Day 1 Dar es Salaam and Bogamoyo

We spent the entire first day in the vicinity of Dar es Salaam.  Part of this was to allow Fr. Mbiche to do some business in town.  Part was to get a taste for "Dar" and to see Bogamoyo where Christianity first came to Tanzania in the mid nineteenth century. 

I commented to Fr. Mbiche during our time together that I didn't think I could live in Dar es Salaam.  It is very congested.  A large city with several million people.  There are areas of more comfort but I felt that it was very tight and also (at this time of the year) very dusty.  Since so few streets are paved the dust hangs in the air.  I did notice, however, that the inside of houses and buildings were quite clean and dust free.  I am not sure what their secret is but it seems to work.  It is really when one is outside that one feels the heat, the humidity and the dust.  We drove through the Oyster Bay area which contains many of the embassies and the houses of the wealthier people.  It looked comfortable and was directly on the Indian Ocean.  Interestingly, I happened to catch an episode of House Hunters International on TV and someone was looking for a house in Oyster Bay.  Kind of interesting.

Bogamoyo is a port city.  At one time it was the center of the slave trade going to the East.  I had not really thought about the fact that slave trading was not just a European/American issue but slaves were sent East as well.  In fact, this was one of the reasons that Christian missionaries came to Tanzania - to help stop the slave trade.  David Livingston (of Dr. Livingston, I presume, fame) was an early missionary.  There is a tower at Bogamoyo which is called Livingston tower(tower on the left) and was built, I believe during his time there.

This is on the site of the Catholic Mission which also houses a museum (see me with our guide), a church (see below) and a school.  I believe there are also conference facilities there as well.





After our visit to the mission and museum we went to the port.  There were boats out a little way and they were tossing yellow containers into the water which washed ashore and were collected by the workers on the shore.  I asked what they were.  It is cooking oil.  You can see what it looked like.  They were also bringing other items in from the boats, including canned sodas.  There was a lot of Coke being consumed in Tanzania.

After this we went to a restaurant where we had a nice lunch and some time to relax overlooking the ocean.  It was very beautiful and peaceful. One of Fr.Mbiche's former students joined us.  He now teachers Kiswahili (the local language) and is doing very well.  We found that many of the people that went through St. Monica are doing well.  It is an indication of the positive effects of our work with them.  Education is very important and allows for a brighter future for those who receive an education.  And a Christian education is especially valued.  Here I am with Fr. Mbiche and Sr. Euphrasia who lives at the place we stayed.

 

Some have asked about the food.  We ate a lot of chicken and fish.  The starch tended to be "chips" (similar to French Fries) and rice.  We also had a lot of vegetables in sauce.  I was a bit surprised that dishes were not more heavily spiced.  They were generally mild but very tasty.  For breakfast it was usually eggs, toast and sausage or porridge.

 

After our day at Bogamoyo we returned home to sleep.  One thing of note was that most places we went there were mosquito nets above the bed which we were encouraged to use.  Malaria is a real problem and we needed to be careful.  I took an anti-malarial medication, doused my clothes with insect repellant and used the nets.  So far, no sign of a problem.