Sara and I arrived in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania this evening and took a taxi to the Msimbazi Center where we were going to stay. It is a catholic mission which has some clean and cheap rooms. Notice the mosquito net above the bed- this would be a feature of almost every room for our 6 week trip.

From Dar Es Salaam we took the ferry out to the island of Zanzibar. We stayed the first night in Stone Town, but then quickly hurried out to the small beach town of Bwejuu to stay at the Evergreen Bungalows. This was our Bungalow on the beach.

This is the view from our front porch. This place was awesome..

We took a trip into the interior of the island to search for the elusive Red Colobus Monkeys.

We found them! They are only endemic to Zanzibar.

I'm not sure why but I always feel like I am having some sort of adventure when I walk on a boardwalk path through the woods.. :-)

And now we're back at the Evergreen Bungalows for dinner. This place really was paradise, and so cheap!

Now we've started our long trek. Two days ago we took a short hop flight back from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam. Yesterday we took a 12 hour bus from Dar Es Salaam across the country to Mbeya. Here in Mbeya we've border a mini-bus heading to the Malawian border.

I caused quite a stir when I busted out the camera to take these photos. The gentleman in blue even demanded that I pay him for the picture. I responded with a demand that He pay Me the price of making him famous, and then winked at him. He blushed, giggled, and we went on our merry way.

This is our first minibus trip! And it won't be our last. Look how fresh and clean we are.. that won't last either. :-) When we get to the Malawian border we will exit the bus, walk across, and see what mode of transport we can find on the other side.