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Published: October 7th 2006
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Cheers!
Just so you know, I was having a drink for you guys! Hi everybody
So sorry this has taken so long... Work has gotten out of control and I had to spend a week in the field. So no blogging. Boo. But now that's over and I'm back in nice comfortable Ouaga and I thought I'd recap a bit the trip to Zanzibar. So here goes!
So after the agonizing climb up Kilimanjaro, I was looking for some well-deserved rest. So I got on the plane at the Arusha Airport and flew to Zanzibar, an island just off the coast of Tanzania, known to be a little piece of paradise. **Also known to be home to the "Zanzibarbarians" if you ask Gonzo!** The island is known for it's great scuba diving as well, but since I'm no diver, I asked my travel agent to put me in a place that's known for fantastic food. After 6 days of "soupu" I was ready for REAL food. My expectations were high since East Africa is known for it's curry, and I hadn't eaten good curry in 4 months.
Anyway, the hotel I stayed in, Pongwe Beach, was everything I could have hoped for and more. You can tell from the pics (not touched
Beach room
My room in Pongwe Beach. For some reason I got 2 beds.... And, yes, I did use both! up in any way, if you can believe it) it truly is amazing. Since I was there just after the high season, the place wasn't very busy. The few people that were there were all couples (gag...) but all really nice. The Belgian couple from my trip was there, so it was nice to at least know someone. And there was an Irish couple who were nice enough to give me some English books. There was this really sweet gay couple also, wandering around in their matching Speedos. Anyway, the 3 days I spent there were incredibly relaxing. I ate tons of great food, drank wine, and read Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy while lying in a hammock. My single outing was to the spa down the road to get a haircut and manicure after the climb to feel human again! It was run by these nice Thai ladies who spoke almost no English. How they got to Tanzania baffles me, but I guess that's proof we really are becoming a global village!
After 3 days of decadent relaxation, I moved on from Pongwe Beach to Stone Town, the major town on the island. It's known for
View from my room
So when I walked out of the door of my cabin, this was my view. Not too bad! it's elaborate doors, which I realized later I have NO pictures of! Shame, Brownie! Eden (the Australian representative of the Three Idiots) was also arriving in Stone Town that day after a few days rest in Arusha. We were both spending 4 days in Stone Town and agreed to get together and basically run amock. And run amock, we did! The first day, we checked into our respective hotels. Mine was Dhow Palace, one of the most expensive in town (I wasn't penny-pinching this holiday) and turned out to be an absolute nightmare. The room was small, the breakfast was bad and the staff was grumpy. They also had a rule about no visitors in the rooms, so when I brought Eden up to show him my digs, I got in trouble. What the f*? I mean, for the amount I'm paying, I should be able to have drunken orgies in my room without a problem.... But no. I must point out that this town, and this hotel in particular, are very Muslim, so they have very particular standards of
behaviour. I didn't agree, but I was stuck there for 3 nights!
Eden, on the other hand, had much
My balcony
This was my balcony, on the front of my cabin. Every morning, they put a thermos of tea or coffee out at the appropriate time for you to enjoy as you watch the ocean and ease into your morning. better luck with his hotel. He stayed at the Chavdas Hotel (which he mispronounced the entire trip, to my amusement) and had not only an amazing room; it was a suite!!!! AND cheaper than my crappy room!!! I was very jealous. And of course their staff didn't care if I was up there in his room (there's a shortage of bathrooms in Stone Town, let me tell you) so it was all much better. Both places had a rooftop restaurant, but mine didn't have a bar and we were boycotting it anyway.
So the first day, we just wandered around Stone Town and got lost so Eden could take pictures of whatever he wanted. We turned out to be a great team as I went exploring (being an expert at getting lost) and Eden took pictures and found our way back again. We ate lunch at this GREAT Indian restaurant (a bit of a splurge) and just wandered around town the whole day. That night we tumbled across this great fish market by the port that was just incredible. Basically, it's a lot of fisherman all having their own bbq and selling kebabs of fresh fish and french fries
Cabin
My lodging! for really cheap. We found one that seemed to be reputable, and came highly recommended by the many expats at his table. His name was Solomon and he'd be our friend throughout our stay. We ate lobster, kingfish, and barracuda (which had to be said like the song "ohhhh... baraCUda!!!") until we were full, then paid what was equivalent to $10 for both our meals. Needless to say, we were more satisfied customers!
The next day was really the highlight of the Stone Town trip for me, and that was a scooter ride up the island. The day before, Eden and I had arranged to rent a Vespa (which neither of us knew how to drive...) for $15 for the day, so we could tour the island and get out of Stone Town for awhile. There are spice plantations still operating all over Zanzibar, and we wanted to tour one of them since that had been an activity highly recommended to me by a friend.
So, early in the morning, off we went! We picked up our little Vespa (complete with dorky helmets) and Eden took a short spin around town figuring out how it worked. Unfortunately, they
put about 5 drops of gas in the thing, so we were obligated (and when I say "we" I mean Eden) to push the wretched thing to the closest gas station, which wasn't very close! By the time we got there, we were grumpy and just looking to get outta town. But finally we hit the open road and started having fun. The spice tour was great (see photos) and we got to sample some teas they had afterward. We toured the island all day, and generally just had a great time. It was a fantastic day. At one point, we got caught in the rain and had to stop in the middle of nowhere for shelter. We happened across a local who was willing to take us in (although my Swahili is about as good as his English, we somehow managed to understand each other). We ate some fantastic bread, and were on our way again once the rain stopped. Eden tried his best to say thanks with his phrase-book, but it turns out those things aren't as useful as you'd think....
There was great strong coffee at a local stand that Eden found that made the best
coffee in Africa, I swear. There were also samosas across the street that always seemed to be fresh. There was another stop to the fish market and our friend, Solomon. There was a lot of haggling for cloth, paintings, a particular bowl I brought back for my hosts in Ghana, and other small items that needed to be haggled for. There were beers by the beach, and some crazy Nigerian guy who wanted to stab the security guy at the restaurant. There was a lot of laughing, and trying to communicate, and getting lost, and eating and drinking. As you can see, it was a fantastic holiday!
So here I am, back at work... SO much less exciting.... But there's a drill program for charity going on right now, so expect pictures from that soon.
Much love to everyone back home. I miss you all and hope to see you soon!
xo
Brownie
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mom
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Linds, this sounds like it was absolutely fabulous (enunciated FAB-U-LOOS). I think I will put it on my interesting places I'd like to actually visit.... sounds like you should pick up your diving certificate though because it would be AWESOME!!!!! Thanks for the pics, and the drink! Love Mom.