We only intended to spend 1 night at Swahili Divers but it ended up being 2, what with it being such a difficult island to get off. Raf was heading to the airport to fly to Zanzibar so we hitched a lift. Our only means of leaving the island was to fly (or wait a further 2 days for the ferry). We booked a flight with Coastal and spent the time before the flight on the net in Chake Chake. Where, because it was still Ramadan I had to discreetly eat my “lunch” (plain biscuits were all I could find) in the corner.
When the plane arrived Bhav and I were the only people waiting. The plane was a 13 seater Cessna but any hopes of having it all to ourselves were dashed when we walked closer and saw 3 others inside. The reason for the odd numbered 13th seat was due to their being no co-pilot. Unfortunately the best seat in the house was already occupied but we could at least get the 1st row. The flight to Tanga was quite short at about 20 minutes but we certainly enjoyed the view.
The luxury of the plane wasn’t matched by the next form of transport, another overnight bus this time to Mombasa in Kenya. Our taxi driver from the airport suggested we should get a bus in the day time due to “banditry” but we didn’t want to waste more time and money.
It took about 2 hours before we arrived at the border, where Bhav got into Kenya for free whilst I was charged US$50 for the privilege. We arrived in Mombasa after midnight and slept on a coach.
Our escape route from Pemba
Welcome to Tanga
Hi John,
I was just surfing the net and found your blog. I am glad I was able to give you a lift, and I am SO happy you enjoyed one of the dives.
I like your blog its concise and very honest!
I have my own: http://www.travelblog.org/bloggers/turkishraf
Cheers
Raf