Nairobi to Dar Es Salaam

During my stay in Kenya, I always heard that there is only one good bus company to go from Nairobi to Dar Es Salaam; if it was your first time traveling this trip that is. This was Scandinavia. It resulted difficult to find it though, as they had moved a bit outside the city centre. So I did not bother and used another company (Sabco). For 22 euros I would be in Dar Es Salaam directly (or that’s what I thought).

 

To cut the story short, it took me 22 hours to get there. It makes you wonder though… Cheap transport in Africa might be a bit dodgy and all but the roads remain the same. On the other hand side, the people are much more sociable in cheap transport. Depending what you want, you choose. The roads though… THEY remain the same. It was quite an experience when we got lost in some Masai lands just after the borders. The driver did not want to use the main road as too many cars were parked in the middle of it. So we improvised. After nearly destroying the tires and the chassis we got on the “main” road.

 

In other anecdotes I met a guy working in the same bus that used to be a sailor, so he was cursing in Greek to me for fun and a Rasta friend of Stephen’s (see Nairobi – The Eastlands post), who was giving the tickets out. He also gave me a reference to go visit a reggae station in Dar Es Salaam. This guy actually made me trust the company and travel with them in the first place.

 

In the course of the journey I socialized with various people and they were all nice and super polite to me. When I finally show the Scandinavia bus in the last stop we made before Dar, I was happy that I had taken Sabco. It was full of tourists and even if it was a bit more comfortable, I would still travel with Sabco again (saved me some money there too).

 

Now I am in Dar Es Salaam, where I live in a friend’s house (Dave’s). It was six years when I last saw him, we were flat mates in the UK during our student years… I will be based here until the 23rd and then off to J’Burg. In the meantime I am planning on visiting Zanzibar and maybe some other smaller islands on the north of Dar. I will include a trekking if possible, I just have to inform myself more on Tanzania.

 

In any case I will keep you posted. Until then, have a good life you all!

 

PS: Oh… one thing I really valued… even if organisation and discipline are not big with Africans, the solidarity and how they help each other in difficult situations are exemplary to us “Europeans”.