Mwanza to Kampala by Ferry Cargo

Hello,

did the trip from Pt. bell to Mwanza 4 years ago by railferry. You need a letter of authorities . i got it from the railway mainstation in Kampala.
It is only that they must not pay if you break a leg on the ferry. Don´t know exactly what they charged for the trip, think about 60 or 80 €. You can arrange a dormroom on the ferry for about 3,-€. You will sleep with the staff. Start was Monday afternoon, arrivel in Mwanza Tuesday at 10 am.
Ask at the industrialport in Mwanza if you can go, the other port is for the ferry to Bukoba.
Enjoy it, sorry for my doubledutch
Didi

Thank you very much quite helpful

I know i have to get an authorization if taking the feryy in uganda, but i'm travelling from mwanza

thanks

Quemero,

I too am looking to take a boat/ferry from Mwanza to Entebbe -- I'm currently in Mwanza for another few weeks before heading out; if you want help doing research we can team up. Call me at +256 751 922 521 (Uganda cell) or reply on this site.

Cheers

Ted

I haven't actually done the trip, but I did enquire about it around this time last year so I'll tell you what I know. The best place to find out is the South port, which is about a 15 minute walk west out of town.

There is a big building called the Uganda Shipping Company (or something like that). I found a very helpful lady in the office inside who told me when the next boat was scheduled to leave (which was the following day in my case).

As I said, I didn't actually do the trip as I stupidly lost my passport the same day (doh!), so I didn't get to the point of finding out how much it would cost.

As far as I'm aware you don't need any kind of letter of permission from anyone in Mwanza but there is an immigration office at the South port to stamp your passport.

Sosay,

I'm planning my trip beforehand and I'm not currently in Africa but i just wanted to know before leaving. If I was there i'd call you up to research (two researchers are better than one)

Good luck !

Peter

Thank you very much for your info, as i'll have plenty of time to spare i think i'd better cross from norhtern zambia into souhtern tanzania to head northbound to uganda (it's another option to take) thanks!

Hello,

I just did the reverse trip and have some updates. Trying to read all the outdates posts (and guidebooks) about this route left me pretty confused. Here is what I learned.

The freighter between these cities leaves about twice per week. So, inquire early because when I asked in Kampala the freighter wasn't coming for 3-4 days. Also, the Marine Services Offices in Kampala is actually on the first floor. To find it, go in the front door and then continue directly out the back door and go right. It is about 50 feed down. The people on the second floor, where it says it is in the guide book, were very nice, but not actually the person supposed to be helping you. The lady in the Marine Services Office was very hard to find, but helpful once we found her in the office.

Option two was to take the bus to Bukoba leaving several times daily. However, that ferry only goes to Mwanza monday, wednesday and friday night. This can be quite a delay. Similarly, it only comes from Mwanza every other day, only on weekdays.
Option three was bus. Buses don't seem to run in a public, continous way south of Bukoba so the bus terminal guy said you could go to Kenya and down. They suggested taking an early morning bus to Kisumu near the border and 'probably' a bus could then be found to Sirare (Kenya/Tanzania border) where you could cross the border and 'probably' get on to Mwanza.
I went with option four because on the saturday I left, I needed to be back in Mwanza by monday. I flew to Nairobi landing at 6 PM ($200). I then took a cab (1200 Kenyan schillings, bargain outside, don't take official cabs) to the Akamba bus station. (guide book says that is the bus to Mwanza and they even have an operating website saying the departure time). The problem was that AKAMBA IS NO LONGER IN BUSINESS. I confirmed this on both ends of the route. I went to 5-6 other bus companies to find a route.
Spider does not go to mwanza even with connections despite what everyone there says
Kampala coach may do the route, I couldn't be sure
I heard a company called 'Dar' does the route direct, but they were leaving the next day and were full.
So, at 9 PM I found (meaning the cab guy found because these places were all spread out, everyone spoke very poor english and the whole scene looked like something from Mad Max beyond Thunderdome) a local bus that went to Sirare on the border. No bathrooms except for outside in the rain and the seats are big enough for 9 year old children almost. I got there at 3 AM and deboarded in a group of 10 people chanting Mzungo (foreigner). I crossed to the check point and got through with no problem. After also checking in at the Tanzanian side (nobody stops you to do this, but be sure to do it or you have to walk back. It's on the left shortly after crossing) I walked the 400 yards or so through the dark to what I hoped were buses. This is what the guide books usually would call 'not recommended'. From there, fortunately, there was a bus to Mwanza. Total trip time 9 PM to 11 AM the next day.
This route was not for the faint of heart. Also, it would not have been possible without assistance from some very nice locals looking after me so if you decide to do this...make friends.

The point of this is that if you are travelling to/from mwanza or many other places in East Africa and do not have a very flexible schedule, DO LOOK AHEAD, the routes are just not as frequent as you would think even to large places.

I'm thinking about doing the same trip. But sounds a bit complicated:)

Don't let my former post scare you. It seems getting the ferry is relatively straight forward. My warning is just that it's not regular so if you are on a tighter timeline you may want to check ahead if that's possible. Also, the ferry from Bukoba is regular and posted on the internet so if you travel when it's leaving it would be a good fall back.
One other update, I later learned that buses from Kisumu are pretty regular so I probably should have taken kampala to kisumu bus then caught another one to the border then another to Mwanza and it would have saved the flight to Nairobi and subsequent hassles.