30. Tanzania - Arrival

Another 4:30 AM departure brought us to the Malawi / Tanzania border by 7, where we lost 2 hours due to a "systems down" situation that had the immigration officials processing visas on paper. (Craig, ever the prepared boy scout, made sure we had obtained our visas in advance, but we had to wait for others).

Heading into the highlands after that, we noticed an immediate improvement in the standard of living. Honestly, Malawi was a bit of a bust for us. Here in Tanzania, homes were larger, looked maintained, and we could see power lines connected to some of them. Some had glass windows. The area was lush with vegetation and agriculture, including bananas, tea, coffee, & pineapple.

Along the way, we encountered a grouping of baobab trees. The baobab is one of the most iconic and majestic trees in Africa, growing to up to 30 meters tall with a trunk diameter of over 10 meters. It can live literally for thousands of years. We stopped to take a few pix.

As we continued heading across Tanzania towards Dar es Salaam & the eastern coastline, traffic became increasingly congested. Dar houses a major cargo port which is accompanied by an influx of trucks. So many trucks!Read more