Our Journey to Amani

Last weekend was a four-day Easter holiday in Tanzania.  As a result, we decided to go to Amani Nature Reserve in the Usambara Mountains near Tanga in the northeast corner of Tanzania close to the Kenya border.  Amani is an incredible place, and I will write much more about the experience.  However, getting there and back was it's own experience.

Our early morning start was at the Ubungo bus terminal in Dar es Salaam, several miles from Upanga, where we live.  Ubungo almost defies description.  There are so many different bus companies that it is quite the challenge for the uninitiated to figure that out, despite its importance.  It is important because there is also a wide variation in cost and quality of bus transport.  The terminal is a huge outdoor space filled with what seemed like hundreds of busses going all over Tanzania.  The terminal building is ringed by tiny bus ticket offices, shops, market stalls, people everywhere, touts trying to scam you into buying a fake ticket, and general noise and chaos.  It's quite the experience.

Our cab driver told us that the busses to Tanga were in the closest line of many, many lines of busses, and we were also told to not buy a ticket anywhere but on the bus.  Sort of.  We found a bus to Tanga, it started pouring, and a guy directed us to seats.  We were also told not to pay more than Tsh 10,000, but he demanded Tsh 15,000.  OK.  The difference between $7.50 and $11.25 for a 5-hour trip.  I wasn't in the mood to argue.  

The bus won't leave until it is full.  There is no specific schedule.  It filled fairly quickly.  The bus had 5 seats across with a narrow aisle and we were seated in the back. As I sat there I realized that there was no emergency exit and hoped this would not be one of the drivers who drive a bus like a Formula One race car.  After sitting there interminably, the bus finally squeezed out of the cue, having to do a multi-point turn to get out of the narrow space without knocking into vendor stalls along the terminal building wall.   It was also getting hot quickly as we waited in a long queue of busses to get out of the terminal.

 Along the way we stopped periodically to pick up more people who stood in the center aisle, gradually filling up the center aisle as well as the seats.  Every time the bus stopped it was descended upon by an army of vendors selling water, soda, biscuits, grilled corn, samosas, sandals, fruit, hard boiled eggs, craft items, and just about anything you might imagine.  The stops meant no breeze through the windows and it got stifling fast.  Vendors also came on board with huge boxes of items, making their way down the center aisle full of people standing.  It was the first of these stops that it occurred to me that this was a golden opportunity to practice bus meditation.  

We were dropped off at Muheza to find that we had no way to get to Amani.  The only option was hiring a cab to drive us the 37 km.  Fortunately, we had ace bargainer Benita (visiting from her fieldwork in Gaborone, Botswana), who managed to cut the price in half to Tsh 25,000.  About 10 km into the trip we encountered a minibus loaded with people and an amazing amount of stuff on top stuck in the mud, with a trailer in front of it having dumped part of its load of logs. Our cab was instantly surrounded by kids curious about us, and I got out with them and we had conversation including some English, some Kiswahili (with laughter at my clumsiness), and sign language. After considerable effort by everyone, the minibus finally got unstuck, the logs moved out of the way, the minibus started back up and promptly went off the road, all wheels on the left in the air and stacks of items falling off the roof. It gave our cabbie room to squeeze past the upended wheels.  Oh my.

We did finally arrive at our 'rest house' in the reserve, thanked our taxi driver and the powers that be for being alive and at our destination.  After settling in went for a walk, enjoying the cool breeze of the evening, the sound of the mountain stream rushing past, the fresh smell in the air, delighted with being in a tropical jungle filled with beautiful trees, palms, hearing the calls of birds, monkeys, and who knows what else, exchanging 'habari' and 'karibu' with a few villagers I met along the way, and the stress of the day became distant.  Sweet.

Comments

[Cleo Dubois]

Dear Gary,

I absolutely love reading your adventures. You share in a way where I can totally imagine where you are. Ah the bus! I guess the only option besides freaking out was indeed bus meditation.
Yes despite all the craziness of public transportation you made it safe. it is their way and they are used to it... harder for us. I imagine that being a stall as you are in a great advantage in being able to breathe in crowds.
Thanks for the great pics too.
Anyway i send you much love. we are doing a energy pull Saturday, keith will drum. We will think of you. Stay well.
Ah I was wondering are you going directly from your African vacati

[Gary Koehler]

Cleo,
It is so wonderful to get your message and sweet to know that you are out there and reading my blog! Sometimes I feel very disconnected from the 'outside world' and this helps so much. I was just laughing with the IT guy here at the university about how I couldn't get on FB at the office and how it is one of the ways I stay in touch. And how we are so used to instant internet at home. I called internet in Tanzania another opportunity to practice meditation. It is so incredibly slow and intermittent. Every step takes awhile, and I am so grateful for having even this slow connection that allows me to feel like I can still be connected to you.
Much love, Gary