Welcome to paradise, (if you're a rich tourist)

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"At least 18 supporters of the main opposition party in Tanzania's semi autonomous island of Zanzibar were wounded on Sunday after police opened fire on a crowd.

"I heard the gunshots" said Salma Mohamed, a Zanzibar based reporter covering the political campaign there ahead of 30th October elections" IRIN

irinnews


"Welcome to paradise", said the hotel porter of the Africa House Hotel, Stone Town, Zanzibar. The Africa House, in an earlier incarnation was the colonial British Club. Mohamed the porter said this to me on Tuesday 11th of October. On the previous Sunday the police had opened fire on an unarmed crowd. So, I thought, but didn't say; paradise, yeah, if you're a rich tourist.

The political unrest is not directed at the tourists. It would be possible for some tourists not to even be aware of the political situation.

Zanzibar, is marketing itself as a tourist paradise. It's been expanding its tourist infrastructure; the government sees mass tourism as an engine of economic development. Zanzibar has all the elements for the classic tourist paradise - chocolate box picture white beaches, impossibly turquoise sea, coral reefs, exotic culture and friendly locals. But tourism is not always a good thing. There is often a conflict between the needs and culture of the tourists and the locals.

Zanzibar is 90%!M(MISSING)uslim. Many tourists wander around the island in a state of undress, which is offensive to local cultural norms. I was on the island during Ramadan. The authorities had closed down all the restaurants in Stone Town during daylight hours for the period of Ramadan, except of course for restaurants in the luxury tourist hotels. But, there is tension between the needs of the tourists and the culture of the island. And, despite the haunting beauty of the place, for my taste it was spoiled by too many tourists! Yep, I know, I'm one of them. I'm part of the problem. For more on responsible tourism, I would recommend that you visit tourism concerns website. Tourism Concern

I ended the last blog in Karonga, Malawi on the 1st of October. I had just finished breakfast and a discussion with a Peace Corps volunteer. At 8am I walked to the bus station from the MUFW lodge, via the bank. I wanted to change some money, but the bank was closed. It meant I would be forced to deal with the black market money changers at the border. I caught an overcrowded minibus. It was a short trip to the dusty border post. As usual I was met by a gang of money changers as soon as I got out of the bus. The gang of dubious young men followed me. I tried to separate one of them from the crowd, and to get them into a cafe where I could sit down and do business. I didn't want to do business on the street - frankly I didn't trust any of them. Suddenly the group of young men disappeared, I continued walking towards the border post. As I approached the Malawian shed where I would get my passport stamped, a middle aged man spoke to me. He said that I didn't want to have anything to do with those men who had been following me. He said he was a policeman, and they were bad men, criminals. I didn't tell him that I sort of knew that. Black market money changers aren't really legal!

Anyway, after getting my passport stamped out of Malawi, and within no man's land I was again besieged by dodgy money changers. I only had Malawian currency on me - I needed to change some money in order to buy a Tanzanian Visa. I asked the money changers the price. One of them offered a better price than the others. Again, I tried to separate him, but without success. He was holding some Tanzanian money in his hand. I counted out 18000 Kwatcha and handed it over. He then said that he didn't have enough on him to change that amount. So, I snatched the wad of Kwatcha back out of his hand, and told him that I would find someone else. At this stage, I didn't recount the money. A mistake.

I walked on towards the Tanzanian border post. I was still being followed by black market money changers. At the Tanzanian border post I asked the guard if I could pay the Visa in Malawian Kwatcha. He said I couldn't, it had to be US dollars, or Tanzanian shillings. I said that I only had Malawian currency, I would have to go back out and deal with the money changers. He said they were black market. (As if I didn't know!)

The border guard then phoned a money changer on his mobile phone. I assume he must also have been black market - there are no money changing facilities on the border. When I came to count my money out, I found it was 2000 Kwatcha short. The apparent money changer I had dealt with in no man's land had obviously been a thief and had managed to palm 2000 Kwatcha. Anyway, I changed the money, and bought my Visa.

I then caught an overcrowded minibus. At some point, I had to get off the minibus and change bus. The second bus was a larger, but still very old and dirty coach. Finally the coach stopped. The driver said we were at the terminus for Mbeya. I was surprised as the Lonely Planet, describes Mbeya as being dominated by it's bus station. I could see no sign of a bus station. I was dropped off at a bus stop on a dual carriageway. It was 1.30pm. I walked down the road, in the heat of the midday sun. A couple of hundred metres from the bus stop, I saw a road sign. It said that the town centre was 2km's away, and that the airport was half a km. So, I had been dumped on the airport road. Maybe, the bus driver had assumed that I would want the airport, not the town.

So, I walked into town, passing a few hotels on the way. About 1km from town I saw the Rift Valley Hotel. It looked smart from the outside. So, I decided to ask for the price. It turned out that it was only 11000 shillings, that's about $US10, for a room with a bathroom. So, I took it. I then walked into town. The tourist office was closed. The internet was off line in the whole of the town centre. I later learned, that the internet connections had been off line in most of the country including Dar es Salaam. I did though find ATM's that accept VISA cards, contrary to the information in the Lonely Planet guide book. I had lunch in town and then walked back to the hotel. It was only in the evening, when I was eating supper in the hotel restaurant that I noticed the time difference. I looked up at the clock in the restaurant. The time on the clock was one hour different from my watch. In crossing the border I had entered a different time zone.

SUNDAY 2nd OCTOBER

I moved hotel at 9am to the Mbeya Peak Hotel, which was a little more expensive at 15000 shillings ($US14). It was a slightly smarter place with satellite TV. I then spent most of the day trying to get the last blog about Malawi on-line. It was like watching paint dry.

MONDAY 3rd

I spent most of the day trying to get the Malawi blog online. I didn't think it was possible for the internet connection to be any slower than it had been yesterday. It was! It was so slow, that I opened a window and played solitaire, whilst I waited for any response. I played a lot of solitaire! I had to stop and start as the task of trying to do anything on the net was giving me a headache! I needed to get the blog up and running whilst it was still fresh in my mind, but I didn't get much done despite being very patient. Ali, the creator of this site may have a techie dream of what is possible for travelers. Ali, you're in Asia at the moment. The WiFi techie dream may look feasible in Asia. Here in Africa, things look very different.

TUESDAY 4th

Again, I spent much of the day trying to get the Malawi blog online. I still didn't finish it, but managed to play a lot of Solitaire. I decided that I would get on the bus and go to Dar es Salaam, in the morning. Maybe I can find a faster connection in Dar. I would have liked to have hiked in the mountains around Mbeya and to have visited some of the cultural tourism attractions in the area.

WEDS 5th

I spent the day on the bus to Dar es Salaam. Dar, may not be the capital of Tanzania, but it is it's commercial heart. I had booked with Scandinavian, who run Western style air conditioned coaches, although my bus had no toilet on board. They also serve complimentary bottles of water, soft drinks and biscuits. So, it was a comfortable trip for Africa, although it was a long trip. I left Mbeya at 7.30am, the bus didn't finally arrive in Dar until after 8pm. Because it was dark, I got a taxi from the Scandinavian bus depot. The taxi took me to the Safari Inn, which cost me 26,000 shillings ($US23). A shabby room with air conditioning and satellite TV.

THURS 6th

I finally managed to finish the Malawi blog. Although the local servers were off-line for several hours during the day.

FRIDAY 7th

I didn't do much all day, although I moved to an upmarket hotel, the Peacock Hotel, which cost me $US70 a night.

SATURDAY 8th

I bought a ferry ticket first thing in the morning for the trip to Zanzibar Island. I booked out of the expensive hotel but stored my backpack there for a few hours.

At 2pm, I caught the ferry. It was a 2 hour journey, during which I talked with a local school teacher Frank. We exchanged cell phone numbers. I recommended a novel that I was reading to Frank. The novel Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is brilliant. Adichie's opening sentance echoes Chinua Achebe's title "Things Fall Apart". Achebe is another brilliant Nigerian writer and Adichie's hero.

When I arrived in Unguja (Zanzibar Island), I walked around Stone Town looking for lodgings. I was followed around by various Papaasis, who I tried to ignore as best I could. Papaasi literally means 'ticks' in KiSwahili. They are beach boys that follow around all new arrivals. Some are drug addicts. Others are just local 'wide boys' who understandably would like some of the tourist dollars of the rich visitors. Not everyone in a mass tourism destination benefits from tourism. Eventually, I ended up at the Riverman Hotel. It cost me $US10 for a room with a shared bathroom with breakfast included. A young man who worked at the hotel wanted help with his English. I talked to him for some time and gave him my copy of a book by C.S. Lewis in the Narnia series.

SUNDAY 9th

At breakfast, my French came in handy. There was a Tunisian guest in the hotel. None of the other guests or staff in the hotel had a common language with the Tunisian man. I had a long chat with him. The other guests in the hotel were Israelis, Americans and a Tanzanian photo journalist.

After breakfast I went on a organized 'Spice Tour' of the villages of Kisimbani and Kandichi. It was an interesting tour which included a visit to a Sultan's wifes Hamman (Turkish Bath). It gave a glimpse of rural life, even if there were a lot of tourist minibuses following each other around the same farms.

I returned to Stone Town after lunch at a house in a village. I took it easy for the rest of the day.

MONDAY 10th OCTOBER

The young man on reception arranged a trip for me to Changua (Prison Island). The island is very close to the main Zanzibar Island. It has a small beach, an old prison built by the British but never used, and a colony of huge tortoises. There is also a nearby coral reef. I returned to Stone Town at 2pm and took an afternoon siesta, going out to a restaurant in the evening.

TUESDAY 11th

I moved to an upmarket hotel, the Africa House. It was once the British Club, in a former life. The marble on the impressive staircase was stolen from the Sultan's Palace, by the British. It cost me $US150 for a night. It was when I was checking in to a very palatial room that I was welcomed to paradise. I didn't see it that way.

I visited some of Stone Town's sights during the day. I went to the House of Wonders, so called because it was the first building in East Africa to have electricity and a lift. I also visited the underground slave chambers and the Anglican Cathedral, which was built on the site of the old slave market.

WEDS 12th

I checked out of the Africa House first thing in the morning, storing my backpack for later. I had a ticket on the ferry back to Dar for 3.45pm. I filled the time by doing some more touristy things including visiting the Palace Museum. The Palace Museum was occupied by the Sultans of Zanzibar until they were overthrown by the revolution in 1964.

The trip back to Dar took 2 hours. When I got off the ferry I ignored the calls of the taxi drivers. I walked straight past them and into the reception of the Harbour View Suites Hotel. Another very upmarket hotel. This though is aimed at business people, not tourists. It cost $US160, but it was very plush - it wasn't just a room, more like a luxury flat. A huge living room, kitchen, bedroom, separate study and 2 bathrooms with broadband internet access. It's probably the flashiest place I've stayed in during my wanderings around Africa. I was only there for one night. I can't afford that sort of price every night!

As I write this my plans are to make my way to Kigoma on the shores of Lake Tanganiyika. Lake Tanganyika is the oldest and deepest of the African Rift lakes. It's supposed to be stunningly beautiful, and it's off the tourist beaten track. Hopefully, I can leave the other tourists behind.

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Comments

[john]

zanzibar
I stayed on zanzibar during ramadan a few years ago for 3 weeks.I think they should shut down tourism on the island for that month. if you pay all that money to get there and you have to eat behind screens that obscure the view during the day its not great. We headed to the north of the island for the weeks that ran up to christmas, all but the bare essentials of the restaurants/bars were closed during the day, but oh how quickly they opened up as christmas high season kicked in.(still during ramadan). Italian women from an expensive resort on the east of the island were walking through stone town in g-strings during ramadan oblivious to the dirty looks they recieved. Eco torism would be lovely, there is an island close to zanzibar with an eco lodge, but your budget will be terminally damaged.