Off to Dar Es Salaam
Trip Start
Apr 21, 2008
1
35
225
Trip End
Apr 20, 2009
Dar Es Salaam,
Tanzania
Monday, May 26, 2008
Lyndsay and I said goodbye (again) once we reached the bus terminal. I doubt we will run into each other again as we are now going in separate directions. We didn?t have that much in common but it was nice traveling with her while we each built our courage to travel alone in Africa.
Unfortunately, the bus company gave me a middle seat for this 14 hour journey to Dar Es Salaam (DES). To make matter worse, the guy sitting in front of me kept his window wide open for the whole ride. I had this massive Tanzanian guy sitting next to me who would slam it shut every so often only to have this little guy open it up each time. Brave little guy.
The bus ride to DES was pretty boring. I really didn?t feel like talking to anyone (and no one seemed to interested in talking to me) or focusing on what was going on outside my window. I just buried myself in my book about Che Guevara. Good book. Been meaning to read it for 3 years. It?s 800 pages so it will be a while before I finish it.
Three guys who were on my bus ride through the Danger Zone were also on this bus with me. We would chat at
each bathroom stop. Nice guys. It?s good to meet locals on buses as you can use them to find out information about the town you are going to. Also, it makes you feel a bit more comfortable when you reach a town at night as they will sometimes help you out. That?s what happened in this case. Two of them negotiated a fare with a taxi driver to make sure I didn?t get scammed. When I approached the taxi driver, he quoted me a price of 15,000 TSH. My new friends yelled at the driver and it was immediately dropped to 8000 TSH. I was told that I was still overpaying by 2000 TSH (less than $2) but I told them I didn?t mind as I just wanted to get to my hotel. To reward my new friends, I offered to take them to their hotel (as it was on the way) and they accepted.
When I got to my hotel, I quickly showered and then went out to grab a bite to eat. I liked the character of my neighborhood. There was something about it that I really liked. It just seemed friendly. I did notice that there were lots of people of Indian origin who lived in the area. There were more Indians than black people. This is the first time I saw anything like this. When I sat at the restaurant, I noticed that there wasn?t any alcohol listed on the menu. I still asked about getting a bottle of beer and that?s when it was confirmed that it was a 'dry restaurant' - no alcohol. The establishment was owned by a Muslim family.
I was thinking about wandering DES tomorrow but I decided against it. I would return later on. Instead,
I would face a 3rd consecutive day on a bus trying to get to Malawi.
