Ifacara, Tanzania

Saturday 18 May 2013

I arrived in Ifacara today after a slow 9 hour bus ride.  Ifacara has a couple national parks in the vicinity, one with high mountains up to 4,000 meters.  The bus ride went through a National park for about 20 kilometers.  Within the park, I saw giraffes, zebras, and monkeys.  The zebras and giraffes were within 100 yards of the highway while the monkeys were on the side of the road.   There was a woman, Grace was her English name, Neema her given name.  I met her upon getting on the bus in Dar es Salaam at 0600 this morning.  She pointed out the animals for me to see.  She studies human resources management in Dar and was visiting a friend in a small village before Ificara.  We exchanged phone numbers.  I will try to call her when I arrive back in Dar on or before June 12 for the Swahili class.

Every stop the bus made except one was a quick stop to exchange passengers.   At each location, locals carrying their goods, approached the bus to sell from the windows on either side of the bus.  At each stop, the bus was swarmed with people selling many things such as bread, sweet cakes, sandals, sun glasses, brooms and dust pans, water, soft drinks, fruit drinks, motorcycle or bicycle brake cables, shirts for adults and babies, cashews, cookies, milk, cologne, makeup,    Having water with me, the only thing I bought was a small bag of cashews for TZS 3,000.

The other stop the bus made not only included many of the above items at a small gas station but also a pit stop as Neema had informed me I would have long enough to go relieve myself.  There was no bathroom in the back of the bus.  This was the only stop for the whole 9 hours for a bathroom break.  The men`s bathroom consisted of a long concrete trough with a slippery tile floor in a concrete shed, able to accommodate about 15 men at a time.

About 60 kilometers of the highway consisted several sections of a light sandy dirt with many washboards and potholes for the bus to maneuver around.  As the bus slowed, some of the windows were opened to cool the heated interior.  By the end of the trip, my black shirt had turned a dusty color and I could feel the grit between my teeth.  I was ready for a cold shower after finding a guest house to stay the night.  As Neema got off the bus, she said my destination was less than an hour away.  I had just seen a sign saying Ificara 45 kilometers.

The guest house I found near the city center costs 10,000 ($6.25) including a fan in the room and private bathroom and mosquito netting over the double bed.  I did not take the malaria pill, malerone prior to arriving.  I hope these mosquitos do not carry the disease as I already have several bites.   After taking a cold (no hot water option) and a nap, I awoke at 2030 to leave for a meal and purchase water.  I was amazed at how dark the city center was.  The stars in the sky were very bright unlike any city of similar size in the US where one`s vision of the skies are dampened by city lights. The tallest building I saw on my walk was the gas station with two stories.