In Zanzibar a few weeks ago some Catholic churches were firebombed. We had no problems and Salum assured us that no one
would ever harm us.
On our way in to Stone Town on Sunday we drove past hundreds of people walking towards what I assume is normally a soccer field. This day they were walking towards a political rally of Zanzibarian nationalism. They have a word for it which I can't recall but it's "the awakening".
This is the history as I understand it: Zanzibar was a part of Oman until 1962. At that point there was a violent revolution. The violent revolution involved killing and beating between the Arabs (Omanis) and Africans (mainlanders and those that had been on Zanzibar). A lot of this hard feeling between the two groups would be that Oman had run a very profitable slave trade of Africans before the British Navy shut it down. Once the revolution happened, the new leaders of Zanzibar were eager to quickly legitimize what they had done and proposed a union between Z and Tanganyika. They combined to become Tanzania.
Ever since that time, Zanzibarians have generally felt that they have gotten a raw deal in the union. Now the Imams (Zanzibar is 98% Muslim, compared to the mainland which is 50%) are leading the Awakening to try and become their own country. The churches were destroyed because they are a symbol
of the mainland.
Someone might say, but the country of Tanzania has 44 million and Zanzibar has 1 million but a third of the seats in the house and all sorts of political clout so they would actually have less power as an individual nation and maybe the Imam's are interested in being in control rather than doing what's best for Zanzibar.
Showing posts with label zanzibar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zanzibar. Show all posts
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
Z-bar
Last weekend was spent in a superlative fashion. We went to Zanzibar and were initially disappointed that we were heading to the North (formerly backpacker haunt of fame, lately of resort fame) to meet some friend obligations. It was off-season so the beach boys (beach side hawkers real or imagined boat trips, snorkeling trips, craptacular souvenirs, etc) were not out in full force.
We arrived early Friday and were met by our old taxi driver Salum (Mom & Auntie - he asked how you're doing). Josey and I spent the day kicking around Stone Town. We bought some crafts and then I was able to recreate the walk to the sandal shop (Josey had been back in September looking but had been unsuccessful). Upon studying a map later I discovered that I had gone roughly four times further than I needed to (anyone familiar with the layout of the town will understand). The sandal maker remembered me -- or claimed to have after looking at my sandals. We bought a few pairs to be picked up on Sunday before flying back to Dar and went on our way.
We tried to watch the sunset at the Africa Club but it was the first overcast day I've encountered in my six months in East Africa (which was good because normally I have to follow up a half hour jaunt in Stone Town with a two hour swim and a Tusker baridi -- it is usually that freaking hot). We were at the airport to pick up our French Canadian pals when, in the dark, Joanne was tugged on the sleeve by a gaggle of six girls.
They were the six girls we had met when they stayed at our place the week before. They were back from Arusha and were wrapping up their trip with ten more days in Zanzibar. They were gushing about their trip. The boy, who had been helping Dad with the luggage, loved the safari much more than the Granby Zoo.
Then we booted north. I was vaguely terrified that we would pick off one of the people on the street. We were going a hundred km/h, they were walking and talking on a cool Friday evening.
Our hotel was pretty fantastic with a deck out over the ocean on high tide (it was called Langi Langi and if you have to go to the north, you should stay here - folks come from other hotels to eat here and even if they are "resorts" they are really quite small (30 rooms?) and not behemoths like in Jamaica). Oh, and the hotel manager was a pretty fun guy. He informed me that all the beach boys should be put in a container and fed to the lions. The image I have is of them in tupperware.
Saturday and Sunday were overcast for the most part but there was some fantastic walking and swimming. We had intended to snorkel and sunset cruise but never quite managed to get going. It was a beautiful place. A reminder that consistently eschewing the popular might prevent you from seeing things that are popular for a damn good reason. I guess someday I'll have to get back and endure the lines at the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the catacombs...
We arrived early Friday and were met by our old taxi driver Salum (Mom & Auntie - he asked how you're doing). Josey and I spent the day kicking around Stone Town. We bought some crafts and then I was able to recreate the walk to the sandal shop (Josey had been back in September looking but had been unsuccessful). Upon studying a map later I discovered that I had gone roughly four times further than I needed to (anyone familiar with the layout of the town will understand). The sandal maker remembered me -- or claimed to have after looking at my sandals. We bought a few pairs to be picked up on Sunday before flying back to Dar and went on our way.
We tried to watch the sunset at the Africa Club but it was the first overcast day I've encountered in my six months in East Africa (which was good because normally I have to follow up a half hour jaunt in Stone Town with a two hour swim and a Tusker baridi -- it is usually that freaking hot). We were at the airport to pick up our French Canadian pals when, in the dark, Joanne was tugged on the sleeve by a gaggle of six girls.
They were the six girls we had met when they stayed at our place the week before. They were back from Arusha and were wrapping up their trip with ten more days in Zanzibar. They were gushing about their trip. The boy, who had been helping Dad with the luggage, loved the safari much more than the Granby Zoo.
Then we booted north. I was vaguely terrified that we would pick off one of the people on the street. We were going a hundred km/h, they were walking and talking on a cool Friday evening.
Our hotel was pretty fantastic with a deck out over the ocean on high tide (it was called Langi Langi and if you have to go to the north, you should stay here - folks come from other hotels to eat here and even if they are "resorts" they are really quite small (30 rooms?) and not behemoths like in Jamaica). Oh, and the hotel manager was a pretty fun guy. He informed me that all the beach boys should be put in a container and fed to the lions. The image I have is of them in tupperware.
Saturday and Sunday were overcast for the most part but there was some fantastic walking and swimming. We had intended to snorkel and sunset cruise but never quite managed to get going. It was a beautiful place. A reminder that consistently eschewing the popular might prevent you from seeing things that are popular for a damn good reason. I guess someday I'll have to get back and endure the lines at the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the catacombs...
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
mom's trip
My Mom and Aunt L came for two weeks in January. We did some stuff around Dar, a safari, and then had a finisher in Zanzibar (it was so blisteringly hot that I saw my Mom swim for the first time in 30 years). Here is her take on the trip:
L and I met on January 11th and flew KLM to Amsterdam where we arrived in the very early morning and spent 3 hours waiting for our flight to Dar es Salaam. There were many people going to Tanz to climb Kilimanjaro and many others going to various places there to do assorted volunteer things. About 8 hours later we arrived at “Kili” airport – I don’t know if I am allowed to call it that since I have not climbed it but I will anyway – and many more got on – those who had climbed it and were headed back to Amsterdam. It is “an easy climb” – not steep but the elevation and the cold are problems. The two men who sat beside me for the hour flight to Dar had climbed and had been on a 3 day safari. They were Spanish with almost no English but they told me the names of the animals they had seen – with the few English words they had and with assorted grunts and snuffles. I think one was a warthog.
We arrived at Dar about midnight and G and J were there to meet us – we went to their place by taxi – less than an hour at that time of night. Dar has almost 4 million people and many of them are very poor without electricity or running water but it is a friendly city with many, many very colourful street scenes. We had 2 days in Dar during which we recovered from our flight and visited. We went to an area called Slipway the first afternoon – it is on the Indian Ocean and is a shopping area with nice shops including one with furniture and home décor accessories made from old dhows which are the boats that are still used by locals. After window shopping and getting some Tanzanian shillings we needed to have a drink and some lunch sitting overlooking the ocean and the sand beach.
That evening we went out to dinner with Canadian friends of G and J – some of them lawyers working for a period in Dar and a girl from Shippegan, NB who works for one of the banks. Dar has all the various types of restaurants and this one was Indian.
J had to work the next day but G, L and I went to the Village Museum which has reproductions of 20 of the 120 tribal houses that exist(ed) in Tanzania – an African Upper Canada Village with a very good tour guide followed by local dancing and singing. We came home in a 3 wheeled thing called a bajaj taking a short cut over a dreadful rutted road. I don’t know how it would be passable at all in the wet season and probably it isn’t.
That evening the 4 of us went to an Italian restaurant on the ocean’s edge taking a taxi though a very busy street. There are often Maasai warriers in their red plaid blankets and their spears guarding the cars in the parking lots and here we saw the first ones. Apparently the advantage of hiring them is that they hire one and all their friends come to visit so they get lots of guards for the price of one. We watched the tide come in or go out – even 2 Maritimers couldn’t tell the difference - and crabs scuttled along the beach while we ate and then had a much faster taxi drive back.
Day 3 - We’re on our way to begin our safari today – very slow trip to the airport where our flight was delayed a couple of hours and then we flew to Kilimanjaro airport and were met by our guide; a Maasai warrier named Mollel – no spear and his red plaid garb was in the front seat and became very multi purpose – tablecloth, cape for him and a blanket to sit on under a tree [editor's note: here mom makes no mention of the intense interest she took in the black stick that all Maasai warriors have. It was disturbing]. Interesting drive from the airport to Arusha through a couple of villages and much Maasai land with cows, sheep and goats and people in red tending them. After a stop at the Safari Care office Mollel took us to our B and B and we went to dinner and had the evening to relax.
Next day - Big excitement – we’re off on safari! In a Toyota Land Cruiser adapted to use in the wilds of Africa. Just the 3 of us with our driver/guide. Our first park was Lake Manyara National Park and we were barely inside when we saw a monkey and some baboons – we were very excited. Little did we know that there would be many, many more and many other species. Lake Manyara is a large, shallow soda lake but the water is fresh enough for animals and the park is at the foot of the western escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. So many animals – by the end of that day we had seen giraffes, elephants, gazelles of several types, warthogs, zebras, hippos, our first wildebeests and many birds including flamingos. No tree climbing lions though they are supposed to be here.Mollel told us at the beginning of the trip that Lake Manyara would be the appetizer, Ndutu and the Serengeti the main course and the Ngorongoro Crater dessert and that seems to have been an apt description.
Ndutu – the next 2 days –part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area; a very good time of year to go to this park because the animals are migrating – wildebeest (gnus) by the hundreds [ed. - of thousands] – they run a bit then they walk then they run again and there are usually zebras mixed in with them because the zebras are smarter and can show them where to go but the gnus are better at smelling water. We saw this several times plus giraffes, elephants, Thompson’s and Grant’s gazelles, hyenas, mother and baby cheetahs and 9 lions under a tree – sleeping off their latest feast no doubt. We went in a different direction the second day – and had more great viewing – many migrating gnus; some with new babies - they can run as fast as their mothers within 30 minutes of being born; elands, jackals, ostriches, rebooks, cheetahs, giraffes feeding on those flat topped acacia trees that seem to be symbolic of Africa and a couple of “parties” which is what Mollel called vultures, etc. feeding on a kill.
Our overnight that night was the first of 2 tented camps; tents that are fairly permanent but can be moved to new locations I think. They have bathrooms in them with sinks, toilets and showers which have a bag hanging outside into which the staff pour heated water and then say: ” shower’s ready”. Dinner is in a communal tent and the porters walked us back to our tent so the lions wouldn’t get us! Not G though – maybe lions only like old Mamas- the name that the locals call all old women. We heard gnus in the night but no lions.
And now the Serengeti: The Maasai named this and it means endless plain – we covered a lot of area and saw all the cats – cheetahs, a leopard asleep in a tree and lions – resting and without the male who Mollel said was at the legion and would be home late - buffalo and many birds. We ended our day at a huge hippo pool with lots of hippos doing their thing which seems to be wallowing and yawning. The second tented camp and this time hyenas saying what sounds like hip, hip hurray all night long. They must have found something yummy to eat!
Next: the Ngorongoro Crater; a 19 km wide caldera left when a huge volcano collapsed. Mollel said it would be dessert and it was impressive. There are only 20 or 200, depending on what you read and hear, black rhinos left after much poaching in the 1980’s but we saw them – they actually look silver coloured because they roll in the dust. The 2 we watched for quite a while and which G videoed were on a mission – definitely going somewhere. We also saw giraffes on the way down into the crater but it is too steep for them to go all the way down and once we were there, elephants, lots of buffalo, gazelles, the inevitable gnus, gazelles, zebras which Mollel calls pyjama horses, impalas and a group of sleepy lions – 2 were nursing their young and a serval cat. Mollel has excellent eyes and can see everything and L is very good too – all that experience finding 4 leaf clovers I guess and G is good too – thinks he might be able to spot 4 leaf clovers now. I would have done better had I had my cataracts done before I went. We had our picnic lunch in a beautiful spot beside a lake and that night we stayed in the very posh Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge. Here they escort you to your room after dinner because buffalo sometimes come to visit. We didn’t see any there.
The next day we were driven back to Arusha with a stop at a souvenir place and another for lunch and yet another for coffee and then to the airport and few to Zanzibar arriving at our resort just after dark – that means about 6:30 all year long. J was already there waiting for us. The resort was 4 kms. Out of town on the ocean with a lovely infinity pool.
We spent 3 days on Zanzibar – had a walking around tour, guided by J, in Stonetown - the historical old part of Zanzibar town, shopped a little and had spiced coffee before giving into the heat and going back to the resort for a swim. Back into town that night where we had dinner outside under palm trees and bougainvillea.
The next day we did a spice tour walking around a farm where they grow samples of many kinds of spices – you get to see them and taste them and hear all about their many properties. Cloves used to be grown widely here and along with the sultan’s trade in ivory and slaves were the source of Zanzibar’s wealth. In the 1870’s a cyclone devastated the clove plantations and the slave trade was abolished. So much for their wealth but the sultan’s rule continued til the 1960’s I think. The spice tour guide told us that each family was given 3 hectares of land and there are spice tours on many of these “farms”. Long ago and far away I did a demonstration on spices and I was surprised at what I remembered about the various spices. Lunch was served sitting on the ground – a spicy pilau and grilled meat and then we moved to benches and sampled a variety of fruits.
J had to go back to work so she flew to Dar Sunday at suppertime – planes don’t fly in or out of Zanzibar after dark and we stayed on a for another day of sightseeing – had a tour of Stonetown led by a local university student. It is a labyrinth of narrow streets and alleyways with old mansions with beautiful doors and tiny shops and a market divided into fish, meat and fruit and veggies areas plus a kanga section. Kangas are the large pieces of very colourful cloth that the women wear wrapped around them. There are 2 kinds of doors – Indian with spikes in them for protection against the elephants (there were none on Zanzibar) and curved at the top and Zanzibar which are ornately carved and square at the top but have no spikes.
Part of the tour was the area where the slave market had been and where there is an Anglican cathedral built in the 1870’s after the slave trade was finally abolished. There was an excellent guide here but what a sad, sad story. There is a sculpture in a pit of 5 black figures with an authentic chain around their necks shackling them together and 2 of the cells where the slaves were kept waiting their sale are open for viewing – dark and dank and horrid. One held 75 women and children and the other, 50 men. The church was built on the site of the market and the altar is on the site of the whipping post that was used to determine the strength and stamina of the slaves before they were sold. Dr. Livingstone was a big advocate of the abolishment of the slave trade but he died before it was achieved – his heart is buried where he died but the cross in the church is made from wood of the tree under which it is buried. I think the rest of him was taken back to England.
There are historic buildings and a garden on the waterfront but by then the heat was getting to us and we opted to sit in the garden and wait for our driver to come for us – then back to the resort for a final swim and relax before heading to the airport for our 25 minute flight to Dar in a very tiny plane – a bit like flying from Thunder Bay to Dryden. Very slow trip through unbelievable traffic with many stops during which boys/men try to sell all sorts of things – pillows, cashews, soft drinks and window washing fluid for example - to J and G’s .
Two days left – we went to a carvers market in the afternoon – interesting assortment of things in addition to many, many carvings of black wood. We all did a little shopping with J doing the requisite and expected bargaining. 20,000 Tanzanian shillings are worth about $7.00 [ed. - $14] Canadian. Our last day we went to Oyster Bay out past the Canadian and American embassies and had a wonderful all day breakfast. Looked in a couple of stores and then went to Seacliffe where we had out last Tusker baridi (cold beer) and watched
the Indian Ocean and the beach for the last time . Home in another cab and after a rest out for pizza with the couple who own J and G’s place and then off to the airport and our long flight home through Amsterdam.
A wonderful trip – great host and hostess and a fascinating country.
Answers to FAQ’s
How is G? Fine and very brown.
Was it hot? Yes
How was the food? Great
Did you feel safe? Yes, but you do have to be careful – poverty makes people
desperate and G and J live in a locked place with a doorman who lets you in day
and night. I think my aunt in Halifax does too!
Did you mind the flight? Yes.
L and I met on January 11th and flew KLM to Amsterdam where we arrived in the very early morning and spent 3 hours waiting for our flight to Dar es Salaam. There were many people going to Tanz to climb Kilimanjaro and many others going to various places there to do assorted volunteer things. About 8 hours later we arrived at “Kili” airport – I don’t know if I am allowed to call it that since I have not climbed it but I will anyway – and many more got on – those who had climbed it and were headed back to Amsterdam. It is “an easy climb” – not steep but the elevation and the cold are problems. The two men who sat beside me for the hour flight to Dar had climbed and had been on a 3 day safari. They were Spanish with almost no English but they told me the names of the animals they had seen – with the few English words they had and with assorted grunts and snuffles. I think one was a warthog.
We arrived at Dar about midnight and G and J were there to meet us – we went to their place by taxi – less than an hour at that time of night. Dar has almost 4 million people and many of them are very poor without electricity or running water but it is a friendly city with many, many very colourful street scenes. We had 2 days in Dar during which we recovered from our flight and visited. We went to an area called Slipway the first afternoon – it is on the Indian Ocean and is a shopping area with nice shops including one with furniture and home décor accessories made from old dhows which are the boats that are still used by locals. After window shopping and getting some Tanzanian shillings we needed to have a drink and some lunch sitting overlooking the ocean and the sand beach.
That evening we went out to dinner with Canadian friends of G and J – some of them lawyers working for a period in Dar and a girl from Shippegan, NB who works for one of the banks. Dar has all the various types of restaurants and this one was Indian.
J had to work the next day but G, L and I went to the Village Museum which has reproductions of 20 of the 120 tribal houses that exist(ed) in Tanzania – an African Upper Canada Village with a very good tour guide followed by local dancing and singing. We came home in a 3 wheeled thing called a bajaj taking a short cut over a dreadful rutted road. I don’t know how it would be passable at all in the wet season and probably it isn’t.
That evening the 4 of us went to an Italian restaurant on the ocean’s edge taking a taxi though a very busy street. There are often Maasai warriers in their red plaid blankets and their spears guarding the cars in the parking lots and here we saw the first ones. Apparently the advantage of hiring them is that they hire one and all their friends come to visit so they get lots of guards for the price of one. We watched the tide come in or go out – even 2 Maritimers couldn’t tell the difference - and crabs scuttled along the beach while we ate and then had a much faster taxi drive back.
Day 3 - We’re on our way to begin our safari today – very slow trip to the airport where our flight was delayed a couple of hours and then we flew to Kilimanjaro airport and were met by our guide; a Maasai warrier named Mollel – no spear and his red plaid garb was in the front seat and became very multi purpose – tablecloth, cape for him and a blanket to sit on under a tree [editor's note: here mom makes no mention of the intense interest she took in the black stick that all Maasai warriors have. It was disturbing]. Interesting drive from the airport to Arusha through a couple of villages and much Maasai land with cows, sheep and goats and people in red tending them. After a stop at the Safari Care office Mollel took us to our B and B and we went to dinner and had the evening to relax.
Next day - Big excitement – we’re off on safari! In a Toyota Land Cruiser adapted to use in the wilds of Africa. Just the 3 of us with our driver/guide. Our first park was Lake Manyara National Park and we were barely inside when we saw a monkey and some baboons – we were very excited. Little did we know that there would be many, many more and many other species. Lake Manyara is a large, shallow soda lake but the water is fresh enough for animals and the park is at the foot of the western escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. So many animals – by the end of that day we had seen giraffes, elephants, gazelles of several types, warthogs, zebras, hippos, our first wildebeests and many birds including flamingos. No tree climbing lions though they are supposed to be here.Mollel told us at the beginning of the trip that Lake Manyara would be the appetizer, Ndutu and the Serengeti the main course and the Ngorongoro Crater dessert and that seems to have been an apt description.
Ndutu – the next 2 days –part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area; a very good time of year to go to this park because the animals are migrating – wildebeest (gnus) by the hundreds [ed. - of thousands] – they run a bit then they walk then they run again and there are usually zebras mixed in with them because the zebras are smarter and can show them where to go but the gnus are better at smelling water. We saw this several times plus giraffes, elephants, Thompson’s and Grant’s gazelles, hyenas, mother and baby cheetahs and 9 lions under a tree – sleeping off their latest feast no doubt. We went in a different direction the second day – and had more great viewing – many migrating gnus; some with new babies - they can run as fast as their mothers within 30 minutes of being born; elands, jackals, ostriches, rebooks, cheetahs, giraffes feeding on those flat topped acacia trees that seem to be symbolic of Africa and a couple of “parties” which is what Mollel called vultures, etc. feeding on a kill.
Our overnight that night was the first of 2 tented camps; tents that are fairly permanent but can be moved to new locations I think. They have bathrooms in them with sinks, toilets and showers which have a bag hanging outside into which the staff pour heated water and then say: ” shower’s ready”. Dinner is in a communal tent and the porters walked us back to our tent so the lions wouldn’t get us! Not G though – maybe lions only like old Mamas- the name that the locals call all old women. We heard gnus in the night but no lions.
And now the Serengeti: The Maasai named this and it means endless plain – we covered a lot of area and saw all the cats – cheetahs, a leopard asleep in a tree and lions – resting and without the male who Mollel said was at the legion and would be home late - buffalo and many birds. We ended our day at a huge hippo pool with lots of hippos doing their thing which seems to be wallowing and yawning. The second tented camp and this time hyenas saying what sounds like hip, hip hurray all night long. They must have found something yummy to eat!
Next: the Ngorongoro Crater; a 19 km wide caldera left when a huge volcano collapsed. Mollel said it would be dessert and it was impressive. There are only 20 or 200, depending on what you read and hear, black rhinos left after much poaching in the 1980’s but we saw them – they actually look silver coloured because they roll in the dust. The 2 we watched for quite a while and which G videoed were on a mission – definitely going somewhere. We also saw giraffes on the way down into the crater but it is too steep for them to go all the way down and once we were there, elephants, lots of buffalo, gazelles, the inevitable gnus, gazelles, zebras which Mollel calls pyjama horses, impalas and a group of sleepy lions – 2 were nursing their young and a serval cat. Mollel has excellent eyes and can see everything and L is very good too – all that experience finding 4 leaf clovers I guess and G is good too – thinks he might be able to spot 4 leaf clovers now. I would have done better had I had my cataracts done before I went. We had our picnic lunch in a beautiful spot beside a lake and that night we stayed in the very posh Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge. Here they escort you to your room after dinner because buffalo sometimes come to visit. We didn’t see any there.
The next day we were driven back to Arusha with a stop at a souvenir place and another for lunch and yet another for coffee and then to the airport and few to Zanzibar arriving at our resort just after dark – that means about 6:30 all year long. J was already there waiting for us. The resort was 4 kms. Out of town on the ocean with a lovely infinity pool.
We spent 3 days on Zanzibar – had a walking around tour, guided by J, in Stonetown - the historical old part of Zanzibar town, shopped a little and had spiced coffee before giving into the heat and going back to the resort for a swim. Back into town that night where we had dinner outside under palm trees and bougainvillea.
The next day we did a spice tour walking around a farm where they grow samples of many kinds of spices – you get to see them and taste them and hear all about their many properties. Cloves used to be grown widely here and along with the sultan’s trade in ivory and slaves were the source of Zanzibar’s wealth. In the 1870’s a cyclone devastated the clove plantations and the slave trade was abolished. So much for their wealth but the sultan’s rule continued til the 1960’s I think. The spice tour guide told us that each family was given 3 hectares of land and there are spice tours on many of these “farms”. Long ago and far away I did a demonstration on spices and I was surprised at what I remembered about the various spices. Lunch was served sitting on the ground – a spicy pilau and grilled meat and then we moved to benches and sampled a variety of fruits.
J had to go back to work so she flew to Dar Sunday at suppertime – planes don’t fly in or out of Zanzibar after dark and we stayed on a for another day of sightseeing – had a tour of Stonetown led by a local university student. It is a labyrinth of narrow streets and alleyways with old mansions with beautiful doors and tiny shops and a market divided into fish, meat and fruit and veggies areas plus a kanga section. Kangas are the large pieces of very colourful cloth that the women wear wrapped around them. There are 2 kinds of doors – Indian with spikes in them for protection against the elephants (there were none on Zanzibar) and curved at the top and Zanzibar which are ornately carved and square at the top but have no spikes.
Part of the tour was the area where the slave market had been and where there is an Anglican cathedral built in the 1870’s after the slave trade was finally abolished. There was an excellent guide here but what a sad, sad story. There is a sculpture in a pit of 5 black figures with an authentic chain around their necks shackling them together and 2 of the cells where the slaves were kept waiting their sale are open for viewing – dark and dank and horrid. One held 75 women and children and the other, 50 men. The church was built on the site of the market and the altar is on the site of the whipping post that was used to determine the strength and stamina of the slaves before they were sold. Dr. Livingstone was a big advocate of the abolishment of the slave trade but he died before it was achieved – his heart is buried where he died but the cross in the church is made from wood of the tree under which it is buried. I think the rest of him was taken back to England.
There are historic buildings and a garden on the waterfront but by then the heat was getting to us and we opted to sit in the garden and wait for our driver to come for us – then back to the resort for a final swim and relax before heading to the airport for our 25 minute flight to Dar in a very tiny plane – a bit like flying from Thunder Bay to Dryden. Very slow trip through unbelievable traffic with many stops during which boys/men try to sell all sorts of things – pillows, cashews, soft drinks and window washing fluid for example - to J and G’s .
Two days left – we went to a carvers market in the afternoon – interesting assortment of things in addition to many, many carvings of black wood. We all did a little shopping with J doing the requisite and expected bargaining. 20,000 Tanzanian shillings are worth about $7.00 [ed. - $14] Canadian. Our last day we went to Oyster Bay out past the Canadian and American embassies and had a wonderful all day breakfast. Looked in a couple of stores and then went to Seacliffe where we had out last Tusker baridi (cold beer) and watched
the Indian Ocean and the beach for the last time . Home in another cab and after a rest out for pizza with the couple who own J and G’s place and then off to the airport and our long flight home through Amsterdam.
A wonderful trip – great host and hostess and a fascinating country.
Answers to FAQ’s
How is G? Fine and very brown.
Was it hot? Yes
How was the food? Great
Did you feel safe? Yes, but you do have to be careful – poverty makes people
desperate and G and J live in a locked place with a doorman who lets you in day
and night. I think my aunt in Halifax does too!
Did you mind the flight? Yes.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
bububu
One of the nights that we stayed in Zanzibar, we stayed at an inn (the one with the dog and monkeys playing around) in the town of Bububu. Bububu is called Bububu because the train makes this sound when it comes around the corner (it sounds more like a train when you pronounce it like all other Swahili words, with the accent on the penultimate syllable).
And speaking of place names, there is a place north of Dar called Picha ya Ndege (Airplane Picture) because at the bar in town there used to be a huge picture of an airplane.
Motorcycles are called pikipiki's because of the sound they make.
That is all.
And speaking of place names, there is a place north of Dar called Picha ya Ndege (Airplane Picture) because at the bar in town there used to be a huge picture of an airplane.
Motorcycles are called pikipiki's because of the sound they make.
That is all.
Friday, December 17, 2010
dog chases monkey
We were sitting in the treehouse at this inn on Zanzibar when we heard the pitter patter of little feet running up the stairs. Then a monkey launched himself into a tree as a dog hit the top of the stairs. It may have been the several Tusker baridis that I had but I thought this was pretty great.
Our three day layover in Istanbul is off. The terrorists have won (frankly, it doesn't feel like they have won and I'm not really afraid but we're still not hanging out in all the tourist spots right now).
Our three day layover in Istanbul is off. The terrorists have won (frankly, it doesn't feel like they have won and I'm not really afraid but we're still not hanging out in all the tourist spots right now).
Thursday, December 16, 2010
conversations in Zanzibar
- pilot, just prior to circling the runway three times before landing: We have to circle the runway, there's dogs on the runway, as usual, in Zanzibar.
- dude: You live with your girlfriend in Dar es Salaam? ... I am a Muslim and it is not allowed to live with someone unless you are married. I have a girlfriend but I don't really know why. We think about having sex but that is a sin and when I die I will to go to paradise* <followed by fist bump proffered by me and received by him and then we laughed a lot>.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Zanzibarians II
Zanzibar was a very rich country over one hundred years ago because of the slave and spice trade. In the 1800's over 100,000 slaves were brought to Stone Town and sold. The sultan then used that money to buy guns and secure his grip on the area. Zanzibar is much more Muslim than the mainland because it used to be a part (I use part because it was more than a colony) of Oman (N, our host, still has family in Oman). The travel books ask you to show respect to your Muslim hosts in Zanzibar and cover up and not be loudly drunk in the street. Judging by the spaghetti straps and high skirts, quite a few travellers don't give a shit. Also, on that note, 20-something travellers should be seen and not heard. They make my ears bleed.
We didn't tour any of the slave markets as we figure that will be a tour we do with mom & auntie. Saturday we walked and shopped in Stone Town - I bought some sandals that were made to fit while we went on our merry way. I got a massage while josey and the girls looked for dresses. I met up with them for vegetarian Indian food after eventually finding my way back to the sandal shop. The sandals were 17,000 Tsh. Tanzanian shillings. 15,000 Tsh = $10 US. So they weren't that much. And I even heard him quote somebody else at 17,000. In Tanzania you have to get used to the fact that there is a local price and a white person price. You can bargain but at a certain point you realize that you're arguing about 33 cents or maybe $2. Which reminds me of staying at the resort.
We met a woman who did NGO conflict-resolution work in Nairobi. She told us that when she was booked at the resort she kept it from her colleagues as she felt guilty about it. It is an option that very few East Africans will ever have. ($100 US a night)
Saturday evening was pretty quiet. For dinner I had a gigantic whole perch. Josey had some sort of random vegetarian dish -- I kid, I kid, she had a wonderful soup.
Sunday we saw the first rains of our trip. And they were torrential. We were in Stone Town, fresh out of the cab but not yet at the coffee shop. We stood in the alley (with a shop keeper trying to sell us an umbrella) while the rain pounded on the corrugated roof-tops. There was so much rain and nowhere for it to go that eventually the water was up to mid-shin. Kids kept riding their bikes (are we old because we stop playing or stop playing because we're old?) through the current as it would split and re-unite in various channels. Just rain but it brilliant.
We awaited the ferry in the Mercury Lounge (Freddy Mercury was born in Zanzibar) and left as the rains stopped. We can't wait to go back.
We didn't tour any of the slave markets as we figure that will be a tour we do with mom & auntie. Saturday we walked and shopped in Stone Town - I bought some sandals that were made to fit while we went on our merry way. I got a massage while josey and the girls looked for dresses. I met up with them for vegetarian Indian food after eventually finding my way back to the sandal shop. The sandals were 17,000 Tsh. Tanzanian shillings. 15,000 Tsh = $10 US. So they weren't that much. And I even heard him quote somebody else at 17,000. In Tanzania you have to get used to the fact that there is a local price and a white person price. You can bargain but at a certain point you realize that you're arguing about 33 cents or maybe $2. Which reminds me of staying at the resort.
We met a woman who did NGO conflict-resolution work in Nairobi. She told us that when she was booked at the resort she kept it from her colleagues as she felt guilty about it. It is an option that very few East Africans will ever have. ($100 US a night)
Saturday evening was pretty quiet. For dinner I had a gigantic whole perch. Josey had some sort of random vegetarian dish -- I kid, I kid, she had a wonderful soup.
Sunday we saw the first rains of our trip. And they were torrential. We were in Stone Town, fresh out of the cab but not yet at the coffee shop. We stood in the alley (with a shop keeper trying to sell us an umbrella) while the rain pounded on the corrugated roof-tops. There was so much rain and nowhere for it to go that eventually the water was up to mid-shin. Kids kept riding their bikes (are we old because we stop playing or stop playing because we're old?) through the current as it would split and re-unite in various channels. Just rain but it brilliant.
We awaited the ferry in the Mercury Lounge (Freddy Mercury was born in Zanzibar) and left as the rains stopped. We can't wait to go back.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Zanzibarians I
We took the ferry to Zanzibar on Friday. We stayed at a resort north of town (these seem like two pretty straight-forward statements but I already have notes I would like to interject (I feel like I'm interrupting my formal story-telling self after telling him to tell the story but he's not telling it quite right so here is the other me). re. north of town. I think! we're at the equator. At high noon or anywhere withing three hours of that time, I have no idea what direction is where. Here you hear people (expats) cliche-ingly say that you won't take things for granted when you get back home (even though you will). But that's one thing I will take home with me. An appreciation of which way south is. re. resort. We wouldn't normally stay at a resort as we would like to be a little more immersed in the culture. But friends were staying there and we made do. I mean it's wrong on some level but the pool overlooking the ocean and the drinks charged to your room and fleeing the heat of the town just helps you deal with the wrongness.) 
We headed into Stone Town which is an impressive collection of maze-like alleyways. As much as eastern seaboard towns in North America are tiny and winding because they were built before cars needed to go from A to B to the suburbs, these were built before that. J, the man of the house, told us he specced out a drainage system for Stone Town that included quotes for pulling in the pipes and equipement on lawn tractors. The man who did the job used donkeys because he knew better.
It was great walking around. Bikes, scooters, and motorcycles travel through the alleyways, ringing constantly for pedestrians to get out of the way. Tiny little shops (some catering to tourists and some for the townsfolk) faced each other, two arm-lengths away across the alley. Well, it was kinda great because at first we still had our bags (just weekend bags but it was hot and I'm 41 and crabby). We stopped at the Zanzibar Coffee House which was on josey's must-see list (we are both coffee fans and josey had been here in the winter). We had two carafes of spiced coffee (later enjoyed by our Indian friend who said they were the same spices she used in her tea). I am under the impression that these are the "spice islands". The coffees were good. Strange not having a bitter after-taste. You really don't realize you need it or even that it was there until it's gone (side note: N, our hostess in Dar, was born in Zanzibar and, yet, when we flew over she asked us to bring her some Tim Horton's - WTF?!).
At the coffee shop, we chatted with a Hungarian and a German. The German hasn't had a vacation in 8 years but was inspired by his friend who ten years ago motorcycled from Germany to South Africa. His friend encouraged him to fly to Dar, "just take a couple of t-shirts and go!". We kept running in to these two guys until Sunday afternoon (when we actually drove past the Hungarian when we were back in Dar).
After going and checking in we went to Africa House ("most popular haunt of backpackers and expats for serious drinking" - uggh - but it did have a great view west for the sunset) to meet our friends. We missed the sunset but continued undaunted. Josey and I then snuck off to the Monsoon restaurant. The food was delicious. I'm trying to think of what I had but can't -- again I had a wonderful coffee. Very finely ground -- I need to research what that is about. Then we walked around the night market which is a bunch of food vendors at the park in front of the palace. They were serving all kinds of seafood, satays, and Zanzibarian pizza (egg, potatoes, onions, etc in a crepe and fried). We made it an early night as our friends stayed out -- for some reason the drinking with expats has the feel of frosh week and we tend to flee (lest you think we're some sort of moral minority, we fled to the hotel bar where we could hear each other talk and we could sit. I like to sit.)
We headed into Stone Town which is an impressive collection of maze-like alleyways. As much as eastern seaboard towns in North America are tiny and winding because they were built before cars needed to go from A to B to the suburbs, these were built before that. J, the man of the house, told us he specced out a drainage system for Stone Town that included quotes for pulling in the pipes and equipement on lawn tractors. The man who did the job used donkeys because he knew better.
It was great walking around. Bikes, scooters, and motorcycles travel through the alleyways, ringing constantly for pedestrians to get out of the way. Tiny little shops (some catering to tourists and some for the townsfolk) faced each other, two arm-lengths away across the alley. Well, it was kinda great because at first we still had our bags (just weekend bags but it was hot and I'm 41 and crabby). We stopped at the Zanzibar Coffee House which was on josey's must-see list (we are both coffee fans and josey had been here in the winter). We had two carafes of spiced coffee (later enjoyed by our Indian friend who said they were the same spices she used in her tea). I am under the impression that these are the "spice islands". The coffees were good. Strange not having a bitter after-taste. You really don't realize you need it or even that it was there until it's gone (side note: N, our hostess in Dar, was born in Zanzibar and, yet, when we flew over she asked us to bring her some Tim Horton's - WTF?!).
At the coffee shop, we chatted with a Hungarian and a German. The German hasn't had a vacation in 8 years but was inspired by his friend who ten years ago motorcycled from Germany to South Africa. His friend encouraged him to fly to Dar, "just take a couple of t-shirts and go!". We kept running in to these two guys until Sunday afternoon (when we actually drove past the Hungarian when we were back in Dar).
After going and checking in we went to Africa House ("most popular haunt of backpackers and expats for serious drinking" - uggh - but it did have a great view west for the sunset) to meet our friends. We missed the sunset but continued undaunted. Josey and I then snuck off to the Monsoon restaurant. The food was delicious. I'm trying to think of what I had but can't -- again I had a wonderful coffee. Very finely ground -- I need to research what that is about. Then we walked around the night market which is a bunch of food vendors at the park in front of the palace. They were serving all kinds of seafood, satays, and Zanzibarian pizza (egg, potatoes, onions, etc in a crepe and fried). We made it an early night as our friends stayed out -- for some reason the drinking with expats has the feel of frosh week and we tend to flee (lest you think we're some sort of moral minority, we fled to the hotel bar where we could hear each other talk and we could sit. I like to sit.)