there were more than 10 chicken under my feet, haha. From Mbeya we took the bus to Dar es Salaam, where we picked up Martijn. We went one week to Zanzibar, after which we started our road trip to the Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park. On our way we visited the Usumbara Mountains, passed Moshi, the Kilimanjaro en Karatu. Afterwards, we drove all the way back to Dar es Salaam. We dropped Martijn at the airport, Erik and I enjoyed the beach of Dar es Salaam for a couple of days and then we continued our trip to Dodoma and Kahama. We crossed the border with Rwanda at Rusumo a couple of days ago.
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| Taking the minivan to the bus station |
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| Our hotel room in Mbeya :-) |
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| Nice coffee bar in Mbeya |
The next morning we took the bus from Mbeya to Dar es Salaam. It was quite a long journey, more than 800 km. We booked the bus with Color Star, which was according to our hotel the most luxurious and safe bus to Dar. It was a little bit of a gamble, because the English of the guy who booked the ticket for us was very poor. Erik had to draw a bus on a piece of paper with two seats left and two seats right (yes, there are buses with more then 4 seats in one row, and we didn't want to spend 15 hours in these type of buses). In the end he managed to arrange the tickets for us. The bus was indeed quite comfy, but we felt quite some moments very unsafe (driving 130 km per hour on mountain roads, including getting speed tickets from the police, etc...). Therefore, we were happy when we arrived safely in Dar es Salaam in the night. Sometimes it's better that you don't know everything in advance... Of course we made sure that the next buses we took had more careful drivers. ;-)
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| Departing early morning |
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| Our bus |
In Dar es Salaam we stayed a couple of days at Mikadi Beach, a nice backpackers with little huts on the beach. Although the place was a bit run down and the management was poor, we enjoyed the atmosphere and it was great place to relax. It was so nice to be next to the ocean again!
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| Our hut |
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| Mikadi Beach |
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| Meditating on the beach |
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| Nice atmosphere |
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| Enjoying our breakfast early morning |
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| Playing pool |
During our stay at Mikadi Beach, I worked a couple of days on an assignment for my consultancy, while Erik went to the gym, played pool with other guests and enjoyed reading a book. We also explored the city center of Dar es Salaam, which proved to be a very nice city! We made a city walk, enjoyed excellent Lebanese food at Epi d'Or and visited the fish market with the Dutch family we met in Malawi and coincidentally met again at the ferry in Dar es Salaam.
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| Taking the Kigamboni ferry (skyline Dar in the background) |
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| Taking the Tuktuk (or Bajaj) |
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| Delicious humus in Epi d'Or! |
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| Desert! |
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| Askari Monument |
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| Church |
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| Mosque |
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| Fish market |
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| Fish market |
The 10th of July Martijn arrived in Dar es Salaam. We picked him up from the airport and we were just in time at our hotel to see the last part of the European Championship finals!
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| Martijn arrived at Dar es Salaam Airport |
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| Watching France - Portugal |
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| Relaxing day on the beach |
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| Mangrove |
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| Brothers :-) |
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| Going for a run on the beach in the afternoon |
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| Sunset with the skyline of Dar es Salaam |
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| Cheers! |
After three days in Dar es Salaam, we took the Bajaj to the city center. From there, we took the speed boat (Kilimanjaro) to Zanzibar. It was a very luxurious boat, which brought us in 1.5 hour to Stone Town!
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| Just fitting in... |
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| Our speed boat to Zanzibar |
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| Very luxurious boat! |
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| Arrival in Zanzibar |
When we arrived in Stone Town, we first enjoyed a very good cup of coffee (thank you Tripadvisor!) at the Zanzibar Coffee House. A taxi brought us an hour later to the fishing village Jambiani, at the other side of the island where our hotel (Blue Oyster) was located. We decided to treat ourselves and enjoyed four nights in paradise... As the pictures will show, the beaches were very white, the sea was crystal clear and light blue, and the weather was just perfect.
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| Zanzibar Coffee House |
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| Such great coffee! |
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| On our way to our taxi that brought us to Jambiani |
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| Our room in the Blue Oyster Hotel |
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| Bar |
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| Breakfast |
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| Such a tough life... |
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| Getting some nice tan |
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| Brothers |
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| Having lunch |
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| Such a beautiful place |
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| Reading a book |
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| Mango juice |
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| This picture would perfectly fit in a brochure, right? |
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| Happy trio |
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| :-) |
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| Brothers in Zanzibar |
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| Good morning |
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| Nice breakfast! |
After two days of total relaxation (enjoying the sun, reading a book, playing cards), we made a snorkel trip on a
dhow (traditional fishing boat with a sail). It was nice to sail on a
dhow again (we did this one time before in Kenya) and the fish/coral was absolutely beautiful.
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| Martijn on the dhow |
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| Having fun |
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| Check the water: it's so blue! |
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| Martijn snorkeling |
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| Star fish |
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| Erik |
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| Many fish! |
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| Another strange fish |
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| Beautiful clam |
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| Our captain also enjoyed the view |
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| He never wants to get out of the water |
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| On our way back to the shore |
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| Cheers! |
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| Brothers going for a run |
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| Check their six-packs! |
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| Last swim before we leave this beautiful place |
We really enjoyed our time in Jambiani and felt a little bit sad to leave the Blue Oyster Hotel. However, we didn't leave Zanzibar yet, because we also planned two days in Stone Town. We stayed at a nice guesthouse, right in the middle of town (although Stone Town is very small). We walked around in the small alleys of Stone Town, enjoyed a perfect lunch at the coffee house and we had dinner at the food market in the Forodhani Gardens.
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| Restaurant next to our guesthouse |
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| Streets in Stone Town |
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| So many vespa's! |
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| Exploring the streets |
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| Hamman |
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| Nice shops and tiny streets |
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Evening food market at Forodhani Gardens
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| Of course negotiating the price for our goat and banana |
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| Next day in Stone Town |
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| Many paintings for sale in Stone Town |
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| And even more vespa's (not for sale) |
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| Old Dispensary |
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| Typical Stone Town picture |
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| Church |
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| Walking around |
The 19th of July we took the speedboat back to Dar es Salaam and we picked up our car that we rented from Roadtrip Tanzania. The driver waited for us at the ferry terminal, and the handover was quick and easy. After some shopping at the supermarket we drove to Bagamoyo, about 70 km from Dar es Salaam. We stayed at the Firefly, a nicely decorated backpackers place.
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| Firefly |
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| Our car and tent! |
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| Enjoying the nice atmosphere |
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| With a beer ;-) |
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| Nice, isn't it? |
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| Cooking our own dinner |
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| First self-cooked dinner |
The next day we continued our drive to the Usumbara Mountains. On our way we bought a pineapple and had lunch at the side of the road next to a typical African village, since there are no picnic spots. ;-)
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| On the road! |
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| Pineapple stand |
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| So happy with my pineapple |
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| Picnic stop |
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| Not bad, right? |
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| Kids of the village |
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| On the road again |
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| On our way to the Usumbara Mountains |
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| Beautiful views on the way up |
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| And a nice sunset! |
We stayed at Mambo View Point, a nice lodge owned by a Dutch couple. They build their house right on a cliff, very impressive, and also have some camping spots. We woke up in the morning with a beautiful view. After our breakfast, we made a nice walk with a guide on the edge of the plateau, visited villages, a school and the local market. Such a beautiful day! :-) The only thing which was a little bit shocking, was the school visit. Primary education in Tanzania is since a couple of years free for everyone, but there is an enormous shortage on teachers. Also in this school, there were only 4 teachers for at least 400 children...
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| Good morning |
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| Making breakfast |
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| Start of our hike |
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| Beautiful views (and beautiful weather!) |
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| Check the house on the top right! |
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| Amazing views on the way |
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| We walked the path you see right in the background |
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| Such a clear day :-) |
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| Beautiful views |
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| Three of us! |
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| On our way with our guide Isaac |
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| Village |
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| House in the village |
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| Agriculture |
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| Short break |
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| Kids in the village |
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| Nice house in the village |
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| School |
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| Kids in class |
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| So cute |
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| They always like pictures |
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| Selfie |
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| A lot of agriculture in this area |
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| Watering the crops |
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| On our way back to our lodge |
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| Kameleon! |
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| And another one! |
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| Women doing the laundry in the waterfall |
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| Local market |
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| Buying some vegetables and chapati for our lunch |
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| Butcher |
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| Making lunch |
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| Nice place to read a book, right? |
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| Enjoying each other's company |
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| Making a fire at night |
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| Cooking dinner |
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| Beautiful sunrise |
We stayed two nights at the Usumbara Mountains. The next day we left early morning to Mount Kilimanjaro. It was quite an adventurous route we took. The owner told us that it was the shortest - and steepest! :-) But our Rav4 did great and had no problem at all to reach the highway to Arusha again. We had lunch at the side of the road (which reminded us at our road trip in Australia and Namibia) and after a couple of hours we saw Kili above the clouds!
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| Passing through villages at Usumbara |
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| Do you see me? :-) |
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| Pikipiki |
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| Beautiful views on our way down |
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| Time for a picture |
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| Going all the way down |
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| On our way to the highway |
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| Having lunch at the side of the road |
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| We love chapati! |
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| Kili (5.895m high)!! |
We stayed on the Simba Farm, which was located at the western side of the Kilimanjaro. This place was owned by Dutch farmers, who had lived in Tanzania for a long time. Their guesthouse was beautiful and the food SUPER delicious. We could pitch our tent in their garden, next to the swimming pool. Although it was a short visit, we had a great time with them.
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| Pitching our tent |
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| Nice sunset |
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| Our camping spot |
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| Dinner |
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| With a Kilimanjaro beer |
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| Breakfast was also amazing |
We continued our drive all the way to Karatu, where the next day our driver Edward picked us up to visit the Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park. Our rental company didn't allow us to drive ourselves, therefore we arranged a driver/guide for these days. Edward was great company, a good driver and knew a lot about wildlife. All in all, a perfect solution. I think we were the only people with a Rav4, since most people travel with huge Toyota Landcuisers. But: our Rav4 did great! The roads in the Serengeti are very bad, but we managed to have no flat tire, we didn't lose any shocks and we didn't get stuck.
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| Check at the garage before we start our trip with Edward |
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| At the gate of Ngorongoro Crater |
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| Viewpoint |
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| Group picture |
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| Paparazzi |
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| Our driver Edward |
It was really special to drive inside the crater and to see all these animals living there all year round. After the game drive we camped at one of the public (still very expensive) camp sites on the edge of the crater. It was really cold, and went to bed straight after our dinner. The next morning we woke up inside the clouds, with zebra's grazing next to our tent. :-)
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| Our campsite |
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| Early morning (zebra's in the back) |
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| On the road again! |
From the Ngorongoro, we drove to the Serengeti National Park (the worst road ever!). In total we spent two nights/three days in the Serengeti, and explored different parts of the NP.
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| Hihi, check our Rav 4 ;-) |
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| Picnic |
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| Check the leopard hiding his prey in the tree |
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| Massai village |
After four amazing days, we brought our driver Edward to the bus station in Karatu and continued the rest of our road trip with the three of us. When we arrived at our camp site in Karatu, we had a gin-tonic and crisps, to celebrate a very successful safari and a safe return.
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| Gin-tonic and crisps |
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| Making dinner |
The next day we drove from Karatu to Arusha, and visited my friend Marie Elske and her boyfriend Paul. She invited us for lunch, we made a beautiful hike to waterfalls of Mt Meru, had a delicious dinner at her place, and we could camp in their garden. After breakfast (pancakes!), we had a long driving day all the way back to the Firefly, for our last night camping.
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| Having lunch |
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| Mount Meru in the back |
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| Hiking down to the waterfall |
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| And down |
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| Crossing some streams |
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| Avoiding wet feet |
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| Amazing waterfall! |
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| Enjoying the cold breeze |
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| Nice picture, right? :-) |
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| How beautiful it was |
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| Another group picture |
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| On our way back |
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| Delicious dinner at Marie Elske's place |
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| So nice! |
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| Sarah Jane (another friend/colleague) also joined! |
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| Making pancakes for breakfast! |
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| Breakfast |
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| Pole Pole = slowly, slowly (applicable not only on the road) |
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| Driving day = having lunch in the car |
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| We drove about 500 km |
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| Nice views on the way |
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| Local transportation. :-) |
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| Making dinner @ Firefly |
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| Finally relaxing after long driving day |
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| Enjoying life music |
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| Packing our stuff for the last time |
The 30rd of July we drove back to Dar es Salaam and returned our car. We spent one more day on the beach, playing cards, enjoying the sun and each other's company, before we brought Martijn back to the airport the 31st of July. It was very special to travel together for three weeks.
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| Playing cards at the beach |
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| Bye bye Martijn! |
We decided to stay a couple of days in Dar es Salaam, because we liked the city very much. We went to the hairdresser (yes, that was really needed ;-)) in a nice hotel and enjoyed dinner again at Epi d'Or. We stayed again at Mikadi Beach, this time we got an upgrade!
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| Our hut at Mikadi Beach |
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| Hairdresser at a five star hotel |
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| Waiting for the hairdresser |
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| Chilling at Mikadi Beach |
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| Erik going to the local gym |
After a couple of days in Dar es Salaam, we took the bus to Dodoma (on of the two stops during our 1.500 km journey to Kigali).
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| Taking the bus in Dar es Salaam to the bus station |
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| Arrived safely in Dodoma |
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| Bajaj driver |
We stayed two nights in Dodoma, and we visited an organization called Women Wake Up (WOWAP). We spoke with the director (Fatma Hassan Toufiq) of the organization, who is also a Member of Parliament. She was such an inspiring lady! We spoke about Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Tanzania and exchanged knowledge on how to address the practice.
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| Office of WOWAP in Dododma |
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| The director and me |
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| Staff of WOWAP |
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| Lunch with one of the staff members |
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| Coffee and a samosa |
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| Watching the Olympics in our hotel |
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| Booking our bus ticket to Kahama |
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| Bus station at Dodoma |
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| In the bus to the border with Rwanda |
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| At Rusumo border |
We crossed the border with Rwanda the 7th of August. We were warmly welcomed by our friend Alphonse in Kigali and we stay at his lovely place at the moment. But more about our time in Rwanda in our next blog!
Big hugs and kisses,
Erik & Annemarie
