So I promised (well more threatened) to put the contents of my written travel journal online. I admit this is mainly for my benefit as I would like to have the complete record of my travels in one place. This will include (if I can ever get my camera to talk to my laptop) photos as well. I apologise in advance for any repetition and long spells of boredom!
So here goes…
18th August
So here I am, day one in Tanzania. How exciting!
The journey wasn’t too bad at all although over night flights do tend to wipe you out. I can’t decide how much sleep I’ve had but it’s certainly not been enough. Because strange things always happen to me, I ended up with a stranger’s address and phone number before we’d even taxied at Heathrow. I’d been sat next to this very nice Kenyan gentleman who was actually a bit of a nightmare: he wanted to chat; he had very bad breath; and he had great problems occupying his personal space. He was okay really and I got stuck into Shrek 3 to avoid too much conversation. I almost always end up watching the children’s films on flights.
So the flights were fine, all arrived on time. Even better, my permit was at the airport so I didn’t have to pay my $50 tourist visa – hurrah!
My accommodation has been changed so I’m now staying at the Midlands Lodge. My room is decent – basic, and overlooks the dining area which is a courtyard and that means it’s a bit dark. The bed seems nice and comfortable though. So I’ve unpacked which took ages because I couldn’t decide what should go where. Had a mini disaster in that what I thought was shampoo is actually conditioner and a last minute packing crisis means I haven’t even got shower gel so I’ll have to try and find some shampoo soon or my hair will feel vile.
At the moment I’m trying to find the lady who seems to be in charge but she seems to have disappeared, which is a tad irritating.
This afternoon I’m meant to be relaxing but I’m actually having a bit of a tough time: this is partly because I am rubbish at relaxing; I am extremely over-tired; I am feeling quite isolated as the two other people staying in this accommodation are on safari this weekend so just feeling a bit Billy No Mates; I’m missing my boy big time; I wonder whether I’ve made a terrible mistake coming away for so long etc etc.
First impressions of Tanzania: colourful, surprisingly green, really red soil, dreadful roads, charming people but perhaps a little aloof.
