Killer Journeys, Hakuna Matata, Bargaining Balistics: The final leg

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I have to be honest, each wonderful day travelling has been mixed into one. I'm not going to put a date on anything, and just explain all the best bits of the time away after the project, probably something people want more than an in-depth analysis of each day, so here it goes!



No messing on the last day with all the group, up, pack bags, we're going to Zanzibar! Tickets were thankfully sorted out by JJ and Melly, was just a case of going and picking them up and waiting until the bus arrived, wasn't too late considering we were on Ugandan time, only 30 mins. I was travelling with Matthew, JJ, Ali, Olivia, Lucy and Melly. The coach journey was an experience and a half. Wasn't in the worst of conditions, could rival some of the ones in England in fact. Just, it was 30 hours long. 30 hours travelling the roads of Africa, from Jinja in Uganda, through Kenya, all the way down through Tanzania until we finally arrived in Dar es Salaam. The journey itself was not too horrendous, apart from the boarder crossings. I think at everyone of them, someone in our group had some hassle, but think its part and parcel of what travelling in Africa is like. We stopped in the middle of nowhere for some food that was included in the price of the tickets. Chicken leg and chips I think it was, it did the job as there was no other food on the entire journey other than the stuff we brought, but it look awful.



We'd be arriving in Dar in the pitch dark, which would be less than ideal. Luckily Ali and Matt had made a canny friend on the bus, who look after us completely. His brother had a bus/taxi company and got one of his drivers to pick us all up and drop us at the hostel we'd be staying at. We got it at a decent price too, which was a bit of a bonus. He was a good lad, had a bit of a chat with him after too. He goes between Uganda and Tanzania selling school equipment, quite the top bloke.



The hostel was decent, only stayed for the night though, got the ferry over to Zanzibar the next day. Showers were pretty bad, which was a pain as after all that travelling, the only thing I wanted to do was have a nice warm shower. Bed was decent, but I got bitten to hell.



We were up like a shot the next day, countless things to sort out. We needed a little money, as the Ugandan shillings meant nothing here. Matt, JJ and Myself tried to sort out changing flights to leave from Dar and not Entebbe, while the rest sorted getting a ferry to take us over the way. Was no luck with the flights, but did give us a chance to see a little bit of the city, I reckon its going to be a power house in the next few years, so much getting done to it. After all that we managed to sort our ferry out and get a coach booked for us three getting back to Uganda to get the plane home. We did experience a little hassle with booking the ferry and coach, bargaining is something I will not miss. But its water under the bridge now, it's given us some good stories to tell.



The ferry was ideal though, somehow managed to get first class tickets. The most comfortable chairs we'd experienced in all our travels in Africa, plus had two movies to keep us going, both in Chinese though I think. We had arrived before we knew it, one good thing about that 30 hour coach journey, makes any form of travel seem like nothing. 2 hours been confused why a Chinese person was boxing an Englishman seemed to be over in a second.



Got another stamp on in the passport to add to the collection, was over the moon. Managed to get a decent taxi, so now all we had to do was find a hotel. We tried to ring and book a place before we got there, but were getting through to no one. We managed to find a place called Manche Lodge. It was a lovely little place, right next to all the old buildings and winding streets the rooms were decent too. We'd got settled and had a little time to explore around what was near. The place where we were was called Stone Town, the main part of the Island. This is where all the food and spice markets were, which are known globally.



The exploration was mostly streets and closed restaurants and cafes, with the odd souvenir shop. We found out later that Ramadan had just started a couple of days before we arrived. Because Zanzibar was predominantly Muslim, the majority of the great places to eat and drink coffee (which was about all I contributed in researching our travels) were all closed until sunset, which was about 7.00pm. Was a shame about the timing, but out of our control.



That night though, we sampled the famous fish market. Now the food was beautiful, the best seafood you've ever had, but the bargaining was a bit of a nightmare. I was getting muddled up with the values of shillings, thinking I was still in Uganda, and half the time they couldn't understand a word I was saying. Every time I tried to lessen the accent, it came back stronger too, which was annoying. After all that, we were shown to a decent little bar that was open during this time of the year by some mates we made who were staying at the same place as us. They had quite the collection of beers, some were beautiful, some could of done without being brewed.



The following days was a mixture of looking at the markets at peak times in the day, seeing what bargains we could get, what the most unusual spice was and catching up relaxing on one of the small beaches. A few other guys had arrived towards one of the last days too, which was great seeing them. We'd all be travelling up north where are the beautiful beaches were, the ones in all the travel catalogues.



We were all ready to go up north, bags packed and in the taxi, a few of us, myself included, needed to get money out, as there was no atm machines up there. I had no hassles before at this machine, it was a Barclays one, I'm one of their customers, but it decided to gobble up my card regardless. So blind panic set in, this had never happened before, and could not happen at a worse time or place. The people in the branch told me to pick it up in the morning, with a can't-be-arsed-with-your-problems kind of attitude. So it would mean staying in Stone Town another night, as there was no way in hell I could leave the card behind as I had no other money on me. Matt thankfully stayed with me, I'm extremely grateful he did as I had no idea what I'd be doing without his help, panic was still in mind.



So next day picked up the card and tried again, no luck at first as the machine was still in turmoil from being turned on again. We were going up north with some of the girls who had decided to stay another night. Managed to get the card working again when we stopped of in the taxi like we did yesterday. So the journey up north was really happening this time, with no hitches on the way!



It was beautiful when we arrived. The hotel the guys found was great, just these little huts right next the beach. The sand was like fine flour and the ocean was a picturesque clear blue body of brilliance. Wish I could of stayed longer, I've never known a place that looked as tranquil. Time spent here was mostly on the beaches and sampling one or two local restaurants. One day we decided to visit the even better beaches than the ones outside our rooms. We were told you could walk along the entire beach to get them during low tide, at about 1.00pm, but that was far too long to wait. So we tried to walk as much as we could on the beach, walking through resorts when this wasn't an option. It was going fine until we walked into a wedding. Aye, that’s right, the place was that great, you could get married on the beach! So we decided to walk around them onto the road. Think we were on this road for about 45 mins, which was a nightmare. Some of the girls didn't have sandals either, so we swapped when things look rough.



Anyway, we finally arrived, and it was worth the wait. Now I've ran out of describing words so I'm just going to say, visit Pemba Beaches. Spent most of the day there, up until the sun looked as though it could set soon. We got back, had a little to eat and tried our best to stay up for the opening ceremony of the Olympics, but that wasn't going to happen.



Before we knew it, Matt, JJ and myself were on our way back down to Stone Town to catch our ferry back to the mainland. I think this was the start of what would be 4 or 5 days travelling and waiting until we got back to England. Aye, I think we left the Zanzibar Saturday and arrived in England Thursday. In fact, everyone who left Zanzibar after us, got home before us. All we did was stay another night in Dar, get and early 30 hour coach, wait in Entebbe a couple of days, get a flight, stay in Doha airport 6 hours, arrive in London, stay there 6 hours, get the train, get home, get bathed and get a much sought after donar meat pizza. Was ideal.



As much as I loved every second of travelling, it was great to be home and relax with the family. I'd recommend anyone to experience what I've done the past couple of weeks, it has been unforgettable. I've loved doing this blog when I've had the chance, I can only apologise for the mammoth essays and hiatus in-between delivery. Your comments have been great and I appreciate all the feedback. I'm back and settled in England now, and I can't wait to properly catch up with everyone again. Thanks again for taking the time to read this, and one final thanks for everyone who had helped me raise the money to get out their, words can't describe how grateful I am.



Stay cool,

Geordie Jack

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