The End

Wake up, pack everything, get on the bus. 

The bus went over the Kenyan border.  I tried to take in the last bits of scenery, fully aware by this time that I couldn't really process what was happening anymore. 

The bus went into Nairobi and straight to the airport.  I couldn't check in early and access the terminal, because my airline only has one flight per day, so I sat at an outdoor cafe.  For 12 hours.  And not some quaint outdoor cafe, some dirty, crappy Kenyan airport cafe.  Eventually, check in, make my way to the gate, and onto the plane.  The total travel time, from Arusha to the US, would be 40 hours.   This part was halfway through, and marked the end of my trip to Africa.

Immediately after the plane took off, I fell asleep.

Kwa heri, Tanzania

If there's anything left to do, now's the time to do it.  Did my laundry- by washing it in a bucket and hanging it out to dry.  Saw some live music at a French-owned expat restaurant, and made dinner for the Belgian neighbors.  Met Shannon for Indian food at some swanky hotel.

The rains came in Monday night.

A Final Adventure

Hop on the bus out towards Moshi, hop off in some random village along the roadside.  A taxi takes us off-road, about an hour south, through the Tanzanian bush.  Baobob trees and mud hut villages line the path.  At the end, we emerge at a little oasis, the Maji Moto hot springs.  We went swimming in blue, fresh water at just the right temperature.  You could jump in from tree branches or a "George of the Jungle" swing.  It was an amazing place, moreso because it's not in guidebooks or on tourist maps- you need to spend time with locals and expats to know it's there.

73: Friday in Arusha

Dalla dalla into town, head to the internet cafe.  An email tells me I've been offered the position of law clerk for the Senate Judiciary Committee, a wonderful and vaguely surreal piece of news.  I'll start the first Monday back in the US, the week I hear about the bar results. 

So it's a good morning.

Most of the rest of the day was spent arguing with Masai craft shop owners about the prices for carved wooden animals.  I bought my sister a warthog, because she loves both Pumba and bacon. 

Another day, another dalla

So I've fallen into a routine in Arusha.  It mostly involves a lot of internet cafe and regular cafe.  And lots of walking. 

It all seems so regular.  Until I think about it.  I start off by heading into town on the local minibus, comically overcrowded deathtraps known as dalla dallas (don't worry parents, I've already had my last dalla ride).  I hop off at the turn for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which I walk past.  I'll pass women in traditional kange cloth, balancing baskets on their heads.  Similarly dressed women sit on the sidewalk, selling veggies and tropical fruits from wicker baskets, while red toga-clad Masai warriors check their facebook accounts in the internet cafe.  Safari 4x4s head up and down the street, for Kili, the Serengeti, wherever. 

Evenings are usually spent back at the apartment building, where interns, teachers, and volunteers from Belgium, England, Ireland, Zambia etc sit around the table, cooking dinner on portable gas stoves. 

71

I had planned on going to the market, but apparently there was some light rioting.  So I stayed in safe parts of town.

A Tanzanian lawyer and judge got me drunk.  They kept ordering beer in Swahili and then I had no choice.  Normally I'd keep my blog a little more professional, but hey- it was a lawyer and a judge.  Also, the lawyer definitely handed the judge a stack of cash...

I also lost Shannon's keys.  She wanted to kill me. 

Arusha once again

Wake up, pack everything, head to Arusha.  Saw "Planet of the Apes" with Shannon and Seepan, which we defined to be "gorilla tracking."