Post #2 - Zanzibar

Mambo Bloggers,

We only worked for two weeks before getting a vacation! One of Africa’s best festivals (Sauti za Busara) takes place each year in February in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and GHTA allows volunteers here at the time to go. We didn’t flinch at the opportunity. Sitting just off the coast, the Zanzibar archipelago is famed for both its beauty and history. First “discovered” by Vasco de Gama and the Portuguese, the Omanis (as in from Oman, Arabian peninsula) defeated them and controlled the islands as the most important spice and slave trading spot along the entire African coast. As a result the islands have a very different feel from the mainland, and you sometimes feel like you’re in the Middle East as opposed to Africa. From all the marine trading, Zanzibar truly is a melting pot of African, Middle Eastern, and Indian cultures. Eventually, as with pretty much everywhere else in the world, Europe again came calling and the English ran the show, especially after defeating Germany in WWI (Germany controlled the Tanzanian mainland – Africa and its land and resources is largely what WWI was fought over). They abolished the slave trade, but spices continued to be crucial. After England had to give up its empire after WWII, Zanzibar tried to remain autonomous from the mainland until in 1964 when the modern country of Tanzania was born.

Anyway, nowadays tourism is what drives the islands. Unguja (most famous island of the archipelago), home to the medieval Stone Town and perfect beaches, is simply gorgeous. After taking an eight-hour bus ride to Dar es Salaam (Tanzania’s economic and cultural hub), we spent the night and then hurried onto a fast ferry to Stone Town. Coming into port is an experience. The waters are that crystal clear aqua blue you recognize on TV as paradise. Stone Town, as we said, is medieval looking, with old stone fortresses and labyrinth alleyways as streets. Our housemate and fellow volunteer Alex joined us, and so we were three. We didn’t stop in town, since the festival wasn’t to start for another five days. Instead we made our way up to the northeast coast of the island to Kendwa beach, supposedly rated the second most beautiful beach on earth. By who or when we do not know. It very well could be true. Besides a lack of surf (which for many people is a plus), the place is genuine paradise. We cannot say paradise enough in this blog, fyi. The sand was perfect, the water was as described above and around seventy-five degrees. Of the ridiculous beaches we’ve seen thus far (Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, US west coast, Costa Rica, and now Tanzania), this may be our favorite. Our room was also nice, the “resort” extremely laid back, and cheap. Not cheap by Vietnam standards, but cheap. There are many beautiful beaches around the island, but we chose Kendwa because it is one of the few you can swim at all the time (most of island is effected greatly by the tides). Our first night we met a couple of Dutchmen and an Englishman we would hang around with the entire week. That first night was also when we stayed up until 6am to watch via satellite the New York FOOTBALL Giants once again take Tom Brady down. So sweet. At least for Pat. Shauna slept most of the game. It couldn’t have been better as there would have been no chance to see the game back in Moshi. Other than that we just enjoyed five lazy beach days, reading and swimming by day and eating freshly caught fish by night. The dorado fish is divine. The only setback (besides Pat losing two pairs of sunglasses) came on our last night. It was a fairly large setback. The Dutch guys had left and it was just the three of us and Andy, the English guy. The four of us went to the resort next door to have dinner. An hour later, everyone but Pat was doubled over in excruciating pain. Food poisoning. Why Pat didn’t get it, who knows, he ate the same thing as Alex, but thank God he didn’t. He was able to run back and forth from our room to the restaurant, fetching soda, water, soda water, more towels to clean up……you get the idea. The worst part came in the middle of the night when the water turned off and the electricity went out. No flushing the toilet, no cold shower, no ceiling fan, and certainly no A/C. It was bad. It is very hot and very humid on the coast here.   

                                                                                                 

It was bad, but the girls were troopers and we made it to Stone Town eventually. Pat and Alex walked around and went to the festival that night, but Shauna was still down for the count. The town itself is tiny, for a former capital of a “country”, but it has immense charm due to its history. The labyrinthine streets are fun to get lost in, and most of the people are still living like they have for generations. It’s getting worse, but Stone Town still retains its local character. You walk by colorful mosques where all the men congregate and socialize, groups of children dancing in the street, and women exposing nothing but their eyes and toes. On our second day we took a day trip to Chumbe Island, 6km south of Stone Town. The island is private and is protected by the government. Only seven completely eco-friendly bungalows occupy an otherwise deserted island. Numbers are strictly enforced, and besides the overnighters, only ten people a day may sign up for our trip to explore the island and snorkel around its pristine coral. We have read in a few places around the main island that Chumbe is one of the five best reefs still around. Again, how true that is we cannot say, but it very well could be. It is the best coral we’ve seen so far on our travels. Because of its reputation we did the corny thing and bought a cheap underwater camera. We’ll try to get these downloaded ASAP and post them here, but when we can’t say. Besides the reef, the island was fun to explore. We also had the best food since being in Tanzania for lunch. The day trip was run by the hotel, and we ate what the guests ate. Among many delicious things served (including bangin’ banana bread), we all agreed the octopus was the best we’ve ever had. Once back on Unguja, we showered and went to the festival’s main event (Saturday). We were introduced to Nneka, a Nigerian-German woman who rocked the house. Anyone interested should definitely look her up, we were thoroughly impressed.

The following day we (thankfully) flew straight from Zanzibar to Kilimanjaro, saving a long and hot day of travel. We are now preparing our mid-term exams for our classes, which is a strange thing to be doing. The shoe is on the other foot, as they say. We’re now in Moshi for five weeks in a row, then we will take a safari into Tanzania’s best parks. From now until then we’re sure there will be many stories to tell about GHTA, a wonderful organization we’re proud to be a part of.

Until then,

S&P