Yes, really. Today we have done 4, 6, 2 and 3 (in that order). We went to Bagamoyo on 4 and 6 (you have to change at Mwenge, on the outskirts of Dar), got a taxi to the Catholic Mission, which is where all them explorers set off from (Burton, Speke, Stanley) and where Livingstone’s body was kept before being shipped home. Then we took 2 wheels, as I introduced Eleanor to the world of piki-pikis (motorbike taxis) down to the harbour. She was very glad most of the road was tarred. It should probably be “harbour” in inverted commas, as it is mostly a beach with some dhows pulled up, and a very old mostly unused customs house, as well as a small fish market, on the site of what used to be the slave market. Clearly we like their current produce better. Tastier, more ethical, etc. It’s all very atmospheric, with the fish smoke wafting around. This is the old part of town, and there’s lots of renovation being done, esp. on the Old Post Office, which still has its gorgeous zanzibari doors, and green PO Boxes in the walls. We saw the house where the Emin Pasha got drunk and fell off a second story balcony, ‘cos clearly being out of Sudan and about to go back to Europe went to his head, and hid from the rain in a overly large thatched bar with three bored locals in it. (Despite being wicked important historically, Bagamoyo today is a teensy little place, with not a lot happening, but a very nice feel to it).
Then we took 3 wheels, in the form of a motorised rickshaw, down to the Kaole ruins, C13-15th Arabic ruins by the coast (now behind mangrove swamp), which were very very cool.
Tomorrow we’re off to Dodoma and then Kilimatinde to show Eleanor my old haunts, and see how everyone has grown to be Much Taller Than Me in the last 9 years (I was working in the kindergarten, so they were all tiny people now). The vicar who lived across the road from me is now Bishop of the Rift Valley, so he has gone up in the world. I fully expect next Sunday to feature a three hour church service and backless benches. Woot.
May 29th, 2009 on 00:21
So nice to travel with you! Thanks