Travel Tweets: Dar Es Salaam

During our travels, I found Twitter to be an excellent tool to document the journey as it happened.  Even in places where I had limited internet access, I typically had a phone signal, which was enough to record a 140-character thought for my family and friends to see.

Here are the Tweets from the second leg of our Tanzania trip: a visit to Dar Es Salaam, where my wife was born and her father grew up.  This trip was their first return in 26 years.  Times are in U.S. Central. (See all the pictures on my Picasa album.)

Non-disembarking stop in Nairobi. Come to understand better the phrase "unwashed masses."
11:42 AM Oct 28th from txt

50 more minutes to Dar Es Salaam, and into what I've overheard is a spectacularly slow immigration. Fingers crossed it ain't so.
11:53 AM Oct 28th from txt

Landed in Dar Es Salaam! Air is humid, smells of roasting corn.
1:22 PM Oct 28th from txt

Just got double-charged for entry visa. Welcome to Africa!
1:40 PM Oct 28th from txt

We later learned that we were not, in fact, overcharged.  The cost of an American entry visa had gone up.  Counter to our jaded expectations, we found the Tanzanian people to be among the most honest and welcoming we'd ever encountered.

Dar Es Salaam at night looks like India: industrial concrete buildings, roadside chai, billboards for hi-tech products.
12:24 AM Oct 29th from mobile web

From Dar Es Salaam

Spotty cell coverage in Tanzania means fewer Tweets. And perhaps a more authentic experience.
12:27 AM Oct 29th from mobile web

Using bottled water for drinking, brushing teeth & face washing while abroad is an excellent lesson in water conservation.
12:57 AM Oct 29th from mobile web

Small wonder Indians once flocked to Dar Es Salaam: it looks and feels just like India, with less visible abject poverty.
5:17 AM Oct 29th from mobile web

On a nostalgia tour with my father-in-law in Tanzania, seeing friends of 40 years ago, the hospital where Bela was born.
7:33 AM Oct 29th from mobile web

From Dar Es Salaam

The Indian Ocean sparkles green and deep azure in the powerful African sun.
7:35 AM Oct 29th from mobile web

From Dar Es Salaam

Under the broiling African sun, amidst primally vivid color and sea-smells, he rued what could've been.
10:58 AM Oct 29th from mobile web

From Dar Es Salaam

The Tanzanian people seem relaxed, friendly and courteous. I found myself smiling and nodding at passers-by; so unlike Chicago.

11:07 AM Oct 29th from mobile web

Amazing Indian dining at Garden Bistro in Dar Es Salaam: in large part because of the gorgeous outdoor cabanas under the stars.4:03 PM Oct 29th from mobile web

From Dar Es Salaam

In Tanzania, non-GM, organic, farm/sea-to-table isn't fancy dining; it's the default, and delicious.
10:48 PM Oct 29th from mobile web

Mysteriously, magically, international roaming sprung back to life for me in Tanzania. Let's see for how long...
11:47 PM Oct 29th from txt

The poverty I've seen in DarEsSalaam is stark, but somehow not wretched, despite the visible disparity. I wonder what I'm not seeing.12:53 AM Oct 30th from txt

"K.T." -- allegedly the best hole-in-the-wall kebab joint in DarEsSalaam. Kebabs acquired for picnic on Bongoyo Island. 
2:56 AM Oct 30th   from txt

From Dar Es Salaam

Around $77 for 3 of us to take a small boat to Bongoyo Island to sit on the beach for 2 hours? No thanks - we'll be in Zanzibar in 4 days.3:19 AM Oct 30th from txt

From Dar Es Salaam

University of Tanzania's campus is a beautiful arid park of hills, acacia and dry brush. That the students walk in this heat humbles me.
4:17 AM Oct 30th from txt

From Dar Es Salaam

Enjoyed our K.T. Kebabs on a hill overlooking Dar Es Salaam. Great! Balls of lamb, onion & spices crispy on outside, tender on inside.
4:20 AM Oct 30th from txt

From Dar Es Salaam

Taking a ferry across Kigmboni Bay for no better reason than it'd be cool to take a ferry across the bay.
4:59 AM Oct 30th from txt

From Dar Es Salaam

Aha. Kigmboni across the bay -- that's where the really poor people live. And it's a site of some spectacular white-sand beaches.
5:41 AM Oct 30th from txt

From Dar Es Salaam

Sitting in a beach cabana across the bay from DarEsSalaam enjoying a beer with Bela and her dad, listening to the waves of the Indian Ocean.
5:50 AM Oct 30th from txt

From Dar Es Salaam

Bela, watching men at the beach: "These Tanzanian men are IN SHAPE." Me: "Well, when you grow up in a country without Twinkies..."
5:58 AM Oct 30th from txt

We're at the Patel Brotherhood club. Everyone's speaking Gujarati. I smile and nod.
11:25 AM Oct 30th from txt

From Dar Es Salaam

Bela: "You know you're in a Gujarati restaurant when they give your table only one menu. And then give it to the other table after."
11:45 AM Oct 30th from txt

Bela looked into an empty concrete room and saw second-hand memories of her first 10 months take new shape.
3:24 PM Oct 30th from txt

From Dar Es Salaam

Two-hour flight from DarEsSalaam to Arusha in a tiny single-engine plane! This should be fun...

11:58 PM Oct 30th from txt

From Dar Es Salaam

Thirteen passengers fit in this plane. One as a co-pilot.
1:20 AM Oct 31st from txt

From Ngorongoro National Park

Flying from DarEsSalaam to Arusha via Zanzibar in a little propeller plane affords the most amazing views! Shutter-finger tired.
1:54 AM Oct 31st from txt

From Ngorongoro National Park

Weather in Arusha is too much for our little plane. Stopped in Kilimanjaro waiting for weather to clear or a bus.
3:53 AM Oct 31st from txt

From Ngorongoro National Park

Made it to Arusha! Having lunch at a posh little lodge. Carrots and potatoes actually have a distinct -- and good -- taste.
5:49 AM Oct 31st from txt

On our arrival in Arusha, we immediately hit the road, bound for the Ngorongoro Crater wildlife preserve.  (Go to the Ngorongoro Tweets)