Lindette's Logue: Africa- Dispatch from the road...

May 30, 2003

Jambo! Well, I am happy to report that I am safely arrived in Dar es Salam- capital city of

Tanzania

. It is definitely a planes trains and automobiles experience to get here. 10 hours on a plane from SFO to London- with a very large, flatulent, and loudly snoring man in my row. I still think maybe I should have told him that he suffers from sleep apnea too- not sure if that was the right thing to do or not. After that- about an hour or two of sleep on the plane- I was in Heathrow for 7 hours. I slept as much as possible on a row of chairs, alternating sleep with meandering through the myriad duty free shops. Oh my!

As I prepared myself mentally for my next 10 hour leg, I got a surprise. I was upgraded to business class- and not only that, I didn't even have someone sitting next to me. Oh joy...oh rapture! What bliss to be treated to the "cradle" chair. Luckily it came with an instruction manual to ensure that I wouldn't injure myself in reclining or anything. I tried to act cool, like I travel in B- class all the time, but I think it was pretty obvious that this wasn't the case when I couldn't get the tv out of the arm rest properly. Oh well, once that hurdle was overcome, I settled in to enjoy cocktails and my 3 course meal. I took full advantage of the cradle chairs and slept as much as possible.

I arrived in Dar at 7 am local time, and was met by Sampson from the hotel. After involving about 5 other people in a conversation in English, Swahili, and I think one other tribal language, the group decided it was too long for me to wait for Maria. I would have to go to the hotel, and we would come get her later. So, off we went...in a driving rain storm...without seatbelts...in an old Toyota Corona cab. There were people everywhere- walking with no apparant destination. At each stoplight (though not all were functional, many were turned off and there was an officer in white uniform directing traffic) there were people wandering between cars peddling their wares. (Think San Diego border crossing) But the selection was strange- newspapers, cashews, and cell phone adapters... interesting.

Anywho- we returned hours later to get Maria and then met a few kids from our tour. They go to school in Halifax, and have just spent a month in

Uganda

. They are fearless as 20 year olds can be- and are planning to lobby the tour operators to go on to

Kenya

as planned. We shall see what happens! I am definitely feeling that age, or something has crept in. They find the city charming and interesting. I find it very dirty, depressed and sad. Age...cynicism? Who knows? Perhaps my tolerance for 3rd world adventures is waning! We'll revisit this at the end of the trip. OK- that's it for now. Got to go find Maria- she's off walking the streets (no, not like that...) We are camping on the beach tomorrow and then off to Zanzibar.