Saturday, June 26, 2010

Independence.....


I am very proud of Kimber and myself. We went from vowing to never leave our apartment, to never leaving without Ilse, to only leaving with each other, to going out alone (during the day). Last week I went to Arusha alone. I had been craving breakfast food and wanted to do some more shopping so I went after my early morning shift while Kimber was working the day shift. Our trip is so quickly coming to an end that we are both trying to make the most of every moment left.

I hopped on a dala dala (alone, not really alone, there were 26 people (25 africans and me) crammed into a VW size van, it was hilarous) around 8:30 and headed to Arusha. I felt surprisingly okay and not scared to be alone. (Side story: I went with Ilse last week to get her bus ticket to Pangani and visit and adoption lawyer. We went to a part of Arusha that I have never seen and only locals go to. I have never been more scared, uncomfortable, and clueless in my life. But I survived.) The dala dala took about an hour and I got off at the Sanawari stop. Walked to Africafe to have my pancakes, eggs and homefries I have been craving and guess what? Typical Africa style the stove was broke and they were not serving any hot food. I was so sad but settled on a Lemon Poppy Seed muffin that was really good. I also love their sweet tea. After breakfast I walked to the Massai market and purchased a few things I wanted to get before I left. My bargaining skills have improved and I think Africans respect you more when you are alone. It kind of shows that you are not scared and a clueless tourist. I think I got better prices on things since I was alone and not with a group. I spent about an hour there and then went to Precision Air to see if I could get some information about our flight to Zanzibar. There is always quite a line but I was in no hurry that day so I waited. I got the times and price of flights and headed off. I was very tempted to buy a USA Today while I waited but was scared it would end up being from like 1998. It is so weird having no clue what is going on in the States or the world. On my way back to the dala dala stop, I exchanged some money (one of my 20’s was slightly torn and they would not take it, so annoying), and stopped by our safari company to see how we needed to pay them (USD, TSH, or card). Believe it or not there are two safari companies called Bobby Safari and they are right next to each other, I went in the wrong one so had a hard time getting the information I needed. I proceeded to the dala dala and was back at COL by 12:30 when Kimber had her lunch break. We made guacamole sandwiches which were amazing (I have included a photo so you can be jealous).

I feel like now that we have become so comfortable and confident we will have a much better time on safari and in Zanzibar. Don’t worry, we’re not being stupid, we are just able to really enjoy our adventures since we have figured things out around here.

We leave for our 3 day safari on Tuesday, I work the day shift tomorrow and Monday, then head to Zanzibar on July 2, have 3 nights in Paje, one night in Stone Town, take the ferry to Dar es Salaam for the night before we fly leave on the 7th, head to Joburg then home to ATL! I am so excited and sad and in disbelief that our trip is coming to an end. We both love these babies so much and can’t wrap our minds around not seeing them again or hearing their cries throughout the day. This has been an amazing few weeks, we have both been forever changed and wish we could stay longer and do more.

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