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Archive for October, 2007

the Fast Ferry

Jeff October 31st, 2007

Due to not being able to get the shipment out of customs last weekend, we found ourselves with some free time and decided to go over to Zanzibar to check it out. We missed the first ‘Fast Ferry’ (it is actually called Fast Ferry and is in fact quite fast; it takes 2 hours vs some ferries that take 3-8) due to our mis calculation that checking out of the hotel wouldnt take too long (45 minutes) so we jumped in a taxi and headed down to the port to see what we could find.

Getting out of the taxi, we immediately had about 15 guys rush over, imploring us to go to their ferry’s booth for the trip over. We fought our way to the fast ferry counter to see when the next one left and it wasn’t until about one so we listened to a couple guys that said they had a fast ferry that was leaving at 11 (it was 10:55) but we had to go now. So we rushed over to their booth, paid, and then heeding their yells to run faster, hustled through a couple security checkpoints and past some really dodgy looking buildings to end up at the port.

The boat they were running towards certainly did not look fast; it was essentially a barge that had an area for passengers and the end which was crammed full of people. Me, being the rookie to Africa and not being used to being taken advantage of, saw the plank that was extended towards the boat, estimated that it was about a three foot jump from the plank up onto the boat and started to run for it.

I don’t know what stopped me. Maybe it was my conscience, maybe it was me being out of shape or maybe it finally registered that this may not be the fast ferry after all. So I came to a screeching halt on the plank and had a look around. Noticing that Greg and Liz, the experienced traveler’s, were not on the plank but were in fact gazing at the boat with a ‘we’ve been had’ expression on their face, I exited the plank amidst lots of shouting in Swahili to watch the barge eeeaaassseee away from the dock. After watching it for 30 seconds it became painfully obvoious that yes we were in fact given the run around.

Liz is an absolute lifesaver as she can speak Swahili and was able to tell the guys that sold us the ticket to give us tickets to the proper ferry. So after a short jog, some excitement by the pier, and a little cajoling with the local ticket salesmen, we found ourself on the Flying Horse heading across to Zanzibar. (Dont let the name kid you; it wasn’t too fast either.)

Tanzania
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Pictures up

Jeff October 30th, 2007

The new pics are in the gallery. I havent taken as many as I would like yet but wanted to post a few so you can see some of the places over here. For some reason, when I upload the pictures I tell it to resize them to 1024×768 but they are getting resized to less than that. Sorry!

If you want to be notified when pics are uploaded, you can subscribe to the rss feed of the pictures by clicking the little orange icon in the address bar above just like you can the posts on this blog. That is, if you have Firefox …

Business Class

Jeff October 25th, 2007

Getting up on the morning of the 23rd was a bit strange as I had been up late the night before packing. It didnt really seem real that the time had finally come and I was actually going to Africa. I have to hand it to my mom, she wasnt even upset when she dropped me off at the airport. Good work ma!

For the first part of the plane ride from Seattle to Amsterdam, I sat next to a Canadian with dreadlocks. He was a really nice guy and we had a great conversation; he informed me of all sorts of interesting facts, the most notable being:

We (Americans) dont actually have to pay income taxes. To think that all these years I have just been donating to the cause! I wonder what GW will do when I ask for a refund?

About a half hour into the flight, it felt like the plane hit something and the safety video that was playing shut off. Then the captain came on and said that we were going to have to turn around and land in Seattle as we were having some electrical problems and ‘not to worry’. I wasn’t too excited about this as I only had 3 hours to catch my flight from AMS to Tanzania but what could i do? Then the little screen came on in front of me, started showing some DOS commands and the safety video came back up. The captain came back on and said that everything was sweet so we were turning back around to carry on with the flight.

The best part of this first flight was when Nancy (Jeff’s Mom’s friend) came back and got me to take me up to Business Class. It was so great to grab my stuff and walk past the aisles and aisles of envious faces up to the front of the plane. Not only did I get to sit in business class that has a chair which adjusts pretty much anyway you want it to, but there wasnt anyone sitting next to or behind me. I could recline all the way, bring the chair back up, and generally just do anything that I wanted to! The food was amazing and someone came by about every 15 minutes to ensure that I had everything that my little heart desired. When you asked for water, they gave you a whole bottle. (Not just the little half glass that is prone to spilling). I was able to watch about 3 movies on the way over with time for a few short naps and some reading. Towards the end of the flight, they came out with a hot towel and I had to surreptitiously glance at what my other friends in business class were doing as I had no idea what to do. Apparently it is to wipe your face with… Maybe from all that sweat you build up by flying?

The airport in Amsterdam is pretty cool. Almost more of a mall than an airport. They had a museum that was kinda fun to visit. It made me really wish that I could get out and have a look around. Maybe on the way back…

For the second leg of the journey, I was relegated back to coach. I wanted to cry at the injustice of it! This plane (MD-11?) didnt even have a screen for each person to control like the last one did; there was just one screen for every ten rows that happened to play the same movies i watched on the first flight. Bad luck. I may have to ask for my flights back as to how much it costs to upgrade to business class. I am spoiled now.

After many half naps and terrible airline meals later, we finally touched down in Dar es Salaam. The jetway was having difficulty so we had to deplane from the back which was almost more fitting. The temp was quite a bit different than when I got off the plane in AMS as it was very warm and humid for that late at night. As soon as I got off the plane I had those famous words go through my head, ‘We’re not in Kansas anymore…’.

I was so thankful that I already had my VISA as I was able to walk right up to the immigration person and after a quick chat with her supervisor (I think she was wondering what I was going to be doing for 56 days in the country) I was through and getting my bags. Jovine was there at the airport to take me to the hotel. I haven’t been out of the hotel yet really as yesterday I got up late, then met with Greg to discuss some details of this project. Today we are actually heading out to check on the equipment and meet with Simbanet so it will be good to see some of the city.