Paradise
The weekend after mid-terms we decided to travel to Zanzibar to spend a little time relaxing on the beach. It started off with a 13 hour bus ride, leaving at 6:30am from Nairobi and arriving in Dar es Salaam (in Tanzania) at about 9pm. Now, if it were just 13 hours, that would be icky enough, but instead it was also hot. Not just a little hot. Really hot - plus muggy - because this is how Tanzanian weather is. You pretty much had to resolve yourself to becoming disgusting and enjoy the nice 13 hour sauna experience. The night before Kathleen and I had stayed up all night so we would be able to sleep on the bus, which was great because it went by much faster that way. My favorite parts of the bus ride were getting stamps on my passport and stopping at this highway rest stop place that had a yummy buffet right at about the point where I was getting sick of trail mix. Upon arrival in Dar, we hopped in a taxi to the hostel, called Uplands Center, near the University of Dar es Salaam. It was a really nice place - a crazy and very unnecessary amount of stairs, but a really clean building with decent rooms, beds, showers, etc. They also will make food for you late into the night, and while it takes a very long time, it's well worth it. We ordered the chicken and rice, with the best white rice I've ever had before and a really yummy sauce. Apparently Tanzania is the place to get really good rice, and I can see why. Another interesting note about Tanzania: they have a very good road system and infrastructure far superior to Kenya. The cities are cleaner and more organized, there aren't potholes everywhere, there are stoplights, and other such niceties. However, the Tanzanian shilling is worth absolutely nothing. About 1300 TSH is equal to a dollar, while only 70 KSH equal a dollar. Why is that? Are there more socialist tendencies there? Anyway, the people are so nice and so chill in Tanzania. I suppose you can't get too riled up when it's that hot outside, it would take too much energy. Plus, Dar is on the coast which means people can go and hang out at the beautiful beaches around the area or simply take a ferry or plane across to Zanzibar, which is what we did.
There was supposed to be a 7:30am ferry, but when we got there it was already full, so our options were to wait for the 11:30 slow boat (4 hours!) or take a puddle-jumper for $20 more, so of course we chose the 20 minute plane ride. Stone Town is the city in Zanzibar where you arrive, and right away you can tell that the island is really spectacular. The owner of Victoria House, the hotel where Megan and Shappell were going to stay (Kathleen and I were just setting our stuff there until time for us to leave) sat around and talked to us for a while; plus he gave us free tea. Free! We then walked around the city a bit, stopping to chat with a couple of fishermen who were gutting and de-scaling some little fish. They were very friendly and offered to cook some of their fish for us, but we headed into a restaurant instead. We went to a place called Archipelago and I had the Marlin with pilau (rice). Now, Zanzibar is one of the spice islands, so things are nice and flavorful there, including the rice - it had all sorts of delicious spices in it. Afterward, Kathleen and I found a shared van to take us to Paje, which is an area on the Eastern side of the island (only about 45 minutes away, it's a very small island). We drove across to this secluded area to our hostel, Kidazi Upepo, and as soon as we set foot on it we knew they were going to have to drag us away. The place was right on the beach, with a bunch of little bungalows spread out around a covered but open - air bar and restaurant area. The first thing we did was sit down and order some juice - I ordered pineapple - and the bartender grabs a fresh pineapple and starts slicing. He puts it in the blender and actually makes fresh juice right there in front of me, complete with a little pineapple decoration on the glass. All of the people working there were very friendly and relaxed, complete with dreads and bare feet. After we settled in, we went swimming - in the Indian Ocean!!! The sand is so white and the finest sand I've ever seen. The water is this amazing blue-green color, and very clear. Where we were staying there is a reef a ways out, so the breakers are far away from shore, making it easy to swim around. They actually farm seaweed there, which is a mystery to me, because I don't see how they can get the seaweed to grow in those perfect rows just like crops grow on land. They even had the little stake markers at the ends of the rows. How do they do that? Also, we found a bunch of hermit crabs hanging out around sticks in the shallow parts of the water. Also, we stepped on sea urchins. Yes, that's right, when you get too far out, you know it, because suddenly there are sea urchins everywhere and you step on one. Then you have sea urchin spines stuck in your foot. Then you have to dig holes in your foot later on to get them out and it hurts a lot lot lot. Moral of the story: Watch out for those little buggers! They aren't friendly, they're spikey, and their spines go very deep in your foot. It's okay though - just another exciting Indian ocean experience. Plus it was so beautiful there that there really was no way to be upset or unhappy. There were no giant view-blocking hotels, just little bungalows all along the coast, so you had this amazing, picturesque view of the coastline. For dinner we sat in comfy chairs overlooking the ocean and had some really delicious seafood pasta (complete with good bread, always a hot commodity here). Our waiter was very obviously stoned, but amusing anyway, and was even nice enough to offer us some pot (we kindly advised him to talk to our pot-loving friend when she arrived). Around 7 our friends who had taken the slow boat finally arrived, so we got to sit around with them...see, this is what we did...swim in the ocean, sit around near the ocean, swim in the ocean, sit around near the ocean, eat, rid our feet of sea urchin spines, collect seashells, swim in the ocean, sit around near the ocean. A very good time if you ask me. While we were collecting shells this guy walks past with a bag full of giant, amazing shells that he and his brother apparently dove for at the reef (they were way better than our shells). We asked him what they did with the animals in the shells - they eat them. Then he gave both of us shells!!! FREE!!! You see, this whole free thing doesn't happen here. We set our collected shells out on the table in our bungalow and figured if they didn't walk off there was probably no animal in there (none walked off by the way). Sunday we woke up to watch the sun rise over the ocean (wow) and then had our breakfast, which was included in the price of our stay ($30 per night for a two-person). This was no continental breakfast. They brought out tea and coffee, then a giant bowl of fruit for each person, then they asked how you liked your eggs cooked (I got scrambled eggs for the first time since I've been here - oh how I miss my eggs scrambled), then they brought out your eggs, again with that yummy bread along with butter and jam. After breakfast again with the swimming - this time we went swam around to all the little dhows (tiny, rickety-looking wooden boats used by the fishermen) anchored outside our hostel and were checking them out. I don't really know how the float, but they do. Finally Kathleen and I were forced to leave (some of the others stayed around an extra day, but we wanted to get back for classes and such). Somehow the nice guys working at the hostel got us a super cheap ride back to Stone Town, where we caught the fast ferry across to Dar. We sat out on the sun deck on top, which was right in the hot hot sun (really, really hot), but had a great view and was nice and breezy once we started moving. Again we stayed in Uplands Center (yay for that chicken and rice), and then we headed to the bus to leave at 6am Monday morning. Our taxi driver slept in so we were almost late, but no worries, we made it. Also this bus ride was much, much cooler due to the fact that there were clouds and rain over much of the country, thank goodness! This was especially a blessing since I had a raging fever at this point and was pretty much hanging out the window and freezing out other passengers in the bus trying to stay cool. In other words, the bus ride back was much more bearable but just as long - soooo long. We did get to see Mt. Kilimanjaro though! Plus we ate lunch at about 10am (that's when we got to the rest stop mentioned earlier) and nothing after that, so we were starving when we arrived in Nairobi at 9pm. Fortunately, my friend Marvin picked us up some food, because after arriving in Nairobi at 9, it took 2 and a half hours to get back to USIU (it should take 15 or 20 minutes) due to horrendous traffic from the rain mixed with a giant tree fallen across the road which then caused people to become insane and get into wrecks. In fact, people began crossing the median to drive the wrong way on the other side of the road - apparently this is common practice in very bad traffic.
Now we are back and while the beach was amazing, it's nice to be off the bus! A couple of interesting things - We are often asked by people here if black people in Africa are like black people in the US, which of course they are not. Most students here don't think there are similarities, but a couple of guys we were talking with in Zanzibar were absolutely convinced that there could be no difference. No matter how many times we told them that the cultures are extremely different and that black people in the US are nothing like Africans, they were absolutely certain that it was all the same. Such a funny conversation! Another funny thing is that apparently people here can't usually differentiate an American accent from a European one or any other one for that matter, which isn't so unusual, but no one ever guesses that we are from the US. Kathleen and I have gotten England before, and in Zanzibar someone was certain that we were from Denmark. I've also heard Germany before, and, sadly, Canada, but never the US. I'm not sure why that is, but it's fun to let them guess!
I definitely would recommend traveling to Zanzibar to everyone - I would really like to go back and snorkel the reef or scuba dive, swim with dolphins, check out some of the national forests that are there, have my revenge on the sea urchins, etc. Now I'm just very excited about Mombasa, because I imagine the beach there will be similar. Plus the Indian ocean is nice and warm, so there's no cold shock when you get in. That's it for now, more to come later!
There was supposed to be a 7:30am ferry, but when we got there it was already full, so our options were to wait for the 11:30 slow boat (4 hours!) or take a puddle-jumper for $20 more, so of course we chose the 20 minute plane ride. Stone Town is the city in Zanzibar where you arrive, and right away you can tell that the island is really spectacular. The owner of Victoria House, the hotel where Megan and Shappell were going to stay (Kathleen and I were just setting our stuff there until time for us to leave) sat around and talked to us for a while; plus he gave us free tea. Free! We then walked around the city a bit, stopping to chat with a couple of fishermen who were gutting and de-scaling some little fish. They were very friendly and offered to cook some of their fish for us, but we headed into a restaurant instead. We went to a place called Archipelago and I had the Marlin with pilau (rice). Now, Zanzibar is one of the spice islands, so things are nice and flavorful there, including the rice - it had all sorts of delicious spices in it. Afterward, Kathleen and I found a shared van to take us to Paje, which is an area on the Eastern side of the island (only about 45 minutes away, it's a very small island). We drove across to this secluded area to our hostel, Kidazi Upepo, and as soon as we set foot on it we knew they were going to have to drag us away. The place was right on the beach, with a bunch of little bungalows spread out around a covered but open - air bar and restaurant area. The first thing we did was sit down and order some juice - I ordered pineapple - and the bartender grabs a fresh pineapple and starts slicing. He puts it in the blender and actually makes fresh juice right there in front of me, complete with a little pineapple decoration on the glass. All of the people working there were very friendly and relaxed, complete with dreads and bare feet. After we settled in, we went swimming - in the Indian Ocean!!! The sand is so white and the finest sand I've ever seen. The water is this amazing blue-green color, and very clear. Where we were staying there is a reef a ways out, so the breakers are far away from shore, making it easy to swim around. They actually farm seaweed there, which is a mystery to me, because I don't see how they can get the seaweed to grow in those perfect rows just like crops grow on land. They even had the little stake markers at the ends of the rows. How do they do that? Also, we found a bunch of hermit crabs hanging out around sticks in the shallow parts of the water. Also, we stepped on sea urchins. Yes, that's right, when you get too far out, you know it, because suddenly there are sea urchins everywhere and you step on one. Then you have sea urchin spines stuck in your foot. Then you have to dig holes in your foot later on to get them out and it hurts a lot lot lot. Moral of the story: Watch out for those little buggers! They aren't friendly, they're spikey, and their spines go very deep in your foot. It's okay though - just another exciting Indian ocean experience. Plus it was so beautiful there that there really was no way to be upset or unhappy. There were no giant view-blocking hotels, just little bungalows all along the coast, so you had this amazing, picturesque view of the coastline. For dinner we sat in comfy chairs overlooking the ocean and had some really delicious seafood pasta (complete with good bread, always a hot commodity here). Our waiter was very obviously stoned, but amusing anyway, and was even nice enough to offer us some pot (we kindly advised him to talk to our pot-loving friend when she arrived). Around 7 our friends who had taken the slow boat finally arrived, so we got to sit around with them...see, this is what we did...swim in the ocean, sit around near the ocean, swim in the ocean, sit around near the ocean, eat, rid our feet of sea urchin spines, collect seashells, swim in the ocean, sit around near the ocean. A very good time if you ask me. While we were collecting shells this guy walks past with a bag full of giant, amazing shells that he and his brother apparently dove for at the reef (they were way better than our shells). We asked him what they did with the animals in the shells - they eat them. Then he gave both of us shells!!! FREE!!! You see, this whole free thing doesn't happen here. We set our collected shells out on the table in our bungalow and figured if they didn't walk off there was probably no animal in there (none walked off by the way). Sunday we woke up to watch the sun rise over the ocean (wow) and then had our breakfast, which was included in the price of our stay ($30 per night for a two-person). This was no continental breakfast. They brought out tea and coffee, then a giant bowl of fruit for each person, then they asked how you liked your eggs cooked (I got scrambled eggs for the first time since I've been here - oh how I miss my eggs scrambled), then they brought out your eggs, again with that yummy bread along with butter and jam. After breakfast again with the swimming - this time we went swam around to all the little dhows (tiny, rickety-looking wooden boats used by the fishermen) anchored outside our hostel and were checking them out. I don't really know how the float, but they do. Finally Kathleen and I were forced to leave (some of the others stayed around an extra day, but we wanted to get back for classes and such). Somehow the nice guys working at the hostel got us a super cheap ride back to Stone Town, where we caught the fast ferry across to Dar. We sat out on the sun deck on top, which was right in the hot hot sun (really, really hot), but had a great view and was nice and breezy once we started moving. Again we stayed in Uplands Center (yay for that chicken and rice), and then we headed to the bus to leave at 6am Monday morning. Our taxi driver slept in so we were almost late, but no worries, we made it. Also this bus ride was much, much cooler due to the fact that there were clouds and rain over much of the country, thank goodness! This was especially a blessing since I had a raging fever at this point and was pretty much hanging out the window and freezing out other passengers in the bus trying to stay cool. In other words, the bus ride back was much more bearable but just as long - soooo long. We did get to see Mt. Kilimanjaro though! Plus we ate lunch at about 10am (that's when we got to the rest stop mentioned earlier) and nothing after that, so we were starving when we arrived in Nairobi at 9pm. Fortunately, my friend Marvin picked us up some food, because after arriving in Nairobi at 9, it took 2 and a half hours to get back to USIU (it should take 15 or 20 minutes) due to horrendous traffic from the rain mixed with a giant tree fallen across the road which then caused people to become insane and get into wrecks. In fact, people began crossing the median to drive the wrong way on the other side of the road - apparently this is common practice in very bad traffic.
Now we are back and while the beach was amazing, it's nice to be off the bus! A couple of interesting things - We are often asked by people here if black people in Africa are like black people in the US, which of course they are not. Most students here don't think there are similarities, but a couple of guys we were talking with in Zanzibar were absolutely convinced that there could be no difference. No matter how many times we told them that the cultures are extremely different and that black people in the US are nothing like Africans, they were absolutely certain that it was all the same. Such a funny conversation! Another funny thing is that apparently people here can't usually differentiate an American accent from a European one or any other one for that matter, which isn't so unusual, but no one ever guesses that we are from the US. Kathleen and I have gotten England before, and in Zanzibar someone was certain that we were from Denmark. I've also heard Germany before, and, sadly, Canada, but never the US. I'm not sure why that is, but it's fun to let them guess!
I definitely would recommend traveling to Zanzibar to everyone - I would really like to go back and snorkel the reef or scuba dive, swim with dolphins, check out some of the national forests that are there, have my revenge on the sea urchins, etc. Now I'm just very excited about Mombasa, because I imagine the beach there will be similar. Plus the Indian ocean is nice and warm, so there's no cold shock when you get in. That's it for now, more to come later!