This isn't posted chronologically, I know, but I wrote it the day I left Tanzania and just got to post it now.
I have mixed feelings about Tanzania. I'll talk about what I didn't like first. Keep in mind, nothing here was awful, except for that bus ride between Arusha and Dar and me freaking out about the ATM snafu. [Later addition: add the Dar airport to the list of things that are awful. Have you seen The Fifth Element? Remember that crappy airport in the movie: dark, dirty and full of garbage? I think the set designers modeled it after the Dar Airport.] But I didn't really care for the city I spent the last 3 nights in, and that was a drag. Had I known better, I would have skipped Dar or at least reduced my time there.
I had expected Tanzania to do a better job with its tourists, considering that it gets over 1 million visitors each year. Things like, better roads between major cities, a clean airport, better bus instructions, better signs, etc. One example, which I forgot to mention before, involves the National Museum. It's undergoing some renovations, but instead of blocking off a part of it for construction, or erecting signs pointing to the entrance, the entire complex is surrounded by corrugated steel 12 feet high, with (if you looks really closely) has one tiny spray-painted graffiti that reads "museum" and has an arrow pointing to the right. It took Abdul and I 10 minutes to get inside because we couldn't find the freaking door.
The not-so-bad: The food was fine, not bland, and I liked the few swahili dishes I got to try. But almost no place served local food. There's a lot of indian and chinese food, and last night I ate "pizza." I would have preferred to try more local cuisine, but other than that, no complaints about the food.
The locals (both in Dar and in Arusha) weren't particularly interested in getting to know visitors. I don't mind that or think it's bad, as that's my approach to tourists in DC. But the Tanzanians I interacted with for business or to ask directions, etc., were generally polite and mildly friendly and liked to say "welcome" a lot, so no complaints generally. My only beef with (some of) the people in Tanzania is:
The people who want your tourist dollars can be kind of pushy. Sometimes they're just... different from what I'm used to. In the States, vendors don't really have to push their wares on the buyers. We just buy. Or the pushing is less invasive, like advertising on TV or a gentle encouragement to look at what's available (I'm thinking of things like art fairs). But anyplace in Tanzania that has tourists has dozens of people trying to sell wares. And they'll come right up to you and show you each and every trinket they're dragging around. And of course, tourists don't know how much things should cost, so people who make purchases tend to get ripped off. I guess the latter is a fact of life when you're a tourist, though. And no vendors in Tanzania were like those awful awful camel and horse men at the Pyramids.
The good: The safari greatly exceeded my expectations! And I mean, by a lot. Had I known how much I'd enjoy it, I would have budgeted more time for it, especially since it cost me several hundred dollars less than I expected to pay (although it still wasn't cheap). When I picked Tanzania as a destination it was because several friends raved about it, and everyone said I had to book a safari because that's just what you do when you visit Tanzania. So I booked one. But I didn't expect how much I'd like watching the animals or how much I'd enjoy the hours in the car each day, taking it easy and watching the plains and the bush roll by. I also hadn't counted on being pampered and taken care of so much, and as I noted in an earlier post, that felt really nice. It helped that the other four people on my tour were really nice, too. I may never make it back to Tanzania, but if I ever take safari, I'd make it a long one.
So it's hard to say how much I liked Tanzania. The part I liked, I really liked. The rest was either average or below average. The average and below average did not negate the good.
I have mixed feelings about Tanzania. I'll talk about what I didn't like first. Keep in mind, nothing here was awful, except for that bus ride between Arusha and Dar and me freaking out about the ATM snafu. [Later addition: add the Dar airport to the list of things that are awful. Have you seen The Fifth Element? Remember that crappy airport in the movie: dark, dirty and full of garbage? I think the set designers modeled it after the Dar Airport.] But I didn't really care for the city I spent the last 3 nights in, and that was a drag. Had I known better, I would have skipped Dar or at least reduced my time there.
I had expected Tanzania to do a better job with its tourists, considering that it gets over 1 million visitors each year. Things like, better roads between major cities, a clean airport, better bus instructions, better signs, etc. One example, which I forgot to mention before, involves the National Museum. It's undergoing some renovations, but instead of blocking off a part of it for construction, or erecting signs pointing to the entrance, the entire complex is surrounded by corrugated steel 12 feet high, with (if you looks really closely) has one tiny spray-painted graffiti that reads "museum" and has an arrow pointing to the right. It took Abdul and I 10 minutes to get inside because we couldn't find the freaking door.
The not-so-bad: The food was fine, not bland, and I liked the few swahili dishes I got to try. But almost no place served local food. There's a lot of indian and chinese food, and last night I ate "pizza." I would have preferred to try more local cuisine, but other than that, no complaints about the food.
The locals (both in Dar and in Arusha) weren't particularly interested in getting to know visitors. I don't mind that or think it's bad, as that's my approach to tourists in DC. But the Tanzanians I interacted with for business or to ask directions, etc., were generally polite and mildly friendly and liked to say "welcome" a lot, so no complaints generally. My only beef with (some of) the people in Tanzania is:
The people who want your tourist dollars can be kind of pushy. Sometimes they're just... different from what I'm used to. In the States, vendors don't really have to push their wares on the buyers. We just buy. Or the pushing is less invasive, like advertising on TV or a gentle encouragement to look at what's available (I'm thinking of things like art fairs). But anyplace in Tanzania that has tourists has dozens of people trying to sell wares. And they'll come right up to you and show you each and every trinket they're dragging around. And of course, tourists don't know how much things should cost, so people who make purchases tend to get ripped off. I guess the latter is a fact of life when you're a tourist, though. And no vendors in Tanzania were like those awful awful camel and horse men at the Pyramids.
The good: The safari greatly exceeded my expectations! And I mean, by a lot. Had I known how much I'd enjoy it, I would have budgeted more time for it, especially since it cost me several hundred dollars less than I expected to pay (although it still wasn't cheap). When I picked Tanzania as a destination it was because several friends raved about it, and everyone said I had to book a safari because that's just what you do when you visit Tanzania. So I booked one. But I didn't expect how much I'd like watching the animals or how much I'd enjoy the hours in the car each day, taking it easy and watching the plains and the bush roll by. I also hadn't counted on being pampered and taken care of so much, and as I noted in an earlier post, that felt really nice. It helped that the other four people on my tour were really nice, too. I may never make it back to Tanzania, but if I ever take safari, I'd make it a long one.
So it's hard to say how much I liked Tanzania. The part I liked, I really liked. The rest was either average or below average. The average and below average did not negate the good.
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