So off we went; first we hit the pole coming out
of the parking lot and bent it - what a good start. Then we had to go
"out" the "in" side, instead of out the out which created
another traffic jam and then we tried to follow the directions that Lisa had SMS'd
us to try and find this place. Apparently 12 Kms out of Dar. Let me tell you,
nothing is easy in Dar especially in The Queen! It is a minefield and on top of
everything none of the streets have names, so it was a real case of hit and
miss. Half the roads are just mud patches or swamped in water, (the road past
the president's house was about two foot deep in mud and water) so we just had
to drive on approximate miles to know when to turn and even that was a little
inaccurate. At least we were going in the right direction. Towards the end we
realized we had either missed the turn or we were completely wrong and just as
we were about to turn around and start again, not a pleasant thought, we saw
the sign....
Mediterraneo… Oh my gosh, a little "homemade" sign that looked like the
rest of the signs in Dar. By this time Ernest was moaning and saying he was
going back to the Serena and it took me all my intention to get him to at least
look at the hotel. We eventually found the place, again looking through some
bushes into the parking lot - it looked a bit dodgy so I jumped out the car before
Ernest could leave, to go and have a look.
What a surprise, it was the cutest place and as
you walked in there is this little peaceful haven set in a gorgeous garden of
tropical plants, I couldn't believe my eyes. There were these little rooms, all
with really cute verandas off each room with bright cushions and white walls
and set right on the beach. What a relief, I could have kissed the receptionist
sitting smiling in her thatched hut at the entrance to the lodge. It has a real
Mediterranean look and is obviously well run and cared for.
So now to try and get The Queen into the parking
lot... I didn't even go out and watch. I just thought to hell with it, they
must just make a plan. So we decided no more driving around looking for any
campsites or anything else, we were just staying put. Ernest and I were going
to be there for 4 days and Andrea, Kim, Steve and Rouvierre were going to go to
Zanzibar for two nights. Ken, who was still a little white and weak from his
opp would stay with us, rest and build up some strength as we still had far to
go before reaching home.
The hotel has a delightful restaurant that is
right on the beach and these quaint little sitting areas which overlook the
beach and the chairs are made of old dugout boats with great big cushions. Very
comfortable and just the place Ken needed to fully recover from his ordeal.
Lisa and Warwick arrived that evening bringing a
suitcase full of supplies with them as my Woolies stuff was running
out...."Hurray for Woolies!" That is a little private joke that I
will let you in on. Ernest has been reading a wonderful book given to him by
his daughter in Law, Jacqui. The title is " the Fabre book of
Exploration" and it is very appropriate for what we are doing at the
moment( we like to think that we have something in common with those early
explorers, little different however with our big truck and deep freezes,
Woolies sauces etc etc.) every night he reads some amusing thing out of the
book to us and the one that has got us going on this private joke is a quote
from Samuel Baker's book ( one of our Safari Lodge explorers) where he
describes meeting up with two other explorers, Grant and Speke. His remark in
the book is so typical of an English gentleman. He says that he was so excited
to meet with them, as these were the first white men that he had seen for 18
months and shouted out "hurrah for
England" and in the ensuing greeting they fired off a shot which
mistakenly killed one of his donkeys. So now
amongst the group if there is anything
pleasurable it is accompanied by the exclamation "hurrah" in a
very English accent of course.
We settled in for our four days of rest while
the others left for their adventure on Zanzibar, I must say I was a little
envious as I have never been to Zanzibar but at the same time quite relieved
that we didn't have to go anywhere. It was a good opportunity to Re-charge our
batteries, and the best of all we could spend a few days with Lisa and Warwick
just catching up with all that had happened at home and just spending time
walking on the beach and watching the activities of the many fishermen and
their boats.
The hotel was run by two Italian brothers and it
was so interesting to really get their story and how they had landed up in a
place like Dar. In brief, their father was Somalian and their mother Italian.
They had lost everything when the war broke out in Somalia and the rebels had raised
their very successful business of Crawfish exporting to the ground and they had
had to flee. Africa sure is tough on its producers. So they came to Dar and
started again and their little beach hotel is a real proof of their creativity
in this chaos of a city.
Ken's strength grew day by day and on the last
day we even went out in his car to fix a puncher in his tire and do a little
exploring. We found another resort about 10 Kms down the road and had lunch
there. It was very smart but not nearly as nice as our little spot so we were
really pleased that Lisa had found this little oasis which we can always run to
if we ever came back to Dar.
Until next time!
Sounds amazing!
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