Transit - Days 19 - 22

I can't believe the last time I posted was in Vic Falls! Seems like ages ago. Too many things to report - so I'll break it up into two entries.

Right now I'm in Zanzibar but getting here was no easy feat. I left Vic Falls on a Sunday morning and didn't get here until Wednesday afternoon!

The short version: taxi to Zimbabwe and Zambia border, taxi across the border, taxi from the border to the bus station, wait 90 min for bus, 7 hour bus ride to Lusaka, Zambia, stranded at the bus station, go home with a random Chinese family, back to the bus station the next day, 35 hour bus ride to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, spend the night in a YWCA, ferry to Zanzibar the next day.

I should re-title this blog "the kindness of strangers" because the people I've encountered along the way have been lifesavers. When I arrived in Lusaka and found out that the bus for Dar had already left, the entire staff of the bus company mobilized. One person suggested I sleep in the office, another said I could sleep on the bus, three people offered to take me home (which I politely declined), and finally the owner of the bus company called his Chinese bus supplier or what he called "a fellow countryman" to come get me and take me home. Looking back, it was a blessing that I missed the Dar bus because I would have gone insane if I were on a bus for almost 50 hours.

Remember the line in "Blood Diamonds" when Leo says "TIA: This is Africa?" That's precisely what was going through my mind as I boarded the bus for Dar. TIA for a traveler basically means transportation is never on time and there are always a couple of surprises. What was reported to be a 26-28 hour bus ride turned into 35. And this was by far the shittiest bus out of all the ones I've taken on this trip. No ac, 55 other people (with people in the aisle), and trapped in the back row between four men in a seat that doesn't recline. My heart sunk...and that was before the bus ever departed the station, haha.

Once the bus left, it flew. I didn't know whether to be grateful the bus was going so fast or scared for my life. Throughout the night, several times it swerved so much that I thought it might roll. Plus the bus felt like it was about to rattle and fall apart...and I felt the same way. But alas, we survived the night and spent about 5 hours idle at the border waiting for it to open and clear all the passengers.

I was finally able to sleep a bit during the second day, mainly from sheer exhaustion. All was going well until about 5 hours from Dar, and then I get sick. It must have been a combination of exhaustion, starvation, and dehydration (and maybe the blaring African music) but all of a sudden nausea hits and takes me down, haha. It's kinda humorous now that I look back on it. Me - sitting there with a plastic bag in my hands, dry heaving since I had nothing in my stomach. The best part? As I'm hunched over, the guy next to me taps my shoulder and points out the window. I look up and there are elephants and giraffes and zebras by the side of the road grazing. Gives a whole new meaning to TIA. It was spectacular; I just wish I could have made a better first impression.

We roll into Dar a little past 11pm. I had originally arranged a Couchsurfing host but I didn't want to bother her at such a late hour and decided to crash for the night at the YWCA. Never did a cold shower feel so good :)

The next day I met up with my Zanzibar CS (couchsurfing) host at the ferry station in Dar and went to the island together. He was conveniently visiting friends in town. I only ended up staying with him for one night but I'll save that for the next entry.