Blogs from Zanzibar City, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Africa - page 12

Sorry for the delay since our last post - we have had a difficult time finding internet for the past few days. On September 9, we descended into Ngorongoro Crater for our last day of wildlife viewing in Tanzania. We saw some very large herds of resident wildebeest and zebra, as well as hippos, elephants, lions, gazelle, hyenas, etc. - basically everything but giraffes. We also managed to see a black rhino! Apparently they had had a difficult time spotting rhinos for several days because of the cold weather, but the rhinos were back out grazing in the warmer weather. It was funny seeing the rhinos because our tour guide said that rhinos in Tanzania are protected more than our president! Apparently there are about 18 black rhinos left in the crater, and the rangers get ... read more

After resting for a few days after Kili, Robyn, Nathan and I decided to chill on the beach in Zanzibar for a few days. I got here three nights ago and the first thing I saw was these two kids running across the road, jumping off the road into the water below. It was quite funny. Zanzibar is a very neat place, as it has cultural influences from all over the world, Persians, Arabs, Comorians, and the Manland Tanzanians. The people are beautiful because over the generations they have become a blend of all of the people that have settled here. Yesterday I took a boat trip to Prison Island just off the coast of Zanzibar. They have a reserve of these giant tortoises, and they are giant! I could ride one if I wanted to ... read more

I'm here in Stone Town in Zanzibar. It's been a long drive to get here, so let's review what's happened from the last entry in Zambia. Later in the evening, we went on another game drive in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia and by far, the best animal we saw was the shy and elusive leopard, up close. It was dark, and we had someone shining a spot light around looking for animals. We spotted the spotted leopard, and so did everyone else. We drove right up close to the leopard as it sat almost ignoring the half dozen safari jeeps surrounding it with their spot lights. I got some great photos. We followed the leopard as it stalked the impalas nearby. Our driver was outstanding, he knew where the leopard would go next, not ... read more

Zanzibar The Spice Island After a stop over in Dar es Salaam, the main port and centre of commerce for Tanzania, we take a boat to Zanzibar. The crossing is relatively smooth and it takes just a few hours to reach Zanzibar and Stone Town. Historically the town was a centre for trade in both spices and slaves to Arabia as well as being a base for many of the 19th century explorers of Africa including Speke, Burton and Livingstone. The town is made up of old colonial buildings and alleyways hiding various shops and markets. When we arrived there was a power cut due to a break in the power cable to the mainland, it had been like this for three months and apparently due to a conflict between the two, Tanzania was in no ... read more

And then there were eight. As the last entry left off, three members of our group departed in Arusha. So only eight of us took the 10 hour bus journey home to Dar es Salaam. We took the nice bus, Royal Coach, and were treated to three magnificent movies (please note the sarcasm): Mr. Bean, Mr. Bones, and Universal Soldier III. No, we did not see I or II, but the third part of a trilogy is always a good movie to watch on a long bus ride. Mr. Bean was by far the best movie in the group. Mr. Bones began as mildly offensive and soon turned to outright offensive by the end. It played right into every stereotype that people have of African tribes. The bus, because of the length of the ride, makes ... read more