We took our time the next morning before heading to the main road to catch a taxi-brousse. As we packed we could hear the indris making their morning call. We had 9800 ariary (just over $3 USD) to eat breakfast and catch a bus to Moramanga, where we could get to an ATM. We ate soup at a roadside stand and threw in a fried banana to hold us a little longer. While we were eating, Tico pointed across the street as a brown lemur jumped from tree to tree.
Once we finished eating, we walked back to the turnoff so we could catch a bus heading to Moramanga. No more than 15 minutes later a bus came down from Andasibe and picked us up. There were empty seats when we climbed on to the point that we set our bags on the floor in the back. We stopped about halfway to our destination and overfilled the bus. The rows, which had permanent seats for 3, were crammed with 5 people. Our bags were put on top and the floor was used to fit even more people.
Breakfast next to the road
We reached Moramanga and walked to the bank to be able to pay our way to Tana and then the airport. A taxi-brousse was leaving in 30 minutes so we paid for our tickets with the intention of grabbing food in the meantime. The bus was already filling and our bags were immediately put on top. We got homemade yogurt and a few other things from the mobile vendors and took our seats in the aisle.
The last bus ride in Madagascar
The bus curved along the side of the mountains and followed the river below us. It was dark when we drove this road before so it was nice to see the surroundings. Hours later, we arrived in Tana. The station was quite empty as few buses were leaving that late in the afternoon. We grabbed a late lunch at the restaurant in the station before negotiating our taxi ride to the airport. Traffic has been an issue every time we’ve been in the city and that proved true again. Over an hour and a half was spent turning off and on the engine as we sat without moving. It was dark by the time we arrived and the airport was dead.
Passing by a mosque while driving through Tana
We walked upstairs to find the restaurant open and were told they wouldn’t close until just before our flight left. As we had 8 hours before our flight, we were glad to have somewhere to be. The cards came out and over a beer we played some rummy. Around 11 pm, the airport filled and the closed kiosks suddenly opened. The place came to life. Before we knew it, it was time to head downstairs to check in. Things had closed again, but it didn’t matter.
We went through the police check and then finished our water before going through security. They were extra strict and wouldn’t allow any blunt objects. Their display case included a shell and hand-carved baobab tree. Two things we’ sent home with Sarah just weeks earlier. We took our seats in the waiting area in front of the 2 gates. After several words in French, our names were called. Once the translation came across in English, we realized we were supposed to go to our checked bags. We passed a security guard down a hallway to what looked like a garage. Our bags were on the side and we took them to the counter where an officer was waiting. They had opened other people’s luggage, but he slapped ours and said okay without us needing to do anything more.
As we boarded the plane, the flight greeted us with ‘good morning.’ It made us wonder if some people had gotten some sleep before the 2:40 am flight or if they’d all pushed through like use had. We were served breakfast almost immediately and then it became pitch black. Both of us slept through most of the flight and we were in Nairobi before the sun came up. Our flight got in early, which was great news for us as we had less than an hour for our connection and needed to go through security again. We ended up having time to kill and were served our second breakfast of the day just after takeoff.
It was a short flight to Dar Es Salaam, which we took advantage of to get a little more sleep. When we landed back in Tanzania, the day was just starting. A few weeks earlier, we made the decision to buy a plane ticket to Arusha. It would save us at least 2 days compared to going by bus and it increased our chances of seeing the wildebeest cross the river. Our next flight didn’t leave until later that afternoon so we walked to Kiceck Hotel, where we’d stayed a month earlier, and dropped our bags.
We went in search of food and also took advantage of the time to take a couple items to a tailor. Tico got his hiking pants repaired that ripped during our hike in Tsingy although the woman clearly did not like him. He had her cut a piece of the leg to use as a patch and in the end she used almost an entire spool of thread to make it appear like there was a zipper. To top it off, she did all of this with black thread on light brown pants.
The tailor “fixing” Tico’s pants
The final result
With a few more hours until our flight, we grabbed our bags and walked the 1.6 kms (1 mile) to the domestic airport terminal. It was much smaller compared to the international terminal and the check-in area was a podium that was empty until an hour before our flight. Although it did have internet so we made sure to finalize the details of our safari that would leave the next day. We checked in once we were able to and then waited for someone to escort us out to the plane.
There were only 5 people on the plane including us so we took 2 seats and waited for take off. We knew we’d get to see Kilimanjaro again so we kept our eyes open even though a nap wouldn’t have been bad. It came into our view and this time we got even more excited as we knew we’d be attempting to reach the peak in a couple weeks. We landed in Arusha and everyone headed into the tiny airport. Once we had our bags, we walked out to the parking lot in hopes of getting a good deal to our hotel.
Preparing to board the small plane
Mount Kilimanjaro from the air
Arriving to the airport
We were in conversations with a taxi driver, although we were not happy with his price, when someone from our plane drove by asking if we needed transport. She kindly offered to take us as it was near her home despite the taxi driver getting thoroughly upset with her for stealing his customers. Her name was Mulky and she lived between Tanzania and Sweden.
We gave her the details of the hotel we’d found on Booking.com and headed that way. As we got close, we asked people on the street and no one knew what we were talking about. She called the owner for us and he proceeded to give us better directions. After multiple phone calls, we located the building, which was still under renovations. The caretaker said there was a room, but it was not open yet. The man that had helped us get there no longer answered the phone and Mulky invited us to her home.
As it turned out, her family used to run a hotel so there was plenty of space for us and even had Mount Meru as the backdrop. We cleaned up and then the 3 of us headed to town to grab dinner. She had a favorite nyama choma (BBQ) restaurant that she took us to and we got to know each other better. As it’d been a long night, we ran a few errands on the way home and then went straight to bed. We couldn’t thank Mulky enough as who knows where we would have gone if we’d been in a taxi and hadn’t found the hotel.
The meal for the night
With our new friend, Mulky
It’d been a long day of travel and we were glad to be back in mainland Africa again. Madagascar showed us a different side of the continent, which was refreshing in its own way. But for now, we were back in Tanzania and leaving on safari the following morning. The timing of our entire trip was based on the event we hoped to see in just a few short days.
Helpful tips:
- The airports in Tana, Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam (both terminals) have internet. The latter 2 are free while you have to purchase something at the restaurant in Tana to get access.
- Make sure a hotel has reviews on Booking.com (or any website for that matter) to guarantee its existence.
- Even though the flight times in Africa look awful (early morning or late night) that is the norm for whatever reason.
por fin conoci a la asesina de tus pantalones Negrito!!!! jajajaja