Goodbye Kigali; Hello Dar es Salaam. 12/27/2018

We spent our last night in our much downgraded room at Heaven Hotel in Kigali. Probably had we not experienced the other room we would have thought it was fine and definitely far more basic and African. But first we had our last meal in Kigali at Fusion – an upscale restaurant where we had great drinks, starters – seared scallops sitting on corn puree, bechamel, tomatoes, and a green apple salsa; some kind of eggplant  wrapped around tomatoes, peppers, and goat cheese; followed by a homemade pasta with goat Bolognese; followed by the main course (we shared everything) – duck breast with tamarind sauce, butternut squash puree, oyster mushrooms, and bok choy; and for dessert – macadamia tart.  All fantastic – and accompanied by South African wine… perfect ending for Kigali.

We headed out really early (after WhatsApping January – our new friend, the taxi driver) because we had a morning flight to Dar es Salaam (departing at 10 am) and no one ever knows how long it takes to get from point A to Point B. Had a really early breakfast at the hotel and bid adieu to Heaven. These days in each city have all been intense and naturally I wish we had more time for the whole trip and thus more time in each city. It’s a bit like deciding to come to the US and visit the Northeast – four days in NY, four days in Boston, four days in DC, four days in Pittsburgh and then the travel days to and from… We do, however feel as if we are packing it in and seeing a lot.

Our departure was as expected – many security checks before getting on the plane, including the first one where the entire car goes through a machine, sort of like a car wash; everyone is out of the car, including the driver. We all walk through a metal detector while the car moves slowly on the track. Then the driver gets in the car and drives about 100 feet and then we get back in. All of the luggage and even my handbag are left in the car as it goes through the machine. Then the taxi takes us as far as is possible (which is about a half block from the terminal); then our bags get screened – both checked and carry on; then we head to the counter to get the boarding passes and check one bag each; then we head to security where we take off shoes, take out computer, take off all jewelry including watches, and go through the full screening device; carry-ons go through the machine; then we go to customs and immigration where our pictures are taken again (we’ve had them taken as we enter and leave every one of the African cities we’ve visited – they have a whole picture gallery of us!; then just one more bag check and we are headed to the plane – a little prop bombardier.. and we are off. Passengers are a mixture of Tanzanians and westerners with Africans outnumbering westerners by two to one.

The flight is only two hours but there is also a change of time by one hour. We land at the Dar es Salaam Airport which is quite chaotic; we had grown accustomed to the orderliness of Rwanda. The bags are taken by workers as soon as they come out on the conveyor belt, so you have to sort through all the standing bags to find yours. We then head to an ATM and try to figure out yet another exchange formula. And I head to the actual money exchange because I still have about $50 in Rwandan money and an equal amount in Ugandan money (which I couldn’t exchange at the Rwanda airport). The bank person tells me that they can change my Ugandan money into Tanzanian money but they will not take my Rwandan money! OK.. then we head to a taxi to take us to our hotel – The Mediterraneo. It was a much longer drive than we imagined – about 75 minutes. So we began to wonder where we had decided to stay. The roads were filled with little outdoor shops selling everything and also hawkers taking advantage of intersections that get jammed with traffic.

We booked the Mediterraneo because it was the only African-owned hotel we could find in Dar, but we really didn’t understand the geography of the city. The Mediterraneo is a sweet place with amazingly lush landscape.. a pool (but of course we never travel anywhere with bathing suits) and it’s on the Indian Ocean (that we knew from the pictures on the Internet). The rooms are basic and fine. So we went to the beach front open-air restaurant at the hotel for lunch (pretty disappointing – sort of Italian). Then we settled into our room to figure out our plans for the next few days. As we researched where we wanted to go – markets, the famous fish market, the area where all the fabrics are made, the central downtown area, the national museum, etc. – are all quite far from the hotel – at least 45 minutes. We realized that most people here (including a large percent of the guests who are African) are here to vacation at the beach — stroll in the sand, sit by the pool, and wade out into the ocean. That was not our plan.

So, we made a decision tonight (after having to take a taxi for about 20 minutes to get to a dinner location that was just halfway toward the center of town) to relocate tomorrow – and head to a downtown hotel (which will likely be some big hotel – most likely the Serena, whose largest shareholder is the Aga Khan Foundation). But we will be close to everything, able to walk, and save lots of time. We remembered that we selected Mediterraneo because it was small and local, but unfortunately locally-owned and managed doesn’t mean located locally.  We’d recommend Mediterraneo if you’re looking for a real vacation!

We chose a dinner restaurant based on distance – Thai Kana which is located in the “Slipway” – an upscale series of restaurants and little boutiques located on the waterfront, complete with a promenade that wraps the ocean for about a half-mile. It was a pretty lively area. Food was fine – not super memorable. It’s a combination sushi and Thai place. We then strolled a bit and settled on ice cream cones (I had saffron ice cream). The area was populated with a variety of foreigners (Scandinavians, Italians, Brits, us, etc.) and Africans – perhaps from Tanzania, perhaps vacationing from other parts of the continent.

We then needed to figure out how to get back to our hotel. We asked the restaurant to call a taxi, but they said there was a hotel right there and we should walk through that hotel and there would be taxis located out front. But then one of the waiters (or maybe one of the busboys) said he would drive us back. OK.. easy. And off we went. Guess the restaurant was slowing down as most tables were finished eating, so he was able to pick up a little extra money by becoming a driver for a short time!

Just a few notes about the climate:

• The weather has actually been surprisingly delightful, except if you’re in the direct sun; temperatures (until now) have been mostly in the 70s and low 80s with nice breezes.
• Today was the first day and first place where it is really hot and humid. It was about 90 when we landed in Dar, and the humidity is a killer. But tonight it was pleasant enough to eat outside and the breezes were really great.
• As most of you know, I melt at about 75.. I hate heat.

Oh, we’re back with British-style driving and pretty chaotic roads and driving. Additionally, while the Tanzanians drive on the left, they often have cars that have western style formats so the driver might be sitting on the right but driving on the left. Complicated

More tomorrow when we will hopefully be in the downtown area.

Best –

Fern