The trip

We left home at the end of February with a return ticket to Rome, five weeks off work, and the idea of going to Africa.  Now that we're home, we can finally finalize our itinerary!

Here's the trip that happened:

February 28 -- Leave for Rome

February 29-March 6 -- Rome, Italy wandering around the ruins, tour of Colleseum and the Forum, eating, sipping, people watching in piazzas, finding a travel agent, booking a ticket to Tanzania with a stop in Dubai, changing the stopover to Doha.

Hotel:  Hotel Lancelot, a restful and comfortable oasis, down the street from the Colleseum, hosted by the Khans and a lovely and helpful staff.  ($120 US for the room, including a stunning breakfast of cheeses, cold meats, breads and croissants, cakes, fruits, yougurt, juices and all you can drink coffee with hot milk)

March 6-8 -- Doha,Qatar starting at futuristic skyscrapers, searching for falcons in the Sudanese animal market where the city meets the desert, eating Moroccon food in the souk at night, watching people from everywhere going by in the dark, slim Quatari men in long white robes and red and white head scarves, migrant workers from Africa and Asia

Hotel: Merwab Central, luxurious bedding and red drapes, the call to prayer, view of the sandy city ($120 US for the room including a massive breakfast buffet of hot and cold foods, Western and Arabic)

March 8-10 -- Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, flying over the desert watching episode after episode of The Killing, driving around with Anthany, the navigator of chaos in the streets, luxuriating at the Sea Cliff Hotel pool, figuring out how to change money, 11 hour bus ride to Arusha

Hotel: The Palm Beach Hotel, a few palms and nowhere near the beach, a garden restaurant with tasty food and traffic speeding by, power outages and gossip and voodoo drama among the staff and guests ($100 US for the room, including a dodgy little breakfast of bread, meat and salad we didn't eat, a bit of fruit and a small pot of coffee for everyone)

March 11-13 -- Arusha, Tanzania, aggressive men trying to sell us stuff, possibly the best Indian food in the world at Bigg Bites, Raul the owner and his advice and tips, booking a safari at Roy Safaris

Hotel: The Jacaranda, a leafy oasis in a leafy part of town, Abdullah in the restaurant and the fun women at reception, connecting with Connie from Oregon about books, movies, TV, her work at a girls' secondary school and our search for a safari, our "suite" on the second floor  ($55 US for the room, including breakfast of an omlette, fruit salad, toast and homemade jam and all you can drink coffee and hot milk)

March 13-17 -- Safari!, exploring Manyara National Park, the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and crater, staring at lions, leopords, elephants, rhinos, buffalo, baboons, all kinds of antelopes, giraffes, hippos....., connecting with Habib, possibly the best safari guide in the world, awed by the landscape, the wildlife, the sights and the sounds

Hotel:  Serena hotels, owned by the Agha Khan, luxurious, designs that fit the landscape, amazing food and wildlife all around  (cost included in the cost of the safari ($1500 for everything for 4 nights and 5 days), food (Western and Indian) too bountiful and delicious too indescribable to get into....)

March 18-20 -- Arusha, rest, laundry, sharing safari stories with Connie and the hotel staff, internet cafe, back to Bigg Bites for more great Indian food and to say good-bye and thank you to Raul, flight to Zanzibar on a small plane

Hotel:  The leafy Jacaranda of course!

March 20-22 -- Stonetown, Zanzibar, hot!, the labyrinth of the old town, covered women, shopping for cloth, watching the sun set at Livingstone's, connecting with Doris who works there

Hotel:  Tembo Hotel, managed by the lovely Abdul, a gorgeous room in the restored old part of the hotel, tile floors, black mahoghany furniture, wooden shutters, bright white bedding and mosquito nets, delicious air con ($117 US a night, including a great breakfast of loads of tropical fruit, coconut juice out of the coconut, crepes, eggs, eaten outside on a tiled patio beside the beach)

March 23-29 -- Matemwe Beach on the east coast of Zanzibar, endless white beach with turquoise waters, women harvesting seaweed in the mornings when the tide is out, men leaving at high tide in outrigger boats to fish, coming back in the evening when the tide is in again, swimming in hot water at high tide, sunsetters with Andrea and Theo from Germany, the milky way every night, a shooting star

Hotel: Matemwe Beach Village -- gourmet food, cool breezeways, hammocks and beach beds in the shade, Nelson, the main dog and Mrs. Nelson the friendly stray ($144 US including really yummy and creative breakfasts and dinners)

March 29 -- Stonetown, Swahili dinner, quick and successful shopping, packing for the trip home

Hotel:  Back to the Tembo of course!

March 30 -- a  long and hard journey back to Rome, starting with a ferry to Dar Es Salaam, watching the President speed by, a few hours at the airport waiting for our flight, an exhausting stopover in Doha airport, busy and noisy and bright in the middle of the night, welcoming ourselves back to Rome with cappucino and pastries

March 30--April 1 -- Rome, long walks all over the city, eating big dinners, sleeping in, searching for olive branches (instead of palm leaves) on Palm Sunday at the Vatican, a city that was empty three weeks before is now packed with tourists and school trips

Hotel:  back to the Lancelot of course!  ($160 US for the room, it's high season!, but we also got upgraded into a room with a balcony)

April 2 -- home (Susan the next day)