We watched the BBC news while packing for the loooooong series of flights home.
Breakfast:
Fried fish sticks (man I was looking forward to having those again!), salad of chick peas, cucumber, tomato, and onion w spices and oil/vinegar (I wonder what is used to make vinegar here? Rice? No rice wine tho...), chapati, one not-so-mini banana, coffee w/ milk, and pineapple yoghurt
After breakfast we checked out and put our luggage in storage. We still had a long day ahead of us before our flight and we planned to take full advantage of it. On the way out Nate noticed a newspaper in Engligh with a front page article about the ferry accident. It indicated that investigations were still underway, but thus far it was known that 290 passengers had been on the ship despite its legal capacity of only 250. Of this total, 31 were children, 9 were crew members. 65 passengers were known to be dead, 40 of whom had been identified. 150 passengers had been rescued and all the crew members were still missing. 2 US citizens were among the rescued passengers. The ferry had been headed for Chumbe Island, which is where we had been the day of the accident.
Our first stop on the Dar exploration extravaganza was a grocery store, where we picked up some more coffee to bring home with us. I'm thinking I'll brew some for my office breakfast club.
Then we wandered around a few very western shops including a book store, some boutiques, and a t-shirt shop. Near the Waterfront there was some interesting construction.
Next we decided to head to Coco Beach by way of a tuk-tuk.
Coco Beach is beautiful and seemed to be a big attraction for locals. A large group of teenage kids (we presumed they were on a school field trip of sorts) were gathered on the beach and in the water. Some were on the hillside "performing" to themselves. An ice cream bicycle vendor peddled treats to them.
As you can see the beach was covered with seaweed, though we didn't see any of the famed seaweed collectors. Again - must remember to research the uses for this stuff!
We walked the short walk back to the hotel from Coco beach and stopped at one of the open-air restaurants for lunch, followed by a neighboring gelato shop. Very African. #sarcasmfont
Surprisingly delicious salad! Chucks of coconut w/ the shell still on (all edible), curried chicken, mango, pineapple, and banana, coupled with toast and tri-colored peppers on a bed of lettuce. Dessert: coffee gelato
After lunch and gelato, we went back to The Waterfront restaurant, ordered Konyagi & bitter lemon and a Castle lager (they pronounce the "t" in castle), and sat at the bar writing postcards and soaking up the last of the gorgeous view.
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| The tide here is fascinating. We can't believe how much it changes and how high it rises in one day. In Nate's words: "Oceans be crazy." |
We finally knew it was time to wrap up and go home. So we closed our tab and said goodbye to the tide.
We collected our luggage and caught a cab for what would be a very long ride to the airport. Along the way, the driver stopped for gas, which apparently is pretty common with customers in tow. People do not pump their own gas here. The attendant's uniform was a t-shirt with the gas station's logo worn over a kanga.
Continuing to the airport, we were marveling at the roadside sales again, wondering who on earth actually bought what was being sold. Just then the driver rolled down his window, called to a dude, and bought three small boxes of what we're pretty sure were condoms. They were about the size of condom boxes and the packaging said "Protector" so you be the judge...
Red light/green light. Not apparently obeyed.
On the ride to the airport we realized we had completely forgotten to mail the postcards. You're welcome.
Cab to airport took well over an hour b/c of the traffic. Many drivers simply turn of their engines while waiting. At one point there was a truck in front of us with a sofa in the truck bed and people sitting on it.
Check in at the airport was pretty confusing. After the taxi dropped us off we wandered a little outside the building looking for the Swiss Air desk, which turned out to be inside the first security bag scan/ metal detector check point even though most of the other airline check-in desks were outside. We were delayed there bc Nate's salt showed up on the scanner as a mineral. The guards asked him if he'd been mining and instructed him to empty his bag. Then there was confusion at the check in desk because the travel agent had only given us tickets through the Chicago portion of our itinerary, rather than all the way back to Denver as the ticket itinerary listed. Of course our luggage had already been checked by the time we realized the mistake, so who knows when and if we'll ever get our bags! There was also an additional $10 fee per person that they claimed was imposed by the Swiss. Following the rigamarole required to get the Chicago vs Denver business sorted, there was another security check point with another bag scan and metal detector. Then we had to go through immigration, where the fingerprint scanner was on the fritz. Once we were through that we realized there were no monitors to tell us which gate was ours, nor was it printed on our boarding passes. We finally asked and were told we'd need to go through yet another gate. After about an hour (a very warm one), we boarded and soon took off without any further complications.
Red light/green light. Not apparently obeyed.
On the ride to the airport we realized we had completely forgotten to mail the postcards. You're welcome.
Cab to airport took well over an hour b/c of the traffic. Many drivers simply turn of their engines while waiting. At one point there was a truck in front of us with a sofa in the truck bed and people sitting on it.
Check in at the airport was pretty confusing. After the taxi dropped us off we wandered a little outside the building looking for the Swiss Air desk, which turned out to be inside the first security bag scan/ metal detector check point even though most of the other airline check-in desks were outside. We were delayed there bc Nate's salt showed up on the scanner as a mineral. The guards asked him if he'd been mining and instructed him to empty his bag. Then there was confusion at the check in desk because the travel agent had only given us tickets through the Chicago portion of our itinerary, rather than all the way back to Denver as the ticket itinerary listed. Of course our luggage had already been checked by the time we realized the mistake, so who knows when and if we'll ever get our bags! There was also an additional $10 fee per person that they claimed was imposed by the Swiss. Following the rigamarole required to get the Chicago vs Denver business sorted, there was another security check point with another bag scan and metal detector. Then we had to go through immigration, where the fingerprint scanner was on the fritz. Once we were through that we realized there were no monitors to tell us which gate was ours, nor was it printed on our boarding passes. We finally asked and were told we'd need to go through yet another gate. After about an hour (a very warm one), we boarded and soon took off without any further complications.
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| declaring as a "family" - a first! |
Nate did a superb job planning this trip. Thank you, Zanzibar, for a magnificent and unforgettable honeymoon!
with love, n+s
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