Fotos

Goodbye Tanzania

I had just spent some beautiful days in Stone Town, Zanzibar where I ended up greeting Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, Tanzania's former president and a role model for the whole region. It was the Zanzibar International Film Festival and the world heritage site of Stone Town created the perfect atmosphere for the cinema night.

What a contrast to the 17 hour bus ride two days later. But this is Tanzania. A country full of contrasts. While Zanzibar is very well connected with the mainland, the infrastructure by land isn't much developed. It can easily take two whole days crossing the country even if you drive non-stop. I was planning to go all the way to Lusaka, Zambia. The bus that was supposed to take 10 hours from Dar-es-Salaam arrived the hilly town of Mbeya after almost 17 hours after "only" two crashes on the way.

From Mbeya, it was supposedly easy to get to the Zambian border at Tunduma. But again, it's Tanzania. And one thing I noticed - let it be said I may just have been unlucky - was that more than usual, people tried to trick me into paying way too much. Be aware of that if you're planning a travel to the area. But then again, there are also extremely nice people.

Back to Mbeya. I eventually found an "express bus" to the border. I found out quickly that it was not an express bus at all. Rather opposite. Luckily another bus agreed to drive me.

In the border town of Tunduma, there was a short walk to reach the border post itself. This picture was taken during that walk from the bus station. It was a hilly city, full of street vendors and tuk-tuks. I quite liked the colours! The city of Tunduma has grown rapidly and has tripled its population to more than 100,000 since the beginning of the century.