Dar Es Salaam

Dar Es Salaam:


 We left Arusha late at night to go to the tiny airport to fly to Dar. I was sad to leave Arusha knowing that our time there was over but also happy to return to a more normal way of living for us. We flew fastjet only 45 min flight but I was nervous bc I didn't trust it. We did land without incident though :) we saw Dar in the dark and immediately could tell it was more built up. Still some African influence and markets and what not but proper roads and taller buildings. There were even giant coach bus daladalas. Upon arriving to our hotel they started looking in the engine and around the car w a flashlight. I asked Matt what they were doing and he loudly whispered "bombs!". Ohhh. The Ramada we stayed at was right on the beach and the room was just oh so nice. Full blast AC, wifi, and Giant plush king bed. I didn't even care if there was only a view of the car park. Poor Matt vomited in the night and the next day just felt off. We struggled at different times during Tanzania with GI stuff but was worried about him. The pool was deserted in the morning and the beach was right out front with a big shallow area due to the tide. There was a ton of trash that washed up and a big jellyfish so no real swimming for me. The pool started filling up a bit after noon but not as crowded as it was Sunday. We lounged around. There was a wedding later. Kind of annoying as they were prepping for it, nailing stuff down. The actual wedding was interesting to say the least. The bride was gorgeous in her white gown, the bridesmaids in matching dresses, but the bride walked in with a clump of a few bridesmaids and guests kind of trickled in later. Literally half way through the ceremony  two more maids showed up! They were all sitting in the spectator seats just playing on their phones. Then the maid of honor went back into the hotel! Another maid came as they were kissing at the end and the MOH didn't come back til the pictures! And guests were still rolling in and another bride was taking pics in the first brides reception area. Then the alter floated away in the tide ! Very fascinating to watch. We decided to forgo ever going to Dar town as it was a 45 min cab ride and just a big city w markets. There was literally no other places to eat and I felt our resort was lacking. The food was pretty lackluster and expensive, service overall was bad and the other restaurants there were closed. It was frustrating at times but whatever. We left later on Sunday to go to our airport hotel. The drive was long and we got almost stuck in these giant puddles as we made our way through the dirt roads at the end. I didn't realize we were staying in the local part of town but Matt read good reviews of the airport hotel( we had a six am flight so had to stay close). I was stil a bit nervous. Then when we got there the lady said they overbooked us so she'll take us to another hotel. I was furious bc it was already late and we needed to get to bed, I was hungry , and who knows how safe or nice it was over there. The other airport hotels were like shanties. But what could we do? Somehow she convinced the cab driver to drive all of us the whole time on the phone in Kiswahili so I couldn't understand but sounding like she kept calling people to find an empty room so she didn't even have a place in mind! I was even more mad. We even went one way and had to double up back. The place we ended up looked safe but pretty grungy . No frills at all. And we had to pay the same price ! We ate bad food In a rundown restaurant paying outrageous prices for it and waiting a long time. At least the bad wine was 5$ for a bottle. It was so loud we barely slept and had to leave at 330 am. We had upgraded to first class ( annoyed at Matt at the time sayin we didn't need that but then grateful as we enjoyed the 70s lounge w AC and food). The joburg lounge was super nice and that flight to cape town had layflat seats so spent the whole flight playing w them and loving on the amenities. If only we had those on the 17 hour flight back to America! We landed in Cape Town without a hitch and since it was 1 pm we could enjoy the great day!