The Santorini Ferry or as it is lovingly called Mama
Tanzania, is one of those amazing things that can only be
found in Tanzania. This boat is an experience in itself.
The Santorini ferry is a 1960’s Greek cruiser and is
run by a Greek Crew. It is in good nick for its age and is
certainly the most upper-class thing ever to hit
Mtwara.

The boat takes roughly 18 hours crossing time. You leave
Mtwara lunchtime on Friday and are in Dar-es-Salaam by the
morning. On return you leave Tuesday lunchtime and arrive
Mtwara Wednesday morning. There are five classes, A-F
ranging from class A at 40,500 Tsh to class F at 11,500
Tsh. Class A, B and C all have cabins although only class A
has an en-suite bathroom! If you are in the top three
classes you have use of the two restaurants one which
serves Swahili food which will set you back about 2000 Tsh
and is self-service canteen style and another which serves
European food and is waiter service. This cost me about
8,000 Tsh but I did have three courses and a salad, what
can I say Mikindani makes you hungry! And a good bowl of
mushroom soup followed by spaghetti bolognaise followed by
fruit salad was a well-deserved treat, I thought!
Volunteers must be warned, local eating habits do not apply
here and attacking food hyena style is not advised, believe
me, I know! When a man wearing a T-shirt saying
“ABIBAS”(ADIDAS) looks at you in disbelief you
are really put in your place.

Despite this you are made to feel quite comfortable in
the top three classes on this mystery boat. The bar is well
equipped with two satellite TV’s and and a DJ, as I
suppose you could call him – the man who bangs out
tunes for the entire journey. This is needed, as the
majority of passengers use this room just to keep their
bags in, this is a style adopted by our very own Emmanuel
who managed to make it the whole 18 hours propped up at the
bar so I was told by the stewardess ladies on board who all
remember Mr Casanova very well! This is a lively place, not
for the faint hearted. If you suffer seasickness or hate
rap avoid this bar like the plague. I seemed to know a lot
of people and like anywhere in Tanzania everyone is related
somehow!

Class D and E are made up of rows of armchair seats
inside with a small counter to by snacks and drinks. All
classes A- E are air-conditioned. Class F is a plastic seat
outside that runs down the hallways of both sides of the
boat. On the top deck there are benches covered by a
canopy. In rough weather these seats can be a bit difficult
and on the top deck is very windy and the coldest
I’ve ever been outside in Tanzania. If you want to
cool down, clear your head and get a wonderful view of the
stars then this is the place to be. All in all I would
recommend using the Santorini as a reliable way to travel
from Dar-es-Salaam to Mtwara. Especially for future
volunteers, it is a cheaper alternative to flying and the
1960s décor is bound to keep you amused!

Update: our friends at Trade Aid tell us that the
Santorini has been pulled from this route. We do not yet
know if this is permanent or not.

For more information about Trade Aid, volunteers and
their work, please visit their website www.mikindani.com