Dar Es Salaam
Mood:  bright
Tuesday, July 27th flight from Dubai to DAR took about 7 hours. We had a 1-hour layover in Nairobi. I got some pretty cool aerial photos of Kilimanjaro. The land is spectacular from the air. The red soil and muddy, winding rivers look like a painting from the sky. DAR is incredible with people everywhere. My driver was waiting for me at the airport at 3pm local time. He speaks no English and didn?t understand that I wanted to pick up my bicycle at SkyCargo before heading into town. Also, the airport wouldn?t cash my Japanese VISA traveler?s checks so I had no Tanzanian currency to pay him. Rats. We drove all the way into town to meet with the hotel manager to translate for this driver. Communication can be such a problema. Since the banks close at 4pm we tried two different cash machines before my Magic VISA Credit Card enticed the machine to spit out some schillings. Yippee. Then we headed back out to the airport only to discover that we were too late to pick up my bicycle. ?Please come back at 10am tomorrow.? $10 taxi fare one-way to the airport cost me $25 (I got a discount for going out and back twice!) and still I didn?t get my bike. Patience is a virtue.

My hotel ($8.00/night) is minimal but ok: worn sheets and pillow, ceiling fan, no air conditioning, no toilet paper, hot shower. The cupboard in my room has a latch for a padlock. ?Warning: management not responsible for anything stolen from this room. Valuables should be locked in the office.? I used my bike lock to lock up everything while I was out of the room. There are three computers in the lobby and for 300 schillings I called home through a modem phone and left a message for my folks. Internet is 500 schillings/ 1/2 hour. 1100 schillings/US dollar. There are many tourists here. I met some girls from the UK last night at dinner. Dinner at the Jambo Inn just around the corner was $4.50. Warning at the restaurant says to make sure you keep track of food prices and don?t pay until you are served.

DAR is flat, dirt streets. Guys are selling things through car windows when stopped at traffic lights. The street leading to my hotel is ?auto row? and there are swarms of guys working on broken down cars. I have to go through a gauntlet of men to pass through the red gate with an armed guard at night and down a dirt dead-end alley to get to the entrance to the Safari Inn. Women in colorful African fabrics with baskets on their heads are everywhere. Huge papaya and pineapples tempt me on the streets. It?s warm in the taxi and car fumes are bad but there?s a cool breeze when we are moving. The 4th floor hotel room is not so warm when the fan is on. I?m a bit stressed with the shock of it all but doing well.