Day 29: 26 August 2002 8:30 pm
Tom and Penny are reprimanded by the tour leader (Big Brother) for openly carrying a Lonely Planet guide in public.
Yet again, I had to remind myself not to plunge head first over the edge of the mountain when I stepped out of the tent this morning. I was teetering on the edge at one point in the murky darkness, as we were packing our tent away at 5:30 am. I'd had a terrible night's sleep due to the incessant ramblings of the night watchmen. We were meant to leave at 6:00 am, but our group is half an hour to an hour late from any departure and this morning was no exception.
Yesterday, there was a great debate about our itinerary as the other truck drove straight to Dar Es Salaam to get an extra night on Zanzibar. There was talk of a silent vote but in the end our tour leader made the decision that we would have an extra night in Zanzibar and a night in Lilongwe (Malawi), instead of two nights in Zomba (Malawi). We would also be fitting in a trip to the ebony market just outside Dar Es Salaam. We were not too keen to spend an extra night on Zanzibar as accommodation is expensive and those nights are not paid for by our kitty. I spoke to a girl from another truck that had already visited Zanzibar and she was of the opinion that you spent money like water even if you tried to stick to a strict budget.
I was fed up this morning as we were not keen on the itinerary change and our tour leader did not tell us that there was a charge for the walk yesterday. Lack of information strikes again.
Edina continues to fascinate everyone. Not only is she living on cornflakes (without milk) and raw carrots, but she confided that she had been ripped off to the tune of US $300 in Nairobi on her first day there. She hired a taxi from the airport to the hotel and then the taxi driver suggested that he showed her the sights of Nairobi for the day and charged her that amount. Didn't she bother reading a guide book before she came out here? I know I've done stupid things in the past and been ripped off but never by that extortionate amount. I'll get back in my box now.
Back on the truck, mountain scenery gave way to lush green vegetation, tropical palms and paddy fields. However, the weather was abysmal; wet, damp and grey - just how I remember October back at home. I hope I have dispelled the myth that East Africa is roaring hot and dry. At least I had my Maasai blanket to keep me warm.
As we neared Dar Es Salaam, the clouds lifted and it was hot and sunny. Our tour leader had painted Dar Es Salaam as a den of inequity, ever since we had voiced our idea of coming back a day early from Zanzibar to explore Dar on our own and visit the ebony market at Mwenge. Her horrified look when we mentioned staying at the YWCA (something we did in Kuala Lumpur) should have been framed for posterity.
On reaching Dar Es Salaam, I realised it was a pleasant, compact city without the pollution of Asian cities. It even reminded me of Manila in the Philippines. Dar Es Salaam has a population of around two million and is the capital of Tanzania in all but name (Dodoma is the capital).
We sneaked off the truck at the earliest opportunity, when everyone else was changing flights and using the ATM. Armed with our trusty Lonely Planet, we checked out the YWCA. It was perfectly respectable and charged Tsh 10000 per night for room with bath. I was quite impressed with Dar Es Salaam as it had an interesting harbour area, shops, streets to explore and the food options looked good.
We found a Nandos and indulged in a portion of peri-peri chips as Tom is starving all the time due to lack of food. They tasted heavenly. We bought some banana cakes to keep us going and headed back to the truck. Our tour leader reprimanded Tom for carrying his Lonely Planet in public. We were told that "it drew attention to us and we would be prime targets for mugging." I've never heard such a load of old poppy cock in all my life! The very fact that we are 'muzungus', i.e. white, is enough to draw attention to us wherever we go. We have always carried Lonely Planet guides round with us when travelling independently and we've been fine.
As punishment, we were placed on truck security duty while the cook group bought fish and prawns in the fish market. We had a lovely little chat to Natasha and discovered that she has been feeling the same as us and has considered jumping truck a couple of times. We are relieved that we are no longer the odd ones out. She confided that it often feels like a school trip and we are never treated as grown adults. She also said it was 'difficult to do your own thing' (don't we know it). Heaven forbid if you have any freedom of thought. Natasha was one of the few that stayed behind when the others did the guided walk in Lushoto. Again, she felt she needed some solitude and time to chill out away from the group. We told her about our YWCA investigation and how our tour leader had chastised us for even thinking we could return from Zanzibar one day early.
To reach the Mikadi Beach camp site, the truck boarded a small ferry in Dar Es Salaam to Kigamboni. It was only a five minute journey. We camped on the mozzie infested beach and ordered slushies at the bar (a potent mix of frozen passion fruit, rum, gin and vodka. After two slushies, Tom was forcibly dragging me away from the bar as I was on washing up duty and had to be sober enough to work out how to put my marigolds on. We had a great chat with Tamsin, a Kiwi, who is one of the new truck recruits. She has travelled independently before and finds the truck restrictive. She was looking forward to Zanzibar, as she was dying to get off. Hurrah - another person that hasn't taken to truck life like a duck to water.
Positives: We are no longer the odd couple that long to buck the trend.
Negatives: This really has turned into a 'Big Brother' experiment, where any freedom of choice is openly frowned upon. We are seriously planning to abscond.