Blogs from Africa - page 26

Literally. No metaphor here. We visited Zanzibar before, and now have visited Zanzibar again. Here are some highlights of the trip. - We stayed at the Dhow Palace Hotel (got a great deal by calling direct even when the booking sites said it was all full). This was literally the palace of a man who built it in the mid-1600s. His family kept it for about 200 years before it was taken over by his clan. Now it is a private hotel. Very cool place with lots of quirks, secrets, and fun antiques on display. - We found a great community shop run by this Rastaman. It's all local arts and crafts for sale to tourists like us. Some special stuff in here. I got the boys new shirts and gifted the owner with a portrait ... read more

According to some things that I have read, Zanzibar has been continuously occupied by human beings for some 30,000 years. According to some other things I’ve read, the earth was created less than 8,000 years ago. I wasn't there for either, I just read about it. Either way, people have been living on Zanzibar island for a very long time. The name Zanzibar comes from the Arabic words for, “land of the blacks”. They named it for the African people they found living there, whom they called the, “Zanj”. The Arabs mixed with the locals, forming the Swahili peoples, who built thriving trading cities over the past 1500 years or so. Inviting the Persians, Indians, Chinese, Indonesians, and others to join the trade in ivory, precious metals, and enslaved humans from the mainland, they built up ... read more

After a little later than usual breakfast, we climbed aboard 2 vans and made the 3 hour drive to Welgevonden Game Preserve. We stopped along the way for a little shopping before reaching our final destination. Our goal for the day was to find as many of the Big 5 African animals, Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino, and Buffalo. We signed in and headed out on our adventure. We were riding with our guide, Fin, along with Shea, Justin, and Nick. We had a fun group as we searched the area. We quickly encountered Warthogs, Wildebeests, and the sought after Rhino. We continued along and found 3 Rhinos grazing close to the road for nice photos. Zebra dotted the landscape and we soon came upon an elephant cooling herself with muddy water. She systematically tossed water over ... read more

My fascination with Ethiopia began in 2007, learning from the Rastaman in Kenya. I spent most of that year living in Kenya, and a lot of that time walking far and wide around the area north of Mombasa, reasoning with this Rastaman or that Rastaman. Some of the old "Burning Spears" I met were remnants from the Mau-Mau days and had not trimmed their locks since the war against the British began in the 1950s! These men told me many stories about Ethiopia, about Emperor Haile Selassie I, and about the ancient Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. It was because of their stories that I first went to attend an Ethiopian church service in Seattle that year. Since then, I have come to know very many Ethiopians in my home area of Seattle, where we have a ... read more

The flight from Atlanta, Ga to Johannesburg, South Africa was a healthy 15 hours. This is the longest duration for one flight that we have taken and it seemed to go on and on. We did receive dinner, a snack (a sandwich) and breakfast that helped fill time. There were also numerous movies stored in the TV that could fill more hours. The one thing that we did not achieve was sleep. So by the time we landed in Johannesburg we were tired. The flight was totally uneventful and once again we landed on time. We were staying in a hotel attached to the airport but found that getting there was a healthy hike. Having finally reached the hotel and checked in, I discovered I had left a small but needed item at home and needed ... read more