Phase 2 Amani Beach Resort, Tanzania

Amani Beach Resort is just south of Dar es Salaam.  It is not far distance wise, but due to the road conditions and travelling through the city from the airport, it is at least a 2 hour drive.  Our first glitch of the trip occurred at the Dar airport.  Jimmy, the manager of the resort thought we were arriving in the afternoon (we arrived 3:45 a.m. not p.m. and our e-mails confirmed that) so our ride wasn't there.  Fortunately, the taxi drivers were very friendly and one of them let us use his phone.  In fact the driver Jimmy uses is one of the airport drivers on the side...he gives him a deal.  This created quite an opportunity for the drivers to have a good early morning laugh...dumb tourists...

The drive from the airport was humbling.  I have never seen such sights.  Hundreds of people walking, women carrying water buckets on their heads, and many more people just sitting.  Through Dar, you could see that many were going to work, but once we got through the city and into the country and through the villages, you could tell that they weren't off to work.  There were many partially finished houses...it made me just want to stop the van, get out and ask what I could do to help them finish their home.

There were a number of schools on the way to the resort which is good to see, but apparently the kids only go some of the time.  Some of their time is also spent fishing/helping to support the family.

 

 

 

 

Speaking of fishing, we observed some local fisherman in action.  They had a boat anchored just off shore from the beach and visible from our room.  Each day we watched them swim out to the boat and bail it out...because overnight as the tide came in, it often filled the boat.  Once emptied, they would go about their day catching fish.  This is how they feed their families...plus whatever fruit they find on the trees in the area or whatever they can grow. 

 

 

 

We also watched 6 men fish with a very large net.  At low tide, they spread a very long net out and then they worked to form a circle, closing the ends of the net and then walking toward shore with the net over their backs, it formed sort of a large sack...with lots of fish inside.  It was very cool to watch the process.

We ate lots of fish cooked in different ways while we were there...we can get chicken and hamburger anytime.

The other method of fishing is used by the young boys in the area. They wait until the tide recedes and then go to fetch any fish left behind in small pools. It is the method of catching that cracks us up daily. The boys entered the shallow, muddy pools head first, with  butts and flailing legs in the air...unfortunately we have no pictures to show this.

This was quite an amazing and interesting place.  First it was beautiful, second, there were only 5 of us there at any one time...so we essentially had the resort and beach to ourselves.  The beaches were not private so we shared with the locals.  We didn't see a lot of them, but when we did, they are so, so friendly..., 3rd, the resort had a very unique way of providing service.  Breakfast was served from 8:30 - 10:00...we had  fruit, toast, croissants & muffins and eggs cooked however we wanted...with bacon...it took us 5 days to finally get it served crispy.  There were a few staff who spoke pretty good English and others who were just learning and trying really hard...sort of like us with Swahili.  Anyway, back to the service.  Sometime during the day, Hassan would track us down and ask for our lunch & dinner orders.  They had a menu and they prepared our order specifically.  We also had a choice of what time between 12 & 2:30 and 7 & 8:30 we would like our lunch and dinner served.  It was an interesting way to do it for sure...it mades us feel that we are getting personalized service.  Now, Adam...the chef could actually use some help from Heather in the kitchen.

 

The resort has a bio farm attached to it where they grow their own fruits and vegetables, milk their own cows/goats, gather their own eggs from the chickens (and probably kill their own chickens...not sure about that one).  We went for a walk to visit the bio farm and met William.  He was so happy to have visitors and he gave us a great tour...although his English and our Swahili made communication quite difficult.  He was sweet though and so, so excited to show us around.  We were excited to arrive just after a baby goat had been born...literally.  The placenta was still on the baby and attached to the mom.  Very cool.

 

We also had resident vervet monkeys, cats and a baboon...although we never did see the baboon.

We really enjoyed the peace and quiet of Amani Beach Resort.  It was a wonderful reprieve after the hustle and bustle of Istanbul and definitely allowed us to be well rested before our safari & gorilla trek.  At Amani we had about 3 people serving us the whole time...Christine, Elizabeth who has the most beautiful smile, and Hassan.  The service from North American standards has been lacking, but everyone is very friendly and personable...the ladies a little shy.  Asha, the office assistant, has been most helpful with tips about our trip to Arusha, which is where she is from...when you mention it, she lights up.

We also had Mary, Yousef and Hadiga later in the week.  Maradi taught us mambo and poora...greetings instead of Jambo.

 

One night we were picked up in a Toyota corolla by Juma.  He drove through his village, pointed out his house on our way to another beach...he was taking us to his sailboat for a sunset sail.  It was so cool.  Essentially a dug out canoe with stabilizers on each side.  Like an old fashioned catamaran.  There were two other fellows who did all of the sailing...one captain and the first mate of course, whom was on the bow navigating and changing of the sheet when we jibed.  The sunset was actually mediocre, but the experience was great.  We arrived back just before our friends (Leslie, Mike & Shannon from Malawi) we left behind at the hotel were about to have someone check on us 'cause they were worried.  All of the sailing, changing of the sail is done with bare feet and sturdy hands...no cranks, sailing gloves, or keen sandals to help with footing.

What's the story?  The guests all arrive tomorrow...said every day by Jimmy...the hoards never did arrive.

We're famous...for knowing and using everyone's name...for being polite Canadians...can't believe it.

Oh yeah, and don't believe the hotel guide book...the tour of the village apparently isn't very good, the island is too far away to visit, and the so called snorkeling at the ship wreck led to the sighting of one blue fish, a scraped foot and claustrophobia.