We have an apartment- YAY. The idea was to start looking as soon as we got to Dar, but we got somewhat waylaid by jetlag and an inability to find the bibles of accommodation (aka Advertising in Dar and What's happening in Dar). We spent most of Saturday wandering around the maze of downtown Dar in search of the August edition of both these pamphlets. We started our search in the obvious places, that is major hotels and the tourism office, all of which were a bit of a bust. Eventually, we found What's happening in Dar in a travel agent's office (we were told we could also get these pamphlets at a shopping mall called Shoppers). After much walking and some close encounters of the traffic kind, we returned to QBar to find that the up-to-date editions had been delivered to the QBar reception in our absence. How ironic.
Our eyes lit up as we read the To Let ads, which advertised 2 bedroom apartments in Oyster Bay for $800 (USD). Ah ha, cheap accomodation in a good area. However, we swiftly realised that most of the ads are a bit of a ruse and their purpose is to lure you into calling the equivalent of a rental agent. Very few ads are posted by the owners of rental accommodation. We called various rental agents, explained our parameters and we were off, bouncing our way down dirt roads with earnest rental agents. Ultimately, the rental agents were a bit of a Godsend, as they provided us with transportation to the various places and gave us a pretty good idea of what was out there. During our journeys, we learnt that the rental market in Dar is small, quite expensive and all the rental agents draw on the same stock. All in all, I think we saw 6 or 7 places of varying descriptions. When I say we, I mean Cristiano, as I had already started work and was not much help on the house hunting side. In retrospect, I should have given myself a week in Dar to get my house in order, literally, before starting work.
Ultimately, we rented the first apartment we saw. It is a 3 bedroom, furnished apartment with guaranteed hot water, a balcony with a view of the sea and cable television. I think we lucked out. The rent is a little more dear than expected but the folks at the Italian embassy (Cristiano has good contacts) assured us it was a good deal. In terms of rent, the general practice here is that you pay the full amount of rent for the entire rental period in advance. Again, we were assured by the folks at the Italian embasyy that this was normal. The landlord thought it was highly amusing when I asked him who was responsible for power - we are. It's type of a pay as you go system. We have to get something called a LUKU card, load it with money and then stick it in a "ticket box" on the balcony. I suspect we may have a couple of candlelit dinners in the future, as we are not sure how to check how much money is left on the card.
After we moved in last night, Cristiano and I got to work on trying to obtain some basic necessities, such as food, towels, sheets and about a gizillion other bits and bobs. We had quite a lot of luck on the food side, as we found an informal grocery store close to the house that has an impressive array of fruit, veggies and condiments. Then, it was off to Shoprite. Shoprite had very limited stock, aside from some extremely expensive towels at $17 a piece (after shopping around, Cristiano tells me this is the going rate for towels). Back to our informal grocery store, taking a left at the mosque and a right at the baobab tree, for more supplies. The baobab tree is of the grand dame variety with a trunk that is several metres in diameter. The baobab looked incredible against the backdrop of the purple evening sky and a foreground filled with shadow people and a dancing fire. Ultimately, we didn't find sheets or towels or mosquito nets last night, but more is nog n dag (tomorrow is another day). Instead, I fumigated our rooms with Doom, pulled on a pair of jeans and a fleece, and climbed onto my bare mattress. It was like camping. Cristiano is on the hunt today for all the things we couldn't find last night. Have I said how glad I am that Cristiano is not working yet. The pics at the top are of our kitchen, living room and my bedroom... and then there is Cristiano killing bugs in the kitchen. The bug spray is lethal and I suspect it is extremely bad to inhale it. You are welcome to stay with us, if you happen to be in this neck of the woods.
Our eyes lit up as we read the To Let ads, which advertised 2 bedroom apartments in Oyster Bay for $800 (USD). Ah ha, cheap accomodation in a good area. However, we swiftly realised that most of the ads are a bit of a ruse and their purpose is to lure you into calling the equivalent of a rental agent. Very few ads are posted by the owners of rental accommodation. We called various rental agents, explained our parameters and we were off, bouncing our way down dirt roads with earnest rental agents. Ultimately, the rental agents were a bit of a Godsend, as they provided us with transportation to the various places and gave us a pretty good idea of what was out there. During our journeys, we learnt that the rental market in Dar is small, quite expensive and all the rental agents draw on the same stock. All in all, I think we saw 6 or 7 places of varying descriptions. When I say we, I mean Cristiano, as I had already started work and was not much help on the house hunting side. In retrospect, I should have given myself a week in Dar to get my house in order, literally, before starting work.
Ultimately, we rented the first apartment we saw. It is a 3 bedroom, furnished apartment with guaranteed hot water, a balcony with a view of the sea and cable television. I think we lucked out. The rent is a little more dear than expected but the folks at the Italian embassy (Cristiano has good contacts) assured us it was a good deal. In terms of rent, the general practice here is that you pay the full amount of rent for the entire rental period in advance. Again, we were assured by the folks at the Italian embasyy that this was normal. The landlord thought it was highly amusing when I asked him who was responsible for power - we are. It's type of a pay as you go system. We have to get something called a LUKU card, load it with money and then stick it in a "ticket box" on the balcony. I suspect we may have a couple of candlelit dinners in the future, as we are not sure how to check how much money is left on the card.
After we moved in last night, Cristiano and I got to work on trying to obtain some basic necessities, such as food, towels, sheets and about a gizillion other bits and bobs. We had quite a lot of luck on the food side, as we found an informal grocery store close to the house that has an impressive array of fruit, veggies and condiments. Then, it was off to Shoprite. Shoprite had very limited stock, aside from some extremely expensive towels at $17 a piece (after shopping around, Cristiano tells me this is the going rate for towels). Back to our informal grocery store, taking a left at the mosque and a right at the baobab tree, for more supplies. The baobab tree is of the grand dame variety with a trunk that is several metres in diameter. The baobab looked incredible against the backdrop of the purple evening sky and a foreground filled with shadow people and a dancing fire. Ultimately, we didn't find sheets or towels or mosquito nets last night, but more is nog n dag (tomorrow is another day). Instead, I fumigated our rooms with Doom, pulled on a pair of jeans and a fleece, and climbed onto my bare mattress. It was like camping. Cristiano is on the hunt today for all the things we couldn't find last night. Have I said how glad I am that Cristiano is not working yet. The pics at the top are of our kitchen, living room and my bedroom... and then there is Cristiano killing bugs in the kitchen. The bug spray is lethal and I suspect it is extremely bad to inhale it. You are welcome to stay with us, if you happen to be in this neck of the woods.
2 comments:
I love your blog! So glad that you decided to keep one so we can follow along on a bit of the adventure. I will definitely be stopping by your apartment - you are both also welcome to stay at my place in Grahamstown!
no way - i had the same stove :)
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