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.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is Henna? Is it some form of dye? Sounds like you are having a great time. Can't wait to see the pictures of the turtles.

Mom

Kim said...

Haha, henna is a plant that is grinded up and mixed with water to form a black ink. It is kind of like a strong permanent marker because it stays on for about 2 weeks.

Anonymous said...

uh-oh kim
your all tat'ed up ;) haha