Back in Moshi, I took another restday before I started to go down to Zanzibar. I thought the bus-ride would give me some further impression about economy and living in Tanzania. Taking the express-bus at 6:00 a.m. I learned all about "express". It took roughly 2 hours for the first 20 kilometers, because the bus just picked up people till it was almost full. I didn't really care, because I had a hotel in Dar-Es-Salaam for the night and didn't have to catch the last ferry over to Zanzibar. But, surprise, surprise, after we used the only really good street in Tanzania, between Moshi and Dar-Es-Salaam, almost an "Autobahn" we reached Dar-Es-Salaam by 3:50 p.m.

Out of the bus, you get the African "experience", roughly 10 people around you, almost tearing the clothes from your body, trying to get a job such as carrying your luggage, offering a taxi, bringing you to the hotel etc. It really takes time to get used to that, a lot of tourists loose their selfcontrol and don't know how to handle the situation. Best thing to do is to take the first one as a guide, and immediately the others take off; there is no business opportunity anymore. The behavior of these people has to be seen in the context of the economic situation in Tanzania.

The GDP per Capita in 1993 was roughly 90 US-$ per capita, and I don't think that too much changed in these years (The real number is higher, because a lot of agricultural income is not registered). There has been a positive development in tourism but besides that I couldn't really see a lot happening. On the bus ride from Moshi to Dar-Es-Salaam we've been starting with a brewery at the beginning and at the end, but we barely saw any other industrial complex. On my way back to Dar-Es-Salaam I saw something like an industrial area, but overall it doesn't really look there has been a lot of support, respectively investments from foreign companies. Talking with some people it looked as if the political structure is not supporting foreign investments - corruption in the country is still skyrocketing.

Back to the bus station in Dar-Es-Salaam. I went out of the bus and a guy picked me up telling me that he is from my hotel (Peacock Hotel). Funny, nobody from the hotel knew that I will arrive by bus. The guy made a rather good impression, so I left with him to the hotel. He offered me to show me around town, but after 9 hours in the bus I felt tired. When I asked him, how he knew that I am staying at the hotel, he couldn't really explain. But I think he got the information from a guy in the bus, who overheard my conversation with some of the 4 tourists on the bus.

Dar-Es-Salaam didn't make an interesting impression on me and what I heard about safety wasn't good either, so I just took the first ferry over to Zanzibar next morning. Same thing, I just hired the first guide at the port exit and walked with him to my hotel. This guy was really good, and spoke excellent English. Therefore, I hired him for the sightseeing tour through Zanzibar stonetown, the historical old town. The first impression of Stonetown in Zanzibar disappointed me. Knowing that the UN declared Stonetown as a cultural heritage, I was expecting to find more reconstruction and cleanliness in the place, and more safety (like in Dar-Es-Salaam you better take a taxi late at night).

So, I took it easy again, and just called it a day. I went over to the East-Africa-Hotel to take the sundowner. Actually, the hotel is closed, but there are two fridge's on the outside terrace, were they serve beer or lemonade.

All that made my decision even easier to go straight over to the East Coast of the island, to the Sau Inn Hotel. And there I really found what I've been looking for. 22 bungalows (traditional style) around a restaurant in a beautiful setting under coconut trees, directly on the beach. The perfect place to relax. But nevertheless, there have been some sports- and visiting activities around the hotel: going swimming with dolphins, snorkeling, or going fishing with some of the local fisherman or you can go for the famous spice tour.

All in all the perfect spot to round up the trip and relax before flying back.

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