Taking the ferry to Zanzibar

We had a good night’s sleep and didn’t realise it had been raining for most of the night until we left our room and saw how much water was lying on the ground! Those who had slept under canvas were well aware of the storm that had raged! Fortunately, they didn’t have to take down their wet tents. They were all being left up so that Henry and Patrick could clean them all while the group were in Zanzibar. For our last breakfast, Henry had made eggs with sausages, both spicy and plain. It felt a bit strange that, after 40 days together, we wouldn’t be eating in our camp kitchen again!

After breakfast, those of us who are leaving the truck now, stowed all of our luggage on board. Those who are continuing to Nairobi only needed to worry about packing a bag for the three nights on Zanzibar. When we were ready, Patrick drove us to a garage nearer to Dar es Salaam, where we were transferring to a bus to go to the ferry terminal. Henry came along, so we could say our goodbyes to both of them. It was sad to see them go. They have both been great throughout the trip.

We had about a 30-minute drive to get to the ferry. Once there, Laban gave us our tickets, and we went to check in. It was very busy! Our luggage was transferred to a cage to be loaded onto the boat for the journey over to the island. We were a bit dubious that we would ever see it again, but it was all labelled with Laban’s name and phone number, so we just had to hope for the best! We then had to wait in a very crowded area until it was time to board. When 9.30am came, the boarding procedure was surprisingly smooth, and we all got seats in the front section of the catamaran.

Unfortunately, it was raining, so we couldn’t really take photos of Dar’s skyline as we left the harbour.Read more