Advertisement
Published: July 17th 2010
Edit Blog Post
london and africa 209
My first time in a dala dala My hotel is in the Bahari Beach are outside of Dar Es Salaam. Today, T, AM and I are going to the city center with SL. Our first stop is the dala-dala at Bahari Pharmacy. A dala-dala is a very inexpensive manner of public transportation and I soon found out why. It's reminiscent of an old, dirty, beat-up, fairly smelly VW bus with four rows of seating--a bench seat for 4 skinny people in the back and 3 rows of 2 seats on one side, 1 seat on the other with a seat in the 2nd to back row that folded down so you could also sit 4 in that row. Behind the driver's seat, there was a bench with no back that sat 4ish and 2 people would sit up front with the driver. In larger dala-dalas, there was a bar along the ceiling in the middle that may or may not be connected on both ends so people could stand in the center. All this with a doorman always standing up by the sliding door yelling out the window the end location of the dala-dala to everyone along the way. He would slap the ceiling when he was ready
to move on, sometimes while people were still hopping on. When it was time to pay, he would shake a handful of change in your direction. We had to take two dala-dalas to get to the city center and the bus terminal at Mwenge, where we had to change, was insane! There were a billion dala-dalas stacked right on top of eachother with barely enough room to walk single file between. It made the parking lot at Alpine Valley look sparse. Each one had the name of the locations it ran to and from on the front, but they were so close together I couldn't read them. Luckily, SL navigated us to the next one where we were lucky enough to all be able to sit in the back row together, as we did all day. He told us to keep our valuables very close to us since there are a lot of robberies here. Getting out of the bus station was chaos with no structure at all. Drivers pulled right out in front of eachother crossing "lanes" and driving over curbs and medians continuously. Wow! Quite an experience.
We got to posta, the post office at the center
of Dar Es Salaam. It is a really nice part of town and the financial district is all around. Dar is the financial capital of the country. We did quite a bit of walking around the city stopping at a cash point (ATM) and the wholesale goods market where we all got kangas--very exciting! Unfortunately, they were out of pink, so I chose a chocolate and mint one with a pretty pattern. Then it was off to Kayara Ko (sp) which was a busy business district. We went past the fresh food market. And although I'm sure all the food was fresh, due to the lack of modernized garbage system, it smelled quite rotten there--and the humidity only added to the stench. After we walked by the market, we saw a ginormous garbage truck (possibly larger than a semi) and one garbage man shoveling the unbagged garbage and food waste from the corner. No wonder it smelled!
Now we head back to the craziness of Mwenge bus station and by foot to a traditional Tanzanian restaurant. I first have to say that my food was very good and it was really fun to eat at a traditional restaurant--why would
you go to Africa and not live as the Africans do? At least to some extent. But, this place was soooooo unsanitary. Food in bowls with plates covering them and flies buzzing around. The metal chairs were sticky and may or may not have been cleaned in the last 6 months. T told me that the bathrooms were traditional (a hole in the ground sans toilet paper). But, the staff was very welcoming and friendly--like we were old friends. I had mishtaki (sp), which is very much like meaty beef jerky, and chips. The mishtaki was fantastic and chips were good, but not as good as the ones we had at the hotel the night before.
Then, finally, the highlight of my day...a 20 minute walk to Milliemarnie, a Western style mall that had air-conditioning--an absolute luxury. It also had a high, metal fence around the perimeter and a guard at the gate letting cars in and out. Here I can finally buy an inexpensive cell phone to call my lovin cup. The cheapest one was 20,000Tsh, about $15, so I opted for that one. But the saleswoman said I have to charge it for 5 hours! Seriously?! I
london and africa 201
The girls and I at the wholesale goods market have to wait that long to call Dan? It's like being on a diet and having Cimino's and Godiva on my plate with a side of Panda Express Orange Chicken. Except so much worse because as much as I long to hear his voice, I know I will cry as soon as he says hello and I'll talk in my super-high crying voice. But why shouldn't I?
When we get back to the hotel, we're all worn out and I head to my room to wash off the grime of the day with a lovely cold shower. The water doesn't get hotter if you turn it towards the hot side, the pressure just gets lower. But, I don't mind the cool temperature with all the sweat and grime on my body. Dinner goes by in a daze since all I can think about is my phone call. So, most of the other volunteers go to Mchuno's after dinner and I head upstairs to call Dan. I have serious issues dialing the phone and time after time, instead of ringing, I hear beep-beep-beep. WTH? About the time I want to throw my phone out of frustration, I decide to consult
the manual. That's when I figure out that I'm supposed to be pressing the* key twice before the number. Ok then. As it rings, I feel nervous and don't quite understand why. But when Dan answers, the nervous feeling makes sense. Talking to him makes me miss home like nobody's business. His voice takes me back to my warm, safe bed and his loving arms. But that reality is still nearly two weeks away. Although I'm trying not to wish away my time here, I long to feel his touch again, nuggle with my puppy, play in the pool with my little guys and keep on with our lives. But that seems like quite another world.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.109s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 9; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0748s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb