The Art of the Dala Dala

Tanzania is not for the tall nor the unadventurous.

So on Thursday 12/11 the girls took a trip to the beach. Even though we live 5 miles from the water, it takes 2 hours to get to the beach. The trip probably would take a half hour if the roads were better and if there was a brdge. the Dala-dala is the bus in Tanzania. It is really a mini-bus that look as through it was gutted and a few rows of benches were nailed to the floor, not kidding. So we took 3 different dalas to the beach that day. There are different kids of dalas, some that you can barely fit in because they are so small, some that feel as though they are about to fall apart, some of them barely have a floor, et cetera. The driver is on the right side of the car and we drive on the other side of the road...most of the time. Getting on the dala is a free-for-all, there is much pushing, shoving, and elbowing. Really anything goes. We got on the first dala in Mabibo, where we live and took it to Corner. That trip was uneventful thankfully. The next one was slightly more interesting because this is when we really used our elbowing skills and in turn got elbowed ourselves. When the dala comes, the people inside are pushing to get off just as the people are pushing to get on. This usually happens are the dala is still moving. Finally it stops and the process finishes. Now keep in mind that in these dalas there are about three rows of seats, you can squeeze two maybe three people in the rows and then depending on how tall the dala is, maybe standing 3 people in the aisle. However this is usually not the case. You usually end up sitting on peoples laps, having people stand on your feet faces right next to each other. There is so sense of personal space here. We got off the second dala and walked about 15 minutes to the Ferry, conveniently right next to the fish market. We pushed and shoved our way onto the ferry, naturally. We finally found our last dala. Somewhat crowded, but not like sardines, this trip took 20 minutes. We arrived at our stop and i had absolutely no idea where we were, looked like we were in the middle of no where. We walked about 20 more minutes to the beach, Kipepeo Beach (it means butterfly). The water was soooo warm, the Indian Ocean is absolutely beautiful. Christen pleasantly pointed out that it was December 11th. Our return trip on the dalas was quite eventful. The first one wasnt bad, but the second one, oh goodness. There were so many people waiting. I was watching people get on another dala and I am surprised if someone wasnt punched or knocked out. We did the same, ran to our dala when it arrived and elbowed our way again onto the bus. We were squeezed and picked up more people on the way. I am going to borrow this from Christen, she said "you do not know whether it is your own sweat, the persons in front or behind you, to your right or left, above you or below you....literally." I was standing on this dala, over people and right up against others. Then the traffic came. I was too tall for the dala so I was bent down over some other people. No breeze, not moving, great. Finally we got off and found our last one. My legs were too long to fit behind the seat so i sat with them under my chin for the rest of the ride. The woman next to me was literally leaning on me, her arm was on top of mine we became close friends really quickly. All of this was definitely worth the day at the beach though. I am proud to say that since this first dala experience, I have become a novice on this kind of transportation. I now know how to elbow my way into a dala and how to try to make the best of the given situation. This is definitely an art that needs to be practiced.