13 days in Dar Es Salaam

In our original itinerary, we had no intention to stop in Dar Es Salaam. We are grateful that Paka brought us to the city. The experience of getting Paka ready to fly back to the US forced us outside of the tourist circuit and led us to a number of memorable experiences including:

Getting to shop at a supermarket in Tanzania
- Seeing the American section
Walking back and forth from the vet every other day with Paka
- Everyone was curious about the two crazy white people walking by with a cat
- The tuk-tuk drivers out front began to recognize and talk with us
Meeting other pet owners at the vet
Befriending the Airbnb host
Having conversations with multiple shop owners about our cat and their life
Getting to try Baobab
Shopping in a local fabric market
Riding around in a Tuk-tuk (My first time in one)
Shopping at local markets
Going to a mall (I didn’t bring any cotton shirts and was really crazing one)

While in Dar Es Salaam we both felt lethargic and like we were not accomplishing enough each day. It felt like we would do one thing and be exhausted. Looking back now I realize that we had done so much up to that point and that we were doing a lot. Caring for the kitten was a lot of work, we each had multiple firsts everyday, and there was a lot of stress involved in exporting a kitten.

The responsibility was 100% on us. We talked at length about if we were making the right decision. What if Paka was turned around at the border? Is it worth the risk for a better life? Should we be spending our time and money in a more impactful way? etc.

The Paka project lead us to have many interesting conversations and meet many new people but also left us missing out on really getting to know Dar Es Salaam. With everything going on most of the hours of the day we spent inside our Airbnb. Either reading, watching TV, playing with Paka or doing a puzzle

7/9

We talk about this day in our Zanzibar to Dar Es Salaam post.

7/10

The previous day we found an amazing American cafe called the Woodberry Café. Conveniently located right across the street from us. We spent many a meal there. It was a nice slice of home that felt very comforting.
Knowing that we were going to be here for a while we hit up a grocery store to stock a kitchen. Which led us to explore the international isle in Tanzania. Including the American section.
Paka started developing a tune stain around her lips due to her stuffing her entire face into the food dish
We checked out the Slipway
- We found a cute book store called A Novel Ieda where we were able to pick up a puzzle and some books to keep us entertained.
- We managed to find a leather bracelet that became Paka’s favorite toy. Up to this point she was playing with rocks, a dried nut and dog toys

7/11

Found a much better pet store and purchased a pet carrier that we could take on the plain and the first and only cat toy we could find. A giant (relative to Paka) red squid on a wand
first kind solid poop
went to the vet???

7/12

Paka did some yoga with us to ay. Riding my butt from Downward facing dog to cobra and back.

7/13

Paka started sneezing and getting extra fluid in her eyes. We ended up needing to put her on Flu medication and extend our stay another 5 days. As it would not be good for her to get her medication while also sick.

At the recommendation of Nathan and Libby (Our Airbnb hosts) we checked out a local mall. Here we were able to find the Tanzanian equivalent of Target and get a drawer organizer that perfectly fit in her carrier. This let us build a section for litter and a section for sleep.

In the store, the sales folks were following us around giving us baskets for our stuff. Honestly trying to be useful and very confused when we wanted some space and started trying out the drawer organizers to see how they fit in the carrier

7/14

Every day it seems that Paka is getting bigger and stronger. In the morning we are excited to see her and try and find out what part of her grew.

Today she is seeming more like a kitten falling into a normal play and sleep routine. She has also become a little monkey and is climbing everything. Including my leg!

7/15

Anet and Edvard moved their transit home so that we could spend one last day together. We were so happy to see them and catch up. We were also glad that they were able to see Paka in a much healthier state. Wonderful time all around and hoping our paths cross again.

When we got back from a farewell dinner. Paka was not happy that she didn’t have our full attention. She went over to my flip-flops. Stared me down and seed on them. thus, beginning a habit of her peeing on our stuff when we ignored her.

7/16

I tried to make Paka a scratching pad with a left over Pizza box. She was uninterested in scratching but loved to play with the individual strips of cardboard. especially when we would move them back and forth

7/17

7/18

We were finally able to get Paka her microchip and vaccines. We now had everything we needed to get her home except an export document for the ministry of wildlife. The vet assured us it would be ready tomorrow. We were less confident.

7/19

We picked up our export document and finalized Pakas paperwork. Including a stop at a stationary store to print out the websites that outlined the rule and regulations for travel with cats.

We then tried to book a flight home with Turkish Airlines and learned that Turkish only allows you to book a one-way ticket out of Africa in person. Off I went to the Turkish Airlines office.

The office was quite the experience. First I asked to have someone verify we had all the docs to travel with the cat. None there could do so because that is “operations” job. Then they told me I couldn’t choose my seat. So I explained to them that they had a rule in place limiting what seat we could sit with a cat. The agent next to the one helping me verified that they did have such a rule and said that I needed to be booked in an aisle seat. I then had to explain that I in fact needed to be booked in a window seat.

At this point, I gave them my credit card to pay for the flight and watched them key in the system to the main frame. I took two agents and their manager each arguing about the commands needed at each step of the way. At the end of it all, I got a cryptic read-out of abbreviated words and numbers that was apparently my confirmation document (photographed below)

7/20

We rested today. trying to relax before our flight home. Although I did spend a while emailing and calling Turkish airline to try and get confirmation that we had the docs needed to fly with the cat. However, I was sent in circles.

That night Nathan stopped by. He was also flying tomorrow and would be catching a plane back to school. We had a lovely conversation and really enjoyed his perspective on the world.

7/21

Wanting to see a little more of downtown Dar Es Salaam before we headed out. We went to the area where fabric is sold and bought quite a few yards to bring home. It was a spur of the moment decision and was the experience that I learned the most about everyday Tanzanian life.

We then meet up with Libby to say our good-bys. We again had a wonderful conversation and were so happy to have met her. She also brought us Baobab seeds and mango covered in Baobab. Such a sweet gift that we hope to share with many of our loved ones.