Monday was an adventure. We woke up and headed off to the
bus station. Its funny for us to travel with Europeans because we have so much
stuff everywhere we go and they have so little. Our bags for the trip were as
big and bigger for just a two week trip. Most of theirs were for the whole 3
months. We look ridiculous at times. Oh well! Anyways, we go to the bus stop
and of course…we had to wait. TIA. So…the bus…a real treat. It was very hot and
very bumpy. Every time we stopped people try to sell food and drinks through
the windows from below. As white people, we get a lot of attention. Awesome.
After about 6 hours of sweaty, dirty travel, we arrived in Tanga. Fortunately,
we are traveling with a local who has friends everywhere. We were picked up at
the bus station in a nice van where we all had a seat to our self. Very rare
with a group of 8. Another crazy bumpy hour of travel later, we arrived in
Pangani just before dark. We didn’t make it to our reserved hotel, so we had to
find something. Awesome. We ended up in a very basic place with only 3
available rooms and it was hotter than the blazes of hell inside. What a real
joy it was. We had dinner on the beach and went to bed. Sweating the night
away! Awesome.
Thelma talking now…
Tuesday was a HOT mess.
Louise and I started the day off sweating so much we couldn’t sleep, so
decided to go get some breakfast on the beach.
The girls joined us about an hour or so later, and our friend suggested
that we go to a place called drifters to see if they had rooms, because his
friend (the owner of glaciers…) had a pickup truck we could ride in. We all piled in the back of truck and were on
our way to the ferry to cross the river.
We ran into the owner of drifters on the ride, she got in the truck, and
we got a deal on the rooms. So off to
the crap hole to get our bags, and back in the truck to go to drifters…which
was “just around the bend” according to the local we were traveling with. Yeah right.
We get in the truck and it is 10000 degrees. Ugh.
We got to the ferry, and had to wait for it to come back across. Lovely.
We got across the river, then on the truck again. We got about 3 minutes drive away when we got
stopped by the “police.” They wanted
money. The driver got very angry and
started arguing with them. During all
of this we were burning in the back of the truck. The sun was blaring, the wind was still. It was so bad that I had to put a kanga over
my head and shoulders, with a towel on my legs and feet so that I wouldn’t get
scorched. Lovely. Finally after about 30 minutes and 20,000
shilling later, we were able to be on our way.
Yeah. Not right around the
corner. It was at least 20-30 km
away. Lovely. But the moment we got there it was all worth
it. Bungalows right on the beach. About 50 feet to the water. Gorgeous.
We all stripped down the moment we got out of the truck and sprinted
into the ocean. Ahh. It was amazing. We spent the afternoon swimming and
sunbathing, then had a lovely lunch and dinner.
Wednesday started really early (5:45) so we could watch the
sunrise. It was breathtaking. After that we took a speedboat to
Zanzibar! It took about 1 hour and was a
beautiful ride. We started pulling into
the beach of Kendwa, and our German friend Lisa looks at the captain, says “can
I jump in” and proceeds to jump/fall into the water (with all of her clothes
on) before he could even say NO.
Lovely. We then headed up to
Oscar’s house. The house was
wonderful! 6 rooms, tile floors, granite
countertops, and each room has a balcony looking over the ocean. Finally something going our way!
So we put our stuff down and off to the beach we went! Louise and I got burnt. Of course.
We were only in direct sunlight for less than an hour. Goodness the sun here is intense! Phew.
We showered, put on some aloe, and went to a candlelight dinner on the
beach. So amazing. Then we headed over to Bikini Bar for a few
drinks to end the night. OMG. I cannot begin to explain what we saw there. I hope we can find a picture for it. There was a girl dressed in a pirate
costume. Just for the hell of it. We know this because Lisa asked her. That wasn’t it. She was dancing the entire evening. Busting a major move. Woah.
She was definitely the entertainment for the evening. :D
Louise here…
Thursday had to be a day out of the sun for Thelma and I, so
we went to Stone Town with the Ingrids. We took the hour long taxi ride into
town, first things first…we were lost. LOL! So we started walking, got some
directions and found our way to lunch at Mercury’s. Yes…Freddie Mercury from
Queen was born here on Zanzibar and so there are tons of things named after
him. Anyways, we had some excellent seafood and went about our merry way
shopping along the narrow streets of Stone Town. Out of nowhere, we are walking
down a street headed for the Africa Hotel for drinks when we run into none
other than our friend Sam. He had just arrived on the island and was just out
for a stroll. How random right? He joined us for drinks at the Africa Hotel
which has a gorgeous view of the sea. Perfect day.
That night we had another dinner on the beach at sunset
bungalows. I do have to say that paradise is nice.
Friday was a lazy day.
Ate plenty of food, spent a little time on the beach, and enjoyed our
time in B-E-A-UTIFUL Zanzibar.
For the remaining 7 days in Zanzibar, we did as follows:
Breakfast, Beach, Lunch, Beach, Happy Hour on the beach, showers, dinner and
drinks. It was a real nice routine with a few nice exceptions. On Monday we
went on a snorkeling trip and saw Dori from finding Nemo and I actually saw a
Nemo. I was also just 10 yards from 5-6 dolphins that swam by our group. Their
chirps were amazing to hear under the water! Tuesday we went for dinner in
Stone Town at Mercury’s and the open fish market. The market was incredible
with at least a hundred booths selling the freshest seafood imaginable. It was
all practically still swimming.
Friday the 30th of March was our last night on
the beach. Thelma and I rented a nice air conditioned bungalow as a farewell
gift. We had our last dinner on the beach with all our Norwegian friends. We
said our goodbyes to the Ingrids, Martine, and Sunniva and parted ways to the
sound of Black Eyed Peas “I Had Time of my Life.” It was perfect.
Saturday morning was an early morning. We were in the cab
and headed for the Zanzibar airport by 7:20. We flew from Zanzibar to Dar, then
Dar to Kilimanjaro. We were back home in Moshi by 2:30. We spent the afternoon
unpacking, catching up with Sam, meeting our new housemates Jacquline and Burt
from Holland, and reading.
Pictures to come soon!!
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