On the 13th of December I boarded a Scandinavian bus to make the 8 hour haul to Dar Es Salam to pick up Lindsey on the night of the 14th. I’m not a bus fan in the least! I have heard way too many stories about people dying and getting hurt on buses.
I had gotten my ticket three weeks in advance because I wanted to make sure I would have a spot on the bus since it was somewhat close to Christmas. I hated standing at the ticket office and debating where I wanted to sit. It was a terrible feeling. It was like oh if I sit here and we get in to an accident would I survive? Well, I decided to sit in the front behind the driver, then I would have more let room.
My Tumaini driver too me and the little luggage I had packet to the station, which is not really a station at all. The bus station in Iringa is just a huge parking lot that contains a lot of busses large and small. It’s a mess of confusion with people yelling to you trying to get you to ride their bus and the weirdest people just loitering.
I got on the bus and headed out. The Scandinavian is one of the nicest buses in Tanzania and they are one of the safest. They drive slower than most of the other buses. That is what makes them safer. Well it wasn’t a terrible ride. I sat next to the cutest little Muslim girl and I had fun trying to talk to her in Kiswahili. She was so cute and nice.
About half way there the bus broke down, up to this point I had never been on a Scandinavian bus that hadn’t broke down. All of the passengers got out of the passengers got out of the bus and found shade in the trees of this small village. Basically what happened is a belt broke, but it took them a while to fix it. So, you just sit and wait and wait. Eventually she was fixed and we all boarded the bus again and continued on our journey. One of the only good tings about the 8 hour bus ride to Dar Es Salam is that you drive through Makumi National Park. If your lucky you may see lions, elephants, giraffes, water buffalo, zebras, kudu, or impala. When I went to Dar with Mark and Terry we actually had to stop and let the heard of water buffalo cross the road. There must have been 200 of them. Let just say that we waited a very long time. Lol But what a sight!
I finally arrived in Dar and could not get a hold of Pastor Muro. I would be staying at his house. About an hour later I got a hold of him and his driver was on the way to come and get me. I was finally in Dar with my family. I love the Muro’s so much! They are so nice and carring. Flora always calls herself my mother and I always tell her that she is way too young to be my mother. She is like 34 years. That would have made her 11 when I was born. Lol
The next day I sat around and played with the kids waiting for they day to pass so that I could go with the driver and pick up Lindsey from the airport. Lets just say that it was one of the longest days of my life!
Finally the time came to leave for the airport. It’s about a 45 min drive from the house to the airport. Pastor Muro sent Jackson and Michael with the driver and I. Jackson is Pastor Muro’s nephew that lives with them, and Michael is also a nephew that is visiting the Muro’s.
We Arrived at the air port and didn’t have to wait too long for people to come out the double doors out of the airport. In Dar the airport is set up in a weird way. When the passengers get off the plain and get their visas and grab their luggage they are ushered through two sliding doors that lead outside and that's where they meet the cab drivers or who ever is picking them up.
I had gotten my ticket three weeks in advance because I wanted to make sure I would have a spot on the bus since it was somewhat close to Christmas. I hated standing at the ticket office and debating where I wanted to sit. It was a terrible feeling. It was like oh if I sit here and we get in to an accident would I survive? Well, I decided to sit in the front behind the driver, then I would have more let room.
My Tumaini driver too me and the little luggage I had packet to the station, which is not really a station at all. The bus station in Iringa is just a huge parking lot that contains a lot of busses large and small. It’s a mess of confusion with people yelling to you trying to get you to ride their bus and the weirdest people just loitering.
I got on the bus and headed out. The Scandinavian is one of the nicest buses in Tanzania and they are one of the safest. They drive slower than most of the other buses. That is what makes them safer. Well it wasn’t a terrible ride. I sat next to the cutest little Muslim girl and I had fun trying to talk to her in Kiswahili. She was so cute and nice.
About half way there the bus broke down, up to this point I had never been on a Scandinavian bus that hadn’t broke down. All of the passengers got out of the passengers got out of the bus and found shade in the trees of this small village. Basically what happened is a belt broke, but it took them a while to fix it. So, you just sit and wait and wait. Eventually she was fixed and we all boarded the bus again and continued on our journey. One of the only good tings about the 8 hour bus ride to Dar Es Salam is that you drive through Makumi National Park. If your lucky you may see lions, elephants, giraffes, water buffalo, zebras, kudu, or impala. When I went to Dar with Mark and Terry we actually had to stop and let the heard of water buffalo cross the road. There must have been 200 of them. Let just say that we waited a very long time. Lol But what a sight!
I finally arrived in Dar and could not get a hold of Pastor Muro. I would be staying at his house. About an hour later I got a hold of him and his driver was on the way to come and get me. I was finally in Dar with my family. I love the Muro’s so much! They are so nice and carring. Flora always calls herself my mother and I always tell her that she is way too young to be my mother. She is like 34 years. That would have made her 11 when I was born. Lol
The next day I sat around and played with the kids waiting for they day to pass so that I could go with the driver and pick up Lindsey from the airport. Lets just say that it was one of the longest days of my life!
Finally the time came to leave for the airport. It’s about a 45 min drive from the house to the airport. Pastor Muro sent Jackson and Michael with the driver and I. Jackson is Pastor Muro’s nephew that lives with them, and Michael is also a nephew that is visiting the Muro’s.
We Arrived at the air port and didn’t have to wait too long for people to come out the double doors out of the airport. In Dar the airport is set up in a weird way. When the passengers get off the plain and get their visas and grab their luggage they are ushered through two sliding doors that lead outside and that's where they meet the cab drivers or who ever is picking them up.
I stood by the sliding doors for an hour and no Lindsey. Eventually no one was even coming out any more. I was really starting to get nervous! Where is Linds! Well then about a half and hour after that she finally came out with someone else. She was with this girl named Francis from BC Canada. Lindsey had given her my cell phoe number so that we could meet up later.
Michael, Jackson and I loaded Lindsey's stuff into the car and we were off. We didn't get alot of sleep that night because we had a lot of catching up to do.
I hope you all had a great Christmas and that you will have a great New Year. We have been very busy and I will write more tomorrow! Sory I as taken mo so long to write!
Jen
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