Barefoot, hounded and dumbfounded in Zanzibar


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Africa » Tanzania » Zanzibar
November 6th 2006
Published: November 30th 2006
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PAJE, ZANZIBAR




Waking up, remembering where I was before I opened my eyes..............wow. Zanzibar. Remembering the airport with the touts outside, the one hour taxi ride through the backroads of Zanzibar, the muslim men all wearing their islamic prayer caps and pilgrimage robes, the women covered from head to toe with just their eyes peering out, the donkey's pulling their carts as a way of everyday transportation of goods, the smells, the sounds......... it was all so fascinating and mysterious. Unlike anything I had ever seen or experienced before.

I looked outside my bedroom window and saw the most blue-green water I had ever seen in my life. If I saw water that color in a picture I would think it was doctored. But I was there and it was real. Jordan and I got changed right after breakfast and headed out to the ocean. I felt like I was in a fairy tale......there were local women in the ocean in long, flowing, beautiful dresses and it looked like they were working. It really caught me off guard - they looked so beautiful dressed like that in the water that was glittering like diamonds in the rising sun. I couldn't believe my eyes - I was mesmerised.

As we stepped out onto the sand, it was so soft that our feet sunk in about half a foot. At first it creeped me out but it was only because it was like talc that we sunk so far - as soft as baby powder. The tide was out quite a bit so we had to walk a ways and it was such surreal surroundings that I felt like I was in a movie. It turned out that the women in the long dresses were planting seaweed farms. They went to work in these long, beautiful dresses in the middle of the ocean and it really added to the mystical atmosphere - that and the village men out on the dhow's catching fish and the children running around in long islamic pilgrimage robes in the hot sun. There was so much to look at and take in that Jordan and I just planted ourselves in the warm shallow waters of the Indian Ocean and watched this new world happen. It was an indescribable feeling.

We layed on the banks of sand in the tidal waters watching the local women working for a very long time. At one point I stepped on a small fish and screamed just like a girl - so loudly at the top of my lungs. All the local women collecting seaweed burst into laughter. They laughed so hard for so long at me and it was a nice sound. It was neat to see them laughing and it was my pleasure to provide the entertainment. Laying there, letting the sand slip through our fingers, Jordan and I realized that it was a really cool feeling to pack the sand all over your body and let it bake in the sun. It dried so hard, almost like cement. When it was dry it felt really neat to give each other massages with the layer of sand between your skin and the massage - a really strange sensation. As you rubbed the sand it would gradually become wet again and begin to exfoliate your skin. This combined with the warmth of the sun, the coolness of the breeze and the fresh ocean air was the most relaxing, healing feeling I have ever known. The feeling of our skin afterwards..........like a baby's bottom. The whole experience leaves you feeling completely rejuvenated.

For now though, it was time to go back to our room to put more sunscreen on. We had been out on the ocean for a couple of hours and I was very aware that we were in the equatorial sun. On our way back to the room we ran into Kaleb, one of the foreigners we had traveled with on the train and through Dar Es Salaam. There was always something about him that rubbed me the wrong way (self-absorbed and opinionated) but he was venturing out past the seaweed and invited Jordan to go with him. Jordan was soooo excited. Everything in my body was telling me not to let Jordan go into the ocean without me but instead of telling him he couldn't go, I decided to go with them - even though my gut was telling me not to. We followed Kaleb for a while and the whole time I wished I had just gone back to shore. The tide was coming in and the water was getting deeper. There finally came a time where I told Jordan that we couldn't follow Kaleb out anymore, it was getting too far. Jordan really wanted to go with him (an older boy and all) but I had to really put my foot down because I had a feeling it wasn't safe to go. It was a good thing I did because as it was we had gone out too far, even with my careful discernment. At one point Kaleb kept going out, telling us that it was fine but I didn't care, mommy senses were kicking in and those two boys weren't going to convince me of anything. "I don't want to hear another word about it" I told Jordan and started to head back towards shore. As it was travel back through the ocean was slow because of all the sea urchins. It is not quick to recover ground out there - not only because the of the urchins but also simply because of the current and vastness of the ocean that was closing in around us.

The whole plan from the beginning was to walk out far enough that we could float back in with the tide. Kaleb acted like he knew what he was doing (which I would soon come to find was standard behaviour for Kaleb even when he didn't have a clue). "Aren't there sea urchins that you have to be careful not to step on out there?" I asked Kaleb before we ventured out. He was an American teaching in Zambia for the past couple of years and had been to Zanzibar a few times before. "There aren't any sea urchins here" he replied. As we got further out, we had to be careful of the massive amounts of sea urchins. The needles are a few inches long and would enter your foot like a big knitting needle with no problem at all if you were to step on it and this made it extra hard for Jordan to be able to float back in. If he needed to put his foot down for a rest, the water was too deep now and he could no longer see where the urchins were.

So were floating on our backs back to shore with the tide gaining on us and making us further and further out instead of closer and Jordan was not finding it easy. I was acting like it was no big deal but really I was nervous. I was regretting listening to Kaleb instead of my intuition and going out so far. Just when I was getting really concerned a local man in a dhow came upon us out of the blue. I flagged him over and asked him if Jordan could get a ride back to shore with him and he gladly hauled him into the boat like a big fish. As a matter of fact, that's what was in the boat all over the floor - big fish. Jordan got a really authentic ride in a traditional dhow with a local fisherman and I was so relieved. With Jordan safely on shore I could just relax, float on my back in the beautiful waters of the Indian Ocean and enjoy my rather long swim back to land. I loved the float in and felt like I was on a cloud.

Althought my major concern was settled, I knew my skin was burning and I knew it was in danger of burning before I had even followed Kaleb against my intuition. Again - a price to pay for not following your gut. As I walked down the beach back towards our hotel I was almost in tears I was so uncomfortable from the burning sun. So far in Zanzibar I am staying at a hotel recommended by a personality I don't enjoy, I have gone out way too far in the Indian Ocean with my child when there was no doubt about it that I knew better on this same arrogant persons' advice and I have followed him further down the beach and now have a second degree sunburn. All because I didn't listen to my gut. But I have learned the lesson and I now remember what happens when you don't follow your intuition.

I woke up the next morning and could not even move. My burn was so bad it felt like a stove element was touching me and I couldn't get it off. I had been severely burnt by the equatorial sun and it hurt to even breathe. Later on in the evening we went to this seafood restaurant where the Masaii performed their traditional dancing. They had these hand-made neckalces for sale and there were a couple that had a lions' tooth hanging from them. In the Masaii village, a boy becomes a man by killing a lion and they then make a necklace out of the teeth. I bought two and Jordan was absolutely thrilled. What a momento from Africa.

I ended up going back to the resort early - I was in so much pain. When I woke up again, my sunburn had only gotten worse over night. I felt miserable. The stunning Indian Ocean was right in front of me and I could not even go near it. Even thinking about the sun hurt my body. We could do nothing else but hang out at the crappy resort we were staying at - the resort that Kaleb recommended. Again, I went to this resort against my intuition and now I was paying because it was unfinished, our air conditioner was broken, so was our shower, the toilet seat fell off when you sat on it and the room was empty of any furniture other than the two beds. It was not very nice. To make matters even worse, the uninterested French owners were a couple of spoiled, young French kids that had this handed to them by daddy and could not care less about their clients - only about trying to make some money.

Jordan and I were sitting at a table doing his homework when we got up to take a picture of the ocean. Within a couple of minutes we were back, as I could not stay out. Within this couple of minutes, upon our return, we realized that someone had stolen his two lions' tooth necklaces. He was so sad. We asked the barman if he had seen them and he saw nothing. Later that evening when I went to go out for dinner, I noticed that my shoes were gone as well (my $60 flip flops that I splurged on so I would have comfort on my trip). I couldn't believe it. Within a few hours, three things worth $100 had been stolen. To make matters worse I didn't have any shoes now - I was barefoot!! I went to tell the owner about the stuff that was stolen and he was furious at me for talking about it. It was truly a very strange reaction. They were both very rude to us and really did not believe that it had happened - or at least that was their story and they were sticking to it. This was day 3 of staying at the crappiest place I have ever had the displeasure of staying at. Originally we were staying for two days but in conversation regarding the break down of our air conditioner, Diva (the owner - and yes that's her real name) said she would only charge us $40 instead of $50 for an unconditioned room. I told her that was good and maybe we could afford to stay for four or five nights in that case. This was on the first day before we knew how horrible the rest of the circumstances were.

So day four rolls around and I have been barefoot for the past 24 hours. Keep in mind the sand is burning hot and there are really gross bugs in Africa - I kind of want some shoes. We spend the day there, no bid deal. We wanted to move on but my burn was so bad that I couldn't put my backpack on or sit in a car. This is too bad because I wanted to go to Stonetown to buy flipflops. I should feel well enough by tomorrow to at least be able to sit in a taxi - I hope. So we have dinner at the Cristal Resort and after dinner I approach Diva and ask her if I can settle my bill up until the morning. She looks at me like she has seen a ghost. "No, you have one more night here after tomorrow - don't you mean you want me to settle your bill up until then?" I am kind of surprised. Not once on this trip have I pre-booked a night, committed to more than one night at a time or, as some of you may know, thought of anything other than the present moment I was in - never mind committing to 5 nights like it was set in stone. We were walk-in business staying there on a night to basis but I guess things are tough at the Cristal and Diva was really relying on 5 nights. I explained to her that I had already been there two nights longer than I intended and that I needed to go into Stonetown to buy new shoes as mine had been stolen from her resort. This should not have been an issue but it infuriated her like you would never believe. She started kind of pacing around with her fists clenched, it was almost funny. She eventually came back over to where Jordan and I were sitting and, in front of all the other people staying there, started yelling at us. I was seriously in shock and didn't know what to do - she caught me completely off guard! She was like a chihauha that would not stopping barking - as fast as she could she was scolding and yelling at us. I looked at Jordan with bewilderment and we both kind of chuckled - there was nothing else we could do.

Finally, as she took a breathe, I was finally able to tell her that I didn't want to have this type of conversation on my vacation and that if she would like to come and speak to me calmly, I would be in my room willing to speak to her and I walked back to my room. This infuriated her like you could never imagine - I am telling you this girl went psycho with a capital P. She went and tallied up our bill, demanded we leave the premises immediately, continued to yell at us half in English and half in French, told her security if we were not off the property in 30 minutes - have us removed. As I am typing this I am laughing because if you could see it like it is replaying in my head, you would be laughing too. Her poor security guard was soooo humiliated. Poor guy just stood there - he had a look on his face that seemed to say "You two are the lucky ones, at least you get to leave."

So there we were, standing in the bar area of our hotel, kicked out late at night into the pitch black. Me with my second degree sunburn, unable to carry my bags, barefoot in the dark on an African beach with a child. There was a point after Diva kicked us out that I started to feel some stress creeping in. I wondered where I would go, how I would manage to get my bags there with my second degree burn and how I would manage all this in the night with barefeet and lots of creepy crawlies running around. Then I looked over at Diva with her arms flailing around, now screaming at her barman, worked up higher than a kite and it hit me - this isn't my problem.

All of a sudden I was able to put it all into perspective. I remembered standing in my burned out house dreaming about myself on an African beach, and what this all meant to me. I decided that it was a blessing that we didn't have to stay another night at the Cristal. I returned to my room to pack my bags, called the nicest hotel on the beach, had them come pick us up and carry my bags to the car for me. There I was leaving the Cristal, barefoot hounded and dumfounded by what had just happened. Then I realized: this is what happens when you don't follow your intuition. I followed an arrogant guy from America to a place I didn't want to be at, followed this same person out too far into the ocean making my child uncomfortable and getting a second degree burn, had a bunch of stuff stolen and then was asked to leave. Go figure.

All I can say was that as we entered Arabian nights and our beatifully decorated, air conditioned, finished room with satellite tv, I was happy to be there. I went to the little gift shop, bought the ugliest pair of square flip-flops for $5 and took Jordan out for the most relaxing meal I could ever imagine.

The joys of travelling.





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Wild Horses - Natasha Bedingfield ****I remember listening to this song in the moments immediately following the fire. I knew instantly I would somehow end up on a plane but had not yet even started to deal with any consequences of what had happened. I was scared to even open my eyes for fear that my memories were real. In those days I was merely surviving couch to couch to couch. I was in a complete emotional fog and living like a zombie on automatic pilot. Jordan and I were seperated and he couldn't attend school because we had nowhere to live. Sometimes I would leave my own school and just stand on the street corner in the rain for lack of a better option. Nowhere to go. It was the middle of January, really rainy, super cold, I was very alone with not much light surrounding me - it was also dark outside. KNOWING I would leave the prison I was in one day soon and be free again saved me. I just kept my thoughts on that plane.

Sometimes on this trip I catch myself in a moment and remember how I longed for this day. I used to imagine myself on a beach, knowing that I was ok. Once I got to the beach everything would be alright. I am so glad I am at the beach.



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27th July 2010
Zanzibar

Great Picture
this looks completely surreal and is a brilliant shot!
2nd August 2010

Hi there, Thank you so much, it is also one of my favorites from my trip.....thanks for commenting, I can't tell you how exciting it is to still receive comments three years after being home!!!

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