j + j travelblog

Felafels, Feluccas & Sheeshas

Have I mentioned that we're digging Cairo?? Today we started the day at the Egyptian Museum, arguably one of the most famous in the world. The place is truly overwhelming and a bit humbling as well: how could it not be when many of the surprisingly intact artifacts are over 5,000 years old? The highlights (for us anyway) had to be King Tutankhamun's (AKA Tut) exhibit, not so much because he was a famous pharaoh (he ruled for just 13 years) but because his tomb was found in tact (i.e. not raided) and all of the amazing artifacts are not only fully cataloged but in great shape. Tut's solid gold mask weighs in at 22 lbs and his coffin over 220 lbs (no gold plating here either). The other winner was the Mummy room, featuring the mummified corpses of eight exceptionally prominent pharoahs, all creepily composed (some still had hair complete with still discernible dye no less).

Post Museum we went to an oasis of a cafe in the middle of the city, with a garden-like feel and yummy felafels to boot.

Humus anyone?

Post lunch we headed up to the Tower of Cairo, which proved nearly as cheesy as it sounds (we were chilled as we left the elevator by the universal soundtrack of bad tourist sites -- Smooth Jazz). That being said the views from this 130M + tower were pretty darn spectacular:



We ended the afternoon with a hike back across town to hire a Feluca, the local term for quaint little sailboats that head up and down the Nile, ferrying tourists around for the sunset for suprisingly little Egyptian pounds. Our captain and the happy couple were miraculously one of only two Feluca's that happened to be in the vicinity, making for a lovely end to the day :-)


Da Nile Ain't Just a River In...

Post cruise we headed to the quaint little Island suburb of Zamalek, where we dined at the consummate (yet surprisingly authentic) Egyptian restaurant Abu as-Sid for some traditional Egyptian fare. After a tasty dinner surrounded by waaay cool decor we enjoyed Shai (mint tea) and a Sheesha (water pipe). Choosing the flavor of tobacco was tough, given the choices:

• honey
• peach
• cantaloupe (ok, not that one)
• cola
• mango
• rose
• orange
• apple
• stramboli (?)
• grape
• cherry
• apricot
• lemon
• banana (that's kind of wrong, no?)
• capucinno
• "wrigglis"
• mint
• "cocktail"

we settled on cherry (of course) and were not disappointed, as evidenced by the Cheshire cat below:

Alice in wonderland

Mosquing

Turns out we should not have been off-put by the broken English of the customs agent at the airport yesterday...the woman who greeted us prior to baggage claim had handed us a bottle of little yellow pills mumbling something to the effect that we should "take them". My mom taught me never to accept drugs from strangers (at least not in a foreign country on the day you arrive if that day happens to be the last Monday of the month) so we declined. Perhaps that proved Janet's downfall as she was laid up in bed w/ a fever :-(.

On my own in chaotic Cairo I faired surprisingly well ;-). First I headed to the Mosque of Ibn Tulin, Cairo's oldest actively used Mosque, built in AD 876. I was a little surprised that the guy screaming WESTERN TOURIST was ushered in to a holy place without so much as a batted eyelash...but I was asked to cover my feet with these strange little booties:


I think made quite the fashion statement in retrospect

The Mosque is said to be one of Cairo's most beautiful...and while this was my first ever, architecturally speaking it certainly was impressive:


Endless halls of Ibn Tulin


Tulin's courtyard

Next I headed up to MosqueMadrassa of Sultan Hassan, one of the finest built in the Mulmak period (14th century) and its neighbor Mosque of Ar-Rifai, built 4oo years later but in a strikingly similar style:


Hassan (left) and his near twin Ar-rafai (right)

Hassan was especially impressive, despite the fact that it was only halfway completed before Hassan was assassinated (and the project fell to disarray). Climbing through dark passageways to walk into a massive courtyard made me feel part Indiana Jones, part shutterbug.

Afterwards I trudged up a long avenue to the Citadel, a fortress protecting Egypt's rulers for over 700 years, featuring pretty awe-inspiring views of the Cairo skyline:


The Citadel

Afterwards I went back to the hotel to visit my thankfully recovered wife (it's the yoga as I'm sure she's told you ;-)) and we headed across the Nile for din din.

Cairo

After a relatively uneventful (albeit EARLY) flight from Nairobi to Cairo we cabbed it to Downtown Cairo to a modest (but thankfully airconditioned) hotel. Next we headed out to our travel agent, located across the interesting "October War Panorama", a blantant piece of propaganda commemorating Egypt's "victory" over Israel in the 1973 conflict. In point of fact, while Egypt had success in the first couple of days, Israel subsequently pushed the Egyptians all the way past Suez, capturing the strategic peninsula and canal. Amazing that this kind of stuff still exists when information is pretty available (or perhaps it ISN'T) (sigh).

At any rate, after settling our (relatively) easy way out (aka the package tour) with the travel agent, we headed back downtown to soak up Cairo, a truly amazing city of 16 million peeps nestled (like most of populated Egypt) up against the Nile. After getting talked into buying a few papyrus prints and other tourist baubles we had a bite at the atmospheric Cafe' Riche' before calling it a night.

On to Egypt

Ok, gotta keep this one short/sweet. After "figuring it out on our own" for the last six months (and enjoying it for the most part), we're opting for the package tour thang. I know, I know...sounds a bit unadventurous but given the language (oral and written) barrier, the fact that Egypt is pretty cheap and limited time we opted for quick & easy and somewhat scheduled touring. A quick overview of what's in store for this leg:

• Touring Cairo
• Diving on the Red Sea
• Luxor pyramids
• Nile cruise a la Agatha Christie (hopefully w/out the murder part ;-))
• Exploring Aswan
• Night train back to Cairo
• Safari in the White and Black deserts

Bye Suz & Kenya:

Given we were only in Kenya four days (and I'm getting horribly behind on the blog) I'm gonna keep the like/dislike list short/sweet:

Endearing:

• Masia Mara (of course!)
• Tusker beer
• Infrastructure (first highways we drove on since South A)
• Carnivore

Annoying/Distrubing:

• the Masai "hard sell" (the Masia tribe were pretty aggressive when peddling their wears)
• Nairobi, or as the locals call it "Nairobbery" -- town I felt the least safe in since we started our trip

A fitting tribute?

Depending on your outlook of course...we have a good friend (Julie) who became a vegitarian after her first safari because she was so inspired by what she saw. The three of us were no less inspired, but our inspiration led us to Nairobi's world-famous Carnivore restaurant, taking after the lions we witnessed in the Masai Mara :-).

Sus has all the pics of the debauchery, but a brief overview of the grilled game we consumed:

• croc
• ostrich
• wildebeest
• plain 'ole cow
• plain 'ole lamb
• pork ribs
• gazelle meat balls (MEAT balls, not cojones)
• liver of something

(yum).

On the hunt

It would take a lot to top yesterday's drive but our first morning made it seem like it would. It's always a good sign when you see a "herd" of minivans/rovers gathered in one spot (at least in terms of the likihood that you will see something cool, maybe not for the animals:-/). We drove up just in time to see four lion cubs crossing a riverbank, one stopped and lapped up a bit of water on his way, another pair pounced on the fourth showing that the young'uns have a playful side too.


Damn these not-so-little guys were cute

Mommas one, two and three were off in the distance....turns out they had there eyes on a herd of wildebeest off in the distance. Dishin -- our worldclass diver/guide -- got ahead of the minivan pack (and the lions as well) and positioned us behind the beasties. We watched as two of the lionesses inched their way ever-so-stealthily towards the herd and turned our head just in time to spot the lead female slinking towards us on the road. She sprang towards the herd (first time we'd ever seen a cat run!) but her companions were late in encirling the herd and the narrowly escaped. Susie has a great shot of the lioness in action...J snapped her just as she gave up, panting like she'd run a marathon :-)


Huffin' and puffin'

We managed to see a ton of other stuff on our safari including a leopard tortise, secretary birds, elephants, tons of giraffe, about 50 vultures gnawing on an elephant carcass (very rare as mature elephants have no predators), a few more lions here & there, a bat eared fox, tons of hippos and a huge croc (another first). I promise to ofoto the rest of the pics at some point but this one seems most fitting to end on:


Cornelius, Jim, Janet, Susan and Deshin

Prideful Breakfast

Today's game drive began with a pride of five (yes, five) lions, one of which was chowing down on what was left of a wildebeest. We were lucky enough to get to leopards feasting on an impala in Kruger (South Africa) but this was even more amazing given that the lioness was out in the open and our driver got within a scant few meters of her.


Breakfast of champions

If you can stomach it, check out the video of momma tearing into the beastie.

Thirty minutes later we happened upon our second feline encounter, this time a pair of cheetas, one of which must have been aware of the camera on him:


Here Kitty Kitty

The Mara is quite a bit different than Kruger or Ngoro Ngoro...more in line with what is traditionally considered African Savanna - amber waves of grain (well grass anyway), sparsely dotted with acacia trees and surrounded by surprisingly green hills.


Archetypical Africa

Interspersed in this majestic landscape where more wildebeest (courtesy of the annual migration) than you could shake a stick at...it seemed like the bearded mammals barely had room to manuever on Mara:


Wildebeest Galore: how many can you count in the picture?

The keeper in charge of the felines sure was on the ball this day as we saw yet another pride of lions, and a fmaily of five cheeta nestled in the bush.


We were REALLY close here...maybe a bit too close as we actually got momma to GROWL at us. Given the scar on her nose we thought it best to remain in the vehicle, along with all limbs, luggage, etc.


Chester & Fam

Needless to say today made our entire safari...we could have driven back to Nairobi as three happy (non) campers :-).

Magnificent Masai Mara

It took a lot to dissuade us from the Serengeti: namely the largest mammailian migration on the planet. Each July/August over 1MM wildebeast, 200,000 zebra and a number of other species (totaling 2MM!) leave the Serengeti (Tanzania) for the water and (still) lush grasslands of the Masai Mara (Kenya). Of course all of that potential dinner attracts a number of predators as well :-).

After our whirlwind stay in Nairobi all we were hoping for on our drive in was getting to those "luxury tents" we'd read in the brochure at the tour operator. However, our guide Dishan (a stud) made sure that the journey would be more fruitful than that. Not even 10 minutes into the Mara and we spotted the spots of two cheetas, one femalie and one male. The femme was kind enough to greet us with a tail lift and spray, but we didn't take it personally.


Chester and momma

In addition to the cheetas we saw a five-legged zebra (if you have to ask, you're too innocent to know), a pair of jackals and a killer sunset. After the drive we checked into our tent....the girls were pretty ecstatic (I was pretty pleased myself).

Our tent face a little river....Janet actually heard a few beasties splashing around in the wee hours our first night but did not check to see what was lurking in the water :-).


A Tent With A View

Kenya

Today we bussed from Arusha to Nairobi on a quest to achieve what some would call the impossible: booking a safari in the height of the annual migration in Masai Mara reserve. After a blissfully uneventful journey we checked into our hotel in Nairobi. To our great disappointment our travel agent had been unsuccessful at arranging a safari, but ever-optimistic Janet insisted we could manage it the next morning...which we did. Amazingly, at our first travel agent we lucked out and booked the three of us (Tom opted out in favor of a camping safari) at Fig Tree Camp, a 4* in the heart of "The Mara" reserve that features permanent luxury tents and, we were assured, more competent guides than we'd suffered through in Tanz. While the frugal husband was a bit remorseful at the thought of spending a bit more dough on the excursion, he was (thankfully) overruled by Janet and Susan, who were quite finished with roughing it :-)

To be continued...

Farewell Tanzania

Today -- after getting a partial refund from "Sunny" Safari after a 30 minute bitch session -- we left Tanzania for Kenya, hoping to book a safari in the highest point of high season on less than 24 hrs notice. In keeping with tradition:

Stuff we found endearing about Tanzania:

• The People: The friendliest we've met thus far in Africa
• Swahili: with a greeting like "Jambo" (hello), a response like "Mambo" (how are you) and a retort of "Poa" (cool), how could you not love the language?
• Konyagi: yummy locally produced gin (and this comes from a man who generally hates gin)
• Stonetown, Zanzibar: a magical place
• Just about any beach, Zanzibar: the color of the water was impossibly turquoise
• Ngoro Ngoro crater: see below!
• Ginger & spiced tea

Stuff falling somewhere on the amusing / annoying / disturbing scale:

• The "White Wallet Syndrome": my term for describing what any vendor - and most people in just about any service industry - saw you as (a large, walking wallet which might dispense large amounts of shillings if you harassed them enough)
• "The Art Factory": the art we saw in Tanz, including necklaces, Tinga Tinga paintings, etc. looked almost exactly the same, which was a bit of a bummer and started to get monotonous when hawkers harangued you to come into their shop ("free to look!")
• Reckless drivers: we met two couples who had been in vans that rolled -- one of which got into their vehicle 10 minutes after we did at the Moz border

Ngoro Ngoro Crater

We flew from Zanzibar to Dar, then on to Arusha, a town in the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro where many a treker and adventurer books their safaris, etc. We hastily booked a camping safari, going with a slightly cheap, but still recommended operator. The slightly cheaper part proved to be more of a bust than boon, as we would soon find out :-(.

We were originally going to head for the world-famous Serengeti in addition to the Crater, but decided against it as the annual wildebeest/Zebra migration was nearly over, meaning that the park would have significantly less wildlife than normal. Joining us for our modified excursion was Tom, a friendly and well-traveled Cannuck from Vancouver.

Our first indication that the our guide and cook were not quite up to snuff happened within minutes of getting into our vehicle, when Tom just happened to ask our driver/"guide" if he had brought sleeping bags (crucial because it can get down to 40F in the crater and because two of our party are a bit sensitive to cold (Tom and I of course!)). Luckily we asked before we were very far out of town...but that false start, plus picking up food, pillows and the cook, caused a nearly two hour delay (and would set the tone for the rest of the experience).

Finally on our way, we drover for ~ 3.5 hours to the crater's edge where we (attempted to) set up camp.


The girls sunning themselves on the camping gear

Our driver -- who looked all of 18 years old, if that -- did not know how to set up the tents, which of course set off more alarm bells. More disturbing was the contents of our first meal, a lunch featuring bread and butter as the main entree.

More than a little disgruntled at this point, the four of us packed into our chariot (Landrover with a pop-top) and headed for Ngoro Ngoro, the largest natural crater on the planet. Our ever-so-experienced driver had to ask another guide how to put the vehicle into 4WD and clearly did not know his way around the park (we're convinced it was his first time in the crater!).

After a steep decent we reached the basin floor and even our driver's incompetence did not detract from the beauty of NG. While animals can get in and out of basin, its steep sides result in few doing so, so it's a bit like a natural zoo with herds of wildebeest and zebra visible for miles and elephants almost discernible from the edge of the crater.


Our view of the crater from the camp sight (pretty cool!)

Attempting to display at least SOME competence, our driver provided the following invaluable commentary (verbatim):

• "Look there! That is a zebra. Do you see it?"
• "That is a monkey"
• "Thorns can hurt you"
• "Now we are in Ngoro Ngoro Crater" (twice!)
• "Look at that animal over there!"

Luckily we fell in line behind other vehicles whose drivers clearly knew what they we doing and we managed to see a bunch of cool stuff, including cheetas (our first ever sighting), warthogs, black-backed jackals, elephants, tons of wildebeest and zebra. We also stopped by a hippo pool which featured over 30 of our blubbery friends doing barrel rolls, grunting and sunning themselves.

We also stumbled on a pride of lions though we were a good distance away as, unlike Kruger in South Africa, roads are few & far between and you must stay on them. We still got a few good snaps out of the deal though:

I wish I could claim this was a snap of simba's roar...actually it's the lioness clearly showing her boredom ;-)

Unfortunately for our driver, our leo detour meant that he lost contact with the guides who actually knew what they were doing so we raced to catch up with the rest of the pack. However, I demanded a stop when I barely caught sight of a lioness just meters from the road, patiently watching a herd of wildebeest. I think the snap I got is one of the best I've managed on safari:

You get the sense that it's nearly dinner time, no?

Even our incompetent guide/driver, the motion sickness his "driving" incurred and the dustier than dusty atmosphere of the crater floor could not wipe the smile from Susan's face (her first safari :-)):


Safari Trio

Our little lion spotting diversion did manage to land our driver a fine for being in the crater past 6:00 PM (perhaps a little karmic justice?). He therefore drove about 20x faster than our normal snail's pace to get back to camp...Needless to say we were grateful (and a little surprised) to make it back after dark.

After an uninspiring dinner we turned in to our chilled tents, still gloating from the day's sightings, etc. :-).

Blog Hiatus

Tomorrow we fly back to Dar es Salaam, then make our way northwards to the town of Arusha, where we hope to negotiate a reasonable rate for our Serengeti safari from one of the 200+ operators based in Northern Tanzania. The wife does not think they will have wireless web access on the Serengeti Plains so the blog will need to remain stagnant for ~ five days or so.

Sugar and Spice

We left lovely Bwejuu behind (kicking and screaming) and headed back to Stone Town one last time before leaving Zanzibar. Before hitting town we detoured to a spice plantation to see for ourselves why they call Z the Spice Island.

The tour was surprisingly good -- in part due to its hands on (and nose/mouth on of course!) nature. We saw/smelled and often tasted stuff I thought only came in those little spice bottles like vanilla (which must be pollinated by hand), cinnamon (did you know it's made from dried bark?), sweet lime (amazingly so), cloves (used by Zanzibarians for everything from toothpaste to tummy tonic), star fruit, aloe vera (a Malaria cure), sap from the iodine tree (we didn't taste this one but felt its sticky consistency , which is a natural blood coagulant), robber fruit (it's so sour it hurts your cheeks) and experienced the Queen of all Spices, Nutmeg (used by the ladies to put "fire in their loins" according to our guide):


Unfortunately the nutmeg did not induce the aforementiond fire in my female companions

We also got to experience beauty products au-natural, washing our hands with soap berries (which lather when crushed and rubbed together), while the ladies perfumed themselves with some flower I can't recall (of course) and rouged themselves with seeds a fruit with a hairy peel:


The Spice Girls

Impossibly Blue Bwejuu

I'm pretty sure Bwejuu would make our top 10 best beaches of the world list (it would make my top 10). The water was impossibly turquoise, as if someone dyed it just to dazzle beachgoers. Add miles of desolate and fine white sand, a bereze just strong enough to cool the heat of the cloudless sky and tropical drink (or three) and you've got yourself a beach as near to perfection as you'd dare hope:


How many shades of blue can you count?


Swingin' in the Shade w/ Suds in hand

Unfortunately day two on Bwejuu was a bit less pictueresque (who ordered the rain??) bu t we still made the most of it, snorkeling and playing Bao, a cool game we intend to bring back to the States (eventually :-)).

Jambiani

Jambiani is the East Coast's southernmost beach and due to its remote location is fairly uninhabited (which is cool by us). Day one we veged on the beach, allowing Susan to adjust to life on the Spice Island :-)


It looks like she's adjusting just fine, no?

Day two we rented a Dhow -- an impossibly narrow Zanzibarian boat typically made of mango wood -- and headed out to the reef for a bit of snorkeling (Susan's first time donning mask & fins). While the marine life was a bit sparse, the visibility was great and I was grateful to work off a few of the Kiliminjaro Lagers that haev been accumulating 'round my mid-section as of late.


Dhow and goat (we did not sail with Billy)

Post snorkeling I walked to the post office, passing by a bunch of gradeschoolers enjoying recess under the palms. I don't know about you but my playground did not feature fine white sand and swaying palm trees (sigh). That evening we stumbled (literally as it was helladark) a great little restaurant (whose name is of course escaping me), retering early so we could head up the coast to Bwejuu, rumored to be one of Z's most beautiful beaches.

Zielinski in Zanzibar

It has a nice ring doesn't it? I'm pretty sure our friend Susan (Zielinski) thinks so too :-). Today we left the chill environs of Kendwa -- and unfortunately Jen, our wonderful British travel companion of the last three weeks -- for a return trip to Stonetown to meet friend and fellow "Monkee" Susan, who is joining us for the remainder of our time in Tanz.

After a bit of drama in Nairobi (apparently her flight did not exist!) she arrived a bit worse for wear but Zanazibar quickly diminished any travel weariness.

Tomorrow we head to the beaches of the East Coast, which promise to be a bit less developed/touristy than the North.

Diving Kendwa Style

Jenny, whose connections in Africa sometimes seem boundless, managed to score a discount on a local dive...vis was not great but the marine life was (honeycomb eel, sting ray, tons-o-fish) and our DM (Dive Master) "Mr. Fine" was a character and a half.

Post dive we caught a few rays:


Beach bum Nos 1 & 2

Tomorrow we head back to Stone Town to meet a very special guest traveler and fellow "Monkee", Susan Zielinski, who will be joining us for our final two weeks in Zanzibar (we're very stoked!). She arrives in time to see Jenny off, who leaves us next week for her return to Moz :-(.
Good thing too as I've grown quite accustom to having two pretty blonds on my arm at all times. It's really the only way to do the beach :-).

Chillin' in Kendwa

Kendwa Beach -- a 45 minute walk from Nungwi -- is so much more our speed than its touristy (but still pretty) cousin. So, the trio hopped on to a Dhow (wooden boat) with packs in hand and headed off the beaten (and sandy) path.


Life is always better when you're sandwiched between two blondes

If you're tempted by the beauty, isolation, and my assurances of the chill vibe, better get to Kendwa quick as a 450 room monolith of an all-inclusive resort will certainly spoil the whole scene come its opening in December (sigh).

Nungwi...one of those days

We left exotic Stone Town behind for the beauty of the Northern beaches of Zanzibar, namely Nungwi, a tiny seaside village 1.5 hours north of Stone Town. It's a bit on the touristy side(friend Jen compared it to the "Med" ((Mediterranean for those in the know)) but it's still a gorgeous place to be sure (note the turquoise of that water!):


No banana hammock comments please :-)

It was an awesome day...perfect temperature (85 F) a light breeze to cool us whilst horizontal in the flour-like sand, and the i-pod pumping out Europe '72 (Grateful Dead) in our dual headphones. After an amazing day we had a "last supper" of sorts with newfound friends Max and Ryan (traveling cousins from the US). The company was (of course) wonderful (as was the view), the food so-so and the waiter ever-so-amusing (in an annoying sort of way):


Ryan, Jim, Jen, Max, Janet (waiter not pictured)

More on Stone Town

A few more words on Zanzibar and Stone Town...such an exotic place. Even the name "Zanzibar" has an alluring ring to it, no? The sight (and of course smells) of curries, cloves, cumin, coriander and the myriad of spices that don't necessarily begin with the letter "C" is enough to overwhelm the senses. The labrynthine, narrow streets of Stone Town leave one feeling that a mystery will surely reveal itself around ever corner:


The aptly named "Narrow Street Hotel" and a glimpse at its namesake

Another staple to the Stone Town scene (and Tanz at large) is Tika Tika - colorful (I mean COLORFUL) artwork depicting amusing caricatures of wildlife. While it grew a bit cumbersome to be offered a glimpse at the often identical paintings, it was still awfully charming:



Given Janet's luck with the Beauty Salon we decided not to risk Henna Painting

We ended our day of exploration and Mercury, a bar in tribute to the late Queen frontman Freddy Mercury. While the bar itself ain't all that special, it afforded great views of the sunset and its menu featured hookahs (sheeshas) with strawberry flavored tobacco. Tasty, even for non-smokers:


I guess I can't say I never inhaled

Open air dining, Zanzi Style

Last evening we strolled down to the waterfront where at 7pm every night there is a huge seafood barbeque. Table after table filled with fresh seafood kabobs, whole lobster and crab, a dozens of fresh fish.

We did our best to sample everything (except the octopus - still can't get the appetite for that one). Our favorite was the Tanzania pizza - a very thin crepe filled with minced veggies and beef, a scrambled egg and chilies! Delicious.

And to wash it all down was sacri-licious Sugarcane Ginger Lemonade (that is my name for it). It is made my squeezing fresh sugarcane through a press and collecting the run-off. A slice of lemon that has a touch of ginger in it is folded into the sugarcane on the last squeeze to give it a tasty little 'zip!'


Squeezin' out the juice

We somehow managed to find room in our bellies for the best gelato we've had outside Italy. And then finished the night off at this fabulously laid back chill spot called the Sweet Eazy.

Charm, Civility and Civilization

Zanzibar, O Zanzibar. I have been looking forward to getting here for a long, long time. Beaches, Stone Town, diving, art and seafood. We are only on our second day here, but it is already living up to expectations.

The 15 minute flight from Dar was a delicious luxury considering our transportation situation over the last months. The birds-eye view of the island was incredible - sandy beaches, blue waters, you get the idea.

We spent the day walking the narrow and winding streets of Stone Town, admiring the fabulously carved wooden doors, drinking ginger tea (yummy) with an old man from Oman, viewing Tinga Tinga art work at the many galleries, smelling the plethora of spices on sale at the market and matching smile for smile with the locals as we strolled town.


J + J sipping Ginger Tea from a street vendor



The other J+J seated near one of Z's famous carved doors (the ornate carvings are a status symbol and represent a variety of things including fertility, wealth and desire to have a large family)


Spices at the market...they don't call it the spice island for 'nuttin

Disast-HAIR

I guess it seems like a d'oh moment now, but I have grown so spoiled by competent and downright talented hair stylists that I was niave enough to think that I could get a cut and color in Africa.

I didn't just walk into any ol' place. I scouted out a nice salon in a really good neighborhood. I went in, asked a few questions, showed him some pictures, felt the stylist out, and felt reasonably good about the situation going into it. Who would have guessed he would turn my hair PINK!

Now, I like pink. A lot. I like to wear pink. A lot. I don't like to BE PINK!!!

Jim fails to understand the fashion crisis this causes as a girl with pink hair cannot wear pink clothes, especially tops. And I think at last count 80% of the 4 shirts I have with me on this trip are pink. Not to mention every bathing suit.Or orange - which also doesn't look good with pink hair. Unless you really want to look like Rainbow Brite.

Needless to say, I've downed a few glasses of wine since the Disast-HAIR and I am accepting that I will have pink hair for awhile. And why not? When else am I going to have pink hair? Probably never (at least I hope).

Below please find photographic evidence that the above story is not wraught with hyperbole or exaggeration. Pink is pink is pink:

Dar es Salaam

Today we left laid back Mtwara at 5 AM, this time on a bus with reserved seating (we weren't quite sure how to react to this kind of structure given our recent Moz experiences!).

Other than a flat tire and an arrival 4 hours later than advertised the journey was uneventful.

At 4MM residents Dar es Salaam is a big city by any continent's standards and after the small-town feel of nearly every city we'd been to in Moz it took a little adjusting (especially for Jenny, who had not been in a "proper" city in well over a year).

Dar es Salaam means "harbor of peace" and while we did not find the city centre especially peaceful, the little neighborhood of Oyster Bay was pretty darn chill.

We spent our time in and around Dar TCB'ing...Including a stop at the local Hair Salon....but I'll save that story for the wife :-)