Finding a day trip out of Dar is quite hard. Apart from the beaches (includig Bagamoyo) there really aren’t that many places to go. However, last week I heard about some hills where you can go for walks on the airport road.
I had a lift to the airport from a friend and then I hopped on a dala dala and got off at Pugu. Pugu is an unremarkable town but it has some lovely lush hills as a backdrop which makes it a bit more attractive.
I could see the hills as I stood by the side of the road, dust floated up to my face in clouds. I looked around and realised that my only option to get to the hills and take a stroll along the ridge, was to get on a boda boda motorbike taxi.
As usual, there was a group of them at the bus stop, all vying for my custom. I chose one who wasn’t too young and the bike looked in reasonable condition. He quoted me 3,000 before I had even told him where I wanted to go which I thought was a big mistake.
We went up up up into the hills and when we stopped at a tourist office, we were told to go to Kisarawe to buy a permit to walk in the forest park. I had no idea where this was but the driver took me to the top of the hills and then down the other side.
The heavens opened and we took shelter in a petrol station which I realised was coincidentally next to the ticket office. When the rain abated we went inside the office and when they had managed to find a person who cold speak English is transpired that a foreigner could get a permit for 23,000 (£5).
Not only did I not have this much money on me, I would have been reluctant to pay it anyway. It was raining, the paths in the forest were mud and I didn’t have the right shoes anyway. So I told the driver to take me back to Pugu.
The journey back to Dar took me 2 hours. Transport details: Dala dala anywhere to destination called Gongo la Mboto (G/Moboto on the front of the bus). At Gongo la Mboto Then get off and look for the bus which says G/Moboto to Kisarawe. Alternatively you can get to the airport and then hop on a bus to Pugu. From there you can pick up any Kisarawe bus.
Dala dala buses are very cheap and you can get all the way there for about 1,000 (35p). You can use a boda boda from Pugu if you don’t want to wait for a bus and it will probably cost you 4-5,000 to get to Kisarawe.
Pugu hills are a really good option for a non-beach day trip. If you have ac ar then all the better but if you have time, the dala dala buses are cheap and fun to use.