Today I leave. In several hours, the taxi picks me up and I’m supposed to leave the guesthouse clean. I leave tonight at 21:30 from KIA Airport, and will arrive on June 16th (tomorrow) at 7:40 H. You just wave upwards as my plane lands?

The last days at the institute are already in sight. I have not written for a while now, maybe I couldn’t because much has happened in the meantime. My good friend Evert I have found in the bush and my mother has also been flown in for a visit to me and to the Tanzanian local culture. A short safari was a luxury. I felt like a Tanzanian host who could give my friends a small glimpse into the wonderful everyday things of African nature and culture.

Lingering in mind, with my arms up, I stand before the mirror. The rash on my arms and abdomen slowly decreases. The safari did my stream of thoughts well, but my body has been less well. A nasty caterpillar landed on my skin and left his tracks to me. I have spent four hours in the hospital to be able to get to the pharmacy for a simple ointment. I was impressed how many people visit the hospital to let every little pain be investigated. It’s not bad, most people here are very susceptible to disease and people are very afraid that the disease will take over their body. Now I was also afraid that this rash would take over my body.

In the mirror I try to take a closeup of my destroyed arms. The last days … what we all want to do? Who do we want to talk to? Did we do everything within the project and have we been here enough for KFI? Is there something more to communicate or teach to the students? We have had a lot of discussion during our review week: we reflected on the project, our own operations, the performance of the students and the management team. We got together with management and had an evaluation, and to be honest I find it a heavy meeting, although I often have had constructive criticism, it struck me hard to hear some things from them. It has put me to thinking: I am a good teacher? No, I’m to impatient and emotional for this. Can I achieve everything myself without occasionally outsourcing my work? No, I know myself because I’m flying over head and I get nothing more done. However my computer skills I’ve jacked up pretty much, opening the screws of macs is now easier and the PCs have had a nice cleanup. I am proud of my technical skills and my creativity, something that continues to be part of me throughout my career as a motion graphics designer. I’ve done well for my own research. It has not gone unnoticed, the management team has followed me for months and they are now convinced that you have to enrich your knowledge yourself every day to trigger your inspiration and creativity by being on the road. That’s true, you must be pro-active to lift yourself at a higher creative level. All in all it was a good project, it could have been much worse. I can confidently leave this beautiful country and I will always carry a piece of it in myself. No caterpillar can take away the good feeling that burns alive in me. I’m ready, ready to give back a piece of my new experience to Dutch society, and ready to embrace my home again, with little more knowledge and life experience…

No i don’t need to talk about parties and friends and culture and leisure right now, but i thought it would be nice to do a little comparative study with the hotels i slept in these days in Dar es Salaam. I have set aside some money for this trip, and many rooms are available because of the wide offer of hotels in town. So finding a hotel would not be any problem was my opinion.

I started with one night in the NEW ARUSHA HOTEL
It was a nice hotel with lots of facilities and attracts mostly businesspeople (i would say mostly Mexican Mafia). The reception is okay but some of the ladies are not very heartily and warm to their guests. They tried to fix me an internet cable (since i can’t do wireless with my laptop) but unfortunately they couldn’t fix it until the next morning.
Price single room: $ 150,- (incl. breakfast)
Internet per hour: $ 4,-

Then the next day I switched hotels to PALM BEACH HOTEL
The ladies behind the reception were really warm and helpful, also the restaurant outside had a nice atmosphere. It was a good place to enjoy your meal quietly (as quiet as it can be for a Mzungu in this town). A really big disadvantage was the internet connection in the hotel. They did not have a cable available for me and i could only use a notebook from the hotel itself with a wireless connection (which was only working at the reception area).
Price single room: $ 80,- (incl. breakfast)
Internet per hour: $ 0,-

My final night in Dar i wanted to find a hotel that would exceed all other hotels I have been so far.
So I tried HOLIDAY INN
This place is amazing. Very modern, it is a new hotel quite near the heart of Dar es Salaam. Staff is pretty friendly and delivers good service. Fast internet WITH cable in the room made it able for me to do a lot of work in one night.
Price single room: $ 156,- (incl. breakfast)
Internet per hour: $ 0,40

The last hotel was the best option regarding the price-quality ratio. The best service, the biggest amount of resources a guest can use and the location was also not bad. I have had a great time behind my desk there. Asante sana!