Blogs from Dar es Salaam, East, Tanzania, Africa - page 2

Onward and upward we rose early to hit the border of Tanzania with much trouble! That’s right! The American couple who is on this trip seemed 200% sure that the visa was only $50 for all people and that’s what our amazing guide said too. Well when we got to the office the workers demanded $100 only for Americans and that sent the dude into a tirade. Lots of arguing and about an hour wasted he finally decided to pay the full amount so we wouldn’t hold up the bus, but the workers couldn’t produce any documentation of a price list based on countries. Their three computers didn’t work and the file cabinet that held the papers was locked with the one guy who had the key busy in a meeting. Lolol…I don’t really know the ... read more

Nous sommes en Tanzanie pour 3 semaines. Le séjour se compose d’1 semaine à Dar-es-Salaam, 6 jours près du Kilimanjaro et 8 jours à Zanzibar. Le nom du pays fait généralement penser aux Massaï (peuple d'éleveurs nomades et réputés guerriers), aux multiples parcs nationaux réputés pour les safaris (Tarangire, Serengeti, ...) et bien sûr à l'ascension du mont Kilimanjaro, le sommet enneigé d'Afrique. Pour nous, le 1er contact avec la Tanzanie est brutal : à 18h, il fait encore très chaud. Nous récupérons nos bagages et sortons de l’aéroport un peu paumés. Nous sommes accueillis par une foule de chauffeurs de taxis proposant leurs services ; ayant réservé une nuit au Conway Hotel et demandé à bénéficier de leur navette nous guettons notre chauffeur tout en essayant de trouver nos repères. Première mauvaise surprise : aucun ... read more

Geo: -6.82, 39.28C'est parti pour 3 jours de voyage et 2000 km pour rejoindre Dar es Salaam ! Le bus devant nous conduire de Lusaka à Kapiri Mposhi, à 200 km au nord et point de départ du train pour Dar est prévu à 7:30. Nous avons donc l'occasion de retrouver une dernière fois la cohue de l'Intercity Bus Station. Le bus part à l'heure et les 3 heures de parcours annoncée se révèlent assez correctes. Nous arrivons donc vers 11 heures à la gare de New Kapiri Mposhi, une gare construite, comme le reste de la ligne et la matériel roulant, par les chinois au début des années 1970. Le bâtiment est imposant et principalement composé d'une énorme salle d'attente, relativement calme 3 heures avant le départ prévu du train ordinaire pour D... read more

African trips probably get more authentic the further you venture from the northern African nations, where vestiges of European influences have seeped in somehow or other, so this being the first sub-equatorial African trip, expectations of the truer spirit of Africa were riding pretty high. Dar Es Salaam is not, let it be known, Tanzania's capital city, that accolade belonging to Dodoma, but it is the country's largest urban area, so scope for urban exploration was about to unfold fine style. Staying at a well-fitted hotel in a central and accessible area is recommended, and the tour of the city proper pretty much revolved around the cluster of centrally-located sights which run parallel to the waterfront. Although Dar is not huge on individual sights as such, there is enough substance to qualify the city for the ... read more

My week in Tanzania flew by so quickly I barely had time to breathe. I was there to do a sort of reconnaissance trip for a new study we are developing on health communication impact. We are looking at people who receive no messages, interpersonal communication through healthcare providers and health workers, and those who hear mass media messages or those delivered through SMS. We are looking at such communication related to family planning and voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) to see which channel (or combination of channels) has the greatest impact on getting men to VMMC services and women to use family planning. My week was spent meeting with USAID and organizations that implement related programs. I also interviewed 5 different candidates for a local researcher position—someone who will help me on the ground for ... read more