Africa Overland Part 7: Tanzania Mountains to Sea

We departed Mto Wa Mbu early in the morning and made a stop at a shopping center in the town of Arusha. One of the travelers in our group was feeling ill and needed to go to the doctor so the rest of us went to a grocery store cafe, which had a surprisingly good selection of food and coffee, while we waited a few hours for him to finish being seen by the doctor.

The ten or so hour drive to the Usambara Mountains was long and flat until we began climbing the mountains, at which point the road became curvy with gorgeous mountain scenery and waterfalls along the way. We reached the town of Lushoto, which was our home base for two nights. The town is located at an elevation of about 4,500 ft. and the clean, cool mountain air was refreshing after all the dust in the Serengeti.

We stayed at the historic Lawn’s Hotel, one of the oldest hotels in Africa. Since it was my birthday weekend, we upgraded from our usual tent camping to a hotel room with a private bathroom and hot shower for the weekend. The hotel was charming with beautiful mountain views and a small bar and restaurant. They also offered laundry service so we were able to have all our clothes washed, which was much needed after camping in the Serengeti.

In the morning, a local guide took us on a mountain hike and village walk where he explained about the local government and the area’s rich agriculture, which includes growing a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and medicinal plants. People in this area have plentiful access to locally grown, healthy food and the local population is known to enjoy longevity and good health.

As we walked around children would yell out “jambo” (hello in Swahili) and give us high fives. We did not see many other tourists, and this area of Tanzania had a lovely authentic feel. It was pleasant to be off the tourist circuit a bit and experience everyday life. We hiked to a beautiful mountain viewpoint and then were treated to a home cooked lunch in the local village, followed by some music and dancing, which was quite festive for the middle of the day.

In the evening our cook surprised me with a birthday cake at the hotel and our tour leader gave me a live chicken, which we named “Lentil,” as a gift. We had more music and dancing after dinner so it was a festive day all around. These relatively relaxing days in the mountains were an excellent way to spend my birthday weekend. Sadly we had to leave Lentil behind in Lushoto but hopefully he is still alive and well.

We departed Lushoto and drove to the beach town of Kipepeo Beach in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. There we upgraded once again so we could enjoy staying in an elevated beach bungalow for the night instead of a tent. We arrived in time to sit on the beach for about an hour before sunset. The beach was really lovely and quite crowded with mostly locals. We were told this was a popular vacation time for many people being the week after the end of Ramadan. About 30% of the population in Tanzania is Muslim.

In the morning we caught two different ferries and a tuktuk for our transport to Zanzibar, which is known as the “spice island.” More than 90% of the population of Zanzibar is Muslim so the females in our group were advised to dress conservatively when not on the beach – no tank tops and no shorts above the knee.

We arrived in the historic port city of Stone Town on Zanzibar and stayed in a lovely hotel in the middle of the historic distric within walking distance to many shops and restaurants. We took an afternoon excursion by boat to Changuu Island (also known as Prison Island), which is a 30-minute ride across the Indian Ocean from Stone Town. The trip was only $20 and included an island tour and snorkeling. Our guide explained the history of the island, which was meant to be home to a prison in the 1800’s but was instead used as a quarantine for yellow fever patients. Today it is home to a hotel that is under renovation, quite a few peacocks, and a protected sanctuary for Aldabra giant tortoises.

In 1919 four tortoises were given to the island’s owner as a gift from the British governor of the Seychelles, the only other place in the world where this type of endangered tortoise lives. The population grew from those originals to more than 150 today. The tortoises were fun to see up close and we were allowed to feed them cabbage leaves, which they happily accepted. We did about an hour of snorkeling, which was underwhelming as far as the sea life we saw, but it was still wonderful to swim in the clear blue water. Stone Town also happens to be the home town of Freddie Mercury and his former home was on the same street as our hotel.

The next day we opted to take a spice farm tour, which was wonderful. We sampled fresh cinnamon bark, ginger, cloves, turmeric, and saw chilis, cardamon, curry leaf, lemongrass, henna, and vanilla being grown on the farm. We were treated to fresh coconuts, pineapple, and oranges, and were served a delicious lunch of rice and salad made with local spices from the farm prepared in a local family’s home.

• 

• 

• 

After the tour we headed north toward Kendwa Beach where we spent two relaxing nights at the Sunset Kendwa Resort. Kendwa Beach is gorgeous with crystal blue water and white sand. While there we had a good bit of down time for relaxing. We went for a sunset cruise, walked on the beach, went snorkeling, and enjoyed some nice meals at the resort and in town. We also really enjoyed our hotel suite with a balcony and air conditioning – very luxurious compared to tent camping!

After two relaxing nights we headed back to Stone Town for a night and sadly bid farewell to more than half our group that ended their time on the tour at this point. We learned we would only have eight people in the group on the next leg of the trip from Stone Town to Victoria Falls, meaning lots of space to stretch out in the overland truck, which is designed to accommodate up to twenty-two people.