Well, Internet Explorer at this internet place in Dar es Salaam messed up my blog entry from last night, and deleted all but the first sentence.
I arrived in Dar today and was happily surprised to be greeted by two complete strangers holding a sign with my name on it. Apparently, the inquiries that my Rob-replacement short-term roommate, Marcus, had made with his friends in Tanzania had finally panned out, and a friend of a friend of a friend came to meet me with his friend. They drove me around to a bank and got me a SIM card and all they wanted was a cola in return, which I happily provided. The backpackers where I’m staying is full tomorrow night, so I’ll probably head south to a smaller town outside of Dar. I’m told it’s lovely, cheap, right on the ocean, and easy to get to.
First impressions of Tanzania: We flew in through low cloud, billowing and spiraling upward in mountains of grey and white. Low grass fires dotted the landscape, presumably set by farmers to burn off stubble, creating a faint haze that melted into the grey-blue ocean horizon to the east. The land around Dar was mostly small, planted fields, interspersed with patches of bush and low trees.
After passing through customs and meeting two new friends, Mohamed and Frank, both in their second-to-last years of electronic engineering, they took me past a bank (thankfully the atm took MC), and got me a SIM card before dropping me at the Q-Bar (slash hotel and backpackers) and promising to call me on Saturday to go out on the town if I’m still around.
Dar is dusty and at first glance seems half-built. We did not pass through the city centre, so I’ll be able to give impressions of that in the coming days, but the part that we did come through was lively; ten times more lively than South Africa! It sounded like it was market day of sorts, and there were people and bicycle carts crossing to and fro through the snaking, dusty traffic, drivers all too pleased to stop and let someone in.
So far, I have my four-bedroom dorm at the Q-Bar all to myself. I’m hoping some others move in tonight to help with meeting people, but I’ve already started making friends over beers.
I have a new cell number in Tanzania: +255 784 459 115, just in case anyone really really needs to get ahold of me. 