We've been scheduling our activities here so that every second day we go for a nice hike. The off days, we still get out, but just for a wander around town and to find something to eat.
We tried a new restaurant yesterday, and it's the best one yet. There are two other ones in town that get good reviews, but from what I've read they are both western style restaurants and with western style prices. One is actually a pizza joint... Momma Mia's! And it definitely caters to the visitors... most locals wouldn't be able to afford the place.
Oddly, the restaurant we went to yesterday is located in a hotel... The Highland Park Hotel. Tripadvisor reviews were all over the map, but they said that prices were reasonable, so we decided we wouldn't know unless we tried it ourselves.
Our property is so nice and green.
The pond.
There are only two ATMs in town, and we were running low on cash. We went to the one closest to the restaurant, and sure enough it wouldn't spit out any money. Fortunately it also didn't charge our account!
We decided to go into the restaurant to check it out since we were pretty much there anyhow. On the desk at the reception, I saw a credit card machine and asked the guy if we could pay for lunch with credit card. He said sure, so we went and sat down.
The menu looked like it had a few suitable gluten free choices. I asked about the price of beer, and it was only 2,000 shillings ($1.10 CAD, $0.87 USD) per bottle. At that price, you don't mind having a second one!
It was then I realized that I didn't have my credit card with me! Whenever we go out, we only take with us what we think we might need that day, and I figured we were getting some cash out of the machine. Also, not many places take a credit card to begin with, so I just didn't think I'd be needing it.
Anyhow, we went ahead and ordered and while they were preparing the food, I walked down to the other bank machine in the central area and got some cash. I was back with time to spare, and it was soon after that our food showed up.
Ruth ordered the beef curry with rice and spinach.
I ordered the beef stew with chips and salad.
Both of our meals were delicious. Best we've had so far in Lushoto. The meat was fairly tender, and the sauce was delicious in both the stew and the curry. We ate the whole thing. And, I had a second beer!
Total bill including tip was 24,000 shillings ($13.00 CAD, $10.35 USD) for both of us. I laughed because you would pay that just for the two beer in Canada!
We will go back to that restaurant again.
Speaking of beer, I needed some for the house. So we went to our liquor store guy. I'm sure there are a few places in town that sell alcohol, but this guy we go to is funny, and he has literally everything stashed into his tiny little store. Many of the bottles have a layer of dust on them, but of course the stuff doesn't typically go bad!
Our liquor store guy.
The bus station.
We walked back to the house through the market, which takes place every Thursday and Sunday. One of the interesting things that we see is huge bales of used (and some new) shoes and clothing with hundreds of items. We are guessing its stuff that has been shipped from the U.S. or Canada...
Shoes.
Sorting through clothing.
These women come and sit all day to sell a few pieces of fruits or vegetables.
Back at the house, we were sitting in the living room when our lizard buddy made an appearance. He lives in (or under) the couch, and we've seen him peek out a few times. Yesterday he actually came out to say hi.
Our little lizard buddy.
There are a few mosquitoes around that come out at dusk, but not many. They buzz around a bit, but don't seem overly hungry. And we've had one or two wake us up buzzing around our heads at night, but again, they don't seem to want to bite.
I think we've figured out what we are doing when we leave this area. We haven't booked it yet, but we think we are going to head to the coastal city of Tanga for a week or so.
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Nice deal on the Survival Filter Pro Water Purifying Pump.
And in Canada...
I found your site on Senior Nomads and am LOVING catching up on your adventures!!! Hoping to see lots more. Stay safe and ENJOY!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad that you found us and I hope that we can keep you entertained with all our adventures! Thank you for following along and for taking the time to comment. :-)
DeleteTanga! Another T! You 2 are on a roll !
ReplyDeleteLol, yep another "T" in our collection of places this winter. :-)
DeleteWe saw lots of used clothing for sale in the Yucatan as well. It was funny to see some of the t-shirts men wore, as they were for US sports teams, and we knew most of the locals wearing them had never been to the US. One time I saw someone wearing a UNC Tarheels (my alma mater) t-shirt, and I almost said something to him but decided against it, my Spanish being what it was!
ReplyDeleteWe have also seen that at various markets that we have seen in Mexico but this has to be the most that we have ever seen before and for such a small town in the middle of nowhere! We can't figure out how they can possibly sell all this stuff to the locals.
DeleteWe laughed once when we saw a guy in the little town of Angahuan, Michoacán, he was wearing a Jack Daniels t-shirt and jeans while his wife was wearing the traditional attire that the women all wear in that area.
As a gardener, I’m in awe of the lush, green garden & vegetation elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteYou are opening our eyes to so many travel opportunities.
Thanks.
You would definitely love this area then! There are so many different varieties of plants, flowers and trees here. Everywhere we look we see something new and interesting.
DeleteWe are so glad that we are opening eyes to so many different places that people might never thought about visiting to before. That is part of our goal with this blog. :-)
Used clothig is an interesting global business. It makes its way down through the Americas and ends up in Africa where the final product is a rag rug.
ReplyDeleteYes, it certainly is! It is nice to see that not everything ends up in the landfill and what we can't make use of, someone else can. :-)
DeleteI'm glad you two found a good place to eat! I'm sure you'll be back. Take care, Rawn
ReplyDeleteWe have actually found several good places to eat here in Arusha but this one is probably the best one so far. :-)
DeleteGreat!
DeleteEnjoying your posts, having been to Tanzania and traveled to Arusha where our tour guide lives. Curious though that you seem to be very unconcerned about COVID, even though Tanzania has been a pandemic hotspot with many many deaths! Have you seen/heard anything from the locals or is it being swept under the rug so as to not frighten tourists?
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that you are enjoying our posts from here in Tanzania. Where did you travel when you visited Tanzania, other than Arusha?
DeleteNo, we aren't too concerned with COVID because the majority of the time that we are near people we are almost always outside, the only one time we were a little concerned was when we were on the bus traveling from Arusha to Lushoto and this is one of the reasons that we don't want to travel around too much of Tanzania but would rather stay in one spot for longer periods of time and keep our public transportation trips to a minimum.
We are not sure though where you are getting your information about Tanzania being a hotspot with many, many deaths, seeing that the Tanzanian government stopped recording the cases and deaths back in April of last year. So far anyone that we have talked to about COVID don't seem concerned about it and nobody knows anyone personally that has been sick from it or died from it. And none of travelers that we have met here in Tanzania have any problems with it either, and a number of them have traveled all over the country and have been here for several months.
In Tanzania we visited Tarangire and the Serengeti, mostly on a safari and local cultural experience trip. The information we’ve been seeing regarding the pandemic in Tanzania is becoming more frequent in the news, The U.S. Embassy in Tanzania says the country has seen a significant increase in cases over the past month. A growing number of countries including Denmark, Oman and India have announced that travelers from Tanzania have tested positive not only for coronavirus but for the highly transmissible B.1.351 variant that is spreading widely throughout southern Africa. Last week, the U.S. Embassy issued a new travel warning that echoed previous ones in which it said the level of transmission in Tanzania was “very high.”
Delete“The U.S. Embassy is aware of a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases since January 2021,” the warning reads. “The practice of COVID-19 mitigation and prevention measures remains limited.”
Britain has added Tanzania to its list of countries from which those who have traveled in the past two weeks are banned from entry.
And yes, in Tanzania by government order, there is no Covid, therefore no official data on the number of cases being kept or even talked about due to fear of reprisal. So, continue to be watchful and careful, stay safe!
While we are sure that COVID and it's variants are here, all of those media outlets as well as the US embassy are simply guessing. Without the data, nobody knows.
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