There are so many interesting government building that I want to take pictures of and places like the State house, but there are a multitude of signs posted warning against it, and since there are armed guards everywhere, it probably would not be too wise. I don't need to end this holiday by peering through the bars of a Tanzanian jail. Or by losing my new digital camera which, for all who are interested, I am just LOVING! Nicole has her Ipod here, so I can download my pictures on it, so that I have a back up, which makes me feel much more comfortable. We have taken some amazing pictures, I cannot wait to post some of them here.

But speaking of the guards, they are in front of banks, government buildings and often just walking up and down the streets. There is also a huge military presence, and they carry large rifles with huge clips, just slung over their shoulders, no 'wussy' little hand guns in a leather pouch, these guys are ready for business and on guard. It actually makes me feel safe.

After returning from the Slipway, we went upstairs to cool off a bit, we are now in Room 312 a non-smoking room. Our first few days were in 110, which was smoking, and when we checked in, Nicole actually negotiated a better rate since the room HAD been booked months ago and she specified non-smoking as she is allergic to smoke. They ended up knocking off $25.00 a night, even for the nights we were in the new non-smoking room. What a woman!

For dinner we decided to go downtown and try an new restaurant, so far we have only eaten at our hotel, which does have a nice menu with some local foods, plus we have eaten pizza twice at 'Steers'

We looked up a place in the Loney Planet guide and we knew the street , and the block it was on, so off we headed. There seemed to be many more people than usual on the streets, we thought maybe because it was Friday night and everyone was out for the weekend. We walked brisklyto where the restaurant should be, but we never did find it. Perhaps it closed down, or perhaps it was behind one of those tiny unmarked doors and lead off into dark and unusual places. We headed back to the hotel, we didn't want to venture any further the other way as it was already 5:15 and we didn't want to be out at dark. Everyone, from the guidebooks, to the locals to the hotels say to not walk downtown at night.

So we trudged back to 'Steers" and had another pizza, how very authentically African!!

Also, earlier today we walked a few blocks from our hotel to the Cancer Clinic and walked through the grounds. It is in a large, walled compound with iron gates, but the gates were open and people were milling about, coming to visit friends and family I suppose, so we went in.

The grounds are dusty with sparse patches of grass. There is a large gazebo, with peeling paint in the center and it was filled with folks who seemed to be having their lunch and snacks with their visitors. The main building was in front of us, and thre were dusty paths with signs leading to various other buildings, radiology etc. The buildings were once white, but looked quite dingy now, although it did look clean. It actually reminded me of an old and worn out Airforce base.

OVERVIEW.

We are so glad that we went to Oyster Bay, we had expectations of Africa, both from Internet research, brochures, TV travel shows and of course from movies, a North American hazard and even though we KNEW about the poverty and squalor, it is still a shock to experience it with your other senses, like the smells and the sounds combined with the sights, and we were disapointed with ourselves for being so naive. However when we arrived in Oyster Bay it was exactly what we had imagined--the glossy tourist package. The buildings where the ex-pats, businessmen and government workers live are clean and white, the fences and walls that surround them are all in good condition and are painted (no rusty corregated tin here) a lot of green grass and brightly coloured flowers. And of course the armed guards are everywhere. You can feel the money in the air. It is Tanzania, but there are obviously 2 Tanzania's. The difference between the have's and the have-not's has never been more obvious. We were 'pleased' to know that we had expected what the tourist board want you to expect, that that Tanzania exists and the other other one is hidden away.

TIDBITS
Gas in 1130 shillings a litre, just over a dollar.
Diesel is 1020 and Kerosene is 940. I wonder what sort of vehicle takes kerosene?

When walking back to our hotel we came across our first beggar, a nice looking, clean and healthy little boy of maybe 9 years old. He has one arm flung dramatically across his forehead and he was saying: "One dollar mama, please just one dollar, we are starving." He obviously wasn't any such thing. Little businessman.

In the Botanical Gardens behind the hotel their is one peacock who seems to rule the roost. I have never heard a peacocks cry before, it sounds just like the yowl of a cat who's tail you shut shut in a door, we usually hear him all day, but last night he decided to start up at 4 AM. He must be loud, we are on the third floor with our windows shut, we don't even hear any sirens. I wonder what decibel a peacocks cry is?

I read an article in my guidebook about ferry ticket scams.. A resident gets a ticket much cheaper than a non resident and that is why all these street guys want yu to buy from them. What they do is, buy anon-resident ticket, and then sell it to you for a resident price and they pocket the difference. Then, on the ferry when the ticket taker comes around, he sees that you are not a resident, he fines you and HE pockets the fine. If you don't pay him, he calls the police, and then you are in real trouble for buying a non-resident ticket. Crafty!!

Jan 14. We woke up today and checked out of our lovely air conditioned hotel. The dest clerk talked to us and told us how much fun we were ( we constantly had them in hysterics with tales of all our adventures) We left them a calander of BC ( came well stocked with all sorts of gifties)

We had a bit of time to kill before we headed to the airport, so we went upstairs to use the internet and I wrote a newsy post to my blog and just as I hit 'publish', all the lines went down. Not because of me, but because this is Africa. You don't get your money back, this is just 'one of those things'

When we were in the jewellery store in Slipway the power went out and the salesman didn't blink an eye or miss a beat...just kept on telling us about his wares..
All the phones in the country were out a few days ago, there is only one provider, TTCL so they have a monopoly. If the service is bad, there isn't a whole lot that people can do. Tha's one reason why everyone has a cellphone, the constant sounds of the ringtones is everywhere.

The ride to the airport was uneventful, but since it was daytime this time we were able to see the industrial area. The local business are, as I have said before, somewhat grubby and worn down looking, but the foreign business (car dealers, some gas stations, technology business) are shiny, well kept and well guarded..

The Dar airport was much larger than we had realized when we flew in at night last week, and it was really quite clean and very well organized. It is almost all open air, you don't actually go through doors to get inside. I would think it would be a disaster when the rains come. There are a lot of little shops and stores and stalls inside. We had no trouble finding our gate but we had 2 funny adventures going through security, but I am almost out of time, so that will be for tomorrow.