We are in a new world. A different world. For the first time in my life, I am officially the minority. It’s a weird feeling. It has only been 3 days in Tanzania and I already have so much to write. So much has been running through my head. There is so much going on. I knew we would be stepping into the unfamiliar but you can never fully prepare. But oddly enough….somehow….it has been working out….as it seems to be on this trip so far….
We were in Rome for a few hours layover on our way to Africa (we will do Rome for a few days after Africa before we head to Asia). All we had time for this time was some good food and we checked out Trevi fountain. We then took Ethiopian Airlines to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and from there to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It was about a 5.5 hour flight to Ethiopia and a few hours layover there, then a 2.5 hour flight to Dar es Salaam from there. We arrived at about 1pm Friday. We pre-booked accommodations from a local family doctor’s suggestion—it was actually a Lutheran mission house in downtown Dar es Salaam –and they told us to just take a taxi from the airport to them. Immigration was pretty quick. As long as you had US dollars to pay it didn’t take too long ;) Funny, because I would have assumed that Tanzania, as a former British colony, would use pounds as an alternative currency ;) The electrical sockets are British after all…
After we got our bags (thankfully they all arrived!) we headed outside into the pleasant warm weather- 30 degrees Celsius/85 fahrenheit! I noticed signs for the shuttle bus into the center of town. I looked around for buses but couldn’t find any. There were people waiting at the bus stop but they were not much help. The taxi driver guys were quite persistent and finally we went with one of them. We had a bit of stuff with us, so realistically, cab was the best option. It was a bit of a drive to the “hotel”/mission house. It was right on the water/port. The moment we left the car there were about 6-7 guys surrounding the car and just haggling us to buy trips from them, or hotels etc. etc. Our taxi driver led us to the back gate of a large white house (the mission house) where we were met by a guard and a german priest (who ran the place). I was quite intimidated by the guys around the car, but all they wanted was our business. They just didn’t realize that being so aggressive made us intimidated, not interested…
So this mission house is called the Atiman house and its actually one of the first buildings ever erected in Dar es Salaam. It was built by German missionary priests who first wanted to bring Catholicism to Africa. It is considered a historic building in Tanzania now. We paid $25/person for the night which included a basic room with 2 single beds, bed nets, a bathroom, a shower with no hot water, a table with 2 chairs, and windows with views of other buildings. Basic but ok. Also, this included breakfast and dinner organized by Father Ralph and a Tanzanian lady. The place had its own generator(s) –power in Dar es Salaam (and Tanzania in general) is unreliable and infrequent—and their own well for clean water, as well as a TV and basic electricity. We had fish for dinner (it was delicious) and met some other priests/missionaries also in Africa to preach/work. Father Ralph was incredibly helpful. He took us around downtown Dar and helped us take out money, get an African SIM card, buy groceries, buy a bus ticket to the Kilimanjaro area, and bought us treats. Overall, an intimidating, but pleasant first day in Tanzania.
- The internet here is incredibly slow and unreliable…..so its very hard to upload any pictures…ill try soon ..
