Thursday, November 02, 2006

I should preface by admitting that this post may not be as girthy or lengthy as previous posts have been due to my current lack of time and energy. It’s currently Thursday evening, I’ve had a long day (see “A Week in the Life” for further details), and even longer when considering how our dance teacher worked our sweaty butts into the ground today, am very wet (it’s been raining pretty much non stop all week-and by rain I mean absolute craziness that leads me to believe I’d better find Noah while there are still seats left…welcome to the short rains…and mind you I said short which means that it’s a good thing I don’t have to be here in April when the actual rainy season comes…ridiculous) and as of 7am tomorrow morning I’ll be on my way to Selous for a kick ass safari adventure with some fellow wazungu who will undoubtedly be going as nuts over the big, cuddly (although not too cuddly), and uniquely African animals as I will be…and I still have lots of shit to do before then. So, while I have the spare time I’m gonna attempt to hit on some of the finer points of my week in Zanzibar so as to hopefully give you an idea of the true magic that only Zanzibar can provide. In reality this is undoubtedly the best way to go about it whether I have a lot of time or not considering how long I was in Zanzibar and how impossible it’d be to do the island any justice, much less hope to captivate in blog form all that happened in 7 days. So here we go, Z-bar by numbers…and I think it’s fitting that we use these numbers being that I was on a tropical island in the Indian ocean…jealous yet?...and mind you, in no particular order…4) To describe the island in general it’s best to first picture in your mind the stereotypical tropical island, complete with white, powdery sand, turquoise water, and lots of rich white people with sun burns. Give it an African twist and throw in a heavy dosage of Arab and Muslim influence and you’ll start to understand the island’s complexity and mystery. Basically, the whole place functions off its main port and only accessible harbor in Stone Town (also known as Zanzibar Town). Everything and everyone (be it cloves, wazungu, or Pepsi…..which, interesting fact, Zanzibar is second in the world only to Indonesia in the amount of cloves they export each year…I think I may have said in a previous post that they were the highest which if I did was false and I apologize…they’re second) that comes into or leaves Zanzibar goes through Stone Town. There are a plethora of exotic/touristy little beach resorts all along the island's edges, especially to the north and east that can be accessed by dala-dala or taxi...but a beach is a beach and all we did was lay on them and sporadically swim in the clear cool water. So as to be politically correct I must clarify that when referring to ‘Zanzibar’ I should actually be referring to it as ‘Unguja’, which is the island’s proper name. The two islands of Unguja and Pemba (which is directly north) are collectively referred to as Zanzibar, only Unguja is more commonly referred to as ‘Zanzibar’ for commercial reasons and out of convenience. Anyway, Stone Town is an amazing little Arabic labyrinth with enough windy little by ways, ally ways, street vendors, markets, nifty shops, and eccentric restaurants to get comfortably lost in for hours…trust me, Arne and I did it and on more than one occasion. Wandering around in this fascinating maze of a city between creek road and the harbor road made for some excellent picture taking opportunities and some quality escape from the chaos and high pace atmosphere of Dar. Three things I loved about Stone Town and will most definitely miss (until I return someday, which believe me will happen): 1. Zanzibari pizza-which is egg, meat, tomatoes, butter, and cheese, cooked/fried inside a chapaiti…and there’s also a dessert version-chocolate, bananas, and milk syrup-kinda reminds me of crepes at the Farmer’s market; yum! 2. All the kick ass and desolately and meticulously designed doorways…pictures to follow…some day. 3. the best and cheapest samasos I’ve ever had in my life. So yeah, Stone Town was great but I still think that harbors smell funny; something about the mix of oil, fish, dirty sea water, and smelly Tanzanians doesn’t amuse me…hakuna matata though. 8: It took some hard convincing from Arne and Neli to get me back on a dhow headed for a snorkeling adventure in the open waters of the Indian Ocean, but boy am I glad they did. Key differences to my experience in Pangani that made this excursion easily a 100X better: the boat ride took only 20 min. in what was only slightly choppy water instead of 2 hours on the open sea; the dhow had a canopy; our “captain” knew what he was doing; it was less expensive; our lunch on “Prisoner Island” (where we also sow some really big and ridiculously old tortoises) included passion fruit and Nutella; and Nemo and about a million of his fishy little friends were waiting for us in their reefy wonderland of coral that rocked my world and left my pants wet…er. I have to admit that at first I really sucked at the whole breathing out of a tube while looking under water concept, but soon got the hang of it and was absolutely amazed at how truly fascinating and wickedly amazing coral reef ecosystems are. You can count that as another cherry popping experience for sure, and boy was it wonderful. 15: Eid-al-fitr, though not as crazy as I had expected, was definitely an interesting experience to partake in and one that provided a cultural experience I’m sure will never be experienced again in my lifetime. It’s cool to note though that whether you’re in po-dunk Iowa, Grand Junction, Colorado, or Zanzibar, a festival is a festival and always involves lots of music, food, cheap toys, silly games, hyper active children who’ve had too much sugar, and plenty of laughter. 16: Spice tours: comforting to the stomach and invigoratingly stimulating to the senses. Kind of full of wazungu but definitely worth the time and money, and cool enough that purchasing spice boats in order to commemorate your journeys is definitely worth the extra 1000 shilingi. 23: Freddy Mercury, arguably one of pop cultures’ most popularly recognized and idolized gay icons, was born on the most Muslim island in the world, and remarkably enough there’s a restaurant resurrected a few blocks from his old house that carries his namesake….I think it’s owned by a white guy though. Good food, neat atmosphere, over-priced, shitty service, lots of wazungu. 42: I have to admit that I’ve run out of time, numbers, ideas/memories, and motivation (yeah I know, pathetic). However, maybe after a few days on safari I’ll think of some more cool stuff worth enlightening you all to about my week in Z-Bar. As for now it’s again time for yoga, a few hours of hopefully checking more things off my never ending list of shit to get done, packing for safari, and then bed. These last few days have been kinda weird, really raining, and may or may not have included a head shaving that started out as the most radical mohawk Tanzania has ever seen. Needless to say I’ll be needing to take extra care when applying sunscreen to my body (meaning my head) these next couple weeks. Which in reality is almost only 5…holy shit it’s almost over….and since when did it become November? ahh, so many mixed feelings and so much cacophony in my brain. Craziness. Ok well have a nice weekend all and I’ll catch you on the flip side…assuming I’m not eaten by a lion. Salama.

5 Comments:

Blogger megan craven said...

1) the random numbering thing was confusing and stupid (just to put it bluntly) =]
2) please don't get eaten by a lion, I would kind of like a boyfriend (although the nice dinner sounded good too)
3) I'm glad I have five weeks before I see you, so that your hair has time to come back on your head.
4) Zanzibar sounds amazing, next time you go you should probably take your favorite person along with you... that's me in case there was any confusion
5) I love you and I miss you
6) These next five weeks can't go fast enough.
7) Cherish the time you have left and don't stess too much about everything you have to get done (but you should probably stress a little, so that it all gets done) =]
8) love stuff

11/03/2006 03:13:00 AM

 
Blogger Eda said...

Oooo! Pick me! I wanna see Nemo! What about Dori? I think Zanzibar sounds like a great place that I want to visit. Additionally...be careful with the lions!

Love you dude,
Eeds

11/03/2006 03:19:00 AM

 
Blogger Kevin said...

Freddy Mercury still belongs in my TOP 5 BEST VOCALISTS OF ALL TIME. but you knew that.... enjoy your time- don't let this crazy broad Megan convince it to pass in a more rapid pace... you two are cute... too cute...
enjoy the warm weather and beautiful beaches. ha, if this was in person, you might have thought i said beetches. but this written mess is all you get. but i'm sure you could imagine...

live it, love it, i don't know what comes after that...

kevin

11/06/2006 05:32:00 AM

 
Blogger Eda said...

Oh friend, I just looked at your pictures! And they are great, and the children are adorable! And I miss you lots.

End
Eda

11/07/2006 03:08:00 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Have you ever knooown that you're my Heeeroooo! You're Everything I Wish I Could BEEEE! I could fly Hiiiigher than an Eeeagle. 'Cause you are the wind beneath my wiiings!

That was a special serenade for you! Again, all I can say is that it sounds like you are having an amazing experience with lots of wonderful adventures. I am only a little jealous hehe. Also, don't listen to silly Megan. You have known me MUCH longer, so you should take ME with you to ZANZIBAR (said like in the Tenacious D song). I love you and miss you man, and I cannot wait to catch up and tell you some of the crazy stuff that has been occupying my mind lately.
Jamie

11/11/2006 12:23:00 AM

 

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