Protea Hotel Dar Es Salaam

... room for tomorrow but they kept on telling me it was booked so I got a room at another place three hotels down but unfortunately at 3x the price. Just relaxed and decompressed a bit. Nice to just sit and not think about anything or worry about what I am doing tomorrow. This is the first time I started to miss home though...not sure if it's because I'm at the half way point or what but would have liked to have Melissa with me at the beach and to see all my friends back home. August 22 ...

... know that Kaseem has another business outside the hospital. No, indeed I do not. Would I like to see it? Is there any answer bar 'yes' to this question? We visit the Style Icon photocopying business in a very poor part of Stonetown. It's a little room with a photocopier in it. I'm having a hard time maintaining my enthusiasm.

7pm We're driving towards town! Towards the centre of town! Kaseem looks at his ...

... straight up to the beaches. Went to a bar/restaurant recommended to us by the lads... needless to say we were surprised to find they didn't serve alcohol and a nice refreshing beer was out of the question. With Oliver staying in the restaurant to write his diary I was able to leave my rather heavy bags and head off for a wonder unimpeded. Walking you were constantly approached by people trying to sell things, getting in your way, not leaving you alone. Very ...

... her, Mandy, and Mel as they flew out last night and then we said goodbye to Clementine and Ana as they were heading to northern Tanzania early this morning. So, we're now down from eight to three! Michelle has also decided to go straight to Kenya rather than come to Zanzibar with us because of VISA issues, so it will be just Katie and I as of tomorrow morning! It has all happened so fast and is really rather weird ...

... went to school and chilled out with the kids and played draughts.  Of course I kept on losing but at least I was improving! There was a cute little boy who was around the school, he was very naughty because he kept on weeing on Alex and biting him because he found it very funny the way Alex reacted! He didn't do the same to me but kept pinching me! Afterwards, we went to Posta and had lunch with the kids again. Deo revealed the bad news that he had to go home tomorrow with Mohammed ...

... slowly! It's about reconnecting with the source. When Ully and I decided to do this, we had no idea what we were in for, and we definately didn't have the same outlook towards life and the world, as we have now! This is only the beginning though, we both believe we have touched on something, something we think should in time be shared with the world! This is the beginning of a long road!

... gave me a surprise cake and a really lovely sarong with pictures of zebras on it. They wanted me to stay longer but I told them I would be back in December - I think they see me as their little boy! I have had the most amazing time in Dar and particularly at Buguruni School. I don't think any of us realise just how lucky we are back at home and I am determined to raise more money for the school to make it an even better place. I want to thank everyone ...

... the crater was a bust - the Israelis had to get back to Moshi that night, and in the morning Bob found out that Jacob had not arranged a transit for them. Instead of chasing animals that day, we chased safari trucks to ask them if they were able to give these two a ride back to town... in the end Bob convinced one guide to take them back, but he was uncomfortable with it, and evenutally left the ladies at the park gate on the way back.... I'm not sure if/how they ...

Getting a "Sorry, we're full," from a hotel is usually a small annoyance, but nothing more. Getting a "Sorry, we're full," from the only six budget hotels you know of in a giant city is...incredibly stressful. This is what happened when we came to Dar, and fortunately for us it was mid-afternoon. As we were eating dinner we saw others wandering around with packs on in the dark, and Travis has often stated that there's really nothing worse than getting ...

... tour of stone town. As I was walking I stubbed my toe. I was so mad and it bled everywhere. So I had to go and have lunch at an Italian restaurant that was really expensive because I knew that they would have a washroom where I could clean up my foot. After that I was walking along and a guy that I had met the night before came along and was like hey do you want me to show you around today. And I was pretty grumpy so I was like no ...