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Day 8-9: Ras Kutani

We flew to Dar in a much smaller (propeller) aircraft than the one which we used to get to Selous. Coastal Aviation seems to have all kinds of planes in its fleet and this must have been one of the smallest (6 seater). I must admit I had my reservations about this flight, but again the pilot made it seem like it was as easy as parking a car and the flight was surprisingly exciting. I can understand why a pilot would rather fly small planes here in Africa instead of big commercial ones. It seemed fun and challenging at the same time.

Today we would venture forth to Ras Kutani, a paradise-like resort located about fifty kilometres from Dar Es Salaam. The easiest way to get there at the present time was by ferry which our driver, Robert, was more than kind enough to arrange. There have been talks about building a bridge between the two shores, but so far nothing has materialized.

The road to Ras Kutani was a bit bumpy at times, but straight most of the way and only took about 40 minutes. Who would have thought that at this distance the scenery could change completely? When we arrived at the resort, it really did look like paradise. Big palm trees, clear white sand, a swimming pool, a long beach and of course the Indian Ocean.

This was a place designed so that people could come here and have a good time. You can come here on a family vacation, spend a romatnic honeymoon with a beautiful view to the beach or simply use it as a place to get away from it all. Surprisingly, we were the only guests there when we arrived. This was apparently unusual, but considering that Christmas was so near, this was a sort of dead spot in between seasons. It didn’t bother us though, because we had the pool, the bar and the beach all to ourselves.

After the paperwork had been sorted out, we were eventually taken to our bungalow with a beautiful view to the sea. We immediately noticed the nice breeze coming from that direction. This was a welcoming change to the hot conditions we encountered on our safari. Our time here would be spent enjoying good food, chilling on the beach, taking a walk through a designated path called The Lagoon Walk in the forest nearby and of course enjoying the sun – until I managed to overdose on it, that is. Sunburns can be quite nasty and in extreme cases they can drag you down to hell and give pain a whole new meaing, which is exactly what happened to me. At least I had the nice view out to the sea from my bed which made it a bit easier to bare.

After having spent two nights and three days at this wonderful resort, we were again picked up by Robert and taken back to Dar Es Salaam.