Day 57: October 31. Dalla-dalla bills y'all

Once again, again, breakfast was a very welcome site. We might start getting used to this and never want to leave! Luckily, the two of us usually feel uncomfortably restless when we start feeling too comfortable.

Shortly after the cozy meal we got ready for the day. Today we were going to meet up with Mathew, aTanzanian lad about our age who was recommended to us by Jan. He was going to take us to a beautiful lake outside of town (close but far enough to get really lost without him). We followed him to where we took a Dalla-dalla to Tangeru. It was Graham and Chris's first local bus ride in Africa. It was packed and Graham had to half stand half the way. Despite being much less discrete when traveling in a group, I feel like the local Arushans are much more accustomed to having white people around and even tried to catch the American football that Graham threw at them. Throwing it back always turned out interesting. So we slowly made our way towards the lake, paid an entry fee which we of course had to bargain down, and started walking.

The lake was beautiful and we had a great view of Mt. Meru, the second highest mountain in Tanzania. I believe it was then that Chris committed himself and Graham to climbing it before they leave in December. Soon after, we saw a monitor lizard slide into the lake and disappear. Then we passed by some white people catching spiders for research. When we asked them if they'd had any luck they grumbled a yes and carried on ruffling through the leaves. Must be rough for them. A little further down the path Mathew was leading and Karla was behind him. Mathew heard a rustling, paused, and let a rather large and deadly green mamba slither by. After holding our breathe a little waiting for more animals, we stumbled upon a bar that served flat Coke and ginger Stoneys. Soon we got hungary for real and headed back to Suzannes for lunch after a moment of, "maybe we can try this tiny restaurant...ok maybe not, it doesn't look safe.". We ended up walking to town to have a cheap but yummy meal with Mathew near where the dalla-dalla dropped us. When we got back to the house, Amari was there to greet us. It was a Friday and he had just come home from being at boarding school for the week. He's 12 and in the process of being adopted by Suzanne. He is fluent in English and Kiswahili and is a great little translator

It was Halloween night and Suzanne was going out for a party and we were unfortunately too tired to join her. Instead we had leftovers and watched 'My Best Friend's Wedding .' It was nice to relax on a comfy couch!
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