Arrival

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I have arrived safely!

The journey was long (21 hours), but I managed to get the coach, plane, meet Patrick (the very nice guy who drove me from the airport to the port), get a boat, and then taxi to the cathedral. The journey was mostly straightforward, although my flight was delayed by 100 mins (although ended up only 40 mins late) and I was seasick three times on the two hour boat journey, not fun when you are already dehydrated by the hot weather. In addition to this there are the dangers of arriving in a foreign country, eg. people trying to rip you off, the first taxi driver I met on Zanzibar charged double the proper rate, fortunately the guy at the tourist office warned me, and I used another.

As mentioned above, it is very hot here, and although there has been a little rain, I am told it is the tail end of the rainy season. I am drinking lots of water.

The people are very friendly, although my Kiswahili is not sufficiently good to keep up with everyday conversation, I can at least do all the greetings properly. The level of English knowledge varies, so it can be quite funny trying to communicate, although I think I will get better with practise.

I have been introduced to some of the many people who work for the Church, the diocese does not just run churches, but has many other projects, so there are numerous staff.

I am staying at the Bishop's House, which is a little way from the cathedral. It is near the coast in Ng'ambo, or New Town, which is the less historic part of town, I think it acts as a sort of giant suburb. I have a very nice room, of good size and ensuite shower and toilet room (although there is no hot water, not much of a problem in this climate). I have my own fridge to cool water (all drinking water comes from bottles). There a few irritations, the tap in the sink is temperamental and one of the lights does not work. It is not quite like a English Gentleman's Club as Emmanuel suggested (the house is not old enough to date back to that period - I don't think so anyway.).

Yesterday I ate out in a Chinese restaurant, and had a very nice meal and had a long sleep.

Today I am going to see Stone Town, as well as visit the Bank.

I will upload some photos, when I either manage to connect my laptop to the internet, or transfer them to this computer, either way, there will be some photos soon.

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