North East Tanzania

We chose the small boat option to return to the mainland. It meant we didn't backtrack to Stone Town and Dar es Salaam. A bit of sleuthing, a brief exchange with a cyclist who's done it recently and a trip to the beach front sorted the boat. Be here at 6 am for the first boat, said the skipper. Turns out 6 am was too late and he wasn't the skipper. Often 2 boats run but just the first is guaranteed, after that you wait for the boat to fill up. Arriving at 5.50 we were still 5 people away from those seats. Judging by the numbers I'm not sure they've ever had an issue with 2 boatfuls. The early start of 5.30 was just sleep we didn't get. The first boat pushed off at 6.15. There were 6 names, and 2 bikes, for the second. At 6.20 the skies opened and the forecast rain arrived in biblical proportions. We retreated to shelter as it pelted down for 45 minutes. Eventually the rain eased and the numbers flourished. We were on board and moving within the hour. More rain came through but the skipper and crew toughed it out as we sat largely under shelter. I'd prepared my rain jacket. Despite being at the front and catching the rain I avoided getting drenched, and too cold. The 2 hour trip took us directly across the ocean from Nungwi to the beach at Ushonko, in an almost straight line. Cellphone based navigation felt a bit precarious in the heavy rain and limited visibility. There were still a few other dhows and local fishing skiffs braving the downpours. An uneventful beach landing attracted a few hardy locals keen to play porter as the bikes were unloaded over the front. Anything for a few thousand Shillings it seems. We'd expected to be off loaded at Tanga, further up the coast, but the rest of the journey was to be completed by bus. We declined choosing to brave the clay roads that led back to the highway. It was a challenging day over rough dirt roads with trucks coming through pretty regularly. We'd been advised to depart from Tanga via its sealed arterial, but this was much more of an adventure. After 20 kilometres we reached Pangani and stopped for lunch. Then back into it as the day brightened and we headed for our evening stop, rejoining the main road after a nice downhill into the small town of Muheza.Читать далее