February 2, Thursday

February 2, Thursday

I can hear the Muslim call to prayers. I can deal with most of these, even if they blare out on loudspeakers into the street, but REALLY, the one at 5 am I could do without !

I met a nice Canadian couple this morning, Trevor & Betty who live near Colona BC. They leave tomorrow on a 2-week safari.

 Cultural Heritage Centre in Arusha, Tanzania

 The traffic and smog along the main road into town 

 Street scenes on the drive into town last night

 Potatoes anyone ?

 The view from my window.  Mount Meru in the distance

 The view on the other side of the football stadium 

 The view from my other window

 Arusha in a downpour mid-afternoon ! 

I asked at the reception desk at the hotel where I could find an ATM, as well as purchase sheets and a blanket. I’m almost certain that I will not be able to find a sleeping bag here and I need something to sleep in while camping. She indicated that she would send one of the men who work at the hotel with me to assist, so at 10 am, off I went with a man in blue coveralls who spoke no English. But he took me straight to the ATM machine about 6 blocks away and pointed out a shop that sold sheets and blankets along the way. It took less than 20 minutes and we were heading back to the hotel with my purchased supplies when I spotted some ladies with their sewing machines set up in front of their homes. So I stopped and got one of the sheets sewn up like a bag. Mission accomplished. The sheets however are made out of course material that could be used for curtains, and the blanket does not say what it is made of ! ! ! There is probably a bit of wool (I’m allergic and it’s a bit itchy) and I probably don’t want to know what the other fibres are. PIC but it did turn out OK and I’m set for camping.

 Lady who sewed one of my sheets into a bag

 Voila !  My sleeping bag is ready.

 The street outside Arusha Crown Hotel

 Arusha Crown Hotel

When I walked back into the hotel, the Canadian couple were there and we had another good chat. They were setting out to walk around so I decided to go with them and explore. We retraced my steps toward the Bank and ATM, which was on a much better street and walked along the shops there. We were immediately accosted by one young man who wanted to show us around. He was soon joined by others and before we knew it there were 4 of them following us wanting to be our personal guides. I kept saying that we were just walking around and did not need guides, but they would not leave. I spotted a shop that sold school supplies and went in to purchase some items for the village school we would be visiting during the safari. The gentlemen in the shop were very interesting and we chatted for awhile. Unfortunately when we came back out of the shop the 4 “helpful” young men were still there. It did not matter how adamant we were about not needing their help, they would not go away. It became very aggravating; if I had been alone I might have caused a scene to get rid of them. We ducked into a pharmacy to purchase some items but when we came back out again the “helpful” young men were still there. Trevor wanted to see the market place, so we were led to it. I became very claustrophobic in the narrow spaces between all the sellers, and it was worse once we got into an area that was roofed. The young men would not shut up, regardless of what we said or did, so we ended up heading quickly back to the hotel to escape them. I’ve been in many places before where venders want to sell you their wares, and although they can be insistent, it was nothing like these four guys. I felt harassed. As we neared the hotel of course they insisted on being paid for their time. I was adamant that I WOULD NOT PAY FOR SOMETHING I MADE CLEAR over and over again, that I DID NOT WANT or NEED. Betty and I quickly made it into the hotel and poor Trevor was left to deal with the young guys. It was a very unpleasant experience and that is very unfortunate because left on our own we would have stayed out longer and possibly purchased some items. It took me a while to calm down.  

I had planned on going to visit the Cultural Heritage Centre which I had seen on the drive in from the airport, but I really needed a shower so I went up to my room to shower and rest.  I decided that I needed to rinse out the clothes I’d been wearing that day and while I was at it, I rinsed the sheets I had purchased as well.  

I never did make it to the Cultural Heritage Centre.  Maybe when I get back from the safari.