Tanzania Day 23 - Our Last Day

We woke up this morning to start packing our bags for our return flight home. We couldn’t use the internet at all because there wasn’t any. Apparently the Econo Lodge only had internet for 4 days because it cost them 25,000 shillings ($15) a day to have it.

Next, we got our complimentary breakfast which consisted of two pieces of toast and two slices of watermelon. That was probably one of the worst complimentary breakfasts we’ve had, second to a place in California where all we got was a plastic-wrapped pastry.

We decided to go to the place Charlie went for dinner last night to get breakfast #2. I decided to order some hash browns (which they didn’t have), then two different types of croissants (which they also didn’t have). My only other options were fruit (no more fiber please!), omelettes, or some weird breads. I ended up just getting a chapati. Charlie got a fruit platter, Spanish omelette, and passion fruit juice. It took about 40 minutes from getting there to finishing our food. We waited 15 minutes for a check and didn’t get anything. THEN, Charlie asked the waiter for a check, and it took another 30 minutes to get it! It was 9,000 shillings total (about $6). Meanwhile during that time, our waiter passed us multiple times. He was even at the table next to ours about 5 times since the people kept sending their food back.

After breakfast, we met our guide for the day. Our first stop was a market where we bought two ebony turtles, a rhino, and a zebra. Then, we headed over to the “Village Museum” where we looked at a bunch of mud huts. Our guide is from the Wahu tribe, and he lived in a small hut with his grandfather until he was 10 years old and moved from western Tanzania to Dar Es Salaam.

After that we drove over to the Slitway, which is a waterfront area. There were some shops to walk around, but otherwise not much to do. I got some delicious mint gelato for about $3, and Charlie got a bottle of Tusker to pass the time. We were pretty bored with everything and decided we’d just rather sit and wait at the airport, even though our flight wasn’t until midnight. We went to find our guide, but we couldn’t find him anywhere. Then we went to the parking lot, and his car wasn’t there either.

SO, we waited around for another hour or so until he returned. We got back to the car, and someone had cracked the front bumper. Our guide was borrowing this car from his pastor (who he lives with), and the pastor was very angry with him when he called him with the news. Poor guy.

We got to the Dar airport at around 5:30pm, which meant we had over 6 hours before our flight. We couldn’t check in until 8:00, so we were stuck sitting on the ground in a covered area outside for 2 hours. Ugh. After today, I’m ready to just be home, although I’d probably do anything to be back in Zanzibar right now.

All our flights were on time and good, although we spent a lot of time sitting and waiting at layovers, etc. Oh well. Our layover in Amsterdam was 5 hours.

Mom, Dad, and Rachel were at the airport to pick us up. We stopped by to say hi to Grandma, then went home to have some dinner. We showed Mom, Dad, and Rachel some photos and videos and then left to go to Charlie’s house. We got there around midnight, went to bed, and then showed Charlie’s family some photos in the morning. We left NH early enough that we’d be in Bangor before it got dark.

Unfortunately, my car broke down about 30 miles from home. Charlie was going 90mph, then the check engine light started blinking, then he slowed down and turned the car off, and then it never started again. We waited about 2 hours for a tow truck, dropped the car off at a shop, and then got a ride home from the tow truck guy.

When we got home, Charlie burned the elements in the water heater because he turned the electricity on before filling up the water tank. He also broke our vacuum, shop vac, and a blind within the next week. Looks like February is going to be an expensive month!