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12/20/2001: "update 3: dar es salaam"

i am writing this from a cybercafe in rainy, gloomy dar es salaam. i have been trying to get some cash all morning so that i can board a boat to go to zanzibar, (can't find a cash advance place anywhere). needless to say i am quite bummed. it was really hot and humid the first day i was here, a welcome if sweaty alternative to being in san francisco or even nairobi which has been relatively cool.

dar is a really charming place, i think of it as east africa's version of cuba. both places have a history of communism/socialism. both places seem stuck in the past. cuba in pre-revolution 1950's. tanzania in the post-independence 1960s and 1970s and the meideval swahili culture. the streets are clean, the traffic relatively orderly. the people are real friendly in that small town kind of way and i have not felt the vague sense of danger i feel in nairobi.

i have been in image overload photography-wise. everywhere i look there are beautiful scenes just flashing by as i move around: muslim women in their bui bui; old buildings; humorous signage (e.g. the "taliban barber shop"). i have been capturing what i can but there is too much to "see", i know i am capturing just an iota of what is passing in front of my eyes. i have some good stuff but i have let so many good photos go by i know i won't be totally satisfied with them.

more soon.