Annie Shoberg: The Resort and Tall Dark Strangers- Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Tall, dark Masai- Frank

The drive Dar Es Salaam, or “Dar” as the locals say, was breath-taking. The hillsides were green and filled with crops. Deep green and blue mountains cropped up in the background, and animals grazed alongside the roadway. As we wound through the countryside, we saw the nomadic Masai Mara in their checkered red one-shoulder togas, tending to their goats. I was enamored by the regal appearance of the tall, lean men with their striking white jewelry set against their black skin. Many men carried spears bows, swords, and walking sticks at their sides, but more on this topic later…

At 65 miles per hour, we breezed through Mikumi National Park. There’s only so much you can truly appreciate at this speed, but I was delighted to see huge elephants, a young giraffe, impalas, warthogs, and a large herd of water buffalo. It was totally worth the $8 bus fare.

Despite heavy traffic in Dar, our bus arrived 30 minutes early (perhaps due to our break-neck pace through the National Park). Lauren, my very good friend of 14 years, had offered to put us in touch with her Scottish boyfriend’s parents, George and Sara, who live in Dar. They had sent a taxi driver, Andrew, and instructed him to have a sign for Mark and Annie. He was probably surprised to find 3 of us instead of 2, but he didn’t let on. We drove to Oyster Bay, the expat-filled area of town where we ended up at what is affectionately known as “The Resort.” George, the retired Resort Manager, and his wife, Sara, a UNICEF Communications contractor, greeted us with battery operated lamps. “Hello, sorry, the power’s out,” George greeted us in his Scottish accent. “Welcome,” we hear from Sara in a British accent. Mark had agreed to let me ask about Mike staying with us rather than down the street at a hostel, but Mark couldn’t help himself and started blurting out immediately, “Would it be okay of our friend, Mike, stayed too?” Sorry, Lauren; I think they like you regardless of our poor manners.

The resort was beyond our wildest expectations. There was a pool, and our room had air conditioning. Mike got the open air canopy suite on the third floor. Each night, George cooked incredible meals- gourmet staple diet cuisine like fresh tuna with oyster sauce, and red snapper with rice and lentils… we hope he comes out with a cookbook because we will be one of the first in line to buy it. We became educated about Dar’s scheduled power outages, and planned our days around them. Amina, who lives on site, spoiled us with her smile and by washing our clothes and dishes, while the landscapers kept the palm trees trimmed to perfection. We were entertained by Idle George Productions, paintings being submitted for contests, videos of Kilimanjaro hikes, and Fergus’ first 30 years (if you haven’t seen him dance, or heard him sing, you’ve got to see the video). We saw a photobook journal of Sara, who rivals supermodels, and artistic pictures of their wedding, Bonnie and Clyde style. They were gracious hosts, and we can’t thank them enough for putting us up at the resort. And, we can’t say enough about how happy we are to have their son, Fergus, in Lauren’s life.

George dropped us off at the Slipway where we had easy access to the internet, a grocery store, a Café with lattes, and a German sandwich shop (ran by a Tanzanian lady who studied in Germany- the cheese there was so unbelievably good). We spent some time meandering around the shops where Mark paid to have zippers sewn into the pockets on his Obama shorts. Mike, Mark, and I hired a tuk tuk driver named Juma to show us around for a day. We tried shipping our souvineer box through DHL but were discouraged to find out the price was $262. It really made us appreciate how Heidi carried back a small bag of our things from Tofo to Colorado for only $10. We also ventured into a market to find a pair of used running shoes for Mike’s upcoming Moshi marathon (near Kilamanjaro). I love the service in the markets. Once the venders understand what you’re looking for, they come out of the woodwork with all sorts of items getting closer and closer to what you’re looking for. In addition to the running shoes, Mike found a murse and a running pack.

At one stop, en route to find a movie theater, Mike and Mark hopped out of the tuk tuk to get directions. While they chattered with two pretty store clerks, a Masai Mara man approached the tuk tuk. Just like the children who approached us in India, I was enamored with this guy, Frank, so I asked him if I could get a photo with him. After that, I mentioned that the plaza sign suggested there were lattes available, so he offered to walk me to the café. Looking back, I should have stayed near the tuk tuk, but I was enamored, so I yelled to Mark and Mike that I was going to the coffee café. The café turned out to be in a non-obvious courtyard, but I was happy as could be: I had a photo with a masai man and I was getting a latte- what could be better!?! I thought it was strange when Juma, the driver, found me in the café getting my latte, but I smiled and said I was coming along shortly. I waltzed out to the tuk tuk like everything was right in the world and mentioned to Mark how the Masai men were so attractive. It was poor timing. I had no idea that Mark was worried about me. He had no idea where I was, and for all he knew, I had wandered off and was getting raped in a dark corner by some Masai guy, and now I was saying something along the lines that I was looking for that kind of activity… oops, big social blunder on my part. We did eventually find the movie theater inside of a mall where Mike got a cell phone and Mark got his 3D Green Lantern movie fix… and I agreed not to wander off with any more tall, dark strangers.