Bye bye Zanzibar and hello Arusha!

As always I came to Tanzania with no plans but with the vague idea of going to Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. At the hostel in Zanzibar I met so many people and got many ideas; I could have gone to Dar by ferry and then Iringa, and Mbeya, and finally Malawi but while sitting in the common area I met a guy who told me about FlightLink promotion: Zanzibar to Arusha flight for $30!!!! That’s cheaper than the ferry! So it was an easy decision to call flight link the next day and reserve a spot.

The reservation wasn’t as smooth as I planned since the company lied to me because I wasn’t a local and they said that magically the flight was full and that the offer was for locals only. I said to the women that I had all the time I wanted and that I could wait for the cheap flight for the next day, or the day after, or the day after but she said that the offer was for locals only, good thing I had forwarded the picture of the flyer and I insisted she read the fine print and gave me a spot at that price for the day after tomorrow. A couple of emails later and an online payment I had my $30 flight to Arusha!

On my last day in Stone Town I met a girl who was taking my same flight so we decided to share an “unofficial” taxi for 7,000tsh ($3.15) each.

 We arrived to the airport 90 minutes  before departure as they had asked us but the counter had nobody from our airline. The domestic departure terminal was tiny and was dealing with a lot of flights and people. Flights were cancelled, people were switched from one airline to the other, locals were at the bottom of the priority list compared to tourists, it was madness!

Finally 45 minutes before our departure time we heard somebody scream "FLIGHT LINK TO DAR 2pm" and went on the queue. It turned out that flight link did not have paper to give us boarding passes nor put a tag on our luggage but they said they would "take care of it." 
After some time we finally were ready to board and still had no boarding passes, they screamed the flight info again,  checked our name in a pen and paper list they had and let us into the bus. I asked about my luggage to make sure it wouldn't stay in Dar and the guy said is was all taken care of... I could only hope for the best! 

We arrived at the mini airplane and the seats were free for all; our journey to Dar lasted 20 minutes and after landing some people got off and some of us stayed on to go to Arusha. People actually had to go to the back on the plane and fetch their bag so I was glad mine could not stay in Dar.
Airplanes in Africa are just like the busses, they go from place to place and some people get out, some people come in... very strange, but it works!

Zebra stripped airplane!

I arrived in Arusha, waited for the guys from the airport to wheel my luggage to the waiting room and left. 



 Taxi drivers wanted $20 for a 7km ride but I already knew that the dala dalas go by the main street 1.4 kms away so I decided to walk on the dirt road until I reached the “freeway.”


On the 10-15 min walk I had at least 5 cars and bikes ask me if I needed transportation but I kindly said no and kept on walking.

I arrived to the main street and was waiting for the dala dala and asked a guy if he was going to the center and he said yes so I knew I could follow him. First dala dala didn’t stop because it was full, second dala data didn’t stop because it didn’t want to, third dala dala stopped but all I could see were butts against the windows… How on earth did they expect me to get in when it was already full? In tanzania I guess when there is a will there is a way but we decided not to go with them.

Ten seconds later a car came from the direction of the airport and stopped. It turned out to be the guys who worked for the airline and recognized me and stopped to give me a lift! So the guy and I jumped in the car and they dropped me off at my hostel… how nice is that?

Arusha is where most of the safaris in Tanzania leave from so now the question is… to safari or not to safari?

I thought and thought and thought about this one. I've had amazing safaris is southern Africa but wasn’t totally convinced about doing another again, mostly because of the money factor but at the end I gave in and decided to join Jay, whom I met in Zanzibar, and his girlfriend for their safari with another couple. My new friend Julia, from NY, decided to also join so it made the decision even easier.

Jay’s safari wasn’t leaving for a full week so after two nights in Arusha I decided to head over to Moshi after 2 days in Arusha.

While in Arusha I walked around town to check it out and let me tell you... it was a mess!




Supermarkets were incredibly empty:


But the local market was a total show. I arrived and pretended not to speak english because people bother you too much but of course there ws one guy who could speak a little spanish and wouldn't leave me alone. I walked around the market and at one point a saw a guy with a microphone singing and so many vendors singing and dancing, it was quite the sight! It turned out to be a pastor who was singing and preaching! It was very funny to see!







My favorite part of Arusha was hands down the Indian restaurant! The food was so amazingly good! The restaurant, Choice,  is owned by an Indian couple from Ahmedabad and the wife cooks real authentic indian food that brought me back to the streets of India! So delicious!




After Moshi and the safari my friend Julia and I returned to Arusha and stayed with Chelsea and James at their hostel Maisha which was so dreamy compared to my other two awful accommodations in Arusha.

While in Maisha I met the helper's daughter who was so beautiful and smart. The 4 year old went to the local school and could speak good english and say and write the whole alphabet without any help... I was impressed!



She stayed with me while I worked on my computer and she jumped into my lap and got my phone... So cute!

Julia and I went to check out the Shanga foundation, an organization that employs Tanzanians with disabilities to create art pieces from recycling materials. They do weaving, glass blowing, beading, and create beautiful pieces sold at mzungu prices!

Back to riding dala dalas!

Julia excited to visit Shanga! haha

From Shanga we decided to walk to the Cultural Heritage center since we got ripped off by the dala dala driver thinking he got us a transfer but we had to pay twice to get to our destination!




We didn't really know what this cultural heritage center was going to be but we thought it would be a museum but instead it was a showcase of African art. The paintings, masks, and other items were very beautiful and showed a lot of the African culture through art, some of the paintings were stunning and the beadings were spectacular!

Julia admiring the African masks, they all had a little story with it.

From there we decided to walk all the way back to Maisha, a 30-40 min walk (more if you get lost like we did!) and we passed through town and the many markets.

I was shocked to see all the shoes that are sold on the streets! Are tanzanians centipedes? I have no idea why they need so many shoes! The cool thing is that most of them are used shoes so in a way they are contributing to this idea of reduce, reuse, recycle!

All used shoes!

Sugar cane anyone?

Arusha itself wasn't all that interesting but it is one of the main volunteer places in Tanzania and the most common place where Safaris leave from so unless you are volunteering or going to a safari I would skip it!