Tag Archives: Tanzania

Different Cultures

25 Nov

One good thing that came out of 27 hours in seat F3 is that in seat F4 was a very nice man named Iddi. He gave me his information and wanted me to call him once I got to Arusha in Tanzania. I gave Iddi a call and he immediately came and picked me up and drove me to his house. I met his wife Mariam and their three children and then his daughter made us all cups of coffee. They wanted me to stay for dinner so I was ordered to sit and relax with Iddi as the women went about cooking. A little over an hour later a huge portion of beef stew and flat bread were put down before us. Mariam came over with a pitcher of water and a bowl so I could wash my hands to eat with and then did the same for Iddi. I waited for the women to join us but was instructed that they were not eating with us. The food was amazing and it is always fun to eat with your hands. After dinner the women came and cleared the plates, washed our hands and then gave us coffee. Every time I offered to help I was shot down and Iddi told me it is seen as an insult to offer help almost saying that I could do it better than them. It was a really cool experience to have a proper dinner in an African household, I am just glad my mother wasn’t there to tell my lazy ass to get to work on the pots and pans.

Foggy

Tanzania

23 Nov

Some footage shot over my few weeks in the beautiful Tanzania.

Foggy

Buy me a soda

22 Nov

In East Africa you will come upon the phrase “buy me a soda” a few times (if me quite a lot). Africans love their soda but at this point they don’t actually want you to buy them one. This is a code word for a little bribe to either get things going quicker or to get yourself out of some trouble you may have gotten into. With all bargaining try to start low but when it comes to border patrol or people in government roles soda prices are generally fixed. Good luck with your soda purchases and even though everyone knows what is going on always be discreet.

Foggy

Generator Please

19 Nov

I spent the night in Dar es Salaam and was slammed by the heat. When finding a hotel room for the night I made sure my shoebox of a room at least had a fan in it. What I did not know was that the city suffers from multiple power outages making my fan useless throughout the night. I slowly melted into my bed as it felt more like sleeping in a swimming pool of my own perspiration. So when traveling to Dar es Salaam make sure your hotel has a generator unless you want to drop down to the next weight class overnight.

Foggy

The Dutch Doctors

17 Nov

I had reached Zanzibar the place in Africa to drink copious amounts of beer and swim in the very warm Indian Ocean. The only problem was that I developed an ear infection essentially blocking me from these activities. I was a little bummed about it but figured it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. I luckily bumped into 4 Dutch doctors all my own age down in Africa on their final internship. They went over my symptoms and informed me that beer and swimming in the ocean were both fine to do. I was of course ecstatic and waltzed up to the bar to grab an ice cold Kilimanjaro. A huge thanks to my Dutch friends for keeping my party going!

Foggy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27 hours in seat F3

17 Nov

Sunrises are generally a very tranquil moment to reflect on your life but when you watch two consecutive ones from the same bus seat they sort of lose their appeal. I needed to leave Burundi due to visa issues and I found a bus that took me from Bujumbura to Dar es Salam, the only catch was that it took 27 hours. I luckily got a seat at the back of the bus in the middle so I could put my legs down the aisle but that is where the luxury stopped. There were 5 seats in the back row with 7 people squeezed into them. For the next 27 hours I sweated in my seat but I eventually made it to my destination. $20 for a 1509 km bus ride, I think this is one time I should have shelled out for something a little nicer.

Foggy