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Rebound

July 27th, 2007

We’re leaving Dublin for the northwest of Ireland in about an hour. From the air at least, Ireland still looks beautiful and green. It’s cold, but everywhere would be cold after Cairo.

Things we have really enjoyed in the past 24 hours:
Brushing our teeth with tap water
Drinking from a water fountain
Washing fruit with tap water
Trusting public toilets
No haggling or getting overcharged
Using reliable hot water
Queueing (i.e. forming a line, i.e. FIFO)

Drinking a draft Guiness

Things we have not enjoyed:
The strong euro. 🙁

Posted in Ireland | 1 Comment »

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Time Flies

July 24th, 2007

One more day in Cairo and we still can’t say enough good things about it, which isn’t to say that there aren’t a few bad things. We’d like to say something more substantive on the matter, but this city has a way of keeping us busy from whenever we roll out of bed until late at night.

On Thursday we’re off to Ireland for a week and then we’ll be home. I’m sure we’ll have some “thoughtful” conclusion written by the time we get home that we’ll post, but any amusement we may have provided regarding our locations has probably come to a close.

Now then, our faithful readers, we need your help. We have been away from the world of home for far too long, and we want to pretend we have kept up to date the whole time. What have we missed in the past 9 months in the world of the internet, cinema, or TV that we either would have enjoyed or would make us social outcasts without knowing about? We’re already bummed about missing
the latest season of Veronica Mars and that new superhero dramedy looked promising… Luckily, Buffy and Angel are no more, or we’d be way too far behind.

Posted in Egypt | 6 Comments »

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Cairo

July 21st, 2007

Camel and the Bent Pyramid called Whoops Dishes and Mosques

We have been in Cairo for three days and entirely too busy to do anything else besides sightsee, eat, and drink lots of coffee. And take cheesy camel pyramid pictures.

Posted in Egypt, Travel | 1 Comment »

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Stopovers

July 21st, 2007

Khartoum - At least the airport did not flood

Thanks to the joy of flying on the cheapest ticket possible, we were able to land three times between Tanzania and Cairo. We only had to get out of the plane once, and it was nice to sleep and enjoy a hot shower in Addis Ababa for the night. Other highlights of landing and then taking off again include seeing Kilimanjaro from above and Khartoum, the closest we’ve ever been to a genocide. Thank you Ethiopian Airlines.

Posted in Airports | 1 Comment »

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Millions of Beaches

July 16th, 2007

Jambiani

We just visited perfect beach #3 of our trip. The beaches of Zanzibar are indeed quite nice with their amazingly fine white sand, blissfully torquoise waters and unlimited opportunities for lounging under palm trees. Beachfront massages, cosy bungalows, and thatched-roof bars serving deliriously fresh seafood are all the typical perks of this paradise, just like Southern Thailand and all of Fiji.

Why is paradise so reproduced throughout the world from the Caribbean to the Pacific to the Greek Islands? There are so many diverse jungles, deserts, mountains and glaciers to see. On par with these breathtaking natural sites, there are the many awe-inspiring man-made treasures as diverse as the Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat, and the Eiffel Tower.

Travelzoo’s deal options lead us to believe that the 7 natural wonders of the world will all be beaches. Are we just blindly overlooking the allure or, more likely, are we just missing the whole point of a vacation?

In either case, we’re off to the Pyramids, a former wonder of the world, and now the 8th.

Posted in Tanzania | 1 Comment »

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ZIFF

July 11th, 2007

Dhow Just another building

In the past 8 months, we’ve gone to see 5 movies. In 4 days on Zanzibar at the International Film Festival of the Dhow countries, we saw over 35 movies ranging from 4 minutes to 104 minutes long. Most, if not all, will never reach US movie theatres, and there were a few attempts that shouldn’t. However, most of the movies chosen for the film festival were interesting and relevant to current Tanzanian issues including the plight of indigenous peoples, AIDS, women’s rights, and Islamic society. Films came from such esoteric places as Uganda, Jamaica, Indonesia, Denmark, and of course Tanzania. Movies that you should seek out and watch include “Infinite Justice” from Pakistan, the humorous “Codeine” from Iran, and “Who’s Afraid of Ngugi?” from Kenya. While it was grueling to wake up for morning screenings after listening to live hip-hop and reggae until 1AM, we devoured return to entertainment.

On Zanzibar, they wear the sarongs of Southeast Asia, eat the chapatis of India, and play the Taarab music of Egypt. We didn’t plan to follow the historic trade route of the dhows, but doing so has made the festival and Zanzibar as a whole more accessible. At the same time, it’s allowed us to connect the dots on our trip and answered our questions of why there are Africans in Gujarat, India, and why EVERYBODY wears a sarong. Now, we wonder how the Portuguese didn’t conquer the world, and we’re glad we flew by airplane instead of riding a dhow.

Posted in Tanzania | 1 Comment »

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Zanzibar

July 5th, 2007

Zanzibar Sunset

We’ve only been in Zanzibar for a few hours, and we already know we’re going to be here for longer than expected. We’ve seen more tourists today than in the past month. The tourist kitsch to go along with it is seemingly everpresent and the prices are outrageous (for Tanzania) even after our minimal swahili brings it down from exorbitant. It’s worth it, though. Maybe we’re rebounding from mainland Tanzania, but the huge array of tasty local food at the night market is by itself enough to keep us drooling for a long time after the wasteland of “wali nyama” and “chipsi kuku” – the flavorless pre-prepared staples of the rest of the country. Our room is charmingly decorated in Zanzibari style unlike every other drab cement-block lodging we’ve had in Tanzania. Narrow cobbled walkways, arched doorways, and huge intricately carved wooden doors provide a picturesque setting. On top of all this is the film festival we’ve hopped over for where movies can be enjoyed until after midnight for the paltry sum of around $4 a day. We also hear you can visit spice plantations, go snorkelling, and visit some ridiculously beautiful beaches.

Yes, we have a crush on Zanzibar, and it’s fun.

Posted in Tanzania | 1 Comment »

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Beware of Hippos

July 2nd, 2007

Hippo Pool Armed Ranger zebras
As we were waiting for our dinner in the village of Sitalike bordering Katavi National Park a man approached us asking where we were staying. As he suspected, we were at the one tourist hotel in town and proceeded to warn us not to walk back after dark because that’s when the hippos leave the water. After spending an afternoon watching hippos in the river near our campsite we actually paid attention to this normally laughable statement.

As it turns out, hippos are the most dangerous animals to encounter on foot, followed by elephants and buffaloes, all herbivores and all very large. We encountered all three on our walking safari in Katavi and unlike the skittish zebras, bushbucks, etc. these giant grazers didn’t run away and ignored us. Just to be safe, our armed ranger loaded his gun when some buffalo bachelors wandered too close. Walking through the dry scrublands stumbling upon only animals it was pretty easy to feel absolutely alone in this vast and remote Tanzanian park. This feeling of isolation was actually quite accurate given that the last entry in the visitors registry was two weeks ago.

Finally, there is a silver lining to being in the middle of nowhere.

Posted in Tanzania | No Comments »

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Whine, whine, whine…

June 27th, 2007

To recap:
We arrived in Kigoma after a hellish 22-hour train ride.
We spent 1 frantic day failing to get cash.
We spent 1 day gallavanting with chimpanees.
We had 3 options to leave Kigoma –

  • MV Liemba – an overnight ferry ride – taken over by refugees
  • Reboard train – already booked
  • Many days of dirt roads

    • Adventure Bus
    Leg 1: Kigoma -> Uvinza
    To our happy surprise, the purple “Adventure” bus plies this route, and it even leaves later than sunrise. After 5 bumpy hours along a dirt road and dropping off refugees from the Congo, we arrived in Uvinza which for a few hours at night actually has electricity. We are told “no bus”, “no truck”, “try the train”.

    Truck
    Leg 2: Uvinza -> Mpanda
    We awake at sunrise, and thankfully are greeted by a Tanzanian attempting the route. We walk to the main dirt road to begin our vigil for a commercial truck going our direction. Our hopes are low because this is the 2nd day of our new friends vigil. Around 2pm, the 1st truck in the past 2 days stops for us and invites us in the back of the trailer for a standard fare. We crawl into the back to find some fellow travellers, the cargo of salt, and lots of dirt. 9 hours later, we arrive in the dark in Mpanda coated in dust, exhausted, and battered. After stumbling to five guest houses, we finally find one that isn’t full, wash with a bucket of cold water, and collapse. We rest the following day, then spend 3 days to, in, and from Katavi National Park.

    4WD
    Leg 3: Mpanda -> Sumbawanga
    There is actually a bus option for this route, but it only runs three times a week, contingent on the train’s arrival. We pile into the back of a modified Toyota Landcruiser which can hold at least thirteen adults in the back. This is not comfortable for seven hours on bumpy dirt roads. Even though we fly through Katavi National Park on the way, we still manage to see impalas, a group of sunbathing hippos, and numerous herds of grazing elephants. Finally, we are excited to see pavement, even if it’s just in the town center of Sumbawanga. Not only is there a daily bus for our next leg but there is competition, and we buy seats for the 7am departure.

    Pope
    Leg 4: Sumbawanga -> Mbeya
    We wake up in the dark for one last ride before civilization, happy to be on a bus with reserved seats and relative legroom! The road seemed marginally improved, but bus drivers in Tanzania like to go as fast as they can without flipping the bus, about 50km/hour. We spend about 5 hours gripping the seats in front of us for dear life. After hitting the paved highway of Tanzania, tire troubles and security checkpoints prolong our journey, but the pope sees us through.

    Now, we are in Mbeya, not exactly a metropolis but it has paved roads, a MasterCard ATM, and an internet cafe. YAY. It certainly hasn’t been the most pleasant week, but it gives us some excellent stories, the scenery and animals along the way were striking, and we have at least come a little closer to understanding the difficult lives of Tanzanians.

    Posted in Tanzania | 1 Comment »

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    Chimps

    June 18th, 2007

    Chimp in Tree Chimp Family Baby on Back Gombe Stream beach

    Had an excellent time at Gombe Stream National Park. Will write more after transportation woes.

    More:
    Our 2 nights at Gombe Stream were exactly what we needed:
    Beautiful sunsets followed by quiet starlit nights
    Sleeping to the sound of the lake lapping the shore
    Tracking chimpanzees through the forest
    Playing soccer with the staff and drinking beer on the beach
    Being the only tourists on this island of a National Park
    NO HASSLES

    Posted in Tanzania | No Comments »

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