SCENES FROM THE LAND CRUISER--MODES OF TRANSPORTATION

Getting Around Arusha and Vicinity

Whether by foot, bicycle, moped, motorcycle, tuk-tuk, dala dala, bus, car or truck. . . the roads are always busy with traffic coming and going.

First there are the human-powered vehicles.

This is a favorite capture of mine, through the window of our Land Cruiser as we were driving to Arusha.
A Maasai warrior pedals on his bike talking on his cell phone with his buddy seated behind him holding a
young goat on their way to market. Note the iconic Maasai walking sticks tucked across the bike frame.

Bicycles are not just for carrying people; they are also used to transport goods to town or to home.

These dried stalks may be food for cattle or used as a fence around a house.

Collecting firewood is typically a woman's job, but this man may be taking this bundle to market to sell or trade.

Then there are the mopeds and motorcycles. . .

In fact, this is a fairly typical scene in Arusha illustrating several modes of transportation.

Note the lovely flowering trees in this city center scene.

Motorcycles and street vendor carts abound in Arusha.

But when your cow or other animal is too big to carry on a bike or motorcycle, you walk it to market.

 . . . and the passenger vehicles. 

A motorcycle, tuk-tuk, SUV, passenger bus, and our safari vehicle all share the road on the way to Arusha.

A colorfully painted dala dala

A 4X4 is a good vehicle to handle all the roads in Tanzania.

A passenger bus with an assortment of baggage including a car tire and a basket of live chickens.

Another dala dala with the words BORN HERE HERE painted across the windshield

And one of our three safari vehicles parked at a money exchange stop.

And finally there are the trucks.

Trucks are the heavy haulers that carry big loads from Point A to Point B. We saw them on the highways and also on the narrowest back roads where there was barely room to pass. 

Like the dala dalas, the cabs of some of the big trucks are brightly painted.

But wait, I must not forget the carts.

Wheeled push-carts are the back bone of local market sales and delivery. And like most developing nations, they are seen everywhere stacked with fresh produce, building and agricultural materials, small animals, clothing, plastic buckets, propane tanks, trees and bushes, or whatever else must be transported from here to there.