We arrive in Tanzania!
Yesterday was a travel day - a long one, but without any hassles, maybe a few unexpected detours at inopportune times, but for the most part nothing that prevented us from arriving in Arusha, Tanzania as scheduled… We caught an early flight out of Dubai to Nairobi, Kenya, where we caught another to Arusha, Tanzania. We were elated to finally be in Tanzania, sighed with relief when our driver waved his card showing our name as we exited the airport! The drive into Arusha was an hour and half on a ‘highway’ requiring swift navigation to avoid potholes, oncoming traffic in our lane and people walking much too close to the fast flowing traffic. Everyone seems to know the system (at least while we were out there), thank goodness I wasn’t responsible for keeping them safe!
The city of Arusha is sprawled out as one might imagine and the first scattered roadside businesses quickly become more dense and varied until there is one business right after another. How one tire shop differs from the next I’ll never know, but there are many. As we approached our hotel in the city centre the buildings became a little more modern with a few more stories. We were happy our driver knew where to take us. Once at the ‘Seven Skies Hotel’ we were gratuitously welcomed, fed a good meal and able to fall into much needed sound sleep.
This morning was our official first day of the guided journey Jim laboured so intently to arrange. Our guide, Clause, a very talkative man (very passionate
about his country) picked us up. He was as excited about the next five days as we were! Today, he explained was to be a rather leisurely, relaxed day to get us totally rested for what he has in store for the next few. But before leaving Arusha he made a stop at the ‘Heritage Cultural Centre’ (I was sure Jim would object, but didn’t !), which turned out to be an enormous gallery showcasing painting and sculpture from several African countries. I was impressed and glad we’d made the stop. Once back on the road we drove an hour or so out of town to our lodging for the night. It’s very cool, in the midst of an agricultural area with mango and banana trees. Tomorrow Clause will pick us up very early and we’ll really start our ‘safari’!
