A Cautionary Tale

 Let me start this post by saying that we are fine, are determined to make the best of our last week of vacation, and we don’t want to scare anyone from visiting Tanzania. The large majority of people we have met in Tanzania have been wonderful! 

On Monday we met a man “William“ at the market in Dar Es Salam when we were buying fabric. He told us he was a taxi driver and asked if we needed a ride, so Steve got his number and we asked him to pick us up around 1:30 pm to take us to the airport to fly to Mafia Island, just off the Tanzania coast. 

“William” showed up at the allotted time with a friend who was driving. First caution to you all - always check a taxi’s credentials (or use a taxi app)! Second caution - ask to be let out if you discover you are locked into the taxi! People here have been so kind and trustworthy, we had completely let our guards down. 

On the way to the airport, “William” picked up three other men, they turned down a side street, stopped, and told us they were “bad men” (none of them spoke English well). They demanded all our money and grabbed our bags. I started screaming and punching, hoping someone would come intervene, and one of the men in the front seat turned around and put his hand over my mouth and grabbed my wrists, restraining me. “William” who was next to Steve head-butted him, restrained him, and a third guy started going through our bags. 

Fortunately, Steve had hidden most of our money in his backpack pocket, which they didn’t find. They took the combination of Tanzanian, Kenyan and US money they found in Steve’s wallet and seemed angry there wasn’t more. Multiple times, they tried to have Steve transfer money to one of them via WorldRemit, but that didn’t work. 

When I saw a woman walking by and screamed “Help!”, the guy in the front screamed “shut up” and punched me, breaking my glasses. He showed me a knife and said they would kill us if we didn’t cooperate. 

After much excited Swahili discussion amongst the 4 men, they asked Steve for the PIN to his ATM card, grabbed the card and the money, and left us, stunned and still shaking, in the dust about a mile outside the airport. They zoomed away with the hatch up so we couldn’t read the license plate. 

Fortunately, they didn’t steal our iPhones, so we were able to freeze the ATM card, but not before they were able to make multiple withdrawals.  We did eventually make it to the airport and got to Mafia Island. We spent multiple days filing a police report with the Mafia police, which is a story in itself! 

We’ve spent some time here on Mafia processing what happened. We’re in a cool eco camp, Kitu Kiblu, run by Tanzanians, which has limited internet but outdoor showers that we can heat up with a little kerosene cannister. The cold showers actually feel nice because it is quite hot and muggy here. When they heard of the robbery, the Kitu Kiblu manager wanted to help us feel better, so they upgraded us to a lovely tent right by the ocean. 

 Overall, we feel fortunate that we made it here with just some bruises and scrapes, not too much money stolen, and our cell phones still in hand. I’m hoping our travel insurance will replace my glasses. 

This little, quite poor island feels safe and welcoming. Steve was able to get an excellent massage for $45 to relieve his stress. We’ve discovered a tasty local ginger beer. And so begins the process of healing…