Dar es Salaam
Thurs 10th Sept
Of course I awoke before the alarm, which made for a very relaxed start. I left L One at 06:45 and ambled to the bus stand. Had a nice chat with a fellow passenger, but our 07:30 departure became around 08:30 because the Barcelona bus got held up by roadworks after Mtwara.
Seat C3 was fine and the journey uneventful. The road to Dar is very bad; I had a hot milk at the only stop. Weather was good. Over 7.5 hours to Mbagala (Rangi Tatu).
Then decision time. 1st thought mwendo kasse, the new bus routes criss crossing the city. 2nd thought a dala dala ( I did that once before). But as I got off the bus I was approached by a boda boda guy, whose price of 10,000 I managed to get reduced to 7,000Tsh. And for that, we would leave straight away and he would drop me right outside Riki Hill.
Easy decision. £2 for a 20 minute boda boda to the Riki Hill front door. An interesting ride through all the traffic; heart in mouth a couple of times…especially as no helmet being worn. The driver used the btr/dart/mwendo k. route most of the way, so very little traffic.
My arrival at Riki Hill was greeted with smiles. There was room availability, and at what I thought was a good price of 45,000; I was expecting 50,000. So, about £13 for a nice room with a little balcony.
I dumped my stuff and went straight to the Congolese bar, taking in any changes along the way. It took a while to get served, but I was in no hurry and was happy watching UK football on the TV. I had 2 Serengetis, I asked about Castle but a delivery was due the next day. The 2,500Tsh price was great; I was expecting 3,000, a year and a half later.
I went passed the spirit shop …where I bought a TZEE for 16,000Tsh ( less than £5) as opposed to 20,000 which Felix supposedly paid in Lindi. 24/7 was just around the corner.
I had one beer at 3,000 whilst watching football highlights. I got some salt to take back to my room to have with the cashews. That was my food for the day…half a packet of cashews.
I spoke to Mark. The wifi was in and out. I wrote up my blog, and settled down for the night.
Fri 11th Sept
A broken sleep as there seemed to be some construction happening not too far away. It was cloudy outside. I went down for breakfast after 08:00. Same breakfast as always…omelette, saveloy sausage, bread, butter and jam. But tastier than before…the bread was fresher and the omelette was a lovely texture…I’ll see the next day if that was a one off.
Up to my room briefly; I couldn’t go out as it started to rain. I paid 90,000Tsh for 2 more nights, before leaving for Tanga on Sunday. The rain stopped and I went to the CBD and to the A T Shop. No Happy as it was her day off, but I stayed for a cup of nice tea.
It rained heavily again, but it didn’t last long. I went walkabout, looking for any new roundabout statues. There was a not particularly interesting one.
I walked towards Harbour Suites , and before I settled down with a masala chai, I bought bundles top up of 2.4G and some SMS top up. I communicated with Tor by sending him pics and videos. The videos didn’t ‘send’ and I suspected poor connection. By moving to another part of the restaurant, the videos immediately went on their way.
I walked through very busy streets…well, I’d come to a big city from a small town. Now that the Dart/Brt construction was finished, the streets looked very smart. I went over to the Tahmeed office on Lumumba street and bought my bus ticket for Tanga on Sunday at 5am. At a cost of 25,000Tsh.. or £7…for a single seat one from the front…it should be good.
Back to my room where I washed my shirt and watched a bit of CNN coverage of the 9/11. 25th anniversary. I told the young lady that my room didn’t need to be cleaned. I looked around at food outlets but wanted more of a snack, so I went to the Congolese bar instead !!
A great bar…3 floors up, so it catches the breeze. A 4 piece group appeared midway through my second beer. I remember them from last time I was here, filming them playing in the street below. But watching/listening to them in the bar was much better. They played 4 songs and I gave them a 2,000Tsh tip.
I had seen a mahindi choma guy in the street, and as I’d had a Riki breakfast, I only needed one roasted corn for dinner. It made for a very cheap meal…1,000Tsh. or 30 pence !!
I went to 24/7 for a nightcap before going up to my room. I can get CNN on the room’s TV, so that makes for much more interesting viewing.
Sat 12th Sept
Once again the breakfast was nice. Afterwards I went to the A T Shop but didn’t see Happy as apparently she was sick. I didn’t stay for a tea but went down to the ferry port area, on my way to Harbour Suites.
I called into Airtel because a reply to Alkanjello didn’t send. I had only just bought the SMS top up, so I didn’t understand. There was much switching of Sim cards and other testing. I tested it with a text to Alkanjello’s other number and it went through….conclusion being that it was his Voda no. that was the problem and not my phone…Phew.
I went next door for a masala chai and to use some decent internet. I did an FB post of my few days in Dar. I walked back to Riki in case Alkanjello got in touch. I relaxed a bit in my room. I walked around the block. I bought a big bottle of water for 800; I was testing to see if in fact they could be bought for less than the usual 1,000Tsh.
I was in my room when I thought to check my phone, and I saw a message from Alkanjello saying he was about to arrive at the bar. Of course, Riki to the Congolese bar is a five minute walk.
It was great to see him; we chatted and reminisced for a couple of hours over a few beers. We raised a toast in memory of Emil; is it 3 or 4 years since he died ?? But it was definitely in September.
I left soon after Alkanjello, and I went straight to 24/7…getting there just after 5pm as the football match was kicking off. I sat through a boring 0:0 draw. There was ‘old boy’ with an English accent on the next table, and I went over and said ‘hello’.
An interesting character with a past in the army, secret service etc etc. He was once pardoned by the Queen. He showed me a document with a bank balance in the 10s of millions and he was looking to invest in all sorts of things. We had a great chat for an hour; I presume he was genuine, but I was surprised he confided so much with a total stranger.
I had an extra beer, which wasn’t planned. I only had a quarter of a mhindi choma after my Riki breakfast, but I didn’t feel hungry. I retired to my room to pack, knowing I had an early start to Tanga in the morning.