The Coast with the Most

I often mock the priests who complain about the "cold" Nairobi winters, bundled up in winter jackets in 70 degree weather.  However, that doesn't mean I wasn't thrilled to emerge from the plane in Dar Es Salaam to 90 degree sunshine!  This time of year is also winter in Dar, so I decided right off the bat that A) Dar's winter is probably one of the best in the world and B) I sure as heck never want to be there for their summer.

Fr. Kamanzi and I were picked up from the airport by Fr. Cyprian and Fr. Severini and were whisked away to the parish at Tabata, our home base for the week.  The church is gorgeous, a triumph of the missionary zeal of the Apostles of Jesus.  When the parish was first established, there was nothing in Tabata but bush and sand.  I am amazed by the clear vision possessed by the first Apostle of Jesus who went there.  He knew then that the parish would be a pillar of the future community and that people would be drawn to the area by the presence of the parish community.  Now, less than 2 decades later, the church is filled beyond its 1500 capacity every Sunday for all three of its liturgies, and the schools and other programs associated with it are flourishing.

Dar Es Salaam is practically the capital of Tanzania.  It is the biggest port in East Africa, has the largest population of any Tanzanian city, and hosts most of the diplomatic presence in Tanzania.  The only thing it doesn't have, it seems, is the title of "Capital", which belongs to Dodoma about 4 hours inland.  Sort of like New York City to NY's Albany, except, you know, NYC is a whole heck of a lot bigger and Dodoma is a whole heck of a lot smaller.

On our first night in Dar, the good Fathers took us to dinner at the beautiful Sea Cliff Hotel.  Once we got through the awful awful awful traffic of center city, we were able to enjoy the luxurious mansions lining the shore of the Indian Ocean.  Our table at dinner was on a deck thrust out over the brink of a cliff.  I spent almost the entire meal staring mesmerized at the crystal clear water, illuminated by the restaurant floodlights.  It was a beautiful place, unfortunately one that could not possibly be captured on film, so you are just going to have to take my word for it.