One-day-trip to Tanzania

ITINERARY:

Saturday:

7 am.

Taxi from Scripture Mission to the bus stop at Silver Springs Hotel.

7. 20 am.

Arrival at Silver Springs Hotel. Rita and I start waiting.

8 am.

Bus is supposed to leave.

8.10 am.

Bus arrives.

8. 30 am.

Bus leaves.

8. 50 am.

Bus driver pulls over and stops. He talks in his cell phone. Passengers complain.

9 am.

More complaints. Bus driver has passed a passenger he was supposed to pick up.

9.15 am.

Poor missing passenger arrives by taxi, and bus finally moves on.

11.00 am.

Arrival at border. Unorganized queues to get visas/passport stamps on both sides of the border.

12.15 pm.

Passengers who know how to find the fastest lines in the border queue chaos still wait for passengers who don`t, and for the bus driver.

12.20 pm.

Bus enters Tanzania.

2.15 pm.

Bus arrives at the drop-off point of the Norwegian passengers. Bus driver is asked if he remembers that this is the point where he is supposed to drop us off. He says he does, but then he moves on till the passengers tell him to stop right HERE!

2. 30 pm.

The travelers enter the Scripture Mission compound in Arusha.

3.30 - 6.30 pm.

Travelers drive to the city center of Arusha and walk around, visit a couple ofcafés for milkshake, ice cream, and coffee. The barista hardly understands why it is so important for the customers to have the coffee beans freshly ground instead of buying a packet of already ground coffee when it will be the same right after he has finished grinding the beans anyway... As far as getting around, Rita typically knows where we ARE, but not where we`re going.

6.45 - 8.30 pm.

We go downtown again with Margunn and Kristoffer, to eat dinner at Khahn`s. Charming grill on the pavement, and excellent food! Back to the compound for coffee and dessert and for the night.

Sunday:

9.30 am.

We get up and learn that it is smart to defrost rolls in good time before breakfast when you know the power will be off.

10 am.

Rolls defrosted on top of a pot of boiling water on the gaz stove are ready to be eaten.

11 am.

Breakfast is finished and car is being packed.

11.30 am.

We arrive at TGT recreation center when Rita has finally found out where we were should be going.

11. 50 am - 12. 50 pm.

Our goal, one of the main purposes of going to Tanzania (besides taking a Toyota Landcruiser, that had been in Arusha over the summer, back to Nairobi), is reached. We play squash for an hour :)

12.50 - 2.45 pm.

Lunch is ordered, and we relax by the pool till the food finally arrives, mine half an hour before hers. Then we eat, shower, and set off to Nairobi.

4.20 - 5.20 pm.

Border stuff. A man wants to sell car insurance, insisting that he had been selling insurance to this specific car long time ago. By coincidence the owner of the car calls from Norway and has it all sorted out for us. We get a sticker on the windscreen. Later we are stopped by the police, who only cheques that we have a valid insurance sticker on the windscreen.

7 pm.

It is dark and the brakes start making a mysterious sound every time it is used. We decide to drive polepole in the middle lane to try to avoid using the brakes.

8 pm.

We arrive the compound where we live, after a strenuous final hour of an otherwise wonderful, relaxing, and fun trip :)