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Published: October 2nd 2009
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kilimanjaro in the sunsetAfter visiting the National Park of Maasai Mara we went back to Nairobi in order to find a way to get to Tanzania, primarily thinking about the white beaches of Zanzibar as a fitting destination. So early in the morning we caught a shuttle bus that took us over the border to a town called Mochi. Mochi is actually quite charming, lying by the foot of the Kilimanjaro, but not a place that is interesting for a longer span of time. We found a cosy hostel with a view of the, in sunrise, burning red Kili to give us a short, but good night sleep after 9 hours long bumby busride.
Looking for a good place to eat dinner, we ran into two random guys, Rasta-Roger and his sidekick, whose name i dont remember. They took us to a VERY local "restaurant" (actually it was just a family making a large meal and selling parts of it on the outside of their house) and showed us some local quisine. Actually, it was pretty good food, so honors to the chef. But I have to admit i was pleased when Joachim assured me that he had brought his knife and held it
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night market in Stonetown, zanzibar ready, just in case.
Next morning we went to the bus station to find a decent transport to take us the next 7 hours to Dar Es Salaam. Immediately, we were surrounded by at least 20 agents/sellers who of course all could supply the best, fastest, safest and cheapest transport. After probably 20 minutes of total chaos we finally managed to sit down to gather our thoughts. Considering it was 6 AM, this massive commotion was a bit overwhelming. In the end we found a nice bus that showed some kind of African version of "Days of our Lives" while playing extremely loud Celine Dion throughout the busride. A weird combination and I think we were both pretty happy when the bus finally arrived in Dar.
Next on the agenda was taking the ferry over to Zanzibar. Fortunately, we met Rams, a guy from Dar, on the ferry. He was going over to the Island to visit a friend for a few days and invited us to stay with him. They are two cool guys who have showed us a lot of Stonetown and taught us some swahili. Maybe we can learn enough from them and skip paying
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delicious for lessons in the university?
Stonetown, which is where the ferries from the mainland arrive, is a very cool town, displaying a huge labyrinth of narrow streets inbetween all its houses and numerous mosques/churches. For whatever reason, we never really know where we are when walking through the town, but somehow we always end up at the right place. It is very strange, but also pretty convenient.
First thing we did in Stonetown was actually to find Norwegian flag on one of the houses. Patriotic as we are, we went to take a picture when this local guy approached us, asking us if we were Norwegian, IN Norwegian! Amazingly, he - he called himself Ivar - was able to easily conduct a full conversation in wegian, even though he had never been in Norway. Apparently, he had just learned bit by bit from occasional tourists that had taught him a phrase or two. I have to give him some creds for that.
At nighttime, the harborside of Stonetown turns into a food market with extremely delicious servings. They sell everything from pieces of shark meat, over lobster to my favorite: pancakes with Nutella and mango.
That
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i order a lobster is actually where we e heading right now, so I gotta go...
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Meghan
non-member comment
ahhh
you Norwegians!! You guys are everywhere and multiplying!! I swear a meet a new one every day on campus haha What is the weirdest thing you boys have eaten?? I hope you guys get decent rest soon!! miss you!!