36 Hours in Dar es Salam
You can’t just get off a plane in Dar es Salam and fly out to Kigoma, the closest commercial airport to Kasulu the same day you arrive. The planes don’t run that often. And after 24 hours in the air the LAST think you want to do is hop on a cross-country plane. Besides, we had business to do in Dar and our business started right at the airport.
We travel with very little cash. A few dollars for buying breakfast at the airport in New York and that’s about it. Tanzania is a very cash-based society, so the first thing we do, after going through immigration and customs is extract cash from the ATM machine that sits just outside the exit from customs. It amazes me to think that only 25 years ago it was unusual to be able to use an ATM to get cash from your account if you were not in the same area as your bank, and now you can get cash half way around the world!
After getting a supply of Tanzanian shillings (right now, one USD buys over 1600 Tshillings) we went to a small convenience store where we bought new sim chips for our older unlocked cell phones that we brought with us. We were finally ready to get a taxi and head to the New Africa Hotel and Casino. (Note: unlike Los Vegas, where you cannot get to your hotel room without going through the casino, we have never laid eyes on the casino here.) The New Africa is Bill’s preferred first and last stop when coming to Tanzania. It’s location is within walking distance to shop of the gentleman who sells us most of the technology the we install at the Bible College, the SimbaNet offices, who provides the Bible College with satellite internet and other services that Bill likes to check in with before we head out to Kasulu. We have a room that overlooks the harbor and the Lutheran church next door. The church provides a regular sound track of worship music, both the more contemporary electronic choruses and more traditional chorales.
After showers and dinner, Cathy quickly fell asleep. It may have only been 2:30 or so stateside, but there’s nothing like having been basically awake for more than 24 hours to make it easy to reset your biological clock. Bill had had a really good nap on the flight into Dar and stayed up a little later working on various computer things.
We got a slightly later start this morning than intended, but had breakfasted and were ready to hit the streets by 11:00 a.m. First we visited with Bill’s supplier of all things technical. The goal was to purchase some new keyboards and mice to replace the ones at the Bible College which are over five years old and have gotten some hard use in a very dusty environment. After arranging that purchase we set off for the Serena Hotel where our in-country travel agency, Rickshaw travels and an Airtel store are located. Well, the Airtel store was located there LAST year. We said “hello” to our travel agent and confirmed the flight time change for our flights to Mwanza and Kigoma tomorrow and then headed for the Harbor View Tower, where, we were told, was another Airtel store.
A word about walking the streets in Dar es Salam: if you are obviously a foreigner, every one expects you to take a taxi. You must constantly say “no thank you” and keep moving past them. We have crossed to the sunny side of the street to avoid taxi stands. The side walks are…interesting. In good shape in one spot and in complete dis-repair the next. Cables that act as stays for the telephone poles are anchored in the middle of walkways. Almost anywhere there is extra space, there are street vendors. Displays of used books (most in English) and shoes predominate, but there are also sections of beaded jewelry and wooden carvings. Along one section where there was a wooden wall blocking construction, one enterprising person had hung a display of clothes for sale. And traffic is terrible. There are no traffic lights so the intersections are pretty much free-for-alls, although there will occasionally be an officer directing traffic at some of the major intersections. The “stop for pedestrians” at the crossing rule in America is non-existent. There are no official crossings and the cars always win.
Although we were told that the Harborview Tower was a 10 or 15 minute walk from the Serena, we decided not to take a taxi. We found the road that we needed, and were, it turns out, maybe two blocks from the Harborview when Bill became convinced that we were going in the wrong direction. So we turned around and walked. And walked. And walked until the roud we were on ended at the Ministry of Health. Tanzanians are very helpful. The gentleman we asked gave us specific directions. It was back from where we had come. We hired a taxi to take us back.
At the Airtel store we bought a cellular modem and a new chip for the modem that Bill had purchased last year as well as one week data plans. This will allow us to access email and post blogs when the Bible College’s internet café is not running. If we returned to Tanzania every six months or so, our cell and modem chips would still be active, but the chips are not that expensive to purchase each time we come.
After eating lunch at the Harborview we returned to the New Africa. Cathy relaxed and did some blogging, while Bill tried to check in with his contact at SimbaNet. Naps and showers, dinner and the delivery of our keyboards, and we are repacking our duffels for a VERY early flight tomorrow morning. Catch you up next time from Kasulu.