Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Thursday 23rd September
An early start and a small breakfast on the roof of our hotel, we were bid a smiling farewell from the ever high manager, passing benches coupled with snoozing inhabitants, we weren't sad to be leaving the Warare. The sun again welcomed us as we wandered down towards the port, as we approached the usual chaos of African transport ensued. The ship before us was late to depart so we duly waited for the gates to be opened as the locals pushed and barged to be first in line. We waited and waited, the heat of the day rising quickly along with our temperature, not helped again by our bags. Eventually the gates were opened and a mass of people surged forward, like good British citizens we waited patiently at the back pleased to be avoiding the crush. Eventually we proceeded in and after getting our exit stamps from a Zanzibarian official sat down to wait for boarding, which again took an age. The boarding gates were eventually opened and of course the 'African Crush' commenced, people with bags on their heads and children under their arms jostled for as far in the front of the line as possible. As we made our way down to the impressively modern looking shouts and argument could be hear from the boat opposite, people were hauling huge pieces of furniture up onto a large passenger ship, there was some heated Swahili arguments going on about what was and wasnt allowed on board.
We boarded the ship where I was immediately directed to the right of the boat following the rest of the foriegners, TJ on the other had had to show her ticket to join me, we can only assume the attendant thought she was native! Having found some wonderfully comfortable seats at the back of the boat, seemingly our tickets had separated us from the locals and put us in first class with some other foreigners and upper class Africans. The day was becoming increasingly hot and we were both relieved once the boat pulled away and the cooling breeze picked up. The journey lasted for about two hours, as TJ inevitable motion sickness kicked in she quickly drifted off to sleep, I was left to enjoy the passing fishing boats and numerous idealic islands.
After an uneventful but choppy journey we reached Dar, keen to get to our hostel, we only had the rest of the day to explore before our flight the next afternoon. As we left the ship we were offered everything under the sun, politely turning it down we left the passenger terminal and decided to walk to our hotel. Luckily the incidence at Stone Town was not repeated and we navigated our way perfectly, the only problem being Tejal's uncomfortable bag. Having dropped our packs at the simple yet clean room we ventured out into Dar Es Salaam to investigate the capital.
I have to say we were both impressed with the city, it seemed clean, safe and was much more developed than what we had been expecting. Wandering around we were not hassled at all apart from the occasional call for a taxi, the city was a hive of activity and everyone seemed to be too busy to notice us meandering the streets. We headed to the national museum, this was very small by western standards but had some interesting artifacts and information on the evolution of man and the native tribes and animals found in Tanzania, it was interesting to read of their history and their struggle with nature and outside influences.
Neighbouring the Museum was Tanzania's Botanical Gardens, this unfortunately wasn't as interesting as the Museum had been. The gardens were free to enter and were of course outside but it was not kept particularly well and none of the plants were labelled or information given about them. We sat down to rest as other people had done, park attendants, gardeners and it her locals were sprawled out on the stone benches lazing around or chatting, it seemed more like a regular park than anything special. We left having exhausted our time, stopping on the way home for some fast food at Steers, our first since starting our journey. Walking home again at night reaffirmed how safe Dar is, at no point did we feel unsafe even after getting lost! We eventually mad it back to the hostel where we enjoyed a milkshake in their cafe and organized out accommodation in Singapore.
A late morning, breakfast and a last quick wander around Dar's busy streets to change some money saw us bundle into a taxi and head off to the airport. Dar had been a breath of fresh air and was definitely worth the visit, although there wasn't too much to see or do there, mind you we did miss the huge market, for some reason we both just weren't up for it. I can't deny it we were looking forward to the next leg of our journey and we boarded the plane excited at the contrast that Singapore would bring.
Mark & Tejal x
- comments