Baba Alfred and transportation in Tanzania

We've been pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to get around Tanzania, I only really miss having a car on our long, often muddy, walk to work in the mornings.

Baba Alfred ("baba" is Swahili for dad), our self-appointed Tanzanian father and protector, is our favorite taxi driver.  He is always happy to cart us to and from town and if he is busy sends a trusted friend.  He greets all of the international students and residents with a heartfelt "hello my daughters" or "hello my sons."  He is a very safe driver, which is important when you are sharing the road with trucks, motorcycles, pedestrians, and bicycles.  This past week he invited us all to his home for dinner and to meet his family.  His daughters, nieces and nephews, and grandkids were so sweet and welcoming, we had a great time.  We were stuffed with authentic Tanzanian food by the time we left, as we were enouraged to help ourselves to seconds and even thirds.  It was delicious.

Baba Alfred, his family, and his ex-pat family from the U.S., U.K., and Sweeden.

The alternative to taxis is to take the Dala Dala.  Dala dalas are smallish minivans which are then gutted on the inside to allow room for narrower, closer seats.  There are seats for 13 (3 rows of 3 and one row of 4) plus a bench against the driver's seat that holds up to 4.  We've counted 21 people packed into the dala at once, including the driver and his copilot, who opens and closes the door and occasionally hangs out the window to recruit more passengers.  It's hard to capture the atmosphere inside a dala, but this is the best pic I've managed to date:

We generaly avoid dala dalas with the exception of the one that goes directly from KCMC to the market in Moshi, as it's a fairly low traffic road and the drivers seem pretty safe.  And the ride costs only 400 shillings, or about 25 cents.  It's an interesting system, all of the dalas are privately owned but the do have licenses and about 5 registration-type stickers on the windows.  They run pre-set routes, and the ends of the route are usually, but not always, listed somewhere among the many decorations.  It also seems to be tradition to put a slogan on the back window, usually something about Jesus or Allah.  But occasionally we find a more original one, such as "Husband is not an ATM machine" or my personal favorite, "It's easy to be me, but it's not easy to love me."  It's an interesting system and I'm glad we gave it a try a couple of times, but I must say I'm much more comfortable with Baba Alfred!