We're In Dar Es Salaam

After a great month in Mozambique, we've made it to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania's biggest city. Just offshore is the island of Zanzibar, and we'll be ferrying over there in a few days. We've been on public transport the whole time-- which has included boats, motorcycles, trucks, minibuses and big buses... it's been quite an adventure.

Mozambique was amazing. We spent most of our time along the coast, visiting fishing villages and cities on the mainland and venturing out to islands just offshore. I caught a few waves in Tofu, then we met up with our friends, Jason and Erika, in Vilankulos-- which is not really much of a town. But the Bazaruto Archipelago just offshore is beautiful, so we spent a day boating around. Then we all went north to the city of Biera, Quilemane, Pemba... and after Pemba we found ourselves in the far north of Moz-- a very remote place. The most impressive thing in the north was the Quirimbas Archipelago, a string of over 2 dozen white sand isles surrounded by azure waters and coral reefs. It took some effort to get ourselves out there, but once we did, it was paradise. We spent a few days on the main island of Ibo, and then another 3 days island-hopping on a dhow (traditional sailboat), snorkeling and camping on uninhabited islands.

Back on the mainland in Pangane (maybe the most beautiful setting for a fishing village I've ever seen), we hit the road once again, aiming for a remote coastal border crossing point into Tanzania. The roads from this point onward were... interesting. From endless washboard dirt roads to deep-sand ruts winding through forests, this section of the trip was pretty hard on our butts. We spent some quality time in the backs of pickups and got filthy. The border crossing was difficult. I dodged a bribe attempt on the Moz side and dealt with a difficult border post agent on the Tanz side (suddenly the $50 visas were $100... we ended up paying $30 for a transit visa, giving us 14 days to get out of Tanzania). All this was followed the next day by a long and bumpy bus ride into Dar. We'll be staying put for a few days before moving on, mainly just to catch our breath and nurse our wounds.

wish we could post some pics now, but maybe next time.