Paka, Tumbili and the Beach

First things first: I love my Tanzania jersey that I bought so much that I wore it for 3 days in a row.  Well also I was travelling and didn't have a lot of options as far as changing clothes... But still.

Day One

After checking in at the backpackers' hotel we walked to the bus station to get tickets for the next day. It was quite and adventure to get there. The whole time we had to dodge cars, vans, piki piki (motorcycles) and people yelling "mzungu!" There are no stop signs, no street lights, no crosswalks and pedestrians don't really have the right of way so you just have to keep your eyes open and take your chances when walking.

Once we got to the bus station we were immediately swarmed by people asking where we were going. Two men lead us to a tiny booth and told the man there that we wanted to go to Tanga. The man at the booth didn't speak or really understand English so the men who had greeted us translated and I just used a lot of pointing and hand signals. Our efforts got us 3 tickets to Tanga for $10 each. Ten bucks for an eight hour bus ride: not to shabby.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped in a couple of shops. In one shop the guy told us "Today prices are cheap! Tomorrow they will be more expensive." Then, realizing he had just told us his things would be expensive he added "only a little more." I also tried to stop and watch some men who were making tire shoes but they started laughing at me and stopped working to watch me. They tried to talk to me in Swahili but I didn't understand enough to explain that I just wanted to watch so I walked away.

The toilets at backpackers' were very interesting. About half of them were situated so that you could barely sit on them because they were so close to the wall. Also, most of them sprayed water all over the seat when you flushed. I thought people were just peeing all over the seat and I was really confused how girls had managed to get pee on the whole toilet seat.

Day Two

On the walk to the bus station we were swarmed by even more people than the day before. They all wanted to know where we were going and help us buy tickets. I ended up just pointing to my bag and saying "ticket" every time someone walked up and asked where we were going. When we got to the bus station getting on the bus was surprisingly easy. And once we were on the bus, other than the people standing next to the bus trying to sell snacks and drinks who kept trying to get our attention, no one bothered us.

The bus was a very interesting experience. First, they played a cheesy asian action movie with english subtitles of the first few hours. Second, every time the bus slowed down in a town area people would run up the the bus yelling and trying to sell snacks, drinks, and groceries to the passengers. Third, the bus crashed:. A truck in front of us stopped and I don't know if the bus driver wasn't paying attention or he'd been driving too closely to the truck to stop but we swerved off into a ditch. Luckily the bus was large enough that we just hit the far side of the ditch and didn't really fall in so the driver just backed right out again. Fourth, the bus only stopped once in the 8 hour trip for a bathroom break. Five hours into the trip the bus stopped and everyone got off: we got off too and just hoped the bus wouldn't leave us. I bought a skewer of beef which was delicious.

When we got to Tanga we were so confused. The bus stopped but we didn't know where we were in Tanga so we had no idea where we were trying to go. I tried to ask the man behind us using a map and simple swahili but he gave us a complex swahili answer and I had no idea what he said. Then I leaned out the window and asked the men who were standing there. One was a taxi driver and he recognized the hotel that we were trying to get to and said that he would take us. By the time that we got to the front of the bus he was standing at the front steps yelling "Me first! Me first! Remember?"

The whole taxi situation was very confusing. When we got in the taxi the man we had talked to got in the drivers seat but then another man ran up, the first man got up, and the new man got behind the wheel. The first man ended up sitting in the passenger seat. For all we knew the taxi could have been going anywhere but then we started to see a couple of streets that we could find on the map. From those streets we could see that we were going the right way. Suddenly we passed the hotel. The driver stopped at the next hotel and the passenger told us "this is a good place for white people." The place looked nice but it was more like a motel and that didn't seem as safe as the other one. Luckily, when we explained to them that we had reservations at the hotel we had just passed they took us back there.

From the lawn of the hotel we could see the Indian Ocean. At dinner we watched a guard chase and scold vervet monkeys that were invading the lawn. There were also cats everywhere and they surrounded us as soon as we got food. The staff kept coming by and chasing the cats away too.

Our room had air conditioning and a tv. Both were amazing luxuries :D

Day Three

We woke up too late for breakfast but we had some food in the room so it was okay. After we snacked we walked down the road to check out our beach options. The first thing we ran into on the road was a giant snail. Its body was about four inches and it had a huge conical shell. After we moved on from the snail, we saw lots of random paths that disappeared into the trees towards the beach but we weren't sure what we would run into if we went down there so we kept walking. We found a small beach that was 300 tzs for the day (~20 cents), a yacht club that was 2,500 tzs for the day (~$1.25), and a public beach that smelled disgusting but had a lot of cool shells.

On the walk back to the hotel I stopped at a little duka for a coke. We had to sit at the shop while I drank my coke so that I could return the bottle and get my change. There was a really nice cat there who actually rubbed up against our legs and liked being petted.

Back at the hotel we sat down for lunch in the pavilion. Meals here take a very long time to come if you order them at a restaurant so we just sat and soaked up the atmosphere. The Tanga area was so gorgeous with all of the baobabs and palm trees, the ocean view, and the breeze coming off the water. When lunch came it was delicious. I ordered a tomato and cucumber salad. It was really just a large plate of sliced cucumbers and salads and a roll but I've been craving fresh veggies all trip so I loved it. The other girls got ice cream for lunch. It was a huge dish filled with strawberry ice cream. I tried it and it was delicious.

When we started thinking about dinner Courtney's only comment was "we can go to dinner and then watch another movie!" We loved having tv. Haha. At dinner we watch a gecko climbing on the ceiling as we ate. The cats begged the whole time but they didn't bother us too much. We enjoyed the entertainment. When we were done eating and got up from the table the cats swarmed the table looking for any bits of food we might have left behind.

After dinner I was sitting in bed messing with my phone and I realized that the random thing on the top that I couldn't identify was a flashlight. A flashlight on a phone, what a brilliant idea! It saved me a couple of times when the power randomly went out when I was in the bathroom.

Day Four

We got up in time for breakfast! It was a good thing too because they had toast, fresh fruit and cereal with COLD MILK!!! I ate about 5 bowls of cereal because it was the first time cold milk and cereal were available here. I made myself sick because I ate so much food.

After breakfast we all passed out for a couple of hours and then went to the pool. The pool was gorgeous. It was clean and cool but not too cold. There were pool chairs, palm trees, and a view of the ocean.

We tried to ask the hotel staff if we could get snorkling equipment but they just seemed really confused. They just made a funny face and said "snork?"

At lunch the cats were extra brave and the monkeys decided to see if they could get food too. When I tried to shoo the cats away one of them thought I was throwing them food so they clawed me. But I guess its kind of my fault because I had thrown then food at one point... They were so cute though! Little calico and tabby kittens... I couldn't help myself. After a while the monkeys realized we had food and they came over too. At first it was cute- just one monkey sitting a few tables away from us- but then he started moving closer and more of them joined him. The monkeys chased the cats away. We waved at one of the waitresses and yelled "tumbili!" She just laughed and sauntered her way over. When she got to us she said "they aren't afraid of girls..." A little while later a man came over and shooed them away. They returned as soon as he walked away but then he got a sling shot and that chased them off for the rest of the meal. Can you imagine if part of your job was to chase monkeys away from guests??

After lunch we walked into town. On the walk into town a caravan of cars with a police escort passed us. A man told us that the caravan was for the president's wife. We didn't really know where we were going so we stopped and asked a woman who said hi to us. She was like "oh, the market? This way. I'll show you." At first I was freaked out that she just stopped what she was doing to show us the way but then I remembered that people are just like that here. One of the other girls got freaked out though so when we passed a fruit stand I just thanked the woman and said that we would stop there instead. I was frustrated that the other girl was being so nervous but at the same time I wasn't going to make her go anywhere she wasn't comfortable and I didn't want to keep going by myself.

On the walk back to the hotel we stopped in a park. The parks in Tanga were beautiful. They were the first public parks, like those in america with paths and benches, that I've seen here. After we left the park we went by a baobab tree that had pods on it. I wanted to get one so I stopped and tried to pick one. They were very velvety though so when I jumped I couldn't get a good enough hold on one of them to pull it off the branch.

Day Five

We had the breakfast buffet again but this time I also ordered eggs. The eggs were normal scrambled eggs but there was a mysterious soggy thing in the middle. It tasted kind of like chicken broth but I have absolutely no idea what it actually was. During breakfast we watch as the hotel staff set up the lawn for some sort of large event. We couldn't tell what it was going to be but it looked like a wedding.

After breakfast we went to the beach. As we were leaving the hotel a woman and the front desk asked us where we were going. When we said the beach she said "you don't like our pool?" We laughed and I told her "I just want to touch the ocean!"

We went to the yacht club beach. The best part about the yacht club is the way that Tanzanians say yacht. They pronounce every letter here so that combined with their accent means it comes out as a pretty much unrecognizable word. The second best thing about the yacht club was a sign that said "We like dogs, you like dogs, but no dogs allowed." There was a picture of a german shepard on the sign; I have not seen a single dog that looks like a german shepard in Tanzania.

The Indian Ocean was amazing. The shore was rocky but the water was warm and got deep really quickly so you didn't have to touch the bottom very long. The water was very salty but that may just be because I'm used to Lake Michigan.

There was a floating dock so we swam out to it. There were a couple of local guys hanging out on the dock so we talked to them for a while. We talked about the differences between Tanzania and America. They were freezing but we were laughing because it was about 70 degrees and partly sunny. One of the guys was training to be captain and he had very good english. He asked us how you can tell the difference between Americans and Tanzanians. Courtney misunderstood him and pointed to her skin. He said "No no! There are negra Americans!" I said attitude: Americans are much more stressed and self-involved. He liked that answer.

It started to cool off so we headed back to the shore. I shell hunted for a while. I mostly found clam shells, tiny hermit crabs, rocks and little broken pieces of shells. I also almost fell because I made the mistake of walking on a cement platform that turned out to be surprisingly slippery.

One of the boys, Alli, asked us if he could come to our hotel and see us tonight. Courtney and I both paused awkwardly and then I told him "no, we're leaving tomorrow so we'll be busy packing." When we were walking back to the hotel he drove by us with some of his friends and we waved and kept walking. Things got interesting when we got back to our hotel and saw their car in the parking lot. I wasn't convinced that it was the same car but then we walked into the hotel and Alli was standing in one of the hallways. Then I was creeped out. A while later someone knocked on our door but I couldn't tell who it was so I didn't answer. Then we got a call. Courtney told me to answer it so I did. At first I wasn't sure who it was but then he said "this is Alli. My friend is staying here. Can I come to your room and say goodbye?" At that point I was scared and mad. I said "we told you we didn't want to see you at our hotel! Goodbye." When we went to dinner I was still kinda freaked out but no one bothered us. A few days later Alli sent Courtney a facebook message and apologized multiple times. I feel a little bad but I DID NOT want to be followed to my room!


So... to back track a little a couple of other interesting things happened on the walk back to the hotel. First, as we were walking I was watching the ground a lot to make sure I didn't trip on a root or stone. While watching the ground I saw part of a shell sticking up. It looked really big so I made Courtney stop, grabbed a stick, and started digging. Courtney was laughing at me and I was a little afraid a car might hit us cause we were so close to the road but it was totally worth it. I pulled out a snail shell that's at least as big as my fist. It was packed with dirt but I took it back to the hotel and washed it out. The top point is broken off and there's a chip on the bottom rim but it's really in great shape (especially considering it was buried on the side of the road). The second cool thing on that walk was a parade of wedding cars. The first car in the line was a pickup with a brass band in the bed. There were men with trumpets and trombones and when they passed us they turned and leaned so that they were playing directly at us. It was very funny.


We felt like complete intruders at dinner. The lawn was covered in chairs and chairs, there was a platform draped in fabric, and there were strings of lights running over everything. It was gorgeous. The wedding reception was in full swing and there was a constant stream of guests walking past our table to join the party.  Most of the guests ignored us but a few of them gave us weird looks like "why are you here?" We just kinda slumped in our chairs and observed the party while we ate, trying not to be wedding crashers. There was a lot of dancing. People danced their way down the aisle when the first group came in. Then when the bride came in a mini marching back announced her arrival and she danced her way down the center aisle with a bunch of people dancing after her and everyone else waving white handkerchiefs in the air.