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Rwanda & Tanzania 2018
  • Ron's Odyssey

Rwanda & Tanzania 2018

Part 2 of my African Odyssey Read more
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  • Trip start
    January 31, 2018
    Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Depart Port Harcourt

    January 31, 2018 in Nigeria ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    After 2 months of planning the D-Day is finally here. Started my leave today, bought diesel, made lots of transfers and bought supplies needed to run the house for the 2 weeks I would be away.

    Taxi to the airport arrived at 2:45 pm. Left the house at 3:00 pm arriving at the airport at about 3:30 pm. Already checked in online, took only a few minutes to drop my bags. Headed off to Genesis for late lunch. Flight left PH ta about 5:30 pm.Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Arrived Kigali, Rwanda

    February 1, 2018 in Rwanda ⋅ 23 °C

    Woke up at 6:00 am to get ready for the trip. Went down for a buffet breakfast. Left for the airport at 11:30 am arriving 11:52 am. Check in was smooth. Luggage were scanned at the entrance into MMA. Not much queue at the RwandAir checkin counter. No queue at the immigration counter just before the security scanners.

    Flight took off at 13:45 hrs naija time and after traveling for 4 hrs we landed at Kigali airport at 20:45 hrs local time (19:45 hrs naija time). Joined the visa queue, no visa form to fill. On getting to the immigration official I was asked nature of my visit, duration of stay and where I plan to stay and if I have any local contact, thereafter I was asked to pay $30 for the visa which was then stamped onto my passport.

    Met an old colleague, Norbert on the Visa queue. Says he runs a business here and visits 6 times a year. He was a bit guarded with information so I didn’t press him for more info.

    Taxi driver was at the arrival hall waiting for me with my name on a cardboard paper.

    Changed $200 to RFW 170,000 and then wasted a lot of time buying an MTN sim card. Paid RFW 600 (RFW 200 for sim, RFW 200 for 1 week 1.5GB data and RFW 200 for voice calls). Phone refused to recognize the sim card and kept showing emergency call all night till next morning.

    Asked the driver what he would charge to drive me around the next day and he called out RFW 60,000 after much discussions he agreed for RFW 45,000. I insisted for RFW 30,000 not sure he accepted but he said he would come for me at 10:00 am next morning. Eventually got to the hotel quite late almost 10:30 pm, went to the restaurant order a rice and beef meal with a bottle of sprite. The room is very big and spacious but looks old and worn out.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Kigali Musuem & Memorial Visits

    February 2, 2018 in Rwanda ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Woke up at 6am tried to sleep again but no luck. Ivans, Juliet’s friend called to tell me he has organized a taxi to take me around all day for RFW 35,000 but if I do half day I can pay RFW 20,000. So I sent an SMS to the airport taxi guy cancelling our arrangement, but he later called after Ivan’s driver had arrived stating he was also available. I thank him and promised to use him on subsequent outings.

    Left the hotel at 10:00am. Our 1st point of call was Kandt house / museum of Natural history. Paid RFW 600 as a foreigner, was assigned a guide. The museum was nicely arranged, with picures from 1907 depicting the life of the people and the conquest of Rwanda 1st by the Germans and later by the Belgians who took over during world war 1 when Germany was defeated.

    Other places visited were in the following order:
    • Drive around Nyamirambo
    • University of Rwanda
    • Belgian Soldier Memorial
    • Kigali Genocide Memorial center

    After which I met up with Ivans for lunch at Java coffee shop at Kigali Heights.
    After lunch I continued to the Presidential Palace Museum, a large palatial house built for the Belgian administrator and later occupied by the first 2 presidents of Rwanda, also visited the crash site of the presidential plane shot down in 1994 while carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, this act is believed to have triggered the genocide.

    Got back to the hotel at 16:40 hrs. Waited endlessly for Ivan to pick me up he finally came at 22:30 hrs with his cousin and namesake. We headed off to Riders Lounge at Kampala height for drinks. I ordered Skool larger bear, tasted nice like naija beer, another cousin of his Phina short for Josephine working with GT Bank joined us. We left Riders at 1:30 am for Sundowner Lounge and spent another hour there before they announced that they would drop me off at Cocobean night club. The club was packed full no space to move, I couldn’t locate Norbert so I told my host (Ivan’s Cousin) we should leave. We later stopped over at Papayrus to buy Brochete (Goat suya). I couldn’t taste the goat in the meat. Took a taxi for RFW 5,000 back to the hotel at about 03:30 am    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Campaign Against Genocide Museum

    February 3, 2018 in Rwanda ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Woke up finally around 10:00 am, effect of last night’s clubbing. Called up Joshua my car man and negotiated a per drop rate of RFW 4,000 with him as I didn’t want to hire him for the entire day. Had breakfast at the sky lounge after bathing.

    Headed out for the Campaign Against Genocide museum located within the Parliamentary building driving through the neat and beautiful city of Kigali. Security at the gate was tight, had to come down from the car for a thorough check, and then pass through a scanner. The museum was opened late last year by the president and gave in a chronological order the battles fought by the RPF to recapture the country from the genocidal forces of the government in power, it also shows the connivance of the French government in providing cover for the genocidal forces under the disguise of providing humanitarian services, this probably prompted the government to switch from a French speaking to English speaking country years later. The visit was well worth it even though I had to pay RFW 6,000 as entry fee (foreigners entry fee into all museums in Rwanda)

    Left the museum stopped over at the hotel to pick up my power bank before heading off to Afrika Bite for a local meal of rice with beans source and beef, with a helping of mashed plantain. It was a nice meal, but the mashed plantain was too hard to eat.

    After lunch I visited Kigali Height, bought an interesting book on Rwanda and had a 3 flavor ice cream at Java Café. Eventually left the Kigali Height for the hotel at 6:00 pm    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    King’s Palace Museum, Nyanza

    February 4, 2018 in Rwanda

    Woke up at 6:00 am with no plans for the day, I decided to visit the King’s Palace Museum located at Nyanza, 2hrs drive from Kigali. Joshua my cab driver had requested a $100 (RFW 85,00) price tag for the trip, I would be damned if I spend such colossal amount for a 1hr walk around the museum, so I decided to negotiate it down by sending an offer of RFW 40,000 ($48) to him by SMS. After waiting 1hr without any response I contacted the taxi driver Oliver who took me round the museums 2 days ago. He promptly agreed for the amount so we sealed the deal for 12noon. Joshua later called making a counter offer of RFW 50,000 I allowed him to present his case after which I told him I already agreed for someone else upon which he now agreed to take me for my initial offer. I politely declined. Seems he is out to exploit foreigners.

    The trip to Nyanza from Kigali took 2hrs. Route was very scenic, with dangerous curves as we kept going up hill one moment and down hill the next moment. Movement was slow due to trucks on the road and the nature of the road, also traffic police were situated along the road with speed guns.

    The King’s palace museum consists of 2 parts. The first is a replica traditional hut made from wood, with the floor covered with mats, also saw the famous long horn cows of the king. There are 2 smaller traditional huts shaped like the kings but much smaller. The first is for a virgin girl who is the custodian of the king’s milk while the second hut is for a virgin boy who is the custodian of the king’s wine.

    The 2nd part is a modern brick and cement building built by the Belgians as a replacement of the original king’s palace which they burnt down earlier.
    In all the museum walk around took 1hr but it was worth the time as I had nothing else planned for the day.

    After a 2hr trip back to Kigali, I asked the driver to drop me off at M- Peace Plaza for late lunch. The plaza is supposed to be a shopping complex but there were few shops, most of the spaces were unoccupied.

    Had an early dinner later in the evening, went down to the reception to settle my outstanding bills after.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Good Bye Kigali, Transit Dar-es-saalam

    February 5, 2018 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Left the hotel for the airport at 6:00 am. Security at the airport was quite impressive. We had to exit the car, offload the bags for a dog to sniff out, pass through metal detectors before loading the bag back into the car and driving to the drop off zone.

    Not much crowd at the airport. Went to an eatery within the departure lounge to have breakfast of orange cake and water. A Cameroonian lady walked over to my table and asked if she could share it. We got talking and I discovered she used to work for Shell downstream in Cameroon, had lots of interesting discussions on Africa. Left for the departure gate at 8:00am, had to pass through security scanning again. The departure area after the security scanner is isolated from the duty free shops.

    Flight left on schedule and after 1hr 30 mins we landed at Kilimanjaro airport, in Tanzania for some passengers to disembark. No new passenger boarded. After 30 mins the flight continued reaching Dar-es-salaam in about 1hr.

    Unlike at Kigali Airport we were given Visa forms to fill at Dar-es-salaam airport after which an immigration officer checks and directs you to a desk for finger printing and then onto another desk where an immigration officer would specify the type of visa you should be granted and amount to pay, after payment at the cashier’s counter we had to wait for about 30mins before the passport was returned with an entry stamp in it. I requested why the real visa wasn’t fixed instead since I was going to Zanzibar, but I was told the stamp is acceptable.

    After picking up my bag I headed for the domestic wing to check into my Zanzibar flight only to discover that a flight would be leaving within the next 1hr 30 mins and I would have to wait 4 hrs for mine. I decided to change to the earlier flight and had to pay a change fee of $38.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Welcome to Zanzibar

    February 5, 2018 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Flight left Dar-es-salaam at 4:00 pm and got to Zanzibar within 20 mins. Had to fill an entry card at Zanzibar but my passport wasn’t checked. Taxi was waiting for me at the airport entrance. The trip to stone town took about 15 mins. Stone town looks like one of the ancient cities in western Nigeria.Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Walking tour of Stone Town, Zanzibar

    February 6, 2018 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Had early breakfast at 8:00 am in preparation for the walking city tour. My guide Eddy was already waiting downstairs when I came down at 9:00 am as planned. We walked through the old city first to get an Airtel sim card. It took over 30 mins to register and activate the sim card, thereafter the tour started with a visit to the oldest market in Zanzibar which is divided into three sections. We visited the fish section where I saw Octopus, squids, snapper, ray fish and other exotic fish. From the market we proceeded to the slave museum. The compound also houses the 1st Anglican church in Zanzibar which was built in 1874. Saw the sad dungeons where slaves were kept prior to being auction and transported across the sea. We then visited the African House, the old fort which is being prepared for a musical concert starting on the 8th, walked past the House of Wonder, which was the Sultan’s office and the first building with electricity, lift, telephone etc. and finally passed in front of the Palace Museum and then back to the hotel. The entire tour took roughly 3 hrs 30 mins. The entire tour cost TZS 60,000.

    Later in the afternoon I walked down the beach to the floating Restaurant to have lunch on the pier overlooking the ocean. The meal was surprisingly nice and was Beef Pilau with rice. Came back to the room about 3:00 pm and slept till 7:00 pm.

    Dinner was at the famous street market and comprised of BBQ meat & sea food, with fried plantain and chips. The sea food tasted spoilt so I spat it out so as not to purge.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Exploring Stone Town on my own

    February 7, 2018 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Had breakfast early, collected a street map of stone town from the reception and decided to explore the town on my own. Strolling down the seafront my first point of call was the Palace Museum which was the residence of the Sultan of Zanzibar. Zanzibar was part of Oman in the olden days as such the Sultans ruled Oman & Zanzibar together, at one point one of the Sultan moved his capital to Zanzibar and ruled from the Island. The Palace contained old furniture and personal belongings of previous Sultans who made the palace their home. Also, on the ground of the Palace are graves of members of the royal family.

    I continued my sole exploration of Zanzibar by following the outer perimeter road, down narrow streets with sharp corners passed by the 5 star hotels; Hayatt, Double tree and Serena until I eventually came out on the road leading to the Statehouse and high court. The statehouse is a large white building, the fence was shoulder height so I couldn’t see well into the compound. I continued pass the Peace Museum, hoping to walk round the state university of Zanzibar, unfortunately I missed my road, flagged down a bike man who told me I was heading in the direction of the airport and redirected my path. I eventually abandoned the search for the university and flagged down a bike to take me to the slave museum. Interestingly I discovered that most locals in Zanzibar don’t speak English. The bikeman instead of taking me to where I asked took me to a street with lots of restaurants, well it’s a blessing in disguise. I alighted from the bike, paid him Tsh 1,500 for the ride and went into Lakmaan restaurant and ordered Octopus with rice and on 2nd thought added beef and fish just incase I didn’t like the octopus. The octopus tasted crunchy and soft. After lunch I tried to get another bike to the hotel but alas the bike man didn’t understand English. Out of frustration I checked my phone again and still no data signal and then I remembered turning off mobile data the previous night, damn. On putting it on I called on my old reliable and trustworthy friend who would never lead me astray “Google Maps” and discovered I was only 14mins walk from the hotel so I walked back.

    Later in the evening I went to the Floating Restaurant and ordered their fried rice which was supplied with fried egg “sunny side up”, no meat or fish? What a strange meal. Luckily I had the foresight of buying BBQ meat at the evening street market when I stopped to buy roasted corn.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Off to the Beach Resort at Nungwi

    February 8, 2018 in Tanzania

    Finally it was time to leave Stone Town and head to the beach resort village of Nungwi. Due to the Swahili challenge I had grabbed my new friend Eddy (my tour guide) to help me negotiate for a taxi to transport me from Stone Town to Nungwi. The hotel was charging $50 (Tsh 111,000) for this which as an experienced Supply Chain Professional was a ripoff. I gave him the mandate and a price threshold of Tsh 50,000 and he delivered.

    After a quick breakfast I headed off to change $200, found a bureau de change which exchanged at Tsh 2,230 to $ 1. Once again I had a wallet full of Tanzanian bank notes.
    At 10 am prompt I checked out, paid an extra bill of $33 to cover lunch on the 1st day, laundry and tourism tax and off we went in a 7 seater bus.

    The journey was smooth, no traffic, road out of stone town had pot holes and was bumpy, we passed a few police check points, policemen wear white and stand by the side of the roads, no barricades on the road like naija police. We weren’t stopped at any point. We had to stop at one point to wait for a big mango tree to be cleared from the road by the authorities before continuing.

    Trip to Nungwi took approximately 1hr 15mins. Flame Tree Cottages where I was staying had an exotic look African look and feel. I was assigned to my private bungalow with a veranda in front where breakfast is served each morning, a small sitting room with no TV but has a table, long chair and a fridge and opens up to a bed room with a big poster bed with mosquito nets draped around it. Furniture were basic to give the traditional African look, had an AC which wasn’t coming on, so I called the maintenance people who fixed it promptly. Bathroom had a mud wall finishing even though it was modern plastering made to look like a mud wall. In all it was a nice room.

    The resort is located just by the beach, I had lunch overlooking the beach and then strolled down before returning to the room.

    In the evening I invoked my good friend Google Maps and we went out looking for Nungwi Supermarket which surprisingly was just a 5 min walk from the cottage. I stocked up on water and some small bites, finally off t the beach strolling past several lodges and hotels. Beach was busy mainly with Muzungus (Oyibos). Finally ordered takeaway BBQ fish, chips & rice. A good 1st day at the resort.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Beach Day

    February 9, 2018 in Tanzania

    Had breakfast on my porch. Basic continental breakfast nothing fanciful but ok. Spent the rest of the morning up to 1:00 pm on the beach enjoying the cool breeze, serenading fellow beach guest with quality naija music, while looking out for dolphins and whales through my binoculars. One bad belle muzungu summoned the courage after a few hours to ask me to lower the volume of my naija vibes, being a gentle naija man I obliged him. One muzungu babe came to ask me what I was looking out for with the binoculars and I told her and she wanted to know if I have seen any yet?

    Went for late lunch at coco bar & restaurant down the beach at about 4:00 pm. Had delicious beef pilau with rice

    Slept till about 10:00 pm after, tried going out to Cholo where I am told there is usually a party but everywhere looked dead and deserted so I decided to stay back safely in the hotel    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Cycling Tour of Nungwi

    February 10, 2018 in Tanzania

    Woke up early to have breakfast and get ready for my Cycling adventure. At 8:45 am prompt, a representative of the cycling company was already waiting for me with a bicycle. We rode off into the morning breeze, to his office located in Nungwi village, passing beside boat makers. The seat was a bit hard so I chose another bike with a padded seat. The fee for the cycling adventure was $30 but I negotiated a discount since it was going to be a large group of 19. I waited about 20 mins before a group of Denmark students joined and we then set off on a 12km ride.

    First stop was at a village with a cave. We explored the cave network looking at the stalagmite formations with the tour guide trying to show us animal shapes within it. Thereafter we proceeded to a village to watch blacksmiths making nails after which we proceeded to a Portuguese ruin and then an underground freshwater pond, other members of the group dived into the pond for a quick swim. I didn’t join the swimmers, instead I stayed back with the tour guides who were washing and preparing various fruits for the groups refreshment. I drank coconut water and ate the soft coconut inside using a spoon fashioned from the coconut husk, thereafter I ate one of the giant mangoes.

    After the group had refreshed we started the ride back to Nungwi, after a few meters of pedaling, I knew I wasn’t up to the strenuous ride back, fortunately the tour guy on a motor cycle coming behind noticed, stopped and asked me to give the bicycle to one of his colleagues and join him on the motor bike, that was how I was saved and whisked back comfortably.

    Had fish Pilau lunch as Coco bean and retired to the beach to read and later settled my outstanding bill, since I was leaving early. The outstanding bill came up at Tsh 40,000

    At 8:30 pm I called the the taxi man I had negotiated with earlier to come take me to Kendwa Rock for the beach party. Paid Tsh 15,000 as entrance fee and had an expensive buffet dinner of Tsh 25,000 for chicken and rice and Tsh 8,000 for Kilimanjaro beer.

    There were very few guests, mainly Muzungus at the venue. At 10:00 pm I called the taxi man to come pick me and lo and behold the venue came alive as dancers came on stage starting with a Michael Jackson imitator who danced quite well, this was followed by a cultural group dancing to African beats and then a two-lady hip-hop dance team. These acts were rotated until I eventually left at about 10:45 pm when they all came on stage for a final dance. In all it was a good outing. I got back to the hotel shortly after 11:00 pm.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Off to Dar-es-salaam

    February 11, 2018 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Woke up shortly before 6:00 am which was my alarm setting, took a shower, packed my suitcase and checked round to ensure nothing was left behind. Had the tomatoes sandwich which was prepared for me the evening before with a can of zero sugar coke I had bought in Stone Town. Walked to the reception at 7:00 am prompt to meet the taxi man in his bus already waiting for me. Off we went to the airport close to stone town. The journey took about 1 hr 10 mins.

    Check in at Best Western CBD Dar-es-salaam was smooth, I requested for a room with a good view on the upper flour and was given 411. After 2 hrs I decided to go exploring,
    first port of call was City Mall. About 15 mins walk from my hotel, although I used an Uber. Mall is similar to Genesis Centre in Port Harcourt with small independent stores. Went up to the food court and had a meal of Mutton Briyani (beef and rice in a native port) with fresh mango juice.

    Thereafter I went off to Mlimani Mall which is on the outskirt of Dar-es-salaam. Mall is bigger than City Mall and more in line with The Palms in Lekki. After an extensive walk around, I decided to go watch a movie “Den of Thieves”, after the movie called for an Uber back to the hotel    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Tour Of Dar-es-salaam

    February 12, 2018 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Got an Uber to pick me up at 10:00 am after breakfast. Destination was the National Museum & cultural house. The best part of the museum was the section that highlighted the discovery of skeletons of early man and chronicled the evolution of homosapien. A section of the museum also displayed the various cars used by the first president of the republic. In all it was an educative visit.

    Next I strolled down to the botanical garden which was next door, place looked very run down and not appealing from the main road so I didn’t bother to go in. After locating a supermarket and buying a refreshing soft drink I approached some local taxis to take me to the Village museum, but alas communication was a problem again, the drivers didn’t understand English, so I hailed Uber and was taken to the wrong village museum highlighted on the Uber map. After alighting and walking around and not being able to locate the museum, I eventually googled it and discovered its actual location and hailed another Uber driver.

    The village museum had several traditional houses from the different tribes in Tanzania, it was interesting to see how the various tribes built and arranged their houses, ranging from those built with mud to those built with sticks and twigs.

    From the village museum I proceeded to City mall (another Uber ride) to have lunch and then to the hotel to rest.

    At 8:00 pm I called an Uber to take me to Elements at Oyster bay for dinner. Elements was deserted so instead I asked the driver to drop me off at Mamboz Masaki. Had mashed potatoes which looked like strips from an ice cream machine with steak. Lovely dinner. Returned back to the hotel shortly after 11:00 pm.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Shopping

    February 13, 2018 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    The day didn’t start off as planned. The first Uber driver who accepted the tripped cancelled after wasting almost 30 minutes claiming traffic was too much en route to my hotel. I asked him to cancel the trip so I wouldn’t be charged Tsh 3,000 but he refused and ignored me, so I cancelled and immediately sent a message to Uber who responded quickly apologizing for the driver and ensuring I wasn’t unfairly charged. The second Uber driver called back after a short while claiming he had been held up by the police for not paying for something, he asked me to cancel the trip as it was within the 5min limit but when I checked it was 7 minutes so I asked him to reject it so I wouldn’t be charged which he did. The 3rd Uber driver came unfailing but alas I had already wasted 1hr+.

    My destination was Kariakoo Market, haven read a lot about the market being crowded and a heaven for pick pockets, I moved my wallet to my jeans front pocket and increased sensors on that region and frequently tapped my pocket or held it to ensure no hanky panky. Kariakoo market is very big with different sections. I started with the main building before going through the surrounding streets. Couldn’t really locate any cloth unique to Tanzania, tried negotiating a few materials but the language barrier was an issue so we resulted in pointing and pressing calculators.

    After about an hour I got a taxi to take me to Quality Centre, a shopping mall where I had launch first, ordering a banana porridge with mean. I was expecting our type of porridge but lo and behold what I was given was a starter like soup made from banana with pieces of meat inside. It tasted very nice but wasn’t going to hold my stomach walls apart, so I called the Indian supervisor who took my order and placed order for chips and chicken. The chicken was very deliciously grilled. After lunch I walked round the mall, found a souvenir shop where I bought an African print shirt for Tsh 35,000, with nothing else worth buying for the kids and folks at home I called for an Uber and proceeded to Mlimani mall which I had visited on the first day I arrived in Dar-es-salaam, there I was able to buy a couple of clothes at Splash for the kids spending a total of Tsh 340,000. After which I bought 3 pieces of chicken from KFC at Tsh 11,000 before calling for an uber to take me home.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Last Day

    February 14, 2018 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Valentine’s day. Negotiated with Ismail (Tsz 40,000) a nice Uber driver to take me on a drive around Dar-es-salaam for 3 to 4 hrs. The objective being to get a better view of the city, the good and the bad. It drizzled that morning. Our drive around started shortly after 10:00am, passed beside Uhuru monuments, went down town to where the city started from, viewing old Arab buildings, we also visited the Nyerere International Conference centre, the old parliament building, the Askari monuments, stopped at coco beach for a photoshoot, stopped over at airtel head quarters to enquire about One-Network voucher for recharging foreign airtel lines, was told this has been discontinued instead I should call for the voucher to be sent from the home country. Finally, we drove to the University of Dar-es-salaam, which is an old university established in the 60’s. University ground is very large with colleges far apart. On the way back to drop me off I suggested we have lunch in a traditional restaurant which turned out to be at Chef’s pride where I ordered Ughali with vegetable and beef in tomato source. This was the closest I had to naija swallow and was a welcome meal.

    After lunch I dispatched the Uber driver and walked 15mins to Kariakoo market to buy a traditional dress for Mama, after walking round for about an hour and not being able to locate anything unique to Tanzania, I gave up and walked to the supermarket at City Mall to buy Tanzanian candies, after which I walked back to the hotel.

    Had a quiet valentine’s dinner by the pool in the hotel, then went down to the reception to settle any outstanding bill (there was none) and reconfirm my airport drop off for 2 am the following morning.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Going home at last

    February 15, 2018 in Rwanda ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Alarm went off at 1:00am as planned, had a shower, packed all my stuff and ensured nothing was left behind. At 2:00am went down to the lobby to request for the airport drop off I had booked only to be told that the hotel vehicle has already gone to the airport but they would get me one of the car hires packed by the reception. The car hire expected me to pay the $30 I had agreed with the hotel but I refused and told him I can get Uber for Tsh 11,000 as such if he agrees $20 we can go. He said he had to check with the receptionist and went off to talk to him. I hailed an uber instead and got down from the car and when he came back I told him an Uber was coming for me but if he agrees to my $20 which I would pay in local currency I can cancel the Uber. The sharp guy agreed so I cancelled Uber and he took me to the airport where I paid Tsh 40,000.

    Check in was quick, flight left on schedule arriving Kigali earlier than expected.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Back to PH

    February 15, 2018 in Nigeria ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Immigration process was fast and the bags came out quickly. By 1:00pm I was alread out of the airport. I hailed an Uber which picked me up at the entrance to the new parking complex and took me to the Arik terminal at the old domestic airport, where I changed my 5:00pm flight to the 3:00pm flight for N8,210. Finally got home at 4:50pm.Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyRwanda & Tanzania 2018Traveler

    Arrived Lagos

    February 15, 2018 in Nigeria ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Bought a dress from the Kigali airport gift shop for Mama with my last Rwf and then ordered club sandwich and hot chocolate for breakfast paying with my GTB mastercard. Take off was smooth and on time finally arriving Nigeria at 12:30 pm.Read more

    Trip end
    February 15, 2018
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