Day 104: Tanzania border crossing

We try to take night buses to cover long distances overland but since they are prohibited in Tanzania, we had a long, hot journey to get from Diani Beach to Dar es Salaam.  Crossing Mombasa’s southern canal requires a ferry ride because there is no bridge that covers the 300 meters of water used by huge boats heading to the port.  Going by bus complicates things because everyone has to get off, cross separately, and then wait to be picked up again about 500 meters from the water.  By the time we finished that ordeal and made it to the Tanzanian border we were a sweaty mess and not even halfway to our destination.  It was the first land crossing of our trip and the process to get the visa on arrival was a series lines, questions, and finally payment in USD.  We literally walked into the new country and after waiting on everyone in the bus to go through the same hassle, we were on our way again.  Because of frequent stops, traffic, and poor roads we got into Dar more than five hours late but were happy to finally be out of the giant hot metal box on wheels.

Tchau Quenia. Hello Tanzania. E é claro, cruzando a fronteira de ônibus. As 8 horas que seriam para escutar música, tirar uma soneca, bater papo, se tornou interativa com o entra em sai do busão. Primeiro, na balsa, todos saem do ônibus e esperam o lá do outro lado do rio, tivemos que ficar perguntando qual o lugar certo que o ônibus ia nos pegar novamente, pois nem imaginávamos que o encontro seria há 500 metros, no posto de gasolina. E vamos que vamos, quando estávamos pegando no sono, hora de descer novamente, hora do lanche. Passando mais algumas horas, chegamos na fronteira. No passaporte, carimbo de saída do Quênia, e agora só basta descobrir onde fica a imigração para pegar o visto pra Tanzania??? Alguém pode nos ajudar??? rsrs… Literalmente cruzamos/andamos de um lado para o outro dos portões e finalmente, mais um carimbo no passaporte. Tivemos mais algumas paradas para lanches, banheiro e conseguimos chegar em Dar es Salaam já era de noite.