We have been gifted the use of the hospice car at the
weekends, which is both a massive privilege and absolutely fantastic. It gives
us some independence to explore as a family in a very exciting way adding a
hugely positive dimension to our time here. So after popping in to the hospital
to see the young laparotomy who is doing well (and inevitably being asked to
review a couple of others too), I eventually located the car (more could be
said here) and climbed behind the wheel of this large Toyota 4x4. Great! I do
love driving ‘new’ cars (this one has 350,000km on the clock) and a big smile
crossed my face as I managed to start it without too much trouble – all cars
have little idiosyncrasies. I delighted in driving it to the hospital gates,
which were duly opened, and pulling up to our house (the first challenge as it
is quite a steep ‘drive’ and the rains had made the mud very slippery). We all
piled in and off we went. Driving in Tanzania is quite an experience – there
are countless pedestrians walking on the roads, bicycles and motor bikes (that
generally go quite slowly, but often laden with frankly ridiculous loads) not
to mention the numerous lorries (that almost always only just get over the hill
– often creeping the last few meters at under 5km/hr), other cars and busses
(some slow, some fast with very questionable overtaking etiquette – would you overtake three lorries into the path of multiple on coming motorbikes, cars and
even lorries?).
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| The view from the Yacht Club and the Lutheran Hostel monkeys |
But we made our way safely to Tanga and really enjoyed
exploring by car. We found the supermarkets and bank then made our way to the
Yacht Club (recommendation) to enjoy an idealic afternoon of beach and swimming
and a superb lunch. As the day drew to a close we tried our luck at a Lutheran
Hostel which was great. Not least because it has lots of ‘wild’ monkeys which
absolutely delighted the girls. And whilst our food took a while to come out
(and we had to risk being out in the open to the peril of the mbu – mosquitoes)
we had a lovely time talking to the hostels manager and playing cards with her.
The Tanzanian people really are so very friendly.
A lovely breakfast awaited us on Sunday morning – we feel
like we have eaten like royalty this weekend – which was devoured by all. We popped
to the market to do a bit of food shopping and then managed to get directions
to the area where we might be able to buy a mosquito net to replace one that
had ‘sprung a few leaks’. A truly authentic Tanzanian experience as we drove
through the narrow streets bursting with shops (they are all little and really
eclectic in what they sell) getting more and more specific directions as we
closed in on our goal. And yes, we somehow managed to find exactly what we
wanted. It was then off to check out a swimming pool at a posh hotel that had
been recommended and enjoyed a very ‘normal’ few hours for us as a family
messing about in the water. As we headed back to Muheza after lunch it was very
apparent that we had achieved a much needed recharge of all our batteries. A
most excellent outing.
When we got back and as I was about to settle down to a cup of tea, I was called in to do an
appendicectomy. All went well and as I was leaving to get home just before dark, I was presented with a child who had
swallowed a coin a few days ago (it is stuck mid-oesophagus) – that requires sorting tomorrow, but what to do without any form of endoscopic equipment….
And that’s just the end of week 1….
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