Monday, October 20, 2008

A City of Peace and Beauty

After 2 pretty boring days in Dar es Salaam, it was finally time to head up to the North so I could start planning my safari! We decided to go with a bus company called Scandinavian Express because we heard that it was more of a “tourist” bus than a local bus. And we had seen some of the local buses just jam packed with people, and the trip was going to be about 8 hours and we wanted to be comfortable. So we woke up extra early that morning to get to the bus station a little be for boarding time at 8am.

While waiting for the bus to take off, we talked with several other travelers who had traveled all over Africa. One was an American from California who was traveling from Cape Town, South Africa to Nairobi, Kenya. There was also a woman from Holland and she was heading back up to Arusha to head home, but she had previously climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was really great to hear about her experiences with that and how she loved it but would not do it again haha. And finally we met a Canadian who had traveled to Tanzania and Eastern Africa in the past, but had some pretty bad experiences so he never was able to complete his trip. For example, when he was in Malawi, he got a ride with a local in his car and midday, the driver fell asleep at the wheel, drove off the road, and they hit a tree. The Canadian wound up back in Canada because he fractured his back and was cut up pretty bad. So he had finally made it back to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.

The bus ride was actually rather pleasant because the bus was not even half full, so everyone could have their own row of seats. The scenery was gorgeous as well because after about 2 hours, we drove along the Great Rift Valley and the mountains just kept going and going. This was not something I was used to seeing so I took several bad pictures through the window. I also slept most of the way, which isn’t a big surprise because I sleep in almost any moving vehicle. But after about 9 hours, the bus arrived in Moshi and the 3 of us got off, said goodbye to our new friends because the bus continued on to Arusha.

The main reason we were in Moshi was because 2 years ago, Klara lived there for 6 months doing social work research. And it felt so good to get off the bus and walk around a bit to find a cheap hotel. We wound up staying at Mt. Kilimanjaro Backpackers Hotel for $5/person each night which was incredible! And because Moshi is the closest big city to Mt. Kilimanjaro, our hotel had a rooftop restaurant and bar that I headed to as soon as I put my stuff in our room. The best times to see Mt. Kilimanjaro is in the early morning and the evening when the clouds reveal the snow capped top of the mountain.

As soon as I saw the beautiful view of Mt. Kili, I fell in love. It was so majestic and breathtaking. I just wanted to sit in that restaurant all day and not do anything else but enjoy the city and the view. And as I sat there, I ironically thought of Ernest Hemmingway writing his infamous poem, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” possibly sitting right where I was. I know that is really cheesy, but that was what came into my head at that moment. And the city of Moshi was so peaceful and relaxed; people did not gauk at us when we walked around but instead just went along with their lives.

As I was enjoying my beautiful view of Mt. Kilimanjaro, I saw something incredible occur across the street. In Moshi, they had sidewalks that would sometimes be missing chunk and the cars had to drive around these huge holes so they didn’t get stuck. Unfortunately a little white car was driving down the street and slammed right into this huge hole! I got concerned for the people in the car to make sure they were okay. But then not 5 seconds after the car got stuck, about 10 men out of nowhere just came and picked up the car and moved it out of the hole making sure everyone in the car was safe. Not one person even got out of the car or had to call for help. This act just amazed me and it proved that there is such an amazing sense of community throughout the country that reached beyond anything else that may come in its way.

But day 2 was another exciting day in Moshi because we went to visit Klara’s friends from 2 years ago when she stayed there. Everyone was really sweet and welcoming to us, and then someone introduced me to a local doctor who owns an NGO. His NGO is called the Living Life Center, and he runs it on his own with one other volunteer helping him. The Doctor was retired and previously worked in the Moshi public hospital. He was nice enough to take us to his clinic and show us his facilities. At the Living Learning Center, he has information sessions on HIV/AIDS prevention and testing. They run malaria and HIV tests at the clinic, they can do minor surgeries, and several other simple medical procedures. He started the clinic because the local people of the area have to walk very far to reach the public hospital and then wait a few hours and then make the journey back home. Therefore a whole day would be wasted where the patient could have been doing work. So with his clinic, it is a closer option for small medical problems that locals may have, and even though the services are not completely free, it is a lot cheaper than going to the hospital.

I was so proud of this doctor because he is doing this out of his heart and he was completely genuine and sincere about his work at the clinic. And I have met some leaders of other NGOs while in Tanzania who have an NGO just for the money, but it was great to meet someone who really cared about the local community. So this was the most exciting event of my day; only continuing to fan my flame of love for Moshi.

That night, I decided that instead of traveling up to Arusha to plan my safari, in the morning, I would try to find a safari tour company in Moshi. Over the past few days, I had heard some pretty bad things about Arusha for tourists including scams and theft. And I wanted to avoid that at all costs. So in the morning, I woke up early and at 8:00am I started my search. I went from company to company getting different quotes and information on safari tours. I wanted a safari that went to Lake Manyara, Tarangire National Park, and Ngornogoro Crater (this is a typical 3 day safari). And after several hours, I finally found a company that gave me exactly that. Exhausted and relieved, I paid the first deposit and then went to the hotel for a nap.

When I woke up, I went upstairs to the rooftop bar for a soda as I watched Mt. Kilimanjaro be revealed from under the clouds for the last time because I would be leaving at 6:00am the next morning for my safari. Klara, Anna, and I went to another rooftop restaurant for our last dinner together. They would remain in Moshi for a few more days before traveling to Lake Victoria and then Rwanda. And that night I went to bed both anxious and excited for my safari the next day!

From Dar to Bagamoyo and Back Again

On Tuesday October 7th, Klara, Anna, and I met up and walked to the dock to board our ferry that would be taking us to Dar es Salaam. Sadly, we had to wake up really early because the boat left at 7:30am and boarding was at 7:00am. But luckily once on the ferry, I slept the entire way to the mainland even though we had economy class tickets in the “non-air conditioning” area. Once the ferry docked, we headed towards an area of Dar that had cheap, budget hotels/hostels that we could stay in for 2 nights. And the first one got the ticket at a place called Jambo Inn (not to be confused with the previous Jambo Brother’s Inn). We basically dropped our stuff in the room and then headed out to see the city.

Now prior to my trip, I had been told by some Zanzibaris that Dar es Salaam was the “New York City” of Tanzania. However, since I have never been to New York, I cannot make a fair judgment, but if New York City is anything like Dar, I really don’t have a desire to visit. Dar was extremely boring with about 5 popular “tourist” spots, but for the most part, the city was a working city that people we to during the day and left at night.

Our first stop of sightseeing was to the Catholic Church that was right on the coast near the dock. It was very beautiful and also called St. Joseph’s Cathedral (just like the Catholic Church in Zanzibar). Then we walked for quite some time to get to the fish market because Anna really wanted to see it. And can I tell you that I have never smelled something as disgusting in my life (and I come from New Orleans). Not to mention all the water and who knows what else we were walking in while at the fish market. And I was not in a happy mood after walking 30 minutes to get to the market, only to tread through smelling muck and leave after about 5 minutes.

But we then headed towards the National Museum of Tanzania where we had a conflict of interest because I really wanted to go inside and see the exhibits, but Anna said, “I’m not much of a museum person.” At this point I wanted to tell her, “I walked through a smelly fish market for you; you can at least come into a museum about the history of the country you are traveling through!” But I held my tongue. And the museum was actually really cool. It went through each age of colonialism and how the country was affected over the years, but I was still amazed at how unpreserved the different artifacts were. In about 20 years, half of the things won’t be there because they would have deteriorated. There was also a memorial from the 1998 terrorist bombing of the US Embassy in Tanzania, and I have to say that it was a little creepy. There were remains of the bomb attack including a car, bicycle, a glass window, and a statue of a woman whose arms had been blown off. Feeling a little bit sad, we continued into the “biology” area of the museum which lifted our spirits. They had a great exhibit on the development of the human and when it got to the current human species, there was only a mirror. I thought that was extremely clever.

So after about an hour at the museum, we headed to have some lunch and amazingly enough, we found a Subway! I was so excited that I marched right in and got in line. However, I was extremely disappointed when the worker told me that there was no Turkey or Ham. So I had a sandwich with pepperoni, lettuce, black olives, pickles, and “sweet onion sauce” that was nothing like what is in the US. So even though it was definitely not the most delicious thing I ever tasted, it was still a Subway sandwich. And after an unsatisfying lunch, Anna and Klara just wanted to continue to walk around Dar, but soon it started to rain, at which point we got in a taxi and went to an area called Slipways.

When we arrived, before us was a huge shopping area with a bunch of really great shops. So we looked around a bit and then had some ice cream at a local ice cream shop. We stayed here for the remainder of the night and then took a taxi back to our hotel. Luckily Jambo Inn has a restaurant in it that was still open when we arrived. So we settled down there and ordered some late dinner. While waiting for our food, two extremely drunk Americans came and started talking to us. They told us how they were traveling around filming different areas of Africa for National Geographic and that they met the Dali Lama. I seriously doubt if any of their story was true, aside from the fact that they were American.

After dinner we planned our next day. We decided to go to a small city called Bagamoyo which is about 2 hours just north of Dar. We read that Bagamoyo had a lot of history for the country because during German colonization, it was the capital of East Africa. So we set our alarms to wake us up rather early the next morning to get a good start on the day. But the first thing on our agenda was to get our bus tickets for the next morning to take us north to Moshi near Mt. Kilimanjaro. Then we headed to the dalla dalla stop to take us to Bagamoyo. Unfortunately, there was not a bus that went all the way from Dar to Bagamoyo, so we had to stop in another city and switch buses to get where we needed to be.

About 2 and a half hour later, we arrived in the very small, quiet town of Bagamoyo. And of course, right when we arrived, Klara and Anna wanted to know which direction the beach was in. We started walking in the direction that some passerby told us we needed to go, but after a few meters, we stopped to ask again. The second man we asked spoke fairly good English and told us that we needed to go back from the way we came. So we walked back and then headed in the right direction. On the way we visited an art gallery where they painted and sculpted. And one artist sculpted large busts of different political leaders, and they were huge and very colorful. When talking with the guys that created the artwork, we learned that Bagamoyo has one of the largest art schools in the country and students from all over come to learn and study there.

After a little while we found the beach, which was mainly a fishing beach with absolutely no tourists around, but just locals. It was pretty cool to see the local fishermen selling their catch with their boats pulled up on shore next to them. It really gives you an appreciation for the locals in the country and how they still have “trades” that they pride themselves in. We walked all along the coast and then went in several art shops along the way, but the art here was different than all the shops everywhere in Zanzibar. The art here was more original and had something different about it. And in one of the shops, I fell in love with a Tinga Tinga painting and I decided to buy it because I knew the money would be going directly to the artist. The men who worked in that shop were also really nice and they even played their handmade drums and sang to us.

Feeling very happy with my newly purchased painting, we headed back to the main area of town, away from the beach. However, it was about midday and it was unbearably hot outside with no shade and no wind anywhere. But Anna and Klara still wanted to “wander” around the city and see absolutely everything there was to see. So I reluctantly followed along, but at one point I told them that I wanted to stop and get something to drink and rest in the shade. So we stopped, but when we started walking again, we could not find our way back towards the dalla dalla stop. In fact, we had to completely backtrack from the way we came which made me really ticked off because I was sweating bullets and very cranky. We finally made it back to the dalla dalla stop and rode the two hours back into Dar. That night I slept exceptionally well because I was so exhausted from the day in the blazing hot, African sun.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Exciting Travels

The past 2 days have been rather exciting because I did some overnight traveling. My friend Klara, her sister, and I wanted to travel to the northern tip of the island to a beach called Nungwi. I have decided that before my time here is over, I want to travel to the North, South and East points of the island because I am living in the West. So everything in our travel books said that Nungwi is considered to be the "party" spot on the island and a very big tourist area, so we were very anxious to see what it was like. But we had decided that this was going to be a very low budget trip because it was only going to be for one night.

Our means of getting there was the dalla dalla which is the local "buses." Basically is is a long pick up truck with a covered back and benches that line the inside. This is the only public mode of transportation on the island and it is also the cheapest. So we cramped in the dalla dalla with about 17 other people for the one hour long trip up to Nungwi. It was to say the least, uncomfortable because I got car sick and at one point I could not feel my feet. I have traveled many other times on a dalla dalla, but never for this long.

But we finally arrived in Nungwi and where we were dropped off was in the middle of the local village. So we asked an old man where the Jambo Brother's Inn was because our travel book recommended it for "budget" trips. The old man actually walked us to the Inn and it was a good thing because I don't think we would have ever found it on our own. When we arrived, we asked how much and if we could see the room before deciding to stay there. The man to us it would be $45 USD for 3 of us for one night, and the room, though basic was fairly nice. It had 3 large beds all fully equip with mosquito nets. But Klara wanted to look around at some other places to see if we could find something cheaper. Anna and I eagerly volunteered to stay with the "luggage" in the shade because both of us felt fine staying at Jambo Brother's. After about an hour of looking around, Klara returned to say that all the others were $50 a night and equally as "fancy" as the Jambo Brother's. So we paid and went to our room. Unfortunately, I had to be the one to discover that the toilet did not flush, but we decided to worry about it later and head out to the beach.

The water was crystal clear and the sand was the whitest I had seen in Zanzibar. But we were the only "tourists" around, so we were naturally a spectacle for all the locals. I would say about 10 different people (mainly men) came up to us while we were on the beach to talk to us and welcome us to Nungwi. This is very common everywhere in Zanzibar especially during the low tourist season, but I have to say that after 2 or three, it gets really annoying! At about 6:00pm, we decided to find a place to have dinner and one of our "friends" we met earlier suggested a couple of places on the beach for us to eat. So we walked along the beach and found a bunch of restaurants all in a row, but in the end we wound up eating at the Fat Fish Restaurant and Bar. It had a beautiful view of the ocean and we could watch the sunset.

After dinner we walked around a big and found a pretty popular bar right on the beach and we decided to have a few drinks. Then we ran into some guys we had met earlier that day who were locals. Klara and Anna had become closer friends with them than I did because I think I was sleeping when they met us on the beach earlier that day. But they told us about a local club they were going to that had really good music, and they invited us to join them. The first place we tried to go to was closed, so we walked quite a long way to get to this other club. Now since this is a pretty rural local area that is nestled on the beach, it was really really dark, but the sky was absolutely amazing. And when it was about the darkest part, my mom calls me to chat on the phone. It was very bad timing, but I told her where I was and kept the conversation short and sweet because I needed to pay attention to where I was walking.

So we finally arrived at the club and it was a really awesome place. It was basically a Reggae Club that had all locals there. However, no one seemed to care that we were there, so we found a seat and ordered some drinks. The dance floor was right under the open sky where you could see every star. It was really great too because everyone was so nice and they all loved to dance to the music. So after being there for about an hour, we decided to head back, but unfortunately, it seemed darker walking back. As I was getting my phone out to shed some light on the road, I tripped and fell, scraping my arms and knees. I said a few choice words but I was okay. I got up and brushed myself off, but from that point on, we walked slower.

The next day we headed out to the beach again, but only for a little while because we wanted to get back to town. After another, more comfortable ride on the dalla dalla, we were back in town and it actually felt really nice to be in a place that I was familiar with. My homestay family was eager to hear about my adventures in Nungwi, but for the remainder of the day, I relaxed at home, tired from the trip.

But I am sad to say that this may be my last blog for about a week. In a few days I will be traveling to the mainland with Klara and her sister. We will go to Dar es Salaam and then catch a bus that after 8 hours will take us up to Moshi. Moshi is at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro, so I am very excited to see and experience that. Then I will continue to Arusha where I plan on going on a safari for a few days. After that I will head back to Dar es Salaam and return to Zanzibar where I can tell you all of my exciting travel news. But I hope everyone at home is still doing well especially with the whole "financial crisis" going on. It is all over the news here, but not really affecting anyone in Zanzibar.

Friday, October 3, 2008

An Island Party

I must express my most sincere apology for not writing for the past week because I know that everyone at home checks my blog everyday with the hope of news from Africa, but after all, I am in Africa! So last weekend I did some pretty exciting things. On Saturday my Swedish friend Klara and I went to the House of Wonders which used to be the Sultan of Oman’s Palace (it is an attachment of the other palace I went to). It is also the first building in Africa to have a “lift” or elevator, but it is now a museum and I would definitely not use the elevator. Most of the things in the museum were fairly interesting, but the best part was the view. The House of Wonders is the biggest and tallest building in Stone Town and it is the first thing you see by boat when coming to the coast. Visitors are allowed to go on the 3rd floor balcony which wraps around the whole house enabling you to see the ocean and the island. As you can imagine I took many pictures which will eventually make it up on Snapfish. Another really exciting thing that happened on Saturday was that Klara’s little sister arrived in Zanzibar after her flight was delayed 6 hours in Nairobi! Poor thing. But she made it to the island that night and being to tired I wasn’t able to meet her until Sunday.

Now on Sunday we had bigger plans…we planned a trip to visit a nearby island called Prison Island. It was only about a 30 minute boat ride there and the water was fairly calm. Now the boat we were in was very small but it did have a motor which made me very happy. However, right when we arrived on the shore, the sky opened up and it began to pour! We stayed in the boat a little longer until the rain slowed down, and our “captain” was nice enough to take us around the island a bit. The main attraction for people visiting Prison Island is the giant tortoises that live there. In the past, the tortoises were able to just live on the beach and roam freely, but do to poaching and fishermen, they live in a reserved park on the island. This was the first stop we made, and it was by far the best part of the day! The tortoises were enormous, weighing about 150 pounds and some were that old too! We were able to fee them spinach and even allowed to pet them! They really like people and were very friendly; you just have to mind you fingers when feeding them.

After visiting with the tortoises for about 45 minutes, we continued to walk around the island. The reason the island is named Prison Island is because it was a stopping point for slave traders on their way to Zanzibar, and if they had any slaves giving them “trouble” they would leave them on that island. We did get to see some of the old slave quarters that were now turned into bathrooms…Don’t ask. Our captain left us on the main pier of the island where we saw some fishermen down on the beach below us. They had such a wide variety of fish that they caught, and I am sure that about half of them were illegal because they were so bright and colorful…not for eating. They had also caught and octopus, squid, and a blue spotted stingray.

We then decided to go lay on the little bit of sand that the island had because most of the shores were rocks. What I found interesting was that the sand was not sand but finely crushed shells that had been beaten up over the years. There were also a lot of shells and starfish lining the beach, so that kept me really occupied. Unfortunately it continued to rain all day and we would run under the pier and coral rock caves on the coast to stay dry. But all in all it was a great trip; great until it was time to leave. Since the weather had continued to worsen, the ocean, in return was choppy and rough. The ride back took about an hour and consisted of the boat literally going up on the waves and then crashing down and we all got wet. I was clinging on the piece of wood I was sitting on for dear life. At one point I even took a video of the boat and the water, that way you at home can understand what I went through. The funniest part was when I got off the boat. Because I had been used to moving up and down the whole time, when I stood up and took a step, I feel down on my butt! It was quite funny and amusing for both me and the others on the boat. And despite all of the waves, I did not get sick (probably because I did not eat anything before or during our trip).

Earlier this week I received my certificate for completing the Beginners Course of Swahili, and I was surprised to find that the certificate is very nicely made. Also, in preparation for the Ede celebration, I decided to go with one of my Zanzibarian friends to get henna. Henna is a very popular tradition on the island because there is a lot of Indian influence here. And when I went to get it done, the lady did it so fast! I only had my hands done, but the local women get their hands and arms as well as their feet and calves done. I have to admit that it looks really good on my now tan skin!

Since the local Muslims saw the moon on Tuesday night, the Ede celebration would be on Wednesday. My Ede began by being awaken from the constant ringing of the door bell. In the morning, children go from door to door asking for money or food, and the people who answer the door give them the equivalent to a few cents. So that was a lovely thing to wake up to. But for lunch, I went with Mama Rahma and some of her family members to a big family party on the other side of the Island. The house was beautiful and right on the beach. So I spent most of the afternoon walking along the beach with some of the ladies in the family, and I practiced my Swahili skills too!

Then later that evening, Klara, her sister, and I went to a big festival that takes place in town, but only during Ede. It was crazy! There were literally thousands of people in this very large field with music blaring all around. There were vendors selling food, drinks, and a lot of toys for the children because they collected all the money in the morning and then spend it at night. For most of the time, the three of us sat off to the side where we could just watch all the madness happening, but not necessarily be in it all. I have to say that it was a really great time to be in Zanzibar and witness this great celebration that only happens once a year.

So I think that is enough for now, but I am going to post another blog right after this one to tell you about some other fun times I had recently.