OK, safari is over and we've been on our own in Tanzania for about a week now. We feel a bit better about being here. We know enough Swahili to say hello to all we meet and reply to their hellos. We know numbers. Most everyone we interact with knows English. It's still hard when you leave the hostel and get all sorts of people who want to sell you something, and sometimes no just doesn't work. :-( And, we've been ripped off because we are seen as rich tourists and we even got robbed! The snatching took place at the Patisserie in Arusha, a very popular tourist snackery. Because of this we let our guard down and someone walked off with a small canvas bag drapped over my chair while I was in the restroom and Froody was on the compy. Oh, well. Luckily they didn't get my daybag with some of our emergency stash in it and all they got was toilet paper, shampoo, and conditioner.
But I can't say enough about how nice almost everyone is. OK, not everyone, but a real decent chunk are. And, even though it's the dry season and everyone lives on a dusty road EVERYONE starts the day in clean, fresh clothes. Rarely do I see anyone in dirty, tatty clothing. Each morning shopkeepers or the hired help are busy sweeping the store fronts (with short, back-bending brooms) and every hotel room we've been in has been spotless.
But, sometimes, when we change cities, it happens all over again, that feeling of having bitten off way more than I can chew. Last night, after arriving in the mountain village of Lushoto, I was like, "Boy, all my previous travel experience has not. prepared. me. for. this." But, as my mother would probably say, "what doesn't kill me makes me stronger." So, my soul should be in great shape by the end of this trip!
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