Travel Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Stopped at the Gate

I will try to summarize a really long and tragic (at least from my perspective) story so as not to bore you! And, to make sure you are interested, I'll tell you the punch line FIRST – we got to the gate to the Ngorongoro National Park and were kicked off the bus because we refused/couldn't pay the park fees. OK, if you are still interested, read on.

Immediately after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, we wanted to go to Musoma (near Lake Victoria). We knew we wouldn't have time to buy a ticket, so a friend of ours purchased them for us. There are two ways to Musoma – one through two national parks and one around them. Obviously, the one through the national parks is much faster and with a much nicer road. However, there is a $50/person fee for each of the two parks; or $200 for Lisa and I (on top of the bus fare). We were told by some folks that we would not have to pay that fee because we have Tanzania resident's permits. So, we got the tickets going through the park – should have been about an 8 hour ride.

The day of the trip, we arose at 4:30 AM (after just coming down from Kili the day before!) and got on the bus. We rode along in peace - even saw some giraffes! Then, when we arrived at the gate to Ngorongoro, there was a park ranger telling us about the fees – and that we DID have to pay. I, of course, thought he was lying to me. So, I called my friend and tried to have him explain to the park ranger why I should not have to pay. That didn't get me very far! My friend told me he was "going to call someone to get this figured out" and hung up. Of course, the network went down right after we hung up, so there went that lifeline! I argued and argued with the park ranger. In the mean time, there is a bus full of angry Tanzanian folks wanting to get going! The biggest issue was that we had not brought enough money (and I still didn't trust the man to be telling me the truth). So, finally I conceded to get off of the bus with our stuff with the idea that the bus company would arrange our transportation back to Arusha and give us a partial refund. Long story short, both were lies!

We finally returned to Arusha at around 1 PM and were told to return at 4 PM to the bus company and they would get it straightened out. When we returned, we were told they would not give us a refund and they didn't even go to Musoma on the day we needed. So, finally we conceded (yet again) to purchase a new ticket to Mwanza going the long way (again departing at 6 AM the next day).

Let's just say, after all that, my feelings toward Africa were not very good! I'm not a confrontational person by nature. I was spent, wiped out and angry. We went back to our hotel and just sat in a semi-vegetative state for the remainder of the day!

The Longest Bus Ride EVER

If at this point, you are bored with travel stories, skip down to Veronica. If not, read on!

So, the next day, we began our journey to Mwanza. We had a better attitude from the beginning of the day. We again wake up at 4:30 AM for our 6 AM bus. About 3 hours in to the trip we start driving on these unpaved, bumpy and dusty roads. I mean REALLY bumpy and dusty. Soon, everyone is covered in a thick layer of road dust. About 6 hours in to the trip, the bus breaks down (reference bumpy roads). About 10 hours into the trip the dust turns to mud on us as we start to sweat. About 14 hours into the trip we arrive in Mwanza. Unfortunately, we still need to go to Musoma (about 4 hours away).

Thankfully, we had made friends on the bus with a man (Nickerson) who lived in Mwanza and he helped us get to the proper bus station to get to Musoma. Unfortunately, they were closed. Yet, somehow in the midst of things, we found another friend (Deo) who was also going to Musoma. He said we should wait by the secondary lot of the bus company and they would come by there and pick us up (I'm thinking "yeah right"). Anyway, it's about 8:30 by now and Deo said they would be there by 10 PM.

Around 10:30, the Musoma bus pulls up. Unfortunately, so did about 20 men – yelling and shoving. Evidently, there were not enough seats for everyone! Deo said, if we just go down to "this other place" we could get on there. So, we once again hop in a cab and drive "to this other place". We are told not to worry because the driver of our taxi is the young brother of the Musoma bus driver. I love Tanzania! So, we get to the "other place" and hop out of the Taxi. Deo tells us to hurry. The bus pulls up, but again 20 or so yelling and shoving men do to! Deo is not a tall man – maybe 5 foot 4 inches or so. Yet, somehow in all of the yelling and shoving he talked the conductor into letting us on! So, we literally had to shove our way on to the bus!

Once on the bus, there are exactly enough seats for all of us (thank you God!). Lisa finds a seat with her little back pack in between two slender college girls who are very happy to have her join them. I, on the other hand, have our honkin' big pack with all of the clothes! And, my seat is next to, let's just say, a rather large lady who is, no lie, taking up about ½ of my seat! Since we didn't have time to put our bags under the bus, I'm holding it in my lap! But, I had to sit sideways in my seat to accommodate for the extra ½ of a person. It's now 11:00 PM and my nerves are DONE! So, I tried to get as comfortable as possible – which already is very challenging. Unfortunately, the stress of the running and the shoving and then just general body heat, you know what happened. Yep, we started to sweat. And, the mud flowed once again.

So, to make a long story even longer, my seat mama and I sweated it out until 2:30 AM when we finally arrived in Musoma! After nearly 20 hours of travel time (that day alone) we were ready for bed!

Visiting Veronica

We sponsor a girl through Compassion International. Finally, after all of the fiascos of the past two days, we were able to meet her. After some brief introductions and a tour of the Musoma Compassion facilities, we were taken to Veronica's house. She lives there with her grandmother and siblings. I can't remember how long we have been sponsoring her, but over a year. She has been writing letters to us and they sent a picture too. It was so great to be able to meet her and spend the day with her. We took her to lunch. Lisa spoke all of the Swahili she knew with her! Veronica, like many other children in Tanzania, need financial help to pay for school fees, medicine and food. We were very impressed by the work that Compassion is doing.

Skyping with Family

We finally had fast enough internet to Skype with family. It's been great to see their faces! I especially enjoy watching my niece and nephew do back –flips while mom tries to keep the microphone from falling off of the computer. Lisa's family was kind enough to hold up the cheesecake they were eating just so she could see what she was missing! Thank goodness for technologies that keep us all together (when they work).

Christmas in Mwanza

We said good-bye to Veronica and her family and headed back to Mwanza. During our language training we met a couple, Rich and Carli, who are missionaries here in Mwanza. They run an orphanage called Starehe. Rich and Carli and their daughter Elise are from Canada. We struck up a friendship at training and decided it would be great to spend Christmas with them. So, for the past week we have been here in Mwanza! We have tried to help as best we can at the orphanage. It has been so relaxing to be here with them. Their house overlooks Lake Victoria which makes for some beautiful views. We miss our families a lot (as do Rich and Carli). But, if there was a place to spend this holiday, it was definitely here with them. A few highlights here have been on Christmas Eve we ate a feast prepared by Rich and Carli and then opened gifts. We were also introduced to the game Wizard (a card game) which Lisa promptly won. We also have really enjoyed their daughter Elise who just started walking. Thank you for a wonderful week!

Coming up Next – Uganda

Tonight (hopefully) we'll head to Bukoba and then on to Uganda. Hopefully our bus adventures are a little less harrowing!