On my own...

February 9, 2019

On my own….

Today I decided that it was time for me to venture alone downtown and back.  So this morning, I wandered out across the highway and caught a dala dala. When they are packed with 25 people, they are quite uncomfortable but I was lucky and caught one with only about 12-15 people. The young man who slaps the door seemed to understand where I wanted to get off so all was well.  Then I walked for about 20 minutes to get to the Elephant roundabout and easily found the Boma Museum. (Dala dalas aren’t allowed in the downtown area so one must get as close as possible and walk.) The Boma Museum is housed in a complex of buildings which were built by the Germans in about 1880 when they grabbed Tanzania as one of their colonies.  They lost it to the British in 1919 after the first world war. It’s now a Natural History Museum with a few interesting animals in the garden.

Entrance

Main Building

When I arrived, I paid 14,000 TZS or about $6.00. There was a tour guide who was very good. I shared the tour with a couple of young women who showed up soon after I did.  I noticed that they didn’t speak English and I was surprised to discover that I understood most of what they were saying. I asked, “Why do I understand you? Are you from Italy?"  (Good guess.) “Si,” they said. My Spanish from decades ago came to the surface of my brain at just the right moment. It’s very close to Italian.

Like I said, the guide was very good. One of the women seemed to be some kind of scientist because she kept asking him for the latin name/genus of some of the animals. And at one point they were talking about the periodic table of elements when we were shown some calcite minerals. The guide knew all the answers to her questions. Many of the dead and stuffed animals I had seen on safari so that wasn’t too interesting—except for the warthog. I didn’t get a good close up of a warthog. This one was stuffed. They are so ugly, they’re cute.

The real live animals included several tarapins, an eagle, and a very interesting stork. All of them I saw up close. Sorry, no photos.

When the tour was over, the guide asked us for his fee. I didn’t know there was a fee for the tour.  I asked him what the usual was and he said 20,000 TZS. I laughed. NOT!!! That’s almost $9.00 –more than the entrance fee.  I was thinking along the lines of 2000 and I gave him 5000.  John later confirmed that 2000 would have been sufficient. We both laughed at the 20,000. Some people are just silly.

After the museum, I was really really hungry.  I wanted to go to the buffet at Naaz that John had told me about, but they didn’t have one when I walked by.  I ended up going to Fifi’s which isn’t all that good….just expensive. I did pick up some bread there. The loaf I bought when I got here a month ago got a bit moldy in my fridge so I decided another one is in order. I don’t eat much bread, I guess. I’m hoping to have avocado toast. The avocados here are about as big as a large pear and cost less than 50¢ each. The bread is made locally. 

After Fifi’s, I walked down to Rushdah (spelling?) which is a “supermarket” with lots and lots of stuff. BUT it wasn’t open. On Saturdays, many businesses close in early-afternoon.  AARGH!  My bad. I went over to Dolly’s and got some samosas. Then, I walked to another “supermarket” (small grocery store) which isn’t nearly as plentiful as Rushdah but at least I got some yogurt. When I was ready to go home, I was tired and h-o-t so I decided to have an adventure.  I caught a bajaji!!!  It was soooooo fun! There I was in the 3-wheeled vehicle with the door flaps open racing through town with a breeze swirling through the little cabin. A bajaji is, in theory, safer than a piki-piki (motorcycle that doesn’t follow the rules of the road) and cheaper than a taxi. And of course, a bajaji is way safer than walking because feet are  the most dangerous mode of transportation. (Today, I almost got run over while I was in the middle of a crosswalk and a car that was stopped for pedestrians decided to go before I’d crossed. I could have reached out in front of me and touched the car. And I thought the piki-pikis were bad!) 

OK, I digress.The bajaji whizzed through town, and I noticed whizzed through a red light at an intersection but, hey, it worked. I got safely home. The driver charged me 2000 more than John was charged for pretty much the same trip. I guess I got the old lady Wazungu rate.

Here’s a photo of the driver of the bajaji as he dropped me off at Kundayo.  It really was soooooooooo fun!!!

My iPhone is telling me that my storage is full. That's probably why sometimes it won't even open and other times, the camera won't work.  I deleted practically all the videos and many many photos and apps and music and it still says it’s full. So, I might be limiting my photo taking if I have to use my heavier and larger camera. Bummer! Looks like I needed to delete yet more safari pics....or not go crazy taking them in the first place.