Blogs from Tanzania, Africa - page 354

Zanzibar has only one town, Zanzibar Town and its old part, Stone Town. Throughout the rest of Zanzibar, or properly Unguja, the largest island of the archipelago comprising Zanzibar, you will only find small villages. Of course we had to go see Stone Town. For USD 50, Rama, the driver of Tamarind Beach Hotel, took us safely the 45 kilometres into town and waited for us to return. Rama drove around the perimeter of Stone Town to give us an idea of where the different attractions were. We decided to be dropped off just outside the House of Wonders which was the palace of Sultan Bargash when it was completed in 1883. We walked along the waterfront to the Old Dispensary, a very beautiful building carefully restored by the Aga Kahn Trust for Culture. Next we ... read more

for those worried about my little trip tomorrow: I will try to find the internet in kigoma in order to tell all, but i wouldnt be surprised if i do not write until i get back also. i leave tomorrow morning early from ubungo bus station near to the university. i have a ticket for a bus leaving at 8 am (2 swahili time, which is very easy to get used to. the day starts at 6 am since that is when the sun rises and the first hour is therefor our 7am.) and will be in dodoma hopefully after 6 hours, though transportation is more than unreliable. the train then leaves at 6pm, i splurged 40 dollars for a 1st class ticket so that my camera will not get stolen and i have the mesh ... read more

i am in great spirits today. just met some austrian and german exchange students i am keen on. morogoro was a nice little town. the four hour drive in the bus was nice since the landscape changed so much. i kept writing quickly everything i saw on the ride, the colors changed, the flowers changed, the trees, the distances to which i could see, the landscape, the types of houses, everything. went from large metropolis to the mountains built in the great rift valley, mountains that spike up every which way and make little sense in the landscape. reminded me exactly of the mountains i was in last summer around this time south of mexico city. first day we woke up at 5 in order to enter mikume national park at 7. the drive into the ... read more

After a long drive through Kenya we crossed the border into Tanzania and headed for Arusha. Another beautiful sunset from the truck meant we again reached camp after dark. This meant pitching our tents for the first time without being able to see what we were doing. Fortunately, the new additions to our tour had just returned from a fortnight’s camping to see gorillas in the Congo, and were more than willing to help out us newbies. Little did we know that this was going to be the least of our worries… At about 10:30pm most people started to feel some stomach pains. Sitting in the bar, smiles started to fade and people began to leave. The rest of the night was spent with most people suffering from cramps, diarrhoea, and even vomiting (which was amusingly ... read more

Hello Everyone! Well, we have had a wonderful time here in Africa. I guess I'm going to have to upload those pictures when I get home. Sorry about that, but we have some amazing pics that I'm really excited to share with you all as soon as possible! Our snorkeling adventure was fun (a little cold, but who cares!) and we had an amazing night at the Forodhani Gardens, this green space in Stone Town that bursts alive at night with tons of vendors selling grilled kabobs of every fish and meat imaginable! We wandered around and ate until we burst! The next day we thought that we would just become beach bums, but Vaughn called this tour operator to see if we could get onto Chumba Island, the most pristine coral reef and wildlife sanctuary ... read more