To celebrate the completion of my Peace Corps service, I embarked on an excursion to Zanzibar, Tanzania. My friend Jonathan joined me and we had an amazing trip!
We started off with a 7 hour busride to Johannesburg, South Africa, and a night spent with one of his friends there. It was nice to have someone local show us around Melville, a very nice and hip area of the city. We had a lovely place to stay and good food and company to start of the week's festivities. We flew from JoBurg to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania- a bustling city so full of life and excitement, especially compared to relatively quiet and modern Gaborone. We arrived at night and spent the night in a beachside hut a ferry ride across from the city center. Although it was nighttime, the effect of being near the ocean was no less magnificent or exciting, after being landlocked for so long. I awoke early and eagerly ventured out to see the Indian Ocean, so beautiful with the dramatic morning clouds and rays of sun breaking through. I ordered a fruit salad and was so impressed to get fresh passionfruit, oranges, bananas, and mango. The day was off to a good start. We took a ferry back to the city center and admired the colorful fishing boats adorning the shoreline. We waded through the chaos at the ferry harbor for the journey to Zanzibar, and eventually managed to get tickets without too much struggle. A few hours wait and we were on our 2 hour ferry to the island- so comfortable and even a movie showing! Pretty luxurious as far as ferries go. We arrived at Zanzibar and entered the flood of taxi drivers, tour guides, and merchants awaiting the influx of tourists. A friendly resident from the ferry helped us navigate to the main transport area where we found the dala dala (small covered truck with open sides and back) to take us across the island to Jambiani. We waited for about an hour for the vehicle to fill up, meanwhile watching the busy market surrounding us- dozens of small shops and stalls bursting with colorful fabrics, cheap Asian imports, home and car supplies, and the occasional walking salesman with baskets of peanuts, cashews, or fruit. It was fascinating to see so many people, the women adorned in traditional Muslim gowns and veils, and men wearing the small Muslim hats with intricate patterns. The vehicle was packed to the brim with people, but it was so fascinating just to be in a different place with so much going on around us that we hardly noticed any discomfort. We wound throughout the town making many stops to pick up more people with cement, wooden boards, baskets of fruits, huge bags of groceries. We eventually made it out of the city and into the surrounding lush grassy and palm-treed landscape. We passed through Jozani Forest, an amazing jungle known for housing large populations of red colobus monkeys (we did see one bouncing across a tree branch). Our journey took us 2 hours, but it could have taken all day and we would have been content just to watch the people and the incredible scenery. We passed through a tiny village called Paje and then turned onto a rough dirt and rock road that led us into the quaint village of Jambiani. We were dropped right in the heart of the village, next to a sign for Blue Oyster Hotel where we would be staying for the next 3 nights. As the dala dala pulled away to leave, Jonathan and I just looked at each other and nearly screamed with excitement and awe- what an incredible and interesting place! All the buildings surrounding us were constructed of coral/rock and surrounded by intricate hand-woven straw fences. Huge palm trees dotted the landscape, and we could just catch a sliver of pristine blue ocean in the distance. The hotel was beautiful, right on the white sand beach, with an upstairs restaurant overlooking the ocean. The food was cheap and delicious- a variety of fresh (and I mean caught that day) seafood, spiced rices, curries, and other Indian-influenced dishes (very common in Zanzibar). I enjoyed a pina colada at sunset and tried to convince myself that this beautiful place and all that we'd seen that day wasn't just a dream.
Our first full day in Jambiani was stormy- a thick, relentless rain beat down for the majority of the day, but I refused to let it keep me inside. I walked along the beach getting soaked, and encountered some very nice local guys training for football. It was interesting to talk to them about life in Jambiani and their ideas about Botswana- I even taught them a little Setswana while they taught me Swahili. In the late afternoon the rain stopped and we were able to sit peacefully outside just listening to the waves. The water was incredibly warm and swimmable even on a cloudy day. The pristine white sand against the clear blue of the water gave the whole scene a surreal and magical quality.
The next few days were spent relaxing, alternating between laying out reading in the sun, going for long swims in the perfect water, and walking along the beach. We walked into the village one day and visited a pottery shop run by local women- it was a very cute place, and a group of kids arrived to stare at us crazy foreigners, gregariously introducing themselves and asking for us to take pictures with them, and we did. They were so enthusiastic and friendly.
Jonathan and I both got henna tattoos done by local women on the beach- I got elaborate floral designs on both my hands and Jonathan got a band around his bicep. We ate well, slept well, and had an amazing, relaxing time.
We took a dala dala back to Stone Town and wound our way through the bustling city to our hotel, right in the heart of a busy neighborhood. It was a great place, surrounded by so much energy and activity. Our room was cozy and even had air conditioning, a blessing in the humid heat of the day. There was a rooftop restaurant with coffee, homemade breads, and a variety of fresh fruit for breakfast everyday- blissful. We wandered through Stone Town's narrow alleys, between huge stone buildings with intricately latticed wooden decks. There were surprises around every corner, street vendors lined up on all sides, bicycles and scooters whizzing past us in the beautiful maze that is Stone Town. There was huge vegetable and spice market, next to a food market boasting fresh breads and chapatis, fried street food (fresh chips/fries, samosas), spiced meat kebabs, and an assortment of fried and dried fish. The food was amazing and incredibly cheap, everything so flavorful from the abundance of spices available (a huge change from Setswana cuisine, which tends to be bland). We bought an assortment of spices- whole nutmeg, cloves, saffron, vanilla beans... all for less than a dollar. In the evening we ran into an Israeli man who we'd met in Jambiani, and he joined us for an excursion to another side of town near the coast for Chinese food. Stone Town has all sorts of restaurants, and it was tough to choose where to eat, but the Pagoda Restaurant was an excellent pick, with delicious dishes for amazing prices. We wandered through the city after dinner, and I was surprised at how safe it was to be able to walk after dark (definitely not the case most of the time in Botswana). There were tons of people out and about, kids playing in the streets, and families sitting out on the stoops watching the passersby. Our friend took us to a corner near our hotel where a man was serving hot coffee from huge kettles boiled over coals. The coffee was strong and primarily a custom for only men to drink, but they didn't seem to mind me joining the crowd. We perched ourselves on the sidewalk nearby and enjoyed our cheap and delicious coffee while watching the excitement of nightlife around us. A perfect end to a perfect day.
The following day we embarked on a spice tour, taking a vehicle into a jungle on the outskirts of town, where a guide showed us the varying types of fruits and spices found on the island. Some small boys followed our group around, making items out of banana leaves for us- they gave us little cones to hold our spices in, bracelets and rings, a necklace that resembled a frog, and Jonathan even got a woven tie! It was very entertaining. We saw plants such as nutmeg, vanilla beans, cloves, and peppercorns, and trees such as cinnamon, banana, litchi, durian fruit, papaya, and starfruit. We tasted the various types of fruit, including durian fruit which is rather repulsive- it has the smell of onions and garlic, the texture of avocado, and the flavor of onions and garlic mixed with sugar- a very odd and not enticing combination. But the other fruits we tried were amazing- several types of citrus, juicy and tart starfruit, and fresh litchis. After the tour we were escorted to a peaceful covered area where we sat on colorful mats and ate the traditional cuisine- spiced rice, fragrant vegetable curry, cooked spinach, and chapatis. I could have eaten for days, everything was so delicious.
The rest of our time in Stone Town was spent in similar fashion- wandering the streets, visiting the different shops and alternating between street food and cheap restaurants, and just observing the life around us. We were sad to leave, but this time took a flight which gave us an amazing view of the island and the surrounding coral reefs. The sun was breaking through the clouds in such a way that a surreal glow spread across a small section of ocean, creating a magical effect to end our amazing trip.
Our final night was spent in Dar es Salaam, at a dingy hotel that we were thankful to find (everywhere else was fully booked). We were right amidst a busy market, and in the evening we ventured to a small outdoor bar for some dinner. Only one person at the bar spoke any English, so communication was difficult but amusing nonetheless. A completely inebriated woman sat nearby and entertained us with her bursts of inspiration to dance, meanwhile knocking over her chair and nearly falling over herself. We returned to our stuffy room which housed a toilet that was merely a hole in the floor, no shower or bath, just a small water spout next to the toilet. It was interesting to say the least, and we were thankful to be there for only a short time. In the morning we flew to South Africa and said goodbye to our amazing adventures, still in awe of all that we'd seen and experienced.
And now I'm in LA, a world away, trying to adapt back to my strange culture. My adventures in Botswana and Africa are over for now, but hopefully to be continued in the not too distant future.
