Arusha - don't spend a lot of time there

I had 2 days before the 10 day safari started in Arusha so I had a bit of free time to explore Arusha. Well, I really didn't need it other than to use the internet cafe which was super cheap compared to what the hotel charged. I stayed at the Impala Hotel that is listed as a 4-5 star hotel and for paying $80 a night it really felt more like a 2 star hotel. Yes, it had a pool and 4 restaurants (Indian, Chinese, Italien & Continental), but there was no air conditioning. My room was in the older section and it was small but at least it was clean. Unfortunately, it over looked the lobby, so it was quite noisy into the wee hours. A plus was a t.v. with a movie channel.

I could walk into town from the hotel along the main road for about 1/2 hour. I expected to see a modern city like Kigali is doing with all the new buildings. Well, Arusha still looks like it did 50 years ago. There is a central clock tower on a round a bout that is suppose to be the half way point between South Africa and Egypt. I'll have to check that out on an atlas when I get home. The old Arusha hotel is very nice and has been updated but all the other buildings are dirty and dingy. Lots of garbage in the streets and masses of people walking and trying to maneouver around all the crazy drivers. After visiting Rwanda which was so clean, I was deeply disappointed in how dirty Tanzania is. I don't care how poor a person is, they can clean up their own yard.

I went into 2 bookstores looking for some tour guiding books and maps and there were so crammed pack full of books the people pretty well had to climb over top of each other in the 1 aisle. Entering a photo shop to check out the prices of memory cards, I was virtually ignored while they kept serving the locals, even ones who came in after me. The street vendors seem to latch onto any white person and follow them down the street even though you repeatedly tell them you are not buying any souveniers today. One guy, very friendly I must say even waited outside each shop I entered and continued to follow me for over an hour. I guess he finally gave up when I went into an internet cafe for about 3 hours.

I was able to find the Hoopoe Safari office in the downtown area and make arrangements to be picked up from the Impala Hotel and taken to Kigongoni Lodge (just outside of Arusha) to start my safari on Sunday afternoon.