Tanzania Day 1 & 2: Arrival and Orientation

Waiting for the plane in Raleigh

My upcoming adventure in Tanzania has dominated my thoughts for the last several months. In the past week leading up to the start of this foray into the unknown (at least, unknown to me!), I slowly been preparing. Figuring out what to pack was the biggest challenge--I had to figure out what I really needed for the next four months. Working with a 50 lb weight limit makes this a challenge. Fortunately, I was able to focus on the basics and managed to choose a set of gear that will hopefully hold up--time will tell!

After much planning, my journey finally began on Friday (Aug 15th). Luckily for me, everything was running smoothly and my flights took off on time. A grueling night flight to Zurich took the shine off the adventure a little bit, as I emerged from the plane in Zurich feeling weary and a bit grungy. I didn't have much time on the ground in Zurich, however, and before I knew it, I was off on a flight to Dar Es Salaam with SWISS. My flight on SWISS was incomparable to my previous flight on United. Friendly flight attendants plied me with food, free booze, and Swiss chocolate. What could be better? The highlight of the flight was probably the Swiss Chocolate Ice Cream, which was served about 2/3rds of the way through the ~9 hour flight. At that point, I was starting to feel very weary, so a sugar boost was very welcome. Below is a photo of that snack--very tasty it was, indeed!

The Ice-Cream!

Once I finally arrived in Dar, however, I sped through immigration and customs with no problem and then found myself in the care of a very capable taxi driver. After a long journey to a strange place, it is very comforting to see someone waiting for you with a sign! A slightly harrowing taxi ride to the hotel left me feeling a few years' older. The traffic in Dar at this hour, light though it was (according to my driver), was unbelievable. People walked straight in front of cars, cars went in every direction, and dalla-dallas (public buses) swerved in and out of traffic like they were motorcycles. My arrival at the hotel, however, returned a sense of calm. My hotel is located north of the main city of Dar Es Salaam and is right on a beach. Inside, the serene grounds contrast with the hectic life of the city. By the time I reached the hotel, it was close to 10 PM, East African Time. I was at the limit of my energy and needed to crash. After checking in, I tried to get to bed as quickly as possible!

Arriving on the Island!

Sunday started bright and early, with a breakfast time of 8 AM (that's 1 AM on the US East Coast). It was hard to wake-up, but nice to have a tasty breakfast buffet waiting. Following breakfast, we headed over to the beach, where our director, Justin, had arranged for us to take a boat to an island just off the coast! The journey to the island was beautiful, filled with interesting sights and experiences. But that all started to fade away when we reached the island. Beautiful might well be an understatement. The island had a bleach white sand beach, which steeply dropped into an azure-blue Indian Ocean. We set up our base under a canopy, where Justin and Paulo talked us through some details about the program and gave us our first Swahili lesson. My strongest impression of Tanzania so far is that I will need Swahili if I am to really understand the country. Although some Tanzanians speak English and take pains to communicate, my inability to speak Swahili is really going to act as a barrier on my time here. Thus, I am eagerly awaiting more Swahili lessons!

Looking out over the Island

The Shelters on the Island

The lobster!

We were given two options for lunch--lobster or fish (both with chips/fries). Naturally, I chose the lobster (how could I pass up such an opportunity?!). When it arrived, it tasted absolutely heavenly--I felt very spoiled by such good food! We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach, soaking up the sun and enjoying the beautiful sea. A quiet evening back at the rest capped off our first day in Tanzania. Although I am already exhausted (it doesn't take long with so much jet lag...), I can already tell that my time in Tanzania will be occasionally exasperating, but immensely fulfilling. I have yearned for an adventure such as this for too long and I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings.