In love with Tanzania

Today it's been a week since I landed in Dar-es-Salaam and it has become obvious to me that I have fallen in love with the country and the people here.

Tanzania is one of the East African countries which are not widely visited by tourists, even though its attractions are numerous and most enviable: within its borders lie Africa’s highest and fifth-highest mountains, the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera, Africa’s most famous national park and the world’s largest game reserve as well as portions of the three largest lakes on the continent (names like Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Dar-es-Salaam, Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika, Lake Malawi, etc. are famous). Tanzania is the Africa you have always dreamed about, especially in terms of wildlife.

We have been staying in Dar-es-Salaam which is the country’s largest city and most important Indian Ocean port, the commercial and social capital of Tanzania in all but name, with a population of around three million.

We arrived last Sunday, in the morning. We were picked up from the airport by a taxi driver hired by our hotel reception. We stay at the Holiday Inn and I am really impressed with the quality of their services as we have had all sorts of strange requests which were beautifully accommodated (we traded off breakfast for a take away lunch which has to be ready for us cruelly early in the morning when we leave for the office, we appeared at dinner one night with our laptops and insisted on chatting with friends online while eating, and other such strange arrangements). I have free wireless internet access in the room which, alone, would make me overlook some major downsides if, indeed, these existed.

Last Sunday, after resting in our rooms for a couple of hours, we were picked up by our host here and taken for a ride and a meal down town. The first contact with the city was made in a 4*4, off road car, which proved a great idea, especially given the unpaved and bumpy streets. Many streets in Dar are not actually paved and driving can prove really painful sometimes (literally speaking). The city is paralysed by often and bad electricity breakdowns and most people also have no running water. This is very bad and they are reduced to carrying water long distances.

Our main fear and concern here has been to stay away from mosquitoes at all times, but especially during early morning and evening hours, when the malarial ones attack. Or, rather, to keep them away from us :-) And I have quite succeeded – the hotel is safe and I always use a lot of repellent while in the office or outdoors.

People here are very kind and helpful. They always wear big smiles, would typically try to make some conversation with you if they master some English. The ones who do not speak English are shy and afraid of being asked questions and try to avoid us (in the office, for example) but, in doing so, they resemble big children and are so funny. They are also very polite, which we try to mirror by continuously repeating "sante sana" ("thank you very much", in Swahili) which sometimes becomes a bit ridiculous. I have learnt a few other words in Swahili, it's nice to practice with locals - it shows interest in their culture and makes them warm up to you.

Needless to say, most people are very poor, with no access to basic amenities. This makes me shudder with guilt, thinking about how lucky and spoilt I am. And suddenly things are put in perspective and I become ashamed of my “problems”. Is this good or bad?