Somebody send a memo, white is not green!

My first week in Africa has been 50% sheer frustration and 50% sheer
bliss. But I'll get to that. After I got packed & ready to leave
Kathmandu, and enjoyed a couple of hours in the sun on a restaurant
balcony watching big clouds roll overhead, I stopped into the internet
place and checked my flight details. There was some glitch in the
airline's system showing the wrong info for the wrong day from what I
can guess, because it looked like my flight was going to be delayed by
a day. Outside the sky had darkened and the weather cooled and turned
to rain; meanwhile the cold I thought was gone had come back for one
last hurrah (seeming to be affected by the level of pollution I had
the pleasure of inhaling) so as I walked back to the hotel I was all
too ready to stumble back into my room and call it a day. But when I
called the airline to verify, they said everything was on schedule.
Time for a cup of tea with the guy running the hotel before the taxi
arrived, & then I was off.

I'd decided for the rest of the trip that I had better put myself on a
budget, which with a few buffers built in worked out to $20 per day
for the rest of the trip. When I arrived at the airport with just
enough cash in my pocket for a bite to eat, I was hit with an
unexpected passenger service charge (aka departure tax) of about $30.
Budget woes already! But there was some extra built into the visa
category, so I decided not to worry too much.

The overnight in the Doha airport went much better than expected, and
when a spot finally opened up in the Quiet Room I was surprised at how
the hours melted away in sleep. At some point during the flight I
looked out the window to see what looked like endless sand below,
flats and dunes with the occasional island of rock. Eventually the
rock hills thickened, and then we hit a desolate looking coastline.
When the map came up on screen a bit later it showed that we had
passed the red sea, and what I was looking at was probably Saudi
Arabia. There were tiny white spots of roofs, not enough even to call
clusters, just a few here and there, and I was marvelling at anyone
surviving in that kind of landscape. How I wanted to land and see it
up close!!

On arrival in Dar Es Salaam, I found that the visa fee which was
formerly $50 had just increased to $100. Budget woes again!! This was
foreshadowing perhaps, as I now have a feeling that Tanzania will suck
my bank account dry before I can get out! The taxi I got into town was
- well let's just say way too much for me - but having done no
planning in advance and not even having a guidebook for this part of
the trip, I was kind of stuck for knowing where to go. The driver
insisted that I stay out at some place called Kipepeo Beach. It didn't
sound very practical being away from town and any services; I was
planning to spend a day or two getting organized and then get out of
dodge. But after seeing the sandy and inviting coastline of Zanzibar
as we were landing, and secretly longing for some beach time, I was
able to be persuaded. After I got over the sticker shock of the cab
ride, I had to give my driver credit. He had brought me to a tropical
paradise!! Not only that, but they had $4 camp sites, so I was able to
sleep in my tent, which I've been missing so much!! Instead of two
nights I stayed five.

I went into the city one day to try and get some business done - i.e.
planning what to do for the Africa portion of the trip and how to pull
it off, but with little success. It's not the most stranger-friendly
city, and after a few hours I was dying to get back to the peaceful
realm of the beach.

There's a similar aspect of salesmanship to that of Nepal, except
without the underlying grace. Needless to say, this isn't a budget
traveller's dream come true. Being obviously (you might say
blindingly) foreign evidently means dollar signs, as prices go up to
exorbitant levels as soon they see your face. And it's impossible to
walk down the beach without being approached by... well almost
everyone. In Nepal I learned to just relax and enjoy the attention,
because you could get some good conversations out of people, and they
were nice even beyond the desire for money or more. But here I'm
starting to learn the opposite. Every time I try to be nice and return
a hello or talk for a minute, it turns into some kind of annoying
request. "Let me go with you." "We walk together now." "I meet you
tomorrow, ok?" "I come sleep with you tonight." (Literally.) Nature
abhors a vacuum, and apparently Tanzania abhors an unattached woman. I
started trying to ignore the men and just be friendly to the women and
kids. But a lot of the women say hi, only to laugh when I say hi back.
And the kids... I saw a few little dirty-but-rosy-faced Nepali kids
shyly come up and say, "One pen, one candy, one poto [photo]?" and
sometimes, "One rupee?" Always with meekness. But the kids here smile
and say, "Please give me mon-ney!" often laughing as they go. Not just
the little ones, but the older ones who should know better. Hordes of
school uniforms and clean faces laughing, "Give me mon-ney!" any time
you chance a glance or smile, even when you don't. So now I kind of
want to ignore everyone.

But then there were some of the NICEST people working where I was
staying at the beach. The guy at reception learned my name in the
first day, reminded me a lot of a friend too, really sweet. And then
there are these two absolutely lovely ladies. One of them I couldn't
have shared more than ten words with before I felt like she was a
sister. When I mentioned that I was leaving for a few days she took my
hand and told me she'd miss me. Oh yeah and did I mention that it was
a tropical paradise?? The Indian Ocean on calm days like a gigantic
bathtub, beautiful blue jellyfish floating nearby, palm trees along
the sand, bright turquoise water... And then there's the African music
playing when you walk past little shop fronts, one of my favorite
kinds of music, and churches dotted everywhere.

Half of the time I want to leave and never come back, half of the time
I want to move here.

So now I'm in Arusha, after a bus ride on which I'm pretty sure I was
the only tourist (which was great!) past the most amazing green
scenery, farms, red-earth houses with palm-frond roofs, plus two taxi
rides which have made me swear that I will try my best never to take a
taxi in this country again. The second one was plain robbery. Partly
my fault because I let him get away with not telling me the price
beforehand (and I know better!) but honestly I was not looking to be
taken for that kind of ride. It kind of embittered me toward this
place, and at the moment I'm back in a get-me-out-of-here phase. Once
I can swallow the gigantic pill of what it will cost me to get to the
parks, hopefully I can just relax and enjoy them and get into a better
frame of mind, out of the busy town.

My objectives now are to get to Serengetti and Ngorongoro Crater, and
the jazz festival in Cape Town, and whatever else happens happens. It
will be a tight squeeze financially, but if I spend some more time at
$4 camping beach paradise perhaps I can at least take a dent out of
some of the expense (a comparatively small dent, but optimism goes a
long way for the mental state if not for reality!).

Ooh, I've only got 15 minutes left on this computer and haven't done
any of my business yet! Best cut this one short. Speaking of cutting
things short, did I mention that I realized recently I've only got
four weeks in Africa, not five like I thought?