11 - 12 March - Zanzibarians!

11 March

Arusha – Dar Es Salaam

401 Miles - Bus

Erik:

Loong bus ride. At least we got to watch 8 hours of religious Tanzanian movies! We made a friend. His name is Ray and he's a journalist from Dar, living in Nairobi. We got Dar at dusk and caught a Tuk Tuk. What a crazy ride. We eventually found the YWCA and got some dorms. It was full of some interesting people. We all chatted for a bit and then Steph and I hit the hay a bit early.

Steph:

I met Petronella on the bus. A really nice, large woman dragging her wide eyed one year old around. She sat down across the aisle from me and we shared our life stories. She was funny. When she was getting uncomfortable or trying to dig around for something she's just hand over her baby and he'd sit there and stare at me with those intensely black eyes. It happened a few times during the 8 hour drive. At one point we stopped at a rest point and she was having trouble so I offered to help. She said, "yes, thank you" and handed me the kid instead of the bag I was reaching for. Then she grabbed the bag and walked off the bus. And then she continued walking! She went off to buy a drink and then on to the food stand without ever looking back. I chased her around for a few minutes through all the people carrying her kid. She wasn't concerned at all! When I finally caught up to her, she turned around and looked at me as if to say, "what?". My excuse when I handed her her child was that I had to go to the toilet. It was funny.

There's an interesting mix of Islam and Christianity here in Dar. We're staying right next to a church which is right next to a mosque. The people of Tanzania are 40% Islamis, 40% Christian and 20% follow traditional beliefs. I love the diversity and I love that everyone gets along.

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12 March

Dar Es Salaam – Zanzibar

46 Miles - Ferry

Steph:

I had the wort headache last night. I couldn't sleep because of it and it stunk because the beds were perfectly comfortable and the mosquito nets were intact. Around 5am I finally snuck into Erik's room to steal the advils. Breakfast is included here at the YWCA and consisted of a peice of toast, a slice of watermelon and a boiled egg. I felt full which means that my giant cycling appetite is finally shrinking :)

We walked over to the ferries to buy our tickets over to the island. A ton of guys started hassling us on our way over there trying to sell us cheaper tickets on their sketchy boats. After fending off a few of them, we decided to speak only spanish and get rid of them that way. It was working, he didn't know what I was saying and I kept telling him we were in Dar Es Salaam when he asked where we were going. UNTIL he called over to his buddy John, pointed at me and yelled, "espanola!". Haha! Darn it. Then the whole thing started in surprisingly great spanish. Fail.

A few hours later we were in ZANZIBAR!!! Even the water in the harbor is crystal clear! It's beautiful and looks like the Bahamas from the boat, with it's colors, architecture and the color of the water. But as soon as you step on land you feel the middle eastern influence. I love it. The way people dress, I guess, is the most obvious sign. I don't know how the women handle this heat. But they do, and they do it gracefully. Some just cover up their hair while others wear the full burkas. The men wear their prayer caps and robes. A lot of store signs are in kiswahili as well as arabic and you get a whiff of spices whenever a breeze decides to blow by. About 85% of people, especially older men, say, "Karibu" (Welcome) and smile as you walk by. The maze of narrow streets reminds me of Venice. The buildings are old, rundown and the paint is faded and chipped. It's glorious. People come from all over the world to take pictures of the famous doors of Zanzibar. It's pretty much impossible to take a bad photo of the large, thick and incredibly intricate carved doors. Windows are just as pretty and their paint is usually better maintained and bright compared to the dull appreance of the rest of the building. The view from our hotel is of a big, blue sky, palm trees, rooftop gardens, the Catholic Cathedral all with the muslim call to prayer in the background. You look down at the alley below and see children running and laughing as the scooters swerve expertly around them. There is more culture and history in this town than any other place I've seen in Africa. I'm totally in my element.

Erik:

The ferry ride over was decent and on calm waters. Stone Town is amazing. We wandered an hour trying to find our guest house. We had a really persistant (and annoying) man follow us the whole way. Finally got rid of him. We went to explore and ran into Helen again. We had met her in Lilongwe (Malawi), then again in Chitimba and how here.

For dinner, we went to the night food market. It was ok. Apparently Zanzibar is like Cancun for a lot of Europeans so it's pricey and touristy. But well worth it.  

Dar Es Salaam

Zanzibar Harbor

View from Flamingo Lodge

Breakfast at Flamingo Lodge