On the bus to Arusha Sunday afternoon Sarah and I were getting pretty nervous, especially after what happened when we went to the Mara without pre-arranged lodging. We didn’t have much money to spend and we didn’t want to be wandering around after dark in a strange city looking for something reasonable. We called everyone we knew who might have ideas or connections in Arusha but no one had specific recommendations that were within our budget. One friend suggested that we ask the bus driver, so that’s what we did. He said he would show us a place when we got there, which relieved my anxieties somewhat.
The border crossing was much like the one I had been through going to Uganda. First, we passed through the Kenyan side and dropped off our exit papers. The Tanzanian office was a good five-minute walk through no-man’s land, but the bus driver gave Sarah and I a lift. Tanzanian visas are expensive for Americans, costing $100, but at least they are multi-entry and last for a year. There’s that, plus they are kind of fun! We had our photos taken at the booth and they printed out the visa right then, picture and all. It was kind of like a much more official version of an instant photo booth or something. My passport is a lot cooler now.
We got to Arusha well after dark, but our bus driver got his taxi driver friend to bring us to a place to stay, no problem. We ended up staying at the first place he showed us. Now I know of a cheaper, nicer place to stay (for next time), but what we got wasn’t too bad for an unplanned first try. The room/bathroom wasn’t especially nice but the beds seemed clean and the double room only cost us about the equivalent of $20 per night. The lady at the desk was very sweet (the next day she walked us to the bus station) but she had the unfortunate habit of chewing sugar cane and spitting it into her hand then touching our key. Another interesting note: Tanzania is lauded for having largely avoided the tribal conflicts that exist in other East African countries. People often say they are Tanzanians first and a member of their tribe second. However, the hotel registry asked for tribe. I found it curious and wrote “American.” After all that, we asked the nice hotel lady where we could have dinner and she pointed us to a place across the street. It was a little late when we went in and apparently they had run out of a lot of things. The lady working there was kind though and ran somewhere to get me vegetables.
After eating, as we were entering our hotel a guy came up to us asking if we could visit a safari company right down the street. Sarah and I had been planning on visiting one anyway to at least check out the prices for excursions in the area around Arusha, so we went ahead and got some information before bed.
The next morning we had our breakfast. I got my standard vegetarian fare of greasy eggs and slices of bread but Sarah got something a little more exciting: superget and sausage. Superget is spaghetti, and she said the sausage tasted like beef jerky. I shared my breakfast with her (and oh, I miss my bran flakes). The juice was tasty, though.
After breakfast, Sarah and I decided to go to the bus station to see about tickets for me to go back to Nairobi and for her to proceed to Mombasa where she had a meeting. The bus station is a large parking lot packed with people and buses and some small stands for a million different bus companies. Very confusing! To add to the chaos, ticket sellers kept approaching us telling us to buy a ticket to their bus to Dar es Salaam or Moshi right then and wouldn’t always go away even if we said we were not going to those places. No bus tickets were bought; we thought it best to wait.
So on we walked to explore downtown. All of a sudden, there were a bunch of noises that sounded just like gunshots. Then a group of people came running toward Sarah and I from the opposite direction. It was a little confusing because some of them looked like they were laughing, but the shopkeepers we were standing by started closing up and pulling down the grates in front of the doors. We asked one of the them what was going on and he told us that there was a strike of the matatu drivers and the police had shot off tear gas to quell protests. He told us not to worry, but that we should turn around and walk the other way. That we did, and a procession of police vehicles drove by. Nothing else seemed to happen though, so I think everything turned out okay.
Sarah and I meandered our way back towards the hotel, stopping at a few safari companies along the way to compare prices and options because we were hoping to do something the next day (Tuesday). We met one guy that was particularly helpful, but sadly a little too expensive. We chatted with him for a while though, as we waited for a ride. Our travel/hotel contact had promised us lunch at the Serena hotel by Arusha and sent a taxi to pick us up. At the hotel, we were treated to a free and delicious five-course lunch and free t-shirts! We spent the afternoon relaxing there. This hotel chain is super swanky, and rarely have I ever felt like such a VIP.
The fancy pants hotel.
One of the staff kindly showed us around the gardens. Apparently the hotel grows some of its own food, so that’s cool. I also got to pick coffee beans and see what they look like raw. We were also shown down to a nearby lake where guests can go canoeing. Maybe one day if I am ever rich I might splurge big time on a day in one of these places for some big/special event, but I don’t think I’ll ever be that rich. Might as well get the special treatment for free while I can though!
Sarah, our hotel garden guide, and a coffee plant.
When we got back to town after our nice hotel time, Sarah and I went back to the safari company we visited on our first night to book a trip for the next day. They had a hike at the base of Mount Meru for a pretty good rate, so we decided to do that. The guy there also said he’d get our bus tickets for us, so no more hassle for that. We did have to run to an ATM to get cash to pay for this all, but we were given a ride to one and the trip helped us to discover the location of a number of cool-looking restaurants and coffee shops for later. The reason we needed a ride to an ATM and couldn’t just go to one in walking distance (we were right downtown) was because most weren’t working. Arusha had no power, so only the places with generators had electricity. Apparently the grid relies on hydropower and it has been very dry lately, so that’s that. There was no power the next day too, and from what people said I gather this isn’t an uncommon thing.
The next morning we got up for our hike. There was no usual morning shower because a lack of electricity meant ice-cold water, but since I was going to get sweaty anyway I guess it didn’t matter so much. We headed over to the safari company, met our guide, and were off. A guy drove us to a place about five minutes away and from there we started to walk. Our guide was from the area, and he showed us the schools, the different varieties of bananas, the types of houses around, etc. We walked for a while along what seemed to me to be a pretty typical village/small town road, and then we started properly hiking uphill.
The village.
Marijuana mountain, because apparently that's what is growing up there. It's not legal, but there's no enforcement.
Even though we were just at the base, hiking up the foothills was pretty good exercise. Apparently a lot of the people from that area live to very old ages, and I’m not terribly surprised after seeing how fit they must be. People go up and down to collect firewood and to garden, and they carry huge bundles over the slopes. We passed several groups of kids who wanted their photos taken and wanted to accompany us. And we saw a bunch of chameleons!
We paused several times along the way to look out over Arusha—we had hiked high enough that we could see the whole city from above. After a bit we passed through a forest, and then we sat to eat our boxed lunches. Then we hiked back down again. It was super dusty; there was probably several inches of dust on the ground. Hiking up it was a pain because it made breathing/seeing more unpleasant (not to mention it made my clothes filthy) but on the way down it was a little treacherous because the path was so slippery! But no one fell. We ended up walking all the way back to the safari company and arrived by 2pm. We had been told the hike usually takes until 5pm, but our guide said we were very fast hikers. Good to know that even though I’m not in the best of shape at the moment I can still do these things! I really would like to climb all the way up Mount Kenya and also doing Kilimanjaro would be fantastic. One day?
There's Mount Meru, just barely. It wasn't clear enough to see Kilimanjaro.
After we showered off copious amounts of dust (in ice-cold water but it didn’t matter so much since I was sweaty and hot), Sarah and I walked to the area where we had seen the cool looking restaurants the day before. We ended up going into a French place called Michel’s Wine and Cheese. There were two French men in there who I suspect owned the place. The joint had a really large crêpe menu and first I ordered a crêpe with spinach, mushrooms, and crème fraiche. So tasty! Sarah also enjoyed hers so we decided to get a second round, haha. This time I got a crêpe with brie, apples, and golden sauce (pretty sure it was honey). Yum. Next time I am in Arusha I am certainly going back there. After enjoying our crêpes we had to walk back to the hotel, which was creepy partly because it was getting dark but we made it.
Sarah’s bus to Mombasa left at 6:30am and mine at 7:30am on Wednesday, so we had to wake up early. I actually was awake before Sarah’s alarm, though, because the call to prayer woke me up. There were no bus mishaps and I made it back to Nairobi easily. In fact, I happily didn’t have to get a new Kenyan visa at the border, so I’ll end up saving $100 on Tanzania to Kenya crossings during the rest of my time here.
In Nairobi, I was met by Sarah’s and my hotel contact who picked me up, brought me to the Nairobi Serena, and got me lunch. I had another crêpe, hehe, this time with curried vegetables. The Nairobi Serena is no less swank than the others. Bill Clinton stayed there when he was in Nairobi. I was even driven all the way back to KEFRI in one of the hotel vehicles! It felt more than a little ostentatious and I didn’t really like that, but it was still preferable to taking the matatu with my packs.
And that was Sarah’s and my travel adventure. I have a little bit of work to finish up today and then I’m into Nairobi for the weekend. I have to pick up a dress I had tailor-made and then Sarah and I are just going to hang out in the city the rest of the weekend until she leaves Sunday night. I do believe that tomorrow morning I will see my two favorite animals here so there are likely reports of excitement and photos to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment