TAN: Journey into Darkness

We awaken to another beautiful day in paradise. We are trying to get as much put together as we can. The upstairs deck has become our permanent office. The staff has taken the liberty of moving our dining table up there to make it easier for us. We don’t mind at all because the view is much better.

We work from after breakfast, around lunch and past dinner into the evening.

Chantal enjoying the new office furniture.

We are finally ready to go around 9:30 p.m. They have been having some trouble with the outboard motors so we are a little skeptical about actually being able to leave. Our fears are well justified as we throw the shear pin by hitting the rocks on shore as we turn the boat around to head for the mainland. Our collision with the rocks jostles another outboard motor, laying in the cabin, causing the propeller to gouge into my toes. There is a fair amount of blood, but it turns out to not be a very deep cut. We are adrift in the strong current for a good ten minutes, trying to edge our way back with frantic paddling with the kayak paddles. We manage to hold our own but don’t make any headway back to shore. Eventually one of the staff members jumps overboard and swims for it. He rustles up some line and the kayak to stage a rescue. We are a little dubious about the strength of the line. It manages to hold and we make it back to shore.

We cool our heels for a good fifteen minutes before we get the all clear. There have been no motor sounds, so we wonder if we will really be getting anywhere. I manage to add insult to earlier injury by stubbing my toes on the anchor where it is hidden in the dark on the shore. We are adrift again and head further out than before, while the starter cord for the outboard is yanked over and over and over again. Eventually the motor catches and sputters to life. There is a tense moment as it is thrown into gear. We start on a meandering course back to the mainland. Our pilot is preoccupied with the motor and only periodically looks up to adjust our course. The route is more akin to a downhill slalom than anything else. All of are quite taken by the phosphorescence than is thrown up in our wake. The pale green glow is something to behold.
We finally make it to the mainland and are greeted by our next mode of transport, a minibus all decked out like a nursery school field trip. There is some sort of negotiating that goes on between the island staff and the folks on the mainland. It seems that our driver Frank, who took us to Bagamoyo the other day, has given up on us and gone to bed. We have another driver and some other passengers and loose propane tanks along with us for the trip back to Dar es Salaam.

Our chariot awaits

Somehow we are all still smiling

We finally get back to Micoheni just before midnight. Alex Fox and his crew appear to still be trying to get their train ready for a 10 a.m. departure. I start a load of laundry that proves to be little more easily said than done in the Dutch washing machine. It finally starts making noise and filling with water, which I take as a good sign. From what I remember Hanif saying in July, the washing process will take a good four hours to complete. Needless to say, I am not going to wait up for it. I plan to get up at 6 a.m. to transfer the soggy clothes to the drier. Finally into bed around 1a.m.