The Weekend

 We spent today just relaxing around the hotel which was great. 

We got up late and had breakfast and then sat just outside our room on a “swing chair” reading our books and surfing the internet.

At lunchtime we headed to the bar for a drink and a snack. We ordered some vegetable and beef samosas.

Now I know food in Tanzania can take a long time to come but once we had waited over an hour I did ask where it was and the waitress replied “The beef are ready but they are looking for some vegetable ones”!!! She then said “Shall I bring the beef ones?” I replied “ Ok we will have all beef and bring as soon as they are ready”. Around 15 minutes later 8 piping hot beef samosas arrived . If I hadn’t said anything I am not sure how long we would have waited while they “continued to look for”vegetable samosas 🤣🤣.

This afternoon it rained pretty heavily which cooled things down quite a bit.

Robert and Shabani picked us up this evening and we drove to a place called Desire Park which someone had recommended to Robert.

I had mashed potato and chicken which made a nice change. The football was on in the bar so Shabani went to watch as Simba ( his team) were playing. It worked out quite well as the food arrived at half time. Luckily Simba won so everyone had a good evening.

When we got back to the hotel there was some sort of celebration going on in the bar but it didn’t disturb us and we slept well.

The following day Robert and Shabani picked us up mid morning for our drive to Chato.

We stop at Hamisi’s office in Katoro to pick up the one computer we need for the school we are visiting on Monday.

While Pete and Robert sort out the computer I take a few photos of Katoro on a Sunday morning.

We drive about another hour and then Robert wants to stop to buy bananas and water. This is the shop he bought from and yes…..the bananas were very nice.

We arrived in Chato at about 1.30 and stopped at the bus station for lunch. We have eaten here many times before but today it was rather disappointing and they had very little available. I just had some chips and Pete had some rice with the sauce from the beef stew (he avoided the beef). I think with the death of President Magafuli who lived in Chato, the town had gone into decline and everything seems quite run down.

After lunch we drive to our hotel for tonight, Chato Beach Resort. We have stayed here previously about 3 years ago and whilst the rooms were ok and always very large, the service wasn’t great, but these days there don’t seem to be any better hotels.

Another reason for staying here is that we are meeting up with an “internet friend” who I have corresponded with for many years but never met in person. He is on safari at the moment with 2 friends and his guide, staying at the same hotel tonight.

When they arrive we order drinks and the hotel take them up to a roof terrace for us. It’s a bit of a climb up a spiral staircase that shakes a lot. The hotel is situated right on the edge of Lake Victoria and we get good views from the top.

Robert also joins us a bit later and we all have dinner together. The food is not great and quite expensive but it was a lovely evening and great to meet up after such a long time.