Blogs from East, Tanzania, Africa - page 2

Der Tag war ziemlich nach meinem Geschmack, nur das Ende ließ zu wünschen übrig... Zuersst folgte ich den Spuren meiner Vorfahren und suchte die deutschen Häuser. Das ehemalige Bezirksamt wird auch heute noch als Verwaltuungssitz genutzt - eigentlich ist es nicht schwer, die deutschen Bauten ausfindig zu machen. Ich fuhr danach einfach irgendwo hin, zuerst Teerstraße, dann Schotter, irgendwann kam ein Schild: 2 km to the tourist attraction Waterfall. Also bin ich pflichteifrig dort hin. Dort sitzt den ganzen Tag ein junger, gebildeter Biologe und kassiert den Eintritt zum Wasserfall. Wie immer: Tansanier nur Centbeträge, Ausländer 10 US Dollar. Nachdem er mir erzählt hatte, dass es eigentlich nur ein kleiner Wasserfall ist, der über eine Schwelle fälllt, ging ich nicht hin und begann eine Disussion über die horrenden Preise, die Ausländer für "Sehenswürdigkeiten" zahlen müssen, die ... read more

The coach journey to Morogoro was uneventful and fairly comfortable. We were dropped of at the bus station a few kilometres out of town and soon found a taxi to take us to url=https://www.booking.com/hotel/tz/mama-pierina-restaurant-and-annex.en-gb.html?aid=311984&label=mama-pierina-restaurant-and-annex-EHc6xU543Vm%2AodaAYd%2AKvAS267243797164%3Apl%3Ata%3Ap1%3Ap2%3Aac%3Aap1t1%3Aneg%3Afi%3Atikwd-340642062868%3Alp1010225%3Ali%3Adec%3Adm&sid=3e56f1da2f1e9deaf95aad2a6d91d074&ucfs=1&srpvid=c5ea827d3fd50072&srepoch=1548441210&hpos=1&hapos=1&dest_id=-2569841&dest_type=city&sr_order=popularity&from=searchresults;highlight_room=#hotelTmplMama Pierina’swhere we had arranged to stay for a couple of nights. The accommodation is very basic but then the price reflects that, and the climate is so humid that only having cold water in the shower was more of a blessing than a curse. There isn’t ... read more

Muheza A heavy storm woke me and 5 minutes later my alarm went. I’d intended to get a bus leaving Dodoma at 6, not fancying going anywhere in this weather I re-set my alarm and when it went again at 6:55 I got my shit together. I was on a boda to the bus stand at 7:40. Asking for Morogoro I was surprised to be shown to a big old ‘Raha Leo’ bus, yesterday I was told only smaller buses plied this route but like yesterday the fare was 12,000Tsh as quoted. At bang on 8am the less than half full bus hit the road as the heavens opened once more. The rain was really bad; 2 hours out of Dodoma along the Morogoro road the tarmac disappeared below the water for 50 metres ... read more

African proverb: To the child, a mother gives her blood, (heart). The father his spirit, (soul). We spent three days in Dar es Salaam and this gave us the opportunity to adapt to the climate, the culture, the time change, and simply to being on the road again. Starting with the time, we left Vancouver early Tuesday morning and arrived in Dar late Wednesday night. Total flight time - 28 hours. Plus, flying east we lost another 11 hours. We slept from midnight Wednesday, right through all of Thursday, staggering up only for our free breakfast in our hotel, the Iris, and to stagger out for dinner. The former included a Spanish omelette, a bowl of fruit, glass of passion fruit juice and some very dark, strong, excellent, African coffee. Dinner we ate at a street ... read more

I wipe sideways down my cheek. Brown. Step by step, I continue my walk, returning from the closest neighboring Peace Corps site, about 4 miles away. Blowing snot into a tissue, I see the contents of my nose. Brown. The road, the fields, the houses, the few plants still barely living: all brown. It hasn’t rained more than a mist since April. Everything is coated in a thick layer of dust. Harsh winds blow the eroding soil into my mouth, my eyes closed tightly, praying the wind will die down so I can finish my walk in relative peace. It’s as if the winds wait until the earth is most vulnerable to unleash their wrath. If tumble weeds existed here, we’d all be buried in them. The rainy season usually comes in November. By October, clouds ... read more