DAR ES SAALAM

Also known as “Dar is a Slum,” Dar is Tanzania’s largest city. Sitting on the Indian Ocean on the country’s eastern coast, it is a large, smelly, dusty, polluted place, teeming with people from all over the African continent and the Arab world. Vendors sell their wares either on the street itself or from lean-to’s made from corrugated metal. While there are some modern high-risers, it is mostly a typical third-world port city, albeit something out of the 1800’s, no. . . make that the 1700's. I half expected to bump into Johnny Depp in his swash-buckling best, along with his merry band of co-pirates, as well as Sinbad and Popeye, and every Arab slave trader from back in the day. Dar is however, our launching pad for the 2-hour ferry to Zanzibar, an offshore archipelago, that includes the Island of Zanzibar, otherwise known as the “Spice Island.”

We finally landed in Africa’s paradise yesterday. We were a little apprehensive. We had learned from others along our route that Zanzibar had been without electricity for over 3 months. The temperature is above 100 degrees and the humidity comes close to that. The heat is truly oppressive. We were all dripping wet by 10 a.m., with dirt and sweat and salt air streaming down our faces. My hair was a mass of tangles and frizz. No electricity means of course, no air conditioning, no fan, no toilets, no internet and, a nighttime trip back to the room or a bathroom requires navigation by the stars of the southern sky. Tanzania, once known as Tanganyika, is the compromise forged between the mainland and the Zanzibari islands after years of civil war. Over 90% of the archipelago is Muslim, while the mainland is Christian. Zanzibar was the capital of the world for spice and slave trading in the 1200's. We had heard that the Norwegians were trying to fix the underwater electric cable and that if they succeeded there would be electricity when we arrived. But if they failed there would be no electricity until 2012 when the Americans were contracted to lay a new line.

I got a little nervous as I saw the people being packed into the ferry. I read about these Indonesian, South American and African overcrowded ferries that capsize with the women and children going down first. The (live) chickens of the family standing next to us in line escaped from their basket and the father was running hard to catch them. (Which only reminds me of the goat we saw as we drove toward Dar which was tied to the roof of a double trailer truck - obviously the long-distance driver’s dinner). On the other side of us was a class of schoolgirls, chadors and all, while ahead were the ferry ticket takers – moving at African speed. Once we boarded, Surprise! Surprise! Everything was orderly and we all had seats.

Lucky again! The Norwegians were successful and Zanzibar got its electric groove back only 2 days before our arrival. But joy soon turned into reality. The electricity, we had forgotten, was African electricity – it is only turned on early in the morning and at night for just a few hours. Our a/c did not work at all and the ceiling fan died at 3 a.m. when the electric shut down. The toilet works intermittently and our neighbors don’t have water. But, life is good. The sea is about 88 degrees, there’s a gentle breeze (in the shade) and the fish is fresh. It feels good to be off the road for a bit.

The adventure will continue the day after tomorrow when we head back to Dar and continue south through Malawi and finally, Victoria Falls in Zambia. Who knows when we will be connected again?