We have a little bit of time this morning before we check out, so I thought I'd add a few more things from yesterday. When we were downtown we realized there were no other tourists anywhere, we seemed to be the only white people in dar es Salaam, seriously. It was unusual to be the only visible minority. Eventually we walked past a small cafe and we noticed it was full of obvious tourists, we went in to buy some water and I said to Nicole: I'll bet this place is mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide." Everyone in there was scribbling furiously in journals and reading english novels and newspapers. We bought 2 bottles of water and headed out, but back in the hotel that night I check in our Lonely Planet guide, and sure enough, it was mentioned as a nice haven to go to, The Epi d'or. It is a huge economical boost for a place to be mentioned in one of the guide books.

I forgot to mention that earlier in the day, before we headed downtown, we went to the Botanical Gardens behind our hotel. They are also mentioned in all the guide books as "sights to see". It was a sad sight, dirt paths, dying plants, dust everywhere, no signage. It was just like walking through an old abandoned garden or back yard. The short rains didn't come this year and Tanzania is experiencing a drought. The dams are so low that they are quite concerned about being able to generate enough power for electricity. There have been black-outs in some of the cities already.

From our 2 minute jaunt through the gardens we came out in the next block, which is the area where all the embassies are. It's a very well guarded area, each embassy has armed guards and a guard house with cement blockades so that there is no way a vehicle can just drive through. We went into the Canadian Embassy and registered there. There were a lot of papers to sign and forms to fill out, but if there is a coup, uprsing, volcanic eruption or any other incident, at least the embassy has our itinerary and our emergency contacts. I am not sure if being kidnapped by bands of maurading baboons is covered though.

We continues our hot and sweaty walk and cam across a very nice and clean and air-conditioned bookstore called A Novel Idea where we browsed for a bit and purchased a few books, souviner types, not regular pocketbooks.

It was connected to a small food cout called "Steers", with about 4 or 5 small restaurants and an Internet Cafe. We ordered a small pizza and 2 bottles of water (we drink a LOT, it is so crucial to stay hydrated.) The total was 3,000 shillings, which is 3 Canadian dollars. Food is so cheap here, the pizza was a standard (medium), so that is an excellent price..

We came back to the hotel and rested, bought some postcards and filled them outand then decided to walk to the bus station and pre-purchase our tickets for the bus trip to Arusha after we return from Zanzibar.

Oh, but I forgot to tell about the ferry docks. As we were walking around today we decided to check out the ferry area so that we'd know where to go on the AM we left for Zanibar. It was easy to find, just a few blocks from the hotel, maybe a 15 minute walk, but talk about dirty and chaotic...people hollering to "come into my place, I give you the best deal, you go now?" We'd say "No, we are going on Thursday." and we'd get a multitude of responses: "You go today, you come into my office, I give you the best price, you come with me, come now, come now." It wasn't scary at all, just frustrating and annoying. Everything is "pressure, pressure" here, and it's hard to concentrate. We ended up at least knowing where the ticket office was, and then we sped away from there.

I have only 5 more minutes on this computer, so must close for now. More tomorrow!