Tales From the Chicken Bus

Day 275

We weren’t getting the early start I thought we would today, I was eager to get into the Serengeti as soon as possible. The reason thoughdid make sense. The permit for being in the park is valid for 24 hours from the time you enter. So if we entered at noon today then we would have to be out by noon tomorrow. After breakfast the truck was loaded and just after 9am we were off. We passed through some scruffy villages, stopped for fuel and a drink. Actually our driver stopped for a drink, he then got back in the truck and drove off. Never asking if we wanted anything or even telling us what the stop was about. Matter of fact he didn’t really talk to us much at all.

W e entered the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and stopped of for an amazing view of the crater below. We would be back here tomorrow night to camp on the craters rim and then do a game drive the following morning. We continued on towards Serengeti, and soon the road wound it’s way down to the plains below. They seemed to stretch forever in the distance. We saw zebra and wildebeest in groups moving along the plains and a few giraffe. It was amazing, we weren’t even in the park yet. We also saw several Maasai locals walking with their cattle, dressed in their traditional clothing. They would wave at us and shout things, mostly hello, other times to stop and buy something from them. The The Maasai may be semi-nomadic and still very traditional but they aren’t stupid and know how to make a buck from tourism. They sell all kinds of tourists souvenirs, I think they may be semi-nomadic in the sense that they move to where tourists are. The entire trip made for some excellent photos.

Mid-afternoon we reached the gate to the Serengeti, snapped a photo and started our drive in the park. It was very flat here with rocky outcrops spread amongst the plains. A scene straight out of the Lion King, heck I was waiting for the theme music to kick in and a lion to be peering out off one of those outcrops. We saw thousands of zebra and wildebeest moving along the plains. I think part of the annual migration, but I’m not sure since our “guide” had no clue either. Either way it was quite a sight to see so many animals all moving in the same direction. We turned off the main road onto a smaller dirt track while some dark rain clouds gathered in the distance.  We put the roof on anticipating a downpour soon.  Just minutes after doing this we saw it, finally our first lion sighting!  Not one but two lions lying in the grass next to each other no more than 10 meters from us.  I looked at Jordana and she just laughed, it was such an incredible sight to see.  We stayed just watching the lions for a good 10 minutes, I must have taken 20 photos.  You know the way it is the first time you ever see something, besides it’s a lion!  Eventually we moved on when not more than 30 minutes later we came across another lion, no wait we came across another 3 lions!  2 large females and a small younger female.  They stared at us and then they rose and walked right across the road in front of the truck.  So large and powerful looking, and so close it’s tough to describe how it feels to see a lion this close.

We continued the drive and saw 2 more lions, several giraffe, buffalo, thousands upon thousands of zebra and wildebeest crossing the plains and of course impala.  The scenery was tremendous and as good as Kruger was it was hard to compete with what we were seeing here today.  A few hours before sunset we arrived at our camp for the night.  This was more what I had in mind for this safari.  A cleared out spot right in the middle of the Serengeti with a few trees about.  No fences here like in Kruger, animals can and have wandered right through the camp.  As interesting as that sounded I was kinda hoping they would just keep their distance tonight.  Maybe they had a new years party to go to, hopefully.

Well we didn’t have a party to attend and our New Years consisted of the 5 of us drinking some ridiculously warm beer that we had packed in our bags and some kongyagi.  A pretty decent Tanzania spirit made from sugarcane that the Swedes pulled out of their bag.  It was surprisingly smooth.  I’m hoping to be able to find it at the LCBO back home, if not I’m thinking I should start importing it.  It may sound like we had a big drink up for new years but in fact we shared the 6 cans of Castle lager between us and then rationed the Kongyagi as well.  It was far from a drunken new years and by 9:30pm we were all in bed.  It was the first new years I can ever remember when I wasn’t awake at midnight, but it didn’t matter.  Camping in the Serengeti for new years sure beats any drunken night out at a bar.  Now a drunken night of camping in the Serengeti?  hmmm, maybe next year.

Day 274

The day had finally arrived, our safari into the Serengeti. This was the most definite of activities before we left home. There were other things we thought we may do or activities that we didn’t plan on that we have done but a safari here was a sure thing. When most people dream of Africa this is the Africa they dream of, so there was no way we were missing out. We signed up for a 4 day safari, beginning in Lake Manyara National Park. Then onto the Serengeti and finishing with the Ngorongoro Crater.

Jordana and I waited in the lobby of the Arusha Naz hotel, the mornig air still cool. We had just finsished off a large breakfast of fresh fruit, toast, fresh juice and a Spanish omelet. For some unknown reason the Spanish omelet appears on almost all hotel breakfasts in Tanzania. We were waiting to be picked up by Nature Beauties, a tour company we booked our safari with. The Lonely Planet and various message boards had recommended them and at $560 U.S. each it was the cheapest tour we’d found. A man came in to fetch us and led us outside to the waiting safari truck. This truck looks old and crappy! Wait a second, Hartebeest Tours? This isn’t us, must be another Mike and Jordana. Damn it, it IS our tour. Yep, we’d had the old switcheroo pulled on us, something the Lonely Planet claimed no reputable company would do without informing you. Believe me when I say we were not informed. We were informed that our driver would “of course” speak English. Almost everyone in the tourist industry does speak English here so I wasn’t worried about that much. Well I should have been. We drove off to pick up a Swedish couple and a lone Aussie guy called Vorn, pronouced Vaughn. Aussies are always a bit different aren’t they? On the way it became quite apparent that our driver/guide was just going to be a driver for the next 4 days. English was far from his first, second or third language. As frustrating as our start was we were finally off and driving towards Lake Manyara the first stop on our safari. The 2 Swedes were friendly and the oddly named Aussie reminded us of our friend back home, Jeff Harris. So we had a good group at least and it looked like it would be a fun 4 days.

We all thought we were driving straight to the park and that we would be camping in tents just outside the parks gates tonight. Instead about 2 hours after Arusha we stopped in a small town at a basic hotel just outside the park, our driver told us we would spend the night here. The rooms were decent so it wasn’t a bad thing, although I would have preferred to be out in the wild camping. Isn’t that the whole idea of a safari? We had lunch and then finally convinced our driver to head into the park for an afternoon drive. He had been telling us we should wait to later and took off for a nap. When you work for tips this was not a good start my friend, lazy bugger. The park was only 10 minutes away and as we climbed the Rift valley escarpment we were given a fantastic view of the plains and Lake Manyara. It was the first time all day I stopped worrying about what was wrong with this safari and was blown away by the beauty. Manyara is famous for it’s elusive tree climbing lions. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see a tree climbing lion. The top of the truck is open, we stand on the seats with our heads poked out of the roof looking for wildlife. Do I really want a lion on top of me in that position? No.

The drive started through an area of dense woods with huge trees. It was a welcome change from the brown and arid landscape of Tanzania. We all poked our heads out of the roof taking in the woody damp smell of the rainforest. Quickly we passed some monkeys, Vervets. They are everywhere in Africa, sort of like macaques in Asia. Then we found a huge group of baboons scattered all over the road. There must have been over a hundred of the large monkeys just walking along, in and out of the forest. We stopped there, with our engine running. Oh did I forget to mention that? Yeah, our truck cannot be turned off unless we are on a slope where we can get a rolling start and pop the clutch. Great safari truck eh? Right, so back to the baboons. They just walked by the truck, looking up at us but not really concerned much by our presence. Then a few of the larger ones started a comotion and we heard loud yelps. About 10 baboons tore across the road chasing a few others, the howl and growl was frightening. They sounded like lions, real vicious animals when they want to be. The baboon being chased was up a tree and soon they all calmed down and went back to doing whatever it is they were doing.

Out of the forest we emerged on the golden coloured plains with the lake in the distance. We passed several impala, one time we couldn’t figure out why we weren’t leaving after viewing some impala that had long disappeared into the woods. Looking down Jordana told our driver we were ready to go, he was busy texting on his mobile! As we drove along the dirt tracks we came upon a watering hole that was fronted by a large muddy area. This was quite the scene, the quintessential African safari scene. Hippos lay in the mud, to the right was a group of Zebras with several warthogs in between them. In the distance behind the hippos were wildebeest and buffalo and just to the left were some large ugly storks and next to them 2 beautiful crested cranes. We were actually able to get out of the truck here for pictures. Amazing! In South Africa at Kruger it was a very rare thing to be allowed to leave your vehicle. Far in the distance was the lake, a sea of pink. Thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of flamingos. So many that from here the entire lake looked pink.

We drove off, following the track to a large group of Buffalo and then stopping to view some elephants and giraffes in the distance. Sure we had seen these same animals not long ago in Kruger but the scenery here was just stunning. We stopped to observe a lone giraffe walking slowly across the plains. I love the way giraffes walk, so graceful. This had to be one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in the wold before. As the sun began to go down we entered the woods again and came across an elephant that was no more than 5 meters from the truck. There was a baby and mother, but they were tough to see since they quickly hid in the bushes. We drove past some more baboons and then drove up the steep escarpment for a spectacular view of the lake and plains far below. So peaceful and beautiful it made us all completely forget the state of our truck or the lack of guiding from our guide.

In the evening we waited quite awhile for our dinner but when it came it was a decent enough and at least a bigger portion than the very tiny lunch we were served. It was a good end to a good day. I wasn’t sure I would be able to say that when we began this morning. Most important was that our group got along well. Imagine having a crap guide and then the three others on the tour were just as annoying? At least we didn’t have to worry about that. We tucked in our mosquito net and hit the bed early, tomorrow was sure to be more exciting as we drove into the Serengeti.

Day 272

Yesterday we caught the ferry back to mainland Tanzania and spent another night at the Safari Inn in Dar es Salaam.  We learnt our lesson last time here and spent the extra $3 on an a/c room.  A/C made the room feel like luxury, although the room still looked like any you’d find in a typical African dive budget hotel.  We also had some amazing Indian food here last night.  This morning we had the choice of the Safari Inn’s cold toast breakfast, we passed over it and made the walk to the Scandanavia bus company’s station.

Sometimes I look at a map and think, “OK, easy walk and we’ll save a taxi fare.”  I remembered the taxi ride when we had arrived from the bus station was short so I figured we could easily walk it this morning.  Just before 7am we left the hotel and walked onto the quiet streets, I thought it would still be a few hours until the heat of the day hit.  Maybe it was the a/c that made me forget how hot it was here?  Whatever it was it was already hot, damn hot.  We sweated our way to the station which was also much further than I had thought.  Near 30 minutes later we arrived, our backs covered in sweat from the weight of our packs.  I never knew my back could sweat as much as it has over the last few months.  At least we saved that taxi fare.

We boarded the Scandinavia bus to Arusha.  Doesn’t that sound like such a nice name?  It brings images of a cool and clean bus, run with Scandinavian efficiency.  Well it’s not exactly like that but they do have assigned seats and even include a free bottle of water and a biscuit.  I almost forgot I was still in Africa.  That is until I bought an english newspaper, always a good way to bring you down in Africa.  Today the feature story was what the paper called the “biggest social ill” facing Tanzania in the new year, killings of Albinos.  Apparently hundreds of Albinos have been killed or mutilated in 2008 for “potions” that would make someone rich.  Witch doctors are selling Albino skin in Congo and apprently fishermen on Lake Victoria put Albino hair in their nets for luck.  So often i’ve read stories like this here, about something I had never heard of before coming to Africa and it just leaves you shocked, such little value on human life.  It was a chilling story and made even more so since Jordana and I had recently commented on the number of Albinos we’d seen here.

The bus ride was much more pleasant than the newspaper.  It was hot and sticky but outside the scenery was just how you would picture this part of Africa to look like.  Savannah stretching forever only to be interrupted by red rocky outcrops.  Every so often we entered a dusty village and people would run at the bus hold high their buckets and tubs filled with drinks and food.  It was a fantastic scene, very African.  About 1 hour outside of Arusha we caught our first glimpse of Mount kilimanjaro.  The snow covered peak was covered with cloud and we could only see the black, rocky lower slopes before the mountain dissapeared into the clouds.  I had hoped to climb the highest peak in Africa but with the cheapest climbs coming in at $1000 U.S. I think I will save it for another trip.

We arrived in Arusha just before 6pm and took a taxi to the town centre.  Instead of walking around with our packs looking for a hotel we just went into a cafe where Jordana had a tea and I set out to find a room.  This is our rountine now, it’s easier this way and with Arusha having the reputaion for the worst touts in Tanzania it would be better if we didn’t have our packs on.  Almost to easily I found the Naz Hotel just down the street.  A nice room that even had a tv for $25.  Back at the cafe we had a horrible dinner, some supposed curry and a dreadful lasagna.  I’m not sure why Jordana thought she was going to get good lasagna in East Africa?  We headed off to our room for some BBC news and sleep before searching out a safari in the morning.  The only reason to come to Arusha is to start a safari from here and most companies are based out of the city.

Day 270
We planned on spending 4 or 5 nights on the beach here but with the jacked up price of accommodation for the holidays we have decided to head back to Stone Town today. Bwejuu has been a relaxing few days however, a much needed break from the rigours of African overland travel.

We caught the 10am mini bus back to town and arrived in a heavy downpour just before noon. We thought we had booked the same room at Florida Guesthouse, when we arrived the housekeeper directed us to another room upstairs. No problem, this room was identical to our old one and the same price. About 15 minutes later, just as we were settled in the room we heard a knock. Jordana answers the door with the housekeeper standing there staring at the wall like a zombie. She muttered something about downstairs and walked away. We thought it either meant our old room was available or that they wanted our passport info for check-in. No more than a minute later another knock. This time its the owner. He rudely tells us we shouldn’t have this room and that we in fact don’t have any room. Huh? We thought we made a reservation. He tells us that he never confirmed and that a family has booked the room. Sure, now we figured it out, a family that he can get more money out of. So we got our stuff and left, quite angry with the fat, lazy, greedy owner. Can you tell we were a bit upset? If you are ever in Zanzibar stay away from Florida Guesthouse, sometimes referred to as Florida Hotel. We should have known better the first time we were here and he was quite pushy about tours. Maybe if I mention the name it will appear on a google searches, Florida Guesthouse Zanzibar. STAY AWAY!

Moving on, we went to Stone Town Cafe where I left Jordana and our bags while I went searching for a room. I quickly discovered this wasn’t going to be easy. It was December 26th, places were either full or have increased their rates. One hotel listed in the guidebook at $30 was charging over $70/night just during the holidays. I looked at the room, at $30 it would have been a bad deal. After some searching with frustration setting in I found the Chavda Hotel. An old restored hotel that had some character and was quite beautiful. I managed to bargain down the room to $60. Our room has a/c, BBC, a nice large bed and the biggest balcony I have ever seen. Seriously we could have opened a bar out there. At least if we were overpaying we had a good room for it.

We relaxed in our a/c room most of the day as rain fell outside, creating a very sticky, humid day. I had a few beers chilling in the fridge that we enjoyed at sunset on our balcony while listening to the call to prayer ring out across the city. As night fell we headed back to Archipelago for dinner. We scored a great seat overlooking the sea and had our best meal in Zanzibar. Prawns for Jordana and fresh snapper for myself, this is probably the best food in Stone Town with a great setting. It was a perfect ending to a great week in Zanzibar. Actually the perfect ending was the great cool sleep in our huge and comfortable 4 poster bed. In the morning its back to the heat and dirt of Dar es Salaam for one more night before heading out on Safari.

Day 269

Nope, we we know it is but it doesn’t feel like it.  Do the Zanzibarians?  Sure but do they care?  They are muslims, probably not considering they don’t celebrate it.  The rest of Africa?  Yeah they know, it doesn’t matter how poor they are.  There, does that answer the songs question?   Now that I’ve come to Africa to find out if they in fact know its Christmas time.

Right, so Christmas morning in Africa.  Sounds exotic maybe but I’d rather be home today.  We had our usual breakfast although a bit depressing this morning.  Our second consecutive Christmas away, it wasn’t supposed to be this way.  We met a couple at the guesthouse yesterday that we planned on going snorkelling with today.  We figured it would be a good way to keep our minds off not being home for Chrsitmas day.  The four of us were told to be ready for 9:30am, it was now 10:30am and we were being told only 5 more minutes.  About 5 minutes later we were being told, “No snorkel today, tomorrow you go.”  We had no idea what was going on but since we were leaving tomorrow we just decided to leave for the beach and get on with our day.

As we walked to the beach the same guy tells us that the boat guy and the snorkel gear would be here in 20 minutes, no problem just wait.  Ah Africa, we said no thanks and continued on to our usual spot on the beach.  After a few hours of beach time we walked to Paradise Beach.  One of the more attractive hotels on the beach and a restaurant that has a good reputation.  The beer was cold and the view great, we also ran into 4 Americans who were also staying at our guesthouse that we shared our lunch and drinks with.  We spent close to 3 hours in Paradise Beach before returning to the beach for the afternoon.

Just before another fantastic sunset we added our airtime on our Tanzanian SIM card so we could call home.  We called my mom, sister and grandfather first.  The connection was pretty poor, though we were able to get in Merry Christmas before it became to had to talk.  Besides the poor connection it was just too hard to talk with my mom today.  To be away for this Christmas was really difficult and all I could think of was how hard it was for my family back home.  Christmas morning for my family has always been our most enjoyable and important time together and I think it really hit me today how things would never be the same again.  I tired to focus on being home next year and looking forward to new traditions.  We had a much better connection with Jordana’s family and Jordana had a good talk with her mom and dad.  Calling home had made the day even tougher for me, usually after calling home we miss everyone but it feels good to talk to our familes and puts us in a good mood.  Tonight I just wanted to have dinner, go to bed and move on in the morning.

That’s pretty much the way the rest of the night went.  After dinner we were in bed by 10pm and all packed up to leave in the morning.  I couldn’t wait for the 26th to come.

Day 268

Waking up under a mosquito net in a bed wet with my sweat from the heat of the night isn’t exactly the way most Christmas eve’s begin.  Outside Jordana and I sat down for our big fruit and eggs breakfast.  Overlooking the swaying palms and the indian ocean, this is a far departure from our usual Christmas eve routine.

After Breakfast we walked to Paje, into the centre of town.  Which isn’t much of a centre but a strip of conrete and tatch structures strung along the main sandy road.  We found a well kept shop run by a Zanzibarian who lived in Switzerland for8 years.  We bought water and $30 worth of airtime for our phone to call home in the morning.  We talked with the shop keeper about missing Christmas and how even he missed not being in Switzerland at this time of year.

The rest of the day we lazed on the beach, wading into the water to cool off.  Although this did little to refresh us since the water is so warm here.  It’s so nice to have finally reached a place where we can just chill out without having to worry about catching an early bus.  We hung out on the beach till sunset and walked back towards our hotel.  Yet again another incredible African sunset behind the swaying palms.  Fire red, I’m not sure why but the sunsets all over Africa have been the most amazing sunsets I’ve ever seen in the world.  For dinner the guesthouse did a fabulous seafood bbq.  I stuffed myself silly on the all you can eat seafood.  After dinner wasn’t traditional Christmas carols but some traditional Zanzibar music.  It sure didn’t feel anything like Christmas but it was a great night of food and music.

Day 267

We left Florida Guesthouse at 8am for the hour or so trip to the east coast beach village of Bwejuu. We plan to spend the next few days here. Christmas in Zanzibar? It promises to be a strange Christmas.

The mini van arrived in the very small and spread out village near 10am. We had read about a backpackers called Mustapha’s and sent them an email to book a room. The one huge issue with coming to Zanzibar over the holidays is that its busy and accommodation prices soar. We are paying $50/night for a room that would normally be $25. Mustapha’s is a laid back typical backpackers place. Its run by very laid back rastas and while our room is large and would be decent value for $25 it sure isn’t worth $50. Then again it was the cheapest we found. The only real drawback is that its across the road from the beach. I say road but its actually a sand track.

We settled in, dumped our bags and headed off to checkout the beach. Walking to the beach the sand on the “road” was even blinding white. Up ahead the incredible blue and green colours of the water looked unnatural. “Oh, what’s with all the seaweed?” We walked out onto the beach to discover a beach covered with seaweed. Apparently seaweed can be a problem in December. The water still looked amazing but as we walked towards Bwejuu town the beach had quite a bit of garbage scattered around. We were discouraged, we’d heard so much of the perfect beaches of Zanzibar. I can’t tell you how many people in Mozambique told us, “well if you are going to Zanzibar then these beaches don’t compare”. Jordana and I are a bit confused about those statements at the moment.

Eventually we figured that if we walked the other direction, toward Paje beach, the beach was cleaner and the water had less seaweed. We found a quiet spot with nobody around and laid out our stuff. With the air temperature well into the thirties we were both dying to get in the clear waters. I walked in, “Wow this is hot! Bathtub water!” I’m not sure I’ve ever felt seas as warm as this. It was beautiful, although not refreshing at all. we felt a bit better about finding a good spot to swim, although it was a good 20 minute walk from our place.

Back at Mustapha’s we showered and ordered dinner. In keeping with the laidback theme dinner took about an hour to receive but was OK. Grilled squid and chips, although the beer could be cooler. I think the issue is the power goes out pretty much daily here for varying lengths of time so the beer gets warm. Actually a huge problem when you are on a sweltering hot beach. Warm beer, another challenge for Africa to solve. I thought about forming an NGO to combat the issue. Any volunteers? Of course I’m just joking, but judging by the sheer number of volunteers here in Africa I wouldn’t be surprised in the Cold Beer NGO exists.

Of all the foreigners staying here at Mustapha’s, about 11, all are volunteers, and the ones that aren’t are here for Christmas visiting a sibling, friend or boyfriend who is a volunteer. We’ve met more volunteers in the last few weeks than tourists. At first I felt like maybe I should be doing something, but the more I see and learn about what some of these people are doing I’m not so sure who is benefitting. Take for example the girl we met who isn’t even volunteering, she is actually getting paid, a local wage, in Uganda to do PR work for an NGO. Could this NGO not find a Ugandan to do the same job? Or how about the girl who was teaching physical education to kids. You don’t exactly need a foreigner to teach that do you? It seems to add to the problem of dependency on the rich white foreigner to provide. I don’t have the answers and no doubt there are some fabulous programs out there. However it seems there are far too many cases like the two I just described. Who is truly benefitting in the end?

Right, rant over. Our room is hot, damn hot. It seems we don’t get much of a breeze through our windows and the ceiling fan is pretty weak. We decide its best to sleep on separate beds, we have 2 doubles and a single in this long room. Its just way to warm to be near each other. I take a cold shower and barely dry off before I hit my bed, trying to keep cool. Its a good thing I’m wiped out from all the sunshine as I fall asleep quickly trying not to think that its actually Christmas eve in a few hours and we are on a beach in Africa.

Day 266

Breakfast at the Florida Guesthouse is huge, like an all you can eat in the U.S. A Spanish omelette, toast and the largest plate of fruit you can imagine. Enough papaya, mango, watermelon and orange on a plate to feed 4 people, we each got a plate. Plus fresh juice and tea or coffee. Not a bad way to start the day. By 10am we are outside ready to walk around in the already searing heat of Stone Town, it must be 30 Celsius already.

I really like Stone Town, we both do. The narrow winding alleys, relaxed atmosphere and Islamic culture are very intriguing and exotic feeling. Sometimes I have to remind myself we aren’t in Morocco or somewhere else in North Africa. I’ve missed a town such as this, a place alive and full of life where the main attraction is just walking around and getting lost amongst the alleys of Stone Town.

We set out from the guesthouse looking for the market. Eventually after a few rights, lefts and unsure turns we came across the market, always an interesting place anywhere in Africa. It takes a strong stomach to walk through the meat area, essentially a slaughter house. Being vegetarians I think its against our religion to see such things, it did however reaffirm our beliefs. The fish section was easier to stomach and besides I eat fish so I’d be a hypocrite if I couldn’t handle it. Huge swordfish easily a metre long and massive red snappers lay on tables and on the ground. There is a trough built into the ground that all the blood and guts get pushed into, I shouldn’t have worn sandals today. We were told that for just over $10 we could buy an entire swordfish. People haggled over items and the whole scene was quite chaotic. Outside was the vegetable market with loads of fabulous looking vegetables.

Finding our way back to the waterfront we found the “House of Wonders”. Sounds like some cheesy Niagara Falls attraction but its actually the museum of Zanzibar that us housed in a beautiful building built by the British overlooking the clear waters of the harbour. Inside we got a rough understanding of Zanzibar’s history. The sultan, from Oman ran the island, which included nearby Pemba island as well. Since Tanzania gained independence Zanzibar has rumbled about separating or at least being granted more autonomy. The museum was a bit rough but did have some interesting pieces. However the best part may have been the outstanding views from the top floor balcony which wraps around the entire building. “If someone had the money and initiative this would be a great spot for a cafe”. I commented to Jordana. It seemed to be the story of Africa, lack of money or money and ideas put in the wrong spots.
We returned back to the room for a while before heading to Archipelago, a restaurant on the waterfront. Located on the second floor above the water Archipelago has a great view and great food. We both had fantastic fish dishes, best food we’ve had in a while and our waiter was a really friendly guy. It was refreshing, it seems like lately all the friendly folk have disappeared. We returned to the room and turned in for the night. Tomorrow we were finally off to a beach again. I looked forward to the beach but we’ve really enjoyed Stone Town, a great change from the places we’ve been in the last few weeks.

Day 264

“This isn’t much of a breakfast is it?” I said to Jordana as we sat in the somewhat depressing Safari Inn restaurant. Actually I don’t think you could call this a restaurant, it was a concrete room with caged windows. We had tea, dry cold toast, the most sugary jam ever made and a banana. Even the banana was all bruised and mushy. We took a few bites of toast and part of the banana and were on our way. Finally today we were headed to Zanzibar, a place we’ve both looked forward to getting to.

“Go straight to the ticket window, do not listen to any of these men!” I taxi driver left us with this advice as he dropped us off at the ferry terminal. He actually got out of the car and walked with us to the booth as I bought our tickets for the ferry to Zanzibar. There a loads of touts around the port. They tell tourists that they can sell them a ticket and then do so for 3 times the real cost! I figure if you are that dumb to buy a ticket from a guy on the street then you deserve to get scammed. Sort of a stupidity tax. We had our tickets for the 10am ferry and had 2 hours to kill so we had a drink and went to exchange some money. Soon it was time to board the ferry, a fast hydrofoil. We pulled away from the port and the seas became rougher and rougher until we were bouncing over waves. Jordana had to pop a gravol, I was just popping out of my seat. I’ve never seen such a large boat get so much air before. About halfway it calmed down and we pulled into Zanzibar close to 3 hours after leaving the port at Dar.

Zanzibar is a large island famous for its white sand beaches, turquoise waters, the winding streets of Stone Town and the birthplace of Freddy Mercury. Its also quite different from the mainland. Its almost entirely muslim and is semi-autonomous from Tanzania. We actually got a Zanzibar entry stamp in our passport when we arrived. Our first 3 nights we’ve decided to spend right here in Stone Town. We got in a taxi from the port and drove through the narrow winding streets. It reminded me of somewhere in Morocco, definitely very different from any other east African cities we’ve been in. It was instantly intriguing and likeable. We checked into our room at the Florida Guesthouse and went out to explore the town.

There isn’t a ton of sights in the town but the real attraction is simply getting lost in the maze of alleys. The streets feel almost medieval and the influence of islam gives the town an exotic feel. All enhanced with the call to prayer ringing out from many mosques 5 times a day. We stopped for indian food that was OK but a lacking on the spice. Odd since Zanzibar is a spice island. After tiring out from walking in the heat we got lazy and came back to our room. Where we are lucky enough to have a tv and very lucky that the tv gets some decent english movies. So that was the end of our first day in Zanzibar. Its really good to finally reach a comfortable and interesting place. A interesting as it is to see Africa it can be tiring at times, Zanzibar is already proving to be one of our favourite spots in Africa.

Day 263

Up at 6am for the 7am bus to Dar es Salaam it felt like all we’ve done in the last while is full day bus trips. I think its starting to wear on us, travel all day to yet another crappy African city and yet another terrible hotel room. We were looking forward to Tanzania, beaches on Zanzibar and getting out on a safari in the Serengetti, this was the Africa we came looking for. Finally there would be something to see at the end of a long days bus journey. Although not really today, I’m not sure you could count Dar as one of the highlights of Africa.

We rode with the oddly named Scandinavian Bus company, with the comforting slogan of “In God We Trust”. God forbid their slogan would have anything to do with the quality of service or their reliability. Regardless god did bless this bus with decent seats and the rare African practise of assigned seating. Which in theory meant no standing passengers, a notice at the station also stated no farm animals. It all sounded good and as we boarded the bus it seemed pretty good as we pulled out of Mbeya for the 10 hour trip to Dar.

The morning was mostly cool but as we left the beauty of the lush green mountains the heat began to build. Mid-day we stopped for lunch at a busy reststop. There was a service centre, mosque, restaurant and washrooms. Everything you need to break up a long journey. Jordana and I have been on the road long enough that our fear of eating at places such as these is long gone. Unless there is a salad that has cheese and pineapple. I stood at the window to order trying to figure out what to order. There is no menu so I just pointed at the other peoples dishes and asked for one without meat, fish is fine just no meat please. I was handed a stainless steel thali dish with some spinach, vegetable curry, chilli, and a pile of rice in the centre topped by a whole deep fried fish. All this for 1500 Shillings ($1.50 CAD). It was surprisingly very tasty, sure beat a crappy Tim Hortons tuna sandwich at a reststop on the 401.

Back on the bus we had the windows wide open now as we hit the plains and the heat really built up. We had wanted to take the train on this journey but it did not leave Mbeya for another 2 days. We had heard you could see wildlife from the train. “Why do they have speed bumps in the middle of a highway?” I said out loud. “Maybe to slow people down because of animals”. Jordana commented. No more than 10 minutes later we saw impala on the side of the road. Then a giraffe, then 3 more and then a group of elephants. They were just off the highway, no fences, just walking around out here in the wild. It was incredible, the sort of scene you see at some chessy movie about Africa. You know, the ones with the intro of the white people riding a train, looking out at giraffes and elephants. Well I’m here to tell you that its actually like that around here! The bus trip had turned into a cheap safari, the guidebook was right when they stated that Tanzania was the Africa of your childrens storybooks.

We arrived in Dar in darkness, a city always looks worse in darkness and get the impression Dar doesn’t look so nice during the day. We took a taxi to the Safari Inn and checked in. The room was clean, but very basic and they only had fan rooms. I’m not sure I can put into words how hot it was. We both touched the bed, it was hot. Seriously, the bed sheets were warm to the touch. We dropped our bags and went around the corner for a crappy dinner while thunder cracked and a heavy rain fell. “Maybe it will cool off”, I said optimistically.

Back in our room it hadn’t cooled off, in fact it somehow felt hotter. We both took cold showers before bed, but even the cold water was warm. With the ceiling fan on high I lay wet on the bed in hope of cooling off. We were both so tired from the days of travel that we were sleeping before we knew it. I went to bed thinking if every African bus trip was like today then it would a pleasure to ride 10 hours a day.