Arusha

Arusha is a quiet city/town with friendly people and where it's easy to get around. It is known as the safari capital of Tanzania, since very many wildlife safaris set out from there - it being close to Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, various lakes and the Ngorongoro Crater. It also turns out that it's the sister town of Mürzzuschlag in Austria - how funny is that?!

Having taken the shuttle from Nairobi to Arusha, we arrived in the evening and had a good nights sleep at the hotel. The next day we met some friends for lunch and organised a trip to the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda), which is based in Arusha. We toured around the premises and watched a video of the setting-up of the tribunal and the difficulties that were faced when doing so. The main issues were in relation to infrastructure - Arusha was not more than a little town before the ICTR was set-up, and did not have the proper facilities to house such a Tribunal. This had to be changed quickly - and the tribunal actually started its work prior to the completion of the conference centre and UN premises there. Unfortunately we were not able to actually see the tribunal in session, as the sessions for that day and the rest of the week were closed sessions - probably to protect state secrets (I think it was a high military person that was on trial).

We tried to arrange for a day-trip to Ngorongoro crater - however, due to high fuel prices and shortages thereof - it was not really a viable to option to pay $500 for a drive there to take some pictures and then to drive back.

During our stay there, we also went to the National Natural History Museum in Arusha - which was quite small but had some interesting information regarding tropical diseases/prevalent diseases in Tanzania and East Africa. We also saw the workshop where they restore the animals that are put on display. Funnily enough it turned out that the museum cafe is where I ended up going clubbing the night after!

This seems to be a popular place for interns at the ICTR, as well as locals, to go clubbing. We went to play pool at a little bar before going to Via Via (the club). The clubbing experience was topped off with an end of the night meal - "chips mayai" (chips with eggs - basically an omelet with chips, folded in half, put in a black plastic bag with ketchup) - surprisingly it tasted quite good and once I got used to the idea of eating my meal with my fingers out of a plastic bag I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The clock tower in Arusha is said to be the mid-point on the route between Cairo and Cape Town; whether it's true or not I can't say - but it makes for a nice picture anyway!

On the last day in Arusha we had a quiet evening - having had lunch with a few friends earlier. It was going to be a long day for both of us, travelling separate ways.