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Published: February 18th 2006
stonetown
view comming into stowntownwhat an adventure the last few days have been.
The train ride from Mbeya to dar es salaam was spectacular. First class was most excellent. We actually hadto book the entire train compartment for us to share it, which meant that we actually bought 4 tickets insead of two,but boy was it worth it. The compartment itself was plush (for african standards) it had 4padded benches, upon which we were suposed to sleep and sit. a table for eating, lights and a fan. it also included bedding, wonders of all wonders.
The fan didn't work and the lights wouldn't turn off, but other than that. it was fabuous.I don't even really need to talk about the toilet. just assume the worst.
The fun part of catching the train was that we had no real idea of when it left.all we knew was that it was schedualed to leave at 13:55. but no one we asked could verfiy if this was swahili time or not. some people said thetrain left at 6, some said 12, some said 10. we decided to play it safe and show up at 10:30 am. the train actually left the station at about 2:30pm.
On
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slave caves the train we saw giraffe, elephant, buffaloe, wildebeast and more.I can't really remember if I have published this before or not, so just bear with me.
We arrived in Dar es salaam at about 4 pm, we decided to catch a dalla dalla (mini bus) to our hostel (the YWCA) which was maddness. It was maddness because it was rush hour. but we soon found out that rush hour is all the time and maddness is just a way of life. think:india, bangkok, cairo, and joburg all combined into one.
We met up with an american laywer, who we traveled with for a few days. We shared a room, and the dalla dalla expereince. I think he nearly cried when he saw our transport. but alas, we got him there safe andsound.
The next day we toured Dar, went to the bank, bought a book, found food, downloaded pictures (FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN ASKING!!!!) andmet my grandmothers friend,who works at the bank of tanzania.After all ofthis, which believe me, doesn't just take 15 minutes, we ate again and retired to the very clean hostel room to do some laundry. We had already decided (paul,I and
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persain baths the american) that we were going to split ways after Dar, he was going to Arusha, and us to Zanzibar.
The Ferry for Stonetown is bloody expensive for tourists. It cost us $20usd for the cheap ferry, which also happpends to be the slow ferry. It was suposed to take 3 hours leaving at 12 noon and arriving some time before 4.We docked in Stonetown around 6:30 pm and cleared customs(again) at about 7pm, (after not having eaten pretty much all day I was a little grumpy) we caught a taxi to a hostel, which was full, then next one was terrible and the next one was too expensive and finally we found one called Jambo (swahili for hello) ( I should also mention that in the ferry there was a special forgiener compartment (box for mzungu ...swahili for white) where we met one other mzungu from germany. we decided to bunk together for a few days.
Jambo is clean, has nets, hot water, free breakfast, and all. quite nice.
On to the food. We were famished. I could have torn the leg off the taxi driver and braai'ed it right up.I didn't care.
We wandered off into old stone town, got royally lost, found a guide, tried to lose him,but eventually we ended up at the fish market. one huge BBQ.we ate meat on a stick, fish on a stick, chapatis, sprite, beer, anything and everything. spent more yesterday on accomodation, foof, and transport than we have in the last week.But c'est la vie, we are IN ZANZIBAR!!!!!!!!!!!
Today we woke up early had a great breakfast, and headed off into old stonetown. Streets that most definatly do not go in a straight line. nor connect with the main roads,or even end where you think they might.
We saw an old fort, house of wonders, palace (of the sultan) many of the ancient carved doors, the persain baths, the slave market.
The slave market was inthe basement of the hostel which we wanted to stay but it was full. The slaves were kept in about a 3 foot holding pen under ground in a building next to a church. There were 2 rooms about 15x15 feet both about 3 feet high, these rooms would house more than 150 slaves at a time. more people died here than any other holding pen on Zanzibar.mostly of suffocation.
Tomorrow we are taking a spice tour, of the spiceplantation, slave caves, and beaches. We may or may not leave tomorrow after noon. If we do, we have to sleep on the boat all night, and if we don't we'll take a fast boat the nextmorning. The fast boats cost our entire days budget. I hate how things are so much more expensive for the tourists than for the locals. locals only pay $5.
We hopeto meet up with my grandma's friend on the way back thru Dar, and then we'll head off to Moshi, Arusha and Nairobbery. Anyone have any advice for us?
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deleted_9521
Is the whole town made of stone? Must have been quite a feat! Zanzibar must be fantastic. The pics are great. Did you take them? The friend of Nana's...is that Fidel? Send him my regards. It has been very sunny here this last week but dreadfully cold! Erin is counting the days now until she leaves. What disjointed thoughts I have this morning. Maybe I'll write more tomorrow when I am off work...maybe I'll be a little more coherent. Love you and miss you.