2011 10 23 From Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar

Last Tuesday, after a debate with four porters who wanted Tsh (Tanzanian shillings) 100,000(Can $60---an outrageous sum) to take our bags from the taxi to the ferry, including an hour’s wait with us in the waiting area, Peter and they agreed on a price of Tsh15,000 (still quite high, as we learned later). The ferry was clean and comfortable, the two-hour ride was pleasant. We were met on the other side by Brian, our volunteer rep, who helped us through Immigration by convincing them, rightly so, that we were not required to pay a hefty sum in addition to the visa we already had in our passports.

We were excited to see our new accommodation which Brian and Niki, a Canadian from northern Alberta, who is here on a different, short term assignment with the Ministry of Education, had found. Niki had been staying in a hotel while checking out some pretty awful places. She was very relieved to find this large house .The agreement we made happily with VSO, was that she would stay in the house with us until she leaves in December. This arrangement suits us all---it’s great to have the company, and Niki and I enjoy going off to explore.  

 The house is very big, though the description of a five-bedroom house, each bedroom with its own bathroom, turned out to be ‘inaccurate’, shall we say. There are four usable bedrooms, and two bathrooms which are both clean and in working order---a tough order to fill! Each of the bedrooms we are using has its own bathroom.

The landlord is very ‘accommodating’(sorry!) and has already fixed or has agreed to fix/install a number of things, including screens on our leaky glass windows (mosquitoes and rain are an issue). The ‘grass’ in the yard has been cleaned up, and the lock in the door in the surrounding wall has been replaced so they we can have keys. The kitchen is big, and drawers are now in place. Other repair work will be done ‘pole pole’ (polay polay) based on TT (Tanzanian Time).

We have fruit trees: mango, papaya, lemon, lime, and banana.

VSO, (Volunteer Services Organization, the head office of CUSO, based in the UK) had given us a settling-in allowance, and yesterday we used it all up and more! We have basic food items, kitchen supplies, and bedding.

The rent, at Tsh (Tanzania shillings) 500,000, is just over Can. $310.

I should add that, as you can see, the house is red and white on the outside and very pink on the inside!

VSO suggested that we should have an ‘askari’, (night guard) which they are paying for. We have found one. That;s a story for another time.