May 12, 2016

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I’m going to go through it again, because I keep having similar experiences and it bears repeating.

The United States media tends to focus on shock headlines. I guess that sells news, and ads for them. They run stories about how dangerous certain countries or places are, and the U.S. government issues Travel Advisories against travel to nearly every country in the world based on these dangers, real or perceived. 

The example most everyone in the U.S. is familiar with is Mexico. I would guess that the majority of people in the United States believe that Mexico is dangerous, and that if visiting Mexico, the chance of being killed by a cartel or drug gang is high. 

So, is Mexico dangerous? I tend to use this comparison: a month or so ago, over thirty people in Chicago were shot in one weekend. I didn’t read anything in the U.S. news that advised the rest of the world not to travel to the entire United States because of this. So why does the U.S. media paint an entire country as “dangerous” with a broad brush because of something that happens in one city, or one state, or province? Is it dangerous to travel to the southside of Chicago at night? Probably. Is it dangerous to travel to East Los Angeles at night? I wouldn’t do it. Does that mean I shouldn’t visit San Diego? It has no direct correlation, and you’ll never hear the U.S. media make such a ridiculous, over-broad statement about their own country. And Mexico should be the same. Yes, there are places that are less safe than others. A little common sense goes a long way. 

This applies to other countries as well, of course. Since I began my journey last year, I have noticed an ongoing and continuous routine: in each country I visit, I am told by the locals that the country I just came from is dangerous, and the country I am headed to is dangerous, but the country I am presently in is perfectly safe. Whether this is due to political propaganda, or previous border disputes, or other factors, I can’t say. But it is consistent. 

And it happened again here in Tanzania. In Malawi, I was warned that Tanzania was much poorer, more corrupt, and more dangerous. And maybe it is. But that’s not been my experience. Perhaps it’s my common sense approach of staying out of what might be bad areas, but overall I’ve met a good number of people in Tanzania, and have had nothing but friendly encounters and never felt threatened or that I might be a victim of theft. I’ve been told by Tanzanians that this is the safest country in East Africa. Yet its’ bordering residents would tell you otherwise, for some reason.

At Meserani Oasis Lodge and Camp near Arusha, the owner went out of her way to call around and find a tour to Ngorongoro Crater for me (one that I could afford; there are lots of Crater Tours, but they can be quite expensive. She was able to get me on a tour with a group, cutting the price by more than half). She verified the tour details, and even waited with me for the driver to arrive on the morning of the tour. She didn’t make a cent for the time she spent to help me.

The lodge doesn’t have wifi, but her son-in-law brought me his personal wifi dongle and allowed me to use it to check my email, going to the trouble of buying a new prepaid card for it to give me enough data to do what I needed to do, and helping me set it up on my laptop. 

All along the roads, people wave as I pass by, or wave back when I wave to them. Most of them are smiling big when they see me ride by.

Sure, there are hawkers at the tourist locations that line up to try to sell you everything from jewelry to artwork, and they can be pushy and insistent. But in general I found Tanzania to be a friendly and welcoming place, even with a bit of a language barrier. 

I’m really curious to hear what Kenya has to say about Tanzania when I get there.