Traveling like an African Queen - Kigoma, Tanzania
Kigoma, Tanzania
Oh hey Tanzania, I remember you. It was both comforting and weird going back to TZ. There was a familiar feeling, but at the same time, we were in a completely different and new part of the country. Either way, it was good to be back. Especially since we didn't have to pay for new visas. #poortravelerstatus Kigoma is a nice little port town right on Lake Tanganyika. When we arrived, we hopped in a cab and checked in to a hotel. Still no camping, shucks. Then, of course, we were off to find a bar. After the morning we had, ten hours squished in a dala dala from Bujumbura, we deserved it. Our new friend, Dennis the cab driver, took us to a sweet beach bar. Tables on the sand. Locals swimming in the lake. Nice sunset coming in. Beers. Perfection. I think I like Kigoma. We relaxed there for a bit, then needed some solid food to soak up the beers. So we had Dennis take us to a local spot for dinner. Only 4,000 shillings for chicken, rice and beans?! Score!! That's like two dollars and what we would pay for a beer in Arusha. This part of TZ is awesome. We woke up the next morning to a shower that didn't work. For being one of the nicer hotels we had stayed at it was a bummer. But we worked it out, switched rooms to one with working water and a lake view. Worth. It. And after we both took the longest, warmest, spa like showers ever, we were ready for the day. Dennis picked us up to run some errands around town. Exchange money, get our ferry tickets, exchange more money, go here, go there, drop off laundry. Then he took us to the Livingstone museum. David Livingstone spent much time in Kigoma, the village of Ujiji to be exact, and is the location of those famous words by Henry Morton Stanley, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Zach loves all the history and was super stoked to hit up the museum. Until we got there, and they wanted 20,000 shillings each for entrance. Um, seriously? We were told it was maybe 5,000. Total case of getting mzungu price. So we passed. But were able to take some pictures outside. Lame. That evening we drank our dinner at Safari Bar, a sweet local spot walking distance from our hotel. Finding out earlier that day that US Embassies in both Kigali and Bujumbura had just closed, literally the day after we left Burundi, due to craziness in the DRC and al Qaeda threats, was cause for many drinks. Close call much? Plus with nothing else to do but kill time until the ferry, why not? After a very hungover breakfast the next morning, we walked into town to explore a bit on foot. There is an old, but apparently still functioning train station by the water, so we checked out. It wasn't running that day so we were able to go down to the tracks, walk around, take pics and check things out. It was pretty sweet, and we caught an awesome view of the ferry we would be taking the next day. So excited!!! We headed back to the cheap local restaurant for our last dinner in town, had some beers at Safari Bar, and went back to get packed up. With our bags full of freshly cleaned clothes....aahhh-may-zing....we were ready! The ferry didn't board until three, so we walked around town, had breakfast, picked up some chapati, avocado, bananas and little bottles of vodka for the trip, and killed the rest of the time at a bar for some pre-boarding beers. When we got to the docks, it was bustling with people, vendors selling bread and soap and everything in between, and everyone getting ready for the voyage. It was interesting because we had seen maybe one or two other mzungus the whole time, and now all of the sudden they all came out of hiding to take the ferry. Weird. We spot a few people going through the gate to board, so we followed suit. There was no announcement or order to it whatsoever. Just kind of a free for all. As we walk up we see tons of workers loading huge bags and boxes, and once we got to the boat, the entire front part is filled with piles and piles of pineapples, bags, suitcases, mattresses, everything. I didn't realize it at the time, but would later find out that tons of passengers stay in that area for the whole trip. Laying I top of people bags and other cargo. Crazy. We get onboard the famed MV Liemba, find our cabin and wait for someone to give us our key. We walked around a bit, taking pictures on the oldest operating boat in the world. Surprisingly, it's in nicer condition than I thought it would be. Sure, it looked old, but it was still nice. After a bit we were able to get into our room. A super small first class cabin with a bunk bed, small table and tiny sink. At least it's just the two of us and the door locks. It took a few more hours before the boat finally took off. Not too bad for Africa time. And it was right in time for a sweet sunset once we got going. This is going to be awesome. We walked around and checked things out, and it was crazy to me that most people just set up shop anywhere and everywhere. Sleeping on the ground in the walkways, whole families. Some guys even posted up at the very back of the boat, on top of some cargo, with no railings or anything to keep them from falling off. Totally safe. The only people who had designated areas were the people with cabins. Everyone else just had to fend for themselves and find a place to sleep. Pretty ****** if you're going the whole way. But they all make themselves right at home. Doing laundry in the bathroom, kengas hanging everywhere, bathing their babies in the sink. Oh yeah, shared bathroom with everyone. The toilets were on a constant flush with water splashing everywhere and a solid inch of dirty water on the floor at all times. I didn't shower the whole time. The coolest part was when we made our first stop. The ferry doesn't dock, just stops a bit offshore, and all these small fishing boats come up, attach to the sides of the ferry and load and unload cargo and sell fish to passengers. And the people just jump off and the boats from the ferry, handing their babies over like it's no big deal. Yeah, thats how people board. At one stop I saw a guy trying to climb onto the ferry, and the boat started drifting away and he was stretched out between the two. I thought he was going in for sure. But they managed to pull him back into the small boat and one of the men slapped him for being dumb. These stops happen every few hours through the day and night. The craziest stops are night stops in the dark. Everyone is yelling and screaming at each other, boats slamming up against the ferry. And everyone always goes out to the railings to watch. Every. Time. It's such a sight. And never gets old. The first night we grabbed some beers at the bar. Score! There's a full bar with ice cold beer. Heaven. We headed up to the top of the ferry and found a sweet spot that was kind of secluded, by the captains area, and sat on the ground with our feet hanging over the edge, just watching the land pass by. It was so refreshing to be on the water, wind in your face, cold beer in hand. A very welcomed change from busses and crammed dala dalas. We headed back to the bar/restaurant area for dinner and made friends with some other mzungus while waiting for a table. It was nice to talk with other travelers. We really hadn't had a chance to meet anyone since Kigali, and the people we did meet at the hostel were pretty dumb and annoying. So this was refreshing. We ended up sitting at a table with a couple local men working for the Tanzania Fishing Authority, or something like that. They go around finding people who are fishing illegally in the lake. Super nice guys and we chatted with them for awhile. One guy gave us lots of info about Zanzibar and gave us his brothers name and number who lives on one of the islands, in case we needed anything. So awesome. We spent the next three days relaxing, reading, writing, sitting in the sun and drinking. Throw in some mingling with other travelers and exchanging stories, routes and options, eating the same meal of rice with chicken or fish for lunch and dinner each day, and countless stops to watch the fishing boats, that sums up our time on the ferry. It was such a cool way to see Tanzania and all the small beach villages along the lake. At night you can see the lights from hundreds of fishing boats on the water. Such a fantastic thing to see. It looks like a floating village on the water, there are so many lights for as far as you can see, all along the lakeside. And the sunsets were just gorgeous. Seriously, those four days were some of the best from the whole trip so far. Truly amazing. We were a bit behind schedule on the last day so we docked at the last stop in Tanzania and stayed there for the night. It was nice to get off the ferry and walk on land for a short bit. It was literally a short bit, as there was nothing in this town, and what there was to see was a five kilometer walk from the dock. No thanks. The boat was to arrive in Mpulungu, Zambia at 6am the next morning, which is 7am Tanzania time. Perfect opportunity to catch a sunrise. Of course we slept in and missed it. Whoops. Our time on the infamous boat that inspired the movie the African Queen had come to an end. One of the best experiences in Africa so far, I am so extremely happy we did it. Now it's fingers crossed that we get into Zambia. Another case of conflicting reports about getting visas at the border, it could go either way.