Mode of Transportation in Tz

Being a tourist usually means you need to find other ways of traveling from place to place than using your own car. Normally in Sweden that means using the bus system or the trains. However, the situation here in Tanzania is a little bit different. During day-time there is practically no problem finding a ride, but at night you are stuck getting a ride from your friends. There are no taxis waiting outside the nightclub for example. It is also a big different traveling in Morogoro compared to Dar. These are just my experiences to keep that in mind.

My first ride was with Cash Money. The Friendly Gecko's taxi service guy. No cash no ride! More or less :D 30.000 Tsh from the Airport to the guesthouse and he knows the where the guesthouse is situated.

Then of course in Dar we have the Tuk Tuks or more commonly known as Bajajis because of the Indian manufacturer Bajaj. They are extremely popular in Dar but here in Morogoro there are only just a few. the reason being that Dar is a flat coastal area and Morogoro more mountainous and the roads here are in many cases really rough.

While the Bajajis haven't really made it here due to the fierce competitions from the Dala Dalas and especially the Boda-bodas. Huh? What do you mean?

Yes, these little minivans usually Toyota, are extremely weather-beaten and extremely cheap but there are countless of them here in Morogoro. You rarely have to wait for one to come and they will take you pretty much everywhere for the fashionable price of 300 Tsh (or 1,5 SEK or 0.2 US). The downside is that since there's no limit of passengers they usually cram 30 or so people in these minivans. Being a pretty big guy this poses a problem. Though I do usually get a seat (because I'm white, man and sometimes older) I still have to find room for my legs and arms and even my head. Just yesterday the latter was my biggest problem because there was a broken air intake right by my head. So I had to bend to my left not to get pierced by this sharp pointy plastic dala dala weaponry. The trip still ended up being a treat since we were twelve of us (9 children from Amani Centre plus 2 staff members and me). Finding room for that many wasn't as easy as you might think :D

Another problem with the dala dalas is that they are usually very slow. They will take you were you want to go, but make sure you are not in a rush. Sometimes they'll not leave until they are crammed. So my next option is to use the boda-bodas or motorcycle taxis. Let me give you a brief history lessons:

The boda boda is a term used for bicycle taxis originating in the no man's land between Kenya and Uganda as means of transporting people from the two borders. Hence, the name bodaboda. These are very common here in Morogoro, and to make everyone back home a little less worried. There are apparently bodaboda organizations in most East African towns and villages to combat badly maintained bikes and dangerous driving. Many drivers are licensed and "sometimes" wear a helmet, though none is provided for the passenger. They are however also the quickest means of transportation and they are still quite cheap 1000 Tsh (standard price in Morogoro) for a normal day-time trip. Sometimes they ask for more but they rarely give you a hassle. The biggest problem is probably making sure they know where you want to go and getting change.

My first week in Morogoro as I was also asked if I had used the pikipikis or the bodabodas. Not knowing the difference I had to ask to the amusement of the guys I was with. The simple explanation is that pikipiki is the word for a motorcycle and the bodaboda is a motorcycle taxi.

There has been a enormous rise of bodabodas in East Africa and according to my travel guide but also information on the internet it is due to the influx of cheap Chinese motorcycle the past decade or two. It is also estimated that there are about 200.000 profession bodaboda drivers in Uganda and I'm just assuming that they number is much higher here in Tanzania. At least that's the feeling you get walking around in Morogoro.

The last option here in Morogoro is the normal Taxi. My friends Louise and Cia were nice enough to give me some numbers for their favorite drivers (usually meant that driver's English was good enough so that the girls were able to go where they wanted). However, it is a pricy mode of transportation. Our trip yesterday cost 12.000 Tsh and for that same price I can actually almost go back and forth to Dar using the express bus service (6500 Tsh one way). Nevertheless as it was raining and we were heading up the hills there are no other options. I have tried the bodaboda but last time it started raining and though I didn't get soaked being cheap wasn't my best choice.

The least favorable mode of transportation is probably the train. Though there are train tracks here in Morogoro I have seen the train once and heard it once more. I have no idea how often they go, and people rarely use them. Some people say that the train ride between Dar and Morogoro has been cancelled for several months. I don't know, but it is still not an option when the train travels at 50km/h and the busses connect all towns in Tanzania. Our options are almost endless as loss as you are not too picky about your comfort and the length of your journey. My last trip to Arusha took 9hr one day, including one short bathroom stop (bush bathroom) and a 15-minute grab-and-go lunch stop. Furthermore, the seats provide enough space but I guess I'm a cousin of the Princess on the Pea, because my butt was so sore after that trip. And this was still one of the better bus companies connecting Dar with Morogoro and Morogoro with Arusha. At 6500 (Dar-Morogoro, 25 Sek or 3.5 US) or 25.000 (107 Sek or 15 US) Morogoro-Arusha.  The prince is incompatible to any trips in know in Sweden.

I think this is the end of today's journey, but in the future check out stories on: Tanzanian soccer, drug use and diseases in Tanzania.