First Impressions

I didn't really know what to expect. I was unsure of the conditions and even the people. I, like most people, have seen all the movies depicting African cities as war torn and impoverished. Improverished I think is a relative term. Here most people have a place to go, maybe not posh apartments but a place that keeps them out of the weather.

Here people are very friendly to us. The main streets are paved but most of the side streets are not. There is a lot of mud when it rains, which from what I can tell is about every afternoon around 5pm (or now).

Safety was a concern and still is to some degree, but walking around the streets sames to be just fine. You do have to get use to getting propositioned every 20ft with "Look at this" or "Stop by my shop". However, they are just trying to make a living and when you tell them "No Thank You" they pretty much just leave you alone.

Most people seem to speak English which makes it easier. I think it is because most people are educated at MIT here! Yes they have an MIT as well. Moshi Institute of Technology. Not quite Cambridge but you can get an advanced degree!

Like we expected there are more hitches in our plans. We were planning on taking a bus from Dar es Salaam to Victoria Falls after we leave Zanzibar. We found out that the bus company we were planning to use no longer runs that route...apparently we are taking a plane. We're going to have an unplanned stop in Johannesburg. Just in case you are wondering, you can not book plane flights online for South American Airlines from Tanzania....any other country, just not Tanzania....go figure...So a few internet stops, a travel agent stop and our tour operator stop we now are flying from Zanzibar to Jo'burg hang out for a night and then on to Victoria Falls. No problem, next issue!