We go on a Rough Safari

The bus trip from Morogoro to Kibaya turned out to be a rough safari.  The MJ bus company tickets indicated seats H1/H2 were supposed to be ours and the ETA 1 or 2 o’clock.  However, it turned out to be one of the toughest bus rides of our lives so far.  Honestly, I think that when we get back to Nova Scotia we will take an Acadian Lines bus trip just to experience the luxury of it all.
Waiting around Morogoro bus station for an hour was interesting in itself. The vendors wandering through the crowd offered their wares to us the same as to the locals.  No tough sell here but, had we needed to, we could have outfitted ourselves with everything from luggage to shoes, clothes, radios and food. 
 At 9:00 a.m. a man wearing an MJ bus company tee shirt started running with our bags while calling out, 'mzungu, mzungu' (white person, white person) indicating that we should follow.  We and our luggage were crammed onto an already full dalla dalla (mini-bus) which took off at breakneck speed. Standing in the aisle, bent over like a pretzel and rocking back and forth we wondered, is this our transportation for next five hours?  It was not.
 After an hour at which time we were deposited on the side of the road somewhere beside a tiny village where chickens were scratching in the dirt and vendors were selling water and bananas.  Standing in the blistering sun for an hour we started to wonder, what are we doing here?  Are we even on the correct road to Kibaya? 
Suddenly an MJ bus sped by.  Many people started running after it, shouting and waving.  We joined in the ruckus.   The bus ground to a halt about a quarter of a kilometer away.  Several very helpful Tanzanians grabbed our bags and we rushed to get aboard.
Needless to say, seats H1/H2 were nonexistent.  Once again we crammed into the aisle but the saving grace was that everyone on the bus was friendly and helpful.  Our computer bag was in one man’s lap and another one was being looked after by a kindly young Tanzanian man wearing a Tim Horton’s tee shirt.  It’s a small world isn’t it? 
As more passengers were picked up, it became a struggle just to reach down to get our bottle of water on the floor.  The large sign over the windshield of the bus which read, ‘High Class’ was not reassuring. We braced ourselves for the rest of the ride. 
When the bus broke down we were mistaken in thinking it was just a pit stop.  No!  The driver opened the engine compartment and thick diesel smoke poured out.  We debussed for another wait at the side of the road while people hustled jerry cans of water to replace that which was flooding from the radiator onto the road.  Before long we were on the way again.
When the bus turned right onto a dirt track (it made the West Tatamagouche Road look like a four lane highway) we knew we were only two and a half hours from our destination.   A few passengers got off and more got on. Children were handed over until they reached their mothers but there was very little crying or whining.  A crashed bus on one side of the road was an interesting diversion and we were left thinking, there but for the grace of God…
At 4:30 in the afternoon we arrived at our new home, Kibaya.  Tessa, the VSO mathematics teacher- trainer and Mr. Ndee, the director of the Community Education Resource Center (CERC) were there to give us a warm Tanzanian welcome.
We were tired and dusty and a little worse for wear but happy all the same, especially after an ice cold Mountain Dew, a shower and some food.