Advertisement
Published: July 13th 2009
Edit Blog Post
The lobby
So the Golden Tulip looked nice...from afar Well, it's Wednesday July 8 around 5pm here, and about 10am east coast home time. We've been in the former capital of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania for about 43 hours now and are eager for the adventure to start. Of course that is not to say that some has not already occurred. Upon arriving at the Dar airport we waited about an hour to get our visas and were ever so thankful that the hotel shuttle service did not give up on waiting for us and the driver was ever so patiently awaiting our arrival with a sign greeting Paci Eric. A twenty minute drive from the airport to the Golden Tulip Hotel, situated a bit out of the way on the Msasani penninsula over looking the Indian Ocean, the late night drive afforded us a view of a quiet Dar, closed shops and street side stands, few people out and about, and the freedom to drive through red lights at non major intersections.
We pulled up to a rather grand looking building, complete with gated entry, circular drive, security on stand by and the day manager (just leaving his shift) to greet us at the open doorway. The lobby,
coming across initially just as grand as the its columned facade, opens into a large courtyard which extends to a beautiful pool, outdoor restaurant and views of the Indian Ocean. Just lovely!
A quick walk through a dim hallway along a carpet that has not seen a proper shampoo since never and we started to understand some of the less than stellar reviews. A broken phone, non-working safe, and random bouts of electricity loss and we understood a bit more.
No worries, we'll just write down what we'd like to eat for room service (a 24 hour operation) and take it to the front desk. An hour later Eric walks back to the lobby to check the progress. Hmm? Some questionable glances exchanged between the staff, some abrupt words from the manager to one of the men (named Gabriel) and Eric is assured that our food will be ready shortly. Fast forward twenty minutes later, a knock on our door (remember room phone is OOC) confirming that our hungry stomachs will be saved. Eric opens the door to "We have no burger." (Interpreted as they just don't have any beef burgers.) "We have sandwich." To which Eric asks:
View from the Golden Tulip Balcony
If only the food had been as nice as this! "ham?" and the reply is "no, cheese and tomato". Eric confirms with girl that out of the veggie burger, beef burger, coke, and milkshake, that we ordered, in fact none of those items were actually available. "What do you have?"
At 2am Eric was eating a chicken sandwich, and I the complimentary tomato and cheese that accompanied it. For dessert, toothpaste.
Ah, we woke up to catch the last ten minutes of an included breakfast we will be happy not to be eating in another two days. Spent the day sleeping off the jet lag (which worked out well during the mid day hours when the both the electricity and water are turned off) then took a cab into the city in hopes of arranging our safari and finding an internet cafe. Along the way our driver tells us it is a holiday, which not only explained why the city was so subdued and quiet, but also why everything was closed. We planted ourselves in the lobby of the very posh MovenPick Hotel like we were guests and mapped ourselves a path to walk around. We took in the contrast of old run down buildings
Ahh...the good book
Contemplating the finer points of traveling in the developing world... Hmm...am I more likely to be killed in a bus accident or plane crash...? with the newer modern ones of banks, a smattering of cell phone carrier chains, and time worn apartment buildings. The hotel also served as the place where we were meeting our non-existent Tanzanian friends for dinner, the story we used to politely and successfully break free from our first local "cockroach" and his not very well thought out Sundanese refugee in need of money plea.
Well, we gave dinner at the hotel another go that night and our very enjoyable dinner (of exactly what we wanted the previous night) outside overlooking the ocean was made even more lovely when we were told it was "on the house" as compensation for last night's room service debacle. This followed by great conversation and cappuccinos in the inside restaurant, another apology from the night manager, a discount on our stay if we choose when we come back through Dar and his offer to use the internet in his office free of charge (and save the Tsh8.000 ($4is)/hour hotel internet fee, which doesn't apply if you bring your own laptop, note to self for next time) and we have coined the term Afri-karma.
Today we returned to the scene of a
typical work day in the city. Amidst traffic jams, the smells and sounds, people going about their daily routine, the hustle and bustle associated with any city, and feeling quite safe and sure footed we successfully changed some money, organized a safari, and made contact with the outside world. The people in Dar have been friendly and helpful and otherwise we have not been hassled or bothered (save yesterday). Tomorrow we take an 830 am flight to Selous, Africa's largest Game Reserve, to begin our 4 day 4 night African safari. We could not be more excited!
Apologies for the lengthy entry, but it will probably be sometime before we write again, as i'm guessing wireless in the African bush is a bit hard to come by.
Hakuna Matata and lots of love,
E & S
Advertisement
Tot: 0.083s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0566s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
mike
non-member comment
Arusha
Hello chaps! Hope the safari went well. I'll be arriving in Nairobi tomorrow then making my way to Moshi on Thursday. I wonder if you'll be around? I'm probably going to aim for the Buffalo Hotel in Moshi - it seems a bit calmer than Arusha. Let me know if we might meet - I guess I'll be there Thursday afternoon! Cheers - mike