Arusha

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Day 16

Now starts the "luxury" portion of our trip...

We prebooked a shuttle bus (Impala Shuttle) from Nairobi to Arusha and arrived at 2pm. Lots of waiting around for the shuttle...but this is Africa and the schedule is more of a "suggestion" than a deadline. We crossed the border, and although we prepurchased our visas, visas could be bought at the border. There was noticeably more adults begging...pretty much the first we've seen since we visited Africa.

We settled in our hotel (La Jacarenda) - not bad for $55 per night, only thing is that it's not near the centre of town. We then went to the tour company to pay the remainder and have an initial talk. Souvenir shopping at the Masai Market...lots of negotiation and bargaining. Ezio was having way too much fun doing this.

Had dinner at the hotel since we bought too many items to carry around. Also, just a note, Arusha is not safe to walk around after dark, and it's better to take a taxi.

Initial impressions of Tanzania:

- roads are better maintained than Kenya

- lots of Maasai

- much cleaner, including the hotel - the floor was spotless but in Kenya, floors always seemed that they weren't swept or mopped

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