Dar es Salaam - July 7th

July 7th, 2008:

Short: Tour of Downtown, Nikolai goes Kite-Surfing, Saba Saba International Festival, Festival zoo chaos, Relax at Slipway, Dinner and make plans for Zanzibar

Long: This morning Carolina and I decided to save some money and head into central Dar es Salaam, while Nikolai met up with a friend of a friend (Thanks Peter!), who was living in Dar, and was going Kite Surfing for the day. Nikolai take it away!

Nikolai: Yes, thanx a lot Peter! Instead of heading into central Dar (which I did the next day), Michelle took me kitesurfing. She had met an Irish guy that has his own kitesurfing school in Vietnam, but was spending a few months in Tanzania to get a change of scenery. We took a boat to a beautiful beach north of Dar, and I got my first kitesurfing lesson. I thought it would be a little like windsurfing, i.e. I could just stand on the board on start surfing, but unfortunately kitesurfing is a little more dangerous (even though there are only around 30,000 kitesurfers in the world, about 10 die each year, usually because they lose control of their kite and the wind throws them against buildings or the beach). So my first lesson consisted of a few exercises with the kite on the beach to get a feel for the kite and the wind, before doing a few more exercises in the water, being dragged by the kite through the water without having a board. Even though it’s a lot harder than I had expected, the lesson was a lot of fun and I received my kitesurfing certificate, which means that I can go anywhere and rent a kitesurf.

Meanwhile Carolina and I headed into downtown Dar es Salaam and just walked around the city. It is a holiday today (Saba Saba – I have no idea what it is and neither did the taxi drivers) and the city is very quiet. At one point we stumbled upon the ferry port and were quickly surrounded by touts, people trying to sell us ferry tickets. These people are extremely annoying, and I did my best to remain respectful. We decided to purchase our ferry tickets in advance and then quickly left the area in search of lunch. At lunch we came to the conclusion that our best option, for the rest of the day, was to visit the central market and then head to the international saba saba festival on the outskirts of the city.

At the market we managed to find a few interesting vegetables, but other than this found it to be quite uninteresting. The Saba Saba festival was another story. When we arrived at the festival’s entrance gates the long lines predicted the large number of people already inside. Once inside it became clear that the “international” piece of the festival was made up of Middle Eastern country venues and a few international tractor manufacturers (Sorry Dad – John Deer didn’t make an appearance here). Corporate sponsors, including Tigo, Celtel, and Coke, were the most visibile and had the largest venues. We were also able to watch the local “Dance-off”. Bored, we decided to enter the “Zoo” portion of the festival and immediately regretted it. Everyone had the same idea and the Zoo became a mob scene. Festival staff had erected barb wire fences to keep people on the walkways (Great idea!), and the crowds were so thick people were being pushed into these. It was hot, everyone was sweating, and the air was thick with dust and body odor. We managed to see a few sickly-looking caged animals before we stiff-armed our way out of the zoo area. Tired of the crowds, we took a taxi to Slipway, an upscale neighborhood and shopping area north of the city.

Slipway, situated on the bay, was a welcomed relief and we both enjoyed a coffee before heading back to Q-Bar to meet Nikolai. Later that evening we headed back to Slipway for dinner and planned the next few days. Having Kite-surfed, Nikolai planned to see Dar es Salaam tomorrow, while Carolina and I decided to head to Zanzibar. We would then meet up in the next few days on the island.

Nikolai: While Caroline and Matt left for Zanzibar, I stayed an additional day in Dar. I spent the day walking around and exploring the city and had dinner with Michelle and a friend of hers. Michelle had a very nice guest room where I stayed for the 2 nights in Dar, and then also went ot Zanzibar a day after Matt and Caroline