Dar es Salaam Part I

As you might remember, Cara and I landed in Dar es Salaam when we first arrived in Africa. We were exhausted, homesick, and not exactly sure where we were going—basically we were scared out of our wits. We spent only two days in Dar and most of the time was spent in our Guest House, so we decided to give the big city another try (we also conveniently timed it when Ben and Charlie were also there—they are pros in maneuvering around the place!) We set out on our little holiday on November 26^th and had to spend the night in Njombe in order to catch the 5:30AM bus heading to Dar. We stayed at a hotel recommended by some of the Peace Corps people we have met. They said it was cheap and had warm water. Well, they were right about the price, but there was definitely no warm water, and the shower didn’t drain and the toilet didn’t work—oh well, we were only going to be there for about 8 hours. The hotel also has a small restaurant, so we decided to treat ourselves and check it out. We were the only customers and small Tanzanian restaurants don’t give menus, it is just assumed that you want some traditional food. So, with no one else’s plate to look at and no menu, we both went with Chips Myai, potato wedges fried with eggs—one of our favorite meals here in Africa. So, we expected to get potatoes and eggs, what we got was a masterpiece! The potatoes and the eggs were there, but they were topped with a small portion of beans, a small portion of spinach and another of tomatoes. The color was just beautiful and these additions made the chips myai that much more amazing! This completely made up for the toilet and the shower problems!

There is not much to tell about the bus ride except that it was long, a grand total of 11 hours with one break only long enough to stretch your legs and another to go to the bathroom and get lunch. But we did discover that Africans really have no blood, as we got closer to Dar it progressively got hotter and more humid, but most of the windows remained closed on the bus. All the passengers were sitting cool as cucumbers while you have two white people looking disgusting and miserable. But, this was just prepping us for the entire holiday where sweat would be our constant companion.

When we arrived we were again completely unaware as to where to go, so we had Ben and Charlie meet us at the bus station. With our big backpacks we didn’t want to try the city buses, so we went taxi searching. Finding a taxi is not the problem, but finding the best price is the trick. To not go into too much detail, you talk to one taxi driver, but in the hearing distance of at least two more and you name your price and wait for someone to match it. We took the taxi not directly to our hostel, but to the movie theater, one of two in the entire country of Tanzania, to take in the new James Bond movie. Not only was great to see a new movie aside from our small collection in Imiliwaha (and an action movie to boot!), but the theater was air conditioned! After the movie we went out for Thanksgiving Dinner, since it was November 27^th, at the local equivalent of Burger King or McDonalds and had a burger and fries for Thanksgiving. We then were dropped off at our hostel, the YMCA, another Peace Corps favorite. The place was clean and decent, but receptionist was a woman who was not really pleased with life and made sure all her patrons knew it. We tried to be friendly, but the only time we saw her smile was when she was allowed to share in some of the beers from a wedding that took place during the course of our stay.

I’m not going to go day by day, but just mention the parts of the city we saw. But first, transportation—without our big backpacks, we didn’t need the luxury or the expense of a taxi, so we took the city buses, or the daladalas. Dalas range in size anywhere from something just slightly smaller than a Metro Transit bus to an oversized van. And like all Tanzanian transportation that I have ever mentioned, the conductors really don’t know the concept of “there is no more room for another person.” So, to add to the general heat of the day, we had the pleasure of stuffing ourselves into the dalas several times a day, though sometimes we were lucky and got a seat.

We went twice to Mwenge, Dar es Salaam’s large market. The first time we just about ran though to see what all was there (Kangas, a traditional piece of fabric that is usually worn by women as a skirt, with a picture of Barak Obama front and center were the hot item). We found one typical tourist shop complete with Msai , who helped put your purchases in the bag. I could have bought out the entire store of one particular artist, but I had to restrain myself to one piece. The second time we went to Mwenge, we went into the tourist part where there are hundreds of little shops selling traditional artwork. Once a white person enters this part of the market, you are not left in peace until you have exited. The vendors just swarm you with their wares. If you don’t want something, don’t even think of looking at it, don’t even think about touching, mentioning or commenting about it, because they will then try to persuade you to buy it or show you a different design or size.

We also checked out Masaki, the more wealthy part of the city because we were in complete white tourist territory. There was something like a white person oasis amongst typical middle class apartments. The entrance to this oasis was guarded by security men and there was a fountain as you enter with a Perkins like restaurant to your right and a small version of Byerlys on your left and other restaurants and shops in front of you. It was sort of disgusting to see so many white people clustered and sheltered in such a way, they weren’t really in Africa. There were even families there with young children! Who in their right mind decides to take a family vacation to Tanzania! It was beyond me. We ate at the Perkins restaurant, looked around the book shop and the grocery store (where a chocolate bar from Belgium was 9,000 shillings, or 7 dollars!) There was nothing much else to see so we took our leave, they can have their little oasis.

The reason Charlie and Ben were in Dar in the first place was that Charlie’s Dad and Uncle were coming to visit him, so one day we went with all of them to the beaches of the Indian Ocean. The beach area is along a peninsula and we took a ferry to cross the small gap. Although we were again in tourist country, it is the off season, so not many white people were around. There are many beach resorts along this little strip and we chose one to stop and eat at. We were led onto the beach and under a grass roof tent. The sand was that perfect, soft white sand that sticks to your feet and makes them look beautiful, so all the time we were eating my feet were in their glory. The day was perfect, a little sun and a nice breeze off the ocean. We had a marvelous lunch of Indian food and cold beer and soda. We even took a dip in the Indian Ocean to cool off. On our way back into the city we saw a young man climbing coconut tree to collect the fruit (I don’t know what else to call it) but he did it in his bare feet and was up this huge tree in about a minute. It was amazing to watch.

This is all the interesting parts of the trip, until you get to Part II. We took in another movie and ate some more good food, but after five days I was ready to return to the cooler temperatures of Imiliwaha.

~ by travelsinafrica on December 5, 2008.