January 7, 2008
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Sorry we're 7 days late on that... We've been too busy laying on the beach! It seems like a long time ago that I sat down and wrote about Malawi. Our trip into Tanzania was long and exhausting and thankfully our last long haul in Africa. We took all kinds of transport - hitchhike, bicycle taxi, minibus taxi, medium sized busses, big busses, and private taxis - over the course of three days to finally arrive in Dar es Salaam. Thank goodness we don't have to do that again! We spent one night in Dar and then jumped on the ferry (another mode of transport to add to the list!) to Zanzibar, where things relaxed. Zanzibar is fantastic.
First stop was Zanzibar Town, also known as Stone Town. Zanzibar island is quite big and Stone Town is the main town on it. We spent only one night, as we had a reservation on the beach to make, but it was cool. The town is quite old, and it really shows. Some streets are so narrow that you can hardly walk next to someone, but somehow bicycles and motorbikes still manage to drive around like maniacs. Some streets are bigger, and cars even sometimes manage to squeeze through! None of these alleys (I do hesitate to call them streets) have names or are even arranged in a planned-out manner. They all just zigzag at all angles and directions from one another, which is incredibly baffling when you first arrive. Slowly though, you begin to understand some of the arrangement and recognize some of the more open areas, which usually include markets or a view of the ocean. There are tons of little shops that open directly onto the alleys, selling all kinds of things - spices, five kinds of rice, beautiful fabrics, fruits, and anything else you can imagine. Its peaceful in some places, and chaos in others and all the time you are looking around you, as there is so much to see. Many of the wooden doorways are intricately carved and decorated with brass designs, there are ornate balconies over your head, and muslim women in clothes of so many colors that it is quite dazzling against the dull, rundown buildings. It is a colorful place in so many ways, and seems quite exotic.
We spent New Years on the south-east coast of the island, near a village called Jambiani. The beach was lovely, though not very user-friendly, as it was very shallow water and not really good for swimming. There was an old reef just off the beach that creates lots of tide pools at low tide which were fun to walk around and look into. And the water is soooo beautiful - I have never seen the sea so blue! We went scuba diving on New Year's Eve day, which was really nice, and went to dinner at a very tasty seafood resturaunt right on the beach that night. We sat for a few hours with some other travelers and then walked down the beach to a bar where there was some dance music and some live drumming and local dancing. At midnight, they set ablaze '2008' in dry palm fronds on the beach. It was low key, but a nice night. On the First, we went to visit Jambiani Forest, which is home to the red colobus monkey, who is only found on the island of Zanzibar. They were quite entertaining. As tourists come to see them every day, they are quite ignorant of your presence, and continue feeding and playing in the branches above your head. They are cute monkeys (but really, which monkeys aren't?) with red backs and great Alber Einstein style puffs of white hair on their heads. The youngsters are quite playful and jump and chase each other through the trees. We walked in the forest, which is quite tropical feeling, and also saw a mangrove forest.
Our next stop was to the northern part of the island to a beach called Kendwa. This beach was quite picturesque - a wide, white sand beach and again, stunningly turquoise waters. I really don't know how they are so blue. We basically relaxed there although we did go out for a snorkeling trip on a dhow (traditional sail boat) one day.
Now we are back in Stone Town. Today we went on a spice tour - they grow all kinds of spices on the island - vanilla, cocoa, tamarind, cloves, pepper, cinnamon, coffee, ginger, and a ton of wierd fruits like breadfruit, jackfruit and starfruit as well as 27 different types of bananas and three kinds of coconuts! We got to go around to some different farms and see all these plants, and taste the raw spices. It was pretty cool! I think my favorite was seeing a pineapple growing! How bizarre!!
We are getting ready to make another big move. On Wednesday we leave Africa, after being here for nine days shy of two and a half years. I really can't believe it. It doesn't seem so long, looking back on it, but I know it has been a long time. We are ready to go, though. I will absolutely be sad to leave, but we are both just tired of how nothing is done easily here, and are ready to try somewhere else for a change. I hope we find that things are different in Asia. But I am really going to miss it, don't get me wrong! We have a long, overnight layover in Dubai, and then arrive in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday evening. Can't wait!
I feel like I have really glossed over our time here in Zanzibar, but don't know what else to say. Maybe Adam will have more insight as to what we did at a later date. So this is me, logging off from the continent of Africa, both sad and excited. The next time I write, we'll be in Malaysia, I hope! I hope you all had a happy New Year. We are slowly moving closer to home and can't wait to be there. Love to you all,
Andrea
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Sorry we're 7 days late on that... We've been too busy laying on the beach! It seems like a long time ago that I sat down and wrote about Malawi. Our trip into Tanzania was long and exhausting and thankfully our last long haul in Africa. We took all kinds of transport - hitchhike, bicycle taxi, minibus taxi, medium sized busses, big busses, and private taxis - over the course of three days to finally arrive in Dar es Salaam. Thank goodness we don't have to do that again! We spent one night in Dar and then jumped on the ferry (another mode of transport to add to the list!) to Zanzibar, where things relaxed. Zanzibar is fantastic.
First stop was Zanzibar Town, also known as Stone Town. Zanzibar island is quite big and Stone Town is the main town on it. We spent only one night, as we had a reservation on the beach to make, but it was cool. The town is quite old, and it really shows. Some streets are so narrow that you can hardly walk next to someone, but somehow bicycles and motorbikes still manage to drive around like maniacs. Some streets are bigger, and cars even sometimes manage to squeeze through! None of these alleys (I do hesitate to call them streets) have names or are even arranged in a planned-out manner. They all just zigzag at all angles and directions from one another, which is incredibly baffling when you first arrive. Slowly though, you begin to understand some of the arrangement and recognize some of the more open areas, which usually include markets or a view of the ocean. There are tons of little shops that open directly onto the alleys, selling all kinds of things - spices, five kinds of rice, beautiful fabrics, fruits, and anything else you can imagine. Its peaceful in some places, and chaos in others and all the time you are looking around you, as there is so much to see. Many of the wooden doorways are intricately carved and decorated with brass designs, there are ornate balconies over your head, and muslim women in clothes of so many colors that it is quite dazzling against the dull, rundown buildings. It is a colorful place in so many ways, and seems quite exotic.
We spent New Years on the south-east coast of the island, near a village called Jambiani. The beach was lovely, though not very user-friendly, as it was very shallow water and not really good for swimming. There was an old reef just off the beach that creates lots of tide pools at low tide which were fun to walk around and look into. And the water is soooo beautiful - I have never seen the sea so blue! We went scuba diving on New Year's Eve day, which was really nice, and went to dinner at a very tasty seafood resturaunt right on the beach that night. We sat for a few hours with some other travelers and then walked down the beach to a bar where there was some dance music and some live drumming and local dancing. At midnight, they set ablaze '2008' in dry palm fronds on the beach. It was low key, but a nice night. On the First, we went to visit Jambiani Forest, which is home to the red colobus monkey, who is only found on the island of Zanzibar. They were quite entertaining. As tourists come to see them every day, they are quite ignorant of your presence, and continue feeding and playing in the branches above your head. They are cute monkeys (but really, which monkeys aren't?) with red backs and great Alber Einstein style puffs of white hair on their heads. The youngsters are quite playful and jump and chase each other through the trees. We walked in the forest, which is quite tropical feeling, and also saw a mangrove forest.
Our next stop was to the northern part of the island to a beach called Kendwa. This beach was quite picturesque - a wide, white sand beach and again, stunningly turquoise waters. I really don't know how they are so blue. We basically relaxed there although we did go out for a snorkeling trip on a dhow (traditional sail boat) one day.
Now we are back in Stone Town. Today we went on a spice tour - they grow all kinds of spices on the island - vanilla, cocoa, tamarind, cloves, pepper, cinnamon, coffee, ginger, and a ton of wierd fruits like breadfruit, jackfruit and starfruit as well as 27 different types of bananas and three kinds of coconuts! We got to go around to some different farms and see all these plants, and taste the raw spices. It was pretty cool! I think my favorite was seeing a pineapple growing! How bizarre!!
We are getting ready to make another big move. On Wednesday we leave Africa, after being here for nine days shy of two and a half years. I really can't believe it. It doesn't seem so long, looking back on it, but I know it has been a long time. We are ready to go, though. I will absolutely be sad to leave, but we are both just tired of how nothing is done easily here, and are ready to try somewhere else for a change. I hope we find that things are different in Asia. But I am really going to miss it, don't get me wrong! We have a long, overnight layover in Dubai, and then arrive in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday evening. Can't wait!
I feel like I have really glossed over our time here in Zanzibar, but don't know what else to say. Maybe Adam will have more insight as to what we did at a later date. So this is me, logging off from the continent of Africa, both sad and excited. The next time I write, we'll be in Malaysia, I hope! I hope you all had a happy New Year. We are slowly moving closer to home and can't wait to be there. Love to you all,
Andrea
posted by aliberatinsa at 8:48 AM
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