I arrived safely in Tanzania on Tuesday. I got a taxi to the YMCA which was to be my hostel for the next few nights. The hostel is nice, I have a double room (as there were no singles left!) and it has a fan which is a god send!! It is so incredibly hot and humid here! I had forgotten how hot africa is!

I went for dinner on my first night with two American girls who are over here teaching on a two year project. They know alot of Swahili and so they were able to help me out in ordering food!

I came to Tanzania five years ago on a school exchange and one of the students I met then is studying here in Dar es Salaam. He showed Minna (a finnish girl who is doing her PhD research over here) and I around the city yesterday which was fantastic as he knew exactly where to go!

We went to several museums where we saw traditional huts from all of the tribes around Tanzania. We travelled around by Dalla Dalla which are local minibuses which wait at a stop until they are full (or they cannot pack anymore people in) and then they continue on their way.

Today I went to the ferry port to buy my ticket to Zanzibar. It was mayhem with people everywhere trying to get me to go with their company! But I got a ticket for the time I wanted and at a reasonable price (I think!).

So I have one more night at the YMCA and then I go to Zanzibar tomorrow where I will stay for a week before returning to Dar. Looking forward to relaxing on the beach and seeing the sites! It will be very different to Dar which is extremely busy and noisy but fun when you know where you are going!

I will try to upload some photos in Zanzibar.