Classic East Africa: Kenya & Tanzania

From Harare, Zimbabwe we flew to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania (or just Dar, to those who know it). Here we had two more college fairs and school visits. It was hot, since we were on the coastal plain and no longer the highlands. The college fair at the US Embassy was outdoors. Enough said. Directly from said fair we caught a charter flight to Mombassa and then a dirt strip somewhere east of Mount Kilimanjaro, taking only an overnight bag and leaving most of our luggage behind in Dar with the local high school counselor. We were now in for a real treat: a full day and game drive in Tsavo West national park. The pics say it all.


The horse we rode in on...


Entrance to Finch Hatton's




Boaboab






monkeys






A good example of nature's camo...


Now look closer between mom and dad


hungry, hungry


Hippo from underwater observation thingee


dusk


The accomodations

After our respite it was back to Dar just long enough to get our luggage and then catch a flight to Nairobi. Or at least that was how it was supposed to work. Instead, our flight was downgraded to a smaller plane with no room for our luggage. We had to repack another overnight bag. Therefore, the next day in Nairobi we were stinky and unhappy. We’d already checked-out of the hotel once we got our luggage back, so it was of no use. I decided this was the perfect moment for a group photo:


Juan Camilo makes sweet, sweet love to the camera

Hotel Zimbabwe

Our ambassador: Quite happy with himself

The timing of our arrival was very lucky for the American Embassy in Harare. The ambassador, Dell, had just gotten himself in hot water with the local government. Mugabe, the president and big time a-hole, was actually quoted in the paper as saying, “Dell can go to hell.” Dell was quite proud of it, as this was just the kind of rise he was trying to provoke. He had recently given a widely publicized speech at a nearby university, blaming corrupt and inept governance for Zimbabwe’s economic woes, rather than sanctions and drought, oft blamed by said governance. It sounded as if he was actually disappointed that Mugabe didn’t outright expel him. Instead, the American Embassy threw a party at the house of the director for public affairs. We visiting American education reps were the excuse for the party. It wouldn’t be seemly to throw a party in response to successfully pissing off a dictator.


Party time: one of our own on drums

Once again, the weather was more pleasant than we had right to hope for. Nice and cool. The public fair we held in the hotel was very successful. Very busy. I even found very cool presents for all my bartender buddies back in Southville. I won’t say what they are, because I’m afraid they might be illegal.


What 40 US dollars will get you on the black market in the local almost-useless currency.

First-class Ticket to Dodo-Land

Ah, the weekend. Our first pleasant surprise was that the travel agency in charge of all our arrangements managed to upgrade all of our tickets to business class for the 4-hour flight to the island nation of Mauritius. Mauritius is way, way out in the Indian Ocean, hundreds of miles east of Madagascar. This is the (dormant) volcanic island where once lived the unfortunate flightless bird known as the Dodo. These isolated fowl were so unused to predators that settlers didn’t even have to chase or shoot them. I read that some Dutch guy walked up and bludgeoned the last one to death. Poor little fellas. Why did God make you taste so good?



Disembarking the plane, I felt we had been transported to the Caribbean. The culture however, belongs more to South Asia. Diwali decorations were all over the airport. The air was surprisingly cool, as it has been at all our stops, luckily. We hopped on a bus and drove to the north-west coast – about an hour and fifteen minutes. After quickly checking in to the Hotel Maritim, the tour members were treated to a reception with local school and embassy employees down by the water. Since booze was provided, and there were no activities scheduled for the next day, a group quickly formed towards the end to continue the evening at a nearby bar favored by both tourists and locals.

Drinking here continued apace. Some of our hardier members decided to continue on to a late-night club. I did not. I’d had a lot to drink, but not nearly enough to dance. That would require liquor, which I am still taking a break from, and I wanted to enjoy the next day – our first day off.



I woke around noon. In the lobby I joined our tour leader, an embassy employee, and three fellow tour members. We had been invited to visit the home of a local Franco-Mauritian businessman for lunch. Wow, what a pad. If I ever have the luxury of retiring, I'd like it to be to a place like this. Right on the water, open to the breeze... He also took us out on his boat. This was the French version of what we in the South would call a redneck speed-demon. Way too much horsepower for a narrow 20-foot hull. But, it was fun, in a "Holy shit, he almost killed us" kind of way.

Next day: back to work. School visits and flight back to Joburg.