Tanzania: Beauty of Zanzibar's Beaches Attract Kuwaitis

 

By Lawi Joel
TANZANIANS must be glad to know that ambassador of the State of Kuwait Jasem Al-Najem is mightily impressed by the city of Dar es Salaam's calm and the nature of the country's beaches.

The youthful ambassador is in the country as his country's first emissary to Tanzania. "The weather is good," he told me at his suite on the 4th floor of seven-floor Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam, The Kilimanjaro.
"Isn't it too hot for you here?" I asked him and he answered: "No, not at all. In Kuwait it reaches 40C . Here it is only 29C or 30C. It is nothing compared to what it is like in Kuwait."
His Excellency Al-Najem was staying at Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam, The Kilimanjaro, a 5-star national tourist hotel that has so far changed names three times.
Formerly the hotel was known as Kilimanjaro Hotel, favourably referred to simply as 'Kili' before it was renamed Kilimanjaro Hotel Kempinsky after which it acquired its present name.
Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam, The Kilimanjaro features 180 spacious and comfortably appointed rooms and suites with authentic hospitality, deluxe amenities and extensive business facilities to meet the needs of all travellers, a tourist report on it says.
"Guests of our hotel in Dar es Salaam staying on the Regency Club level enjoy deluxe in-room amenities as well as complimentary daily continental breakfast, allday tea and coffee, and evening cocktails," the promotional report adds. The hotel has its distinctive appeal to visitors.
A foreign visitor who has been to it says it is good relative to other hotels in Dar. "I liked the restaurants in the Hotel- the Chinese restaurant was very good with lots of choices, and the buffet by the lobby was very good for breakfast.
This seems to be the choice hotel for business.
I did not get to go out to see the town but had several meetings at the hotel," adds the guest from Servtrack of Houston, Texas. I was particularly curious about the name Hayatt and asked His Excellency Al- Najem and to tell me what the name means.
"It is just a name," said the ambassador, but after thinking for a while he added, "Hayatt means my name." I reached the Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam, The Kilimanjaro at 3.30 pm, if I remember right.
One of the boys at the reception took me to the lift after calling the ambassador and informing him of my arrival, for we had just previously communicated and he was waiting for me. As the lift doors closed, the attendant told me the room 401 was on the fourth floor.
Having reached the floor, I walked out of the lift but did not know which direction to turn to. I had never been so high in this hotel that I had on a couple of occasions visited previously. On the wall facing the lift I saw two arrows pointing two different directions with room numbers above them.
I was still figuring which arrow would lead me to room 401 of the ambassador when suddenly I heard a man call: "Over here! This way please!"
It was my host, ambassador of State of Kuwait, Al-Najem. Al-Najem was a young man, tall with an athletic form and jolly. For a while we talk, getting to know each other.
It was easy to talk to ambassador Al-Najem and I hoped his other fellow heads of diplomatic missions in the country he told me he had met with a couple of days previously also found him so forthcoming.
It was the ambassador's first time in Tanzania. He had been in the country for hardly two weeks but from his little narrative, he was no doubt a fast worker.
"I have been to Mbezi and seen a good part of the city," he said. "There are things that can't wait." His Excellency Al-Najem had used well the two weeks, I could see.

From our talk, I learned that Kuwait had assisted Tanzania considerably in road construction and I could see that the kingdom and our country would cooperate well in such projects.
The ambassador Al-Najem loves Tanzania for its peaceful political atmosphere. However, the ambassador pities the state of the city's road traffic.
Given the size of the roads, travelling in the city is so painfully sluggish. He said it took him an awfully long time to travel from Oyster Bay where they were looking for a location for their embassy to the hotel.
"There are so many cars, but there is not enough space of roads designed properly for traffic flow in a modern urban centre," he said. His Excellency Al-Najem was not only going to be the first Kuwait's ambassador to Tanzania. That embassy is Kuwait's first one in Tanzania.
"Previously,our embassy in Kenya acted as a zonal diplomatic mission, which catered for such activities in Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi and other countries in this part of Africa," he explained.
However, given the development of affairs in East African region, the Kuwaiti ambassador to Kenya must have had too much on his plate, prompting his State to establish a second embassy in the region - based in Dar es Salaam.

According to Ambassador Al-Najem more Kuwaitis visit Tanzania for tourism in Zanzibar mostly. "Beaches of Zanzibar with their white sand are more attractive than those of the Tanzania mainland," he said.
"Our tourists' visit to Tanzania is not so much a question of watching the giraffes or other wildlife, as it is a matter of attraction by the Zanzibar's beaches' rare splendour."
His Excellency ambassador thinks the friendship between Tanzania and his country Kuwait will grow stronger and stronger for its longer life. Moreover, the countries' amity did not start a fortnight ago. "It has been there for many years," His Excellency Al-Najem said.
"Kuwait has helped Tanzania in various areas, but mostly in road construction." He looks forward to a warm stay in the country, more cooperation because Kuwait is all the ready to give assistance where it can. There was no doubt Tanzania-Kuwait's future is bright.
Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam, The Kilimanjaro is not the only tourist hotel Mr Hyatt has in the country. He has one in Zanzibar. Another one is in Moshi. Seemingly, he will have more in the country.