Arriving in Dar - That's not my bag

Hi all,

The first update since we arrived in Tanzania on Thursday morning. Flight was great, and the stop-over in Doha (seemingly the hottest place on earth) was only for about an hour. Kate and I arrived in Dar Es Salaam at around the same time - only to hit our first problem before we had even left the airport. Having spotted what I thought to be my bag on the luggage belt, I had a look in one of the pockets just to make sure. It wasn't mine. This is around the time I remembered seeing a guy in the queue at Heathrow with exactly the same bag as me. Seemingly, Mr H. Capper (whose name we found on a packet of anti-malarials inside the bag) had picked up my bag - thinking it was his - and swiftly left the airport.

This = not ideal after a 12 hour flight.

Anyway, after a lot of form filling and calling home to explain the situation, I recieved a call from my mum who had been contacted by Mr H. Capper's girlfriend. They had realised their mistake and found my home number inside my bag. To cut a long story short, H Capper and girlfriend returned to the airport where I was able to get my bag back, H Capper got his bag back, and we shared a taxi into the town centre. They were actually a really lovely couple and were even able to give us some tips, along with paying for the taxi to say sorry. After this point, we were both glad that we had somewhere booked for our first two nights. The hotel in Dar was amazing - with a swimming pool, massive double bed and amazing buffet breakfast. Our first evening, we ventured out into the town for something to eat (after enjoing the swimming pool) - finding a great place serving tandoori chicken on the street. We also bumped into H Capper and girlfriend again which was nice. By this point, we were both quite tired and decided to have an early night.

Dar Es Salaam is a great city - but unlike anywhere I've been before. The driving is pretty ropey (don't expect anyone to indicate - or drive on the right side of the right side of the road for that matter) The people are very friendly, and the weather has been great so far. There are loads of taxis everywhere offering you rides, as well as street vendors tyring to sell you things (football stickers are an absolute fave).

Yesterday, Kate and I had a long walk around Dar again - trying to find an internet cafe as well as the Kivukoni fish market. It was a public holiday, so no internet places were open - but we did find the fish market - which is situated near the main port. It's incredibly busy, with fishermen bringing in fish, jellyfish, squid, crabs - as well as cooking them in massive pans and selling the hungry members of public. The fish smell at times was a bit overwhelming, as were the occasional blasts of hot, raw sewage odour - but the atmosphere was great, so we decided to buy some fried fish and eat it overlooking the bay. We made good friends with a man named Chaz, who told us all about the market and the wooden dhalas (fishing boats) as well as recommending what fish to try and how to eat it. After a good walk around, we returned to the hotel for more swimming - and were lucky enough to watch an Indian wedding which was taking place in the hotel grounds.

Today we got up early to catch a bus to Tanga, just north of Dar, which is where I'm currently writing from. Sorry the post is a bit rushed - we have to leave soon for a bus to Pangani, a coastal town about 50 km away. I will write in more detail soon.

Hope everyone is well. We are both fine, and neither of us have Malaria OR Cholera, which is always a result. Will be in contact again soon! x x