There is little to do around Dar es Salaam to entertain yourself for a day which does not involve the water. There was a birthday to celebrate so a few of us decided to spend the day on Mbudya Isoand in the bay. This is definitely the best place in Dar to spend the day but the trouble is that, without a boat it’s tricky to get there.
If you don’t have your own boat, you have to go to Mbezi Beach to White Sands Hotel and get a public boat there. But they will only depart when they have a minimum of 6 and even then, they may wait a bit longer to see if they can get more onto the boat.
Lucky we had a motor boat so were spared this trial and wasted time. We hopped in the boat at around 10:00am and then tried to start the engine. It wouldn’t start. We tried again and again. It wouldn’t start. In the boat with us were cool boxes with wine and bubbly, snacks,swimming and snorkelling gear, towels and all the accoutrements required for a day at the beach.
Abandoning the trip was not an option. We were all excited and looking forward to the day. Then I saw my friend getting his yacht ready to head out to Mbudya too so I shouted across to him and before long, we had summoned the dingy and were aboard his yacht and heading to the island under wind power. No expensive fuel required.
Of course it took a lot longer but arriving by yacht is a step up from a motor boat and a lot less polluting to the environment. So our day of celebration was saved and we had a journey to remember. But that was only half the battle. We still needed to get back. Luckily another of our party recognised someone they knew who had arrived on the island in a large dingy-style boat with plenty of space to take us back.
I maintain that that it’s the days when things don’t go to plan that you remember most when you look back. This was one of those days. We returned, soaked through from the spray, sun-tanned and tired from a day on the island – just how a Sunday should end.