Geeeeez it's been ages since I blogged last. Apologies, but the internet has been prehistoric in most of the places we've been to thro' Malawi/Zambia. Back in Lusaka now and we've hunted down a vaguely speedy internet cafe. Quick post now, but fear not, have been keeping a diary so lengthy updating can take place at some point. That point probably being when I'm back in the UK, but ah well.
So, our last few days in Zanz were pretty spectacular. Headed down on our last day to meet up with Jess, Flick, Heather, Ville, Maija and the Aussie boys for one last big night out. As promised, the boys cooked. We went with them to the market having dumped our stuff at Ville and Maija's (awesome flat in the heart of the city on a top floor - amazing views around Stone Town). Had a very fun hour or so haggling over ripe pineapples (!), fish (squid, octopus, tuna), and even managing to hunt down some basil, so the boys were pretty happy. Returned home to get ready and then headed over to the girls' with plenty of vodka in tow. Their flat was similarly cool - including bar and balcony... We christened the bar with plenty of cocktails and then sat down to supper. The boys cooked up a delicious storm, and Flick followed up with some tasty crumble. We then moved on to Ring of Fire. Box head being a new, and excellent addition to the process, and one that I intend to bring to Kids Week this year.... Headed out around midnight to find Stone Town's one and only nightclub, which was essentially 1 Dive 1 on tour. With worse music. Other than the Waka Waka song. Made it til 3am-ish, and then V and I headed home to face our super early start and ferry.....
& thus ends Zanz Pt 1. Overland tour leg to follow.....
Monday, 7 February 2011
Sunday, 16 January 2011
Margaritas, masai men, moonlit swimming - and the (Full) Moon Party...
Pretty awesome 48 hrs here all round. Night before last V and I headed to the bar to sample their margaritas (her expert verdict: never has so much tequila been placed in one drink). We managed to drink them out of lime juice, too. Still struggling to get to grips with Tanzanian etiquette, I managed to be accosted by a Masai warrior (not even in novelty costume dammit) who then would not leave me alone, despite our best efforts to get rid of him, until I made up a fictional boyfriend. The night then took a turn for the better as we made Some New Pals - bonded with Jess, Flick and Heather (London uni girls doing their year abroad studying Swahili - soooo unfair) plus the Aussie boys they'd been travelling with, Olly and Mike. Much dancing to the Waka Waka song and the Club Can't Handle Us (the DJ now recognises me as the crazy girl who always requests those songs) til the bar closed, and then an impromptu swim in the moonlight. Stars looking incredible, waters warm. Good times.
Yesterday morning brought with it some fairly intense dehydration - our little room is baking beneath the mosquito nets at the best of times, and as I'd essentially swapped my usual vast intake of water for, er, margaritas, my head was pounding pretty comprehensively. A swim and copious amounts of water soothed me greatly, and V and I lounged around reading on the beach until the evening. Then joined the others at a local and delightfully cheap restaurant (Kendwa does truly rock, but the food is pretty pricey, and the local shops only sell Pringles - who knew they were the universal crisp, recognised the world over?! - and nondescript biscuits which do not a meal make) for supper - garlic/lemon prawns and chips. YUM. We then headed down to the beach for the evening's festivities, mostly some very intense sweaty dancing. We pretty much took the roof of the bar off when the Waka Waka song came on.... Danced til 4am and then refuelled with delicious fresh pizzas, before heading to sit on the beach and wait for the sun to rise. AMAZING night.
Today = recovery day, aided by sushi (getting a real taste for this whole eating fish thing now, impressive non?!) which was delish, water, and laughing at the boys for looking so pathetic. Did not repeat my mistake of not hydrating enough so felt pretty perky myself.
Generally feeling incredibly lucky to be out here beside this beautiful sea - Olly the Australian informs me that this is one of the best beaches he's been to, and being Australian, I feel he's qualified to know. Couple more nights here and then back to Stone Town, where we're going to get a bed and AIR CON courtesy of Maija, a Finnish friend of the girls' and part of the posse who is also studying Swahili. We intend to bring much ripe pineapple with us, and Olly has promised to cook us octopus curry......
Yesterday morning brought with it some fairly intense dehydration - our little room is baking beneath the mosquito nets at the best of times, and as I'd essentially swapped my usual vast intake of water for, er, margaritas, my head was pounding pretty comprehensively. A swim and copious amounts of water soothed me greatly, and V and I lounged around reading on the beach until the evening. Then joined the others at a local and delightfully cheap restaurant (Kendwa does truly rock, but the food is pretty pricey, and the local shops only sell Pringles - who knew they were the universal crisp, recognised the world over?! - and nondescript biscuits which do not a meal make) for supper - garlic/lemon prawns and chips. YUM. We then headed down to the beach for the evening's festivities, mostly some very intense sweaty dancing. We pretty much took the roof of the bar off when the Waka Waka song came on.... Danced til 4am and then refuelled with delicious fresh pizzas, before heading to sit on the beach and wait for the sun to rise. AMAZING night.
Today = recovery day, aided by sushi (getting a real taste for this whole eating fish thing now, impressive non?!) which was delish, water, and laughing at the boys for looking so pathetic. Did not repeat my mistake of not hydrating enough so felt pretty perky myself.
Generally feeling incredibly lucky to be out here beside this beautiful sea - Olly the Australian informs me that this is one of the best beaches he's been to, and being Australian, I feel he's qualified to know. Couple more nights here and then back to Stone Town, where we're going to get a bed and AIR CON courtesy of Maija, a Finnish friend of the girls' and part of the posse who is also studying Swahili. We intend to bring much ripe pineapple with us, and Olly has promised to cook us octopus curry......
Friday, 14 January 2011
Kendwa rocks. Literally.
Aaaaaand yet another hilarious pun par moi. Staying as of today for 5 nights at the aptly named Kendwa Rocks. More of the same beach/sand/sunshine wise, plus the added bonus of the eagerly awaited first Full Moon party of 2011 tomorrow night. Other planned excursions: more snorkelling, different reef, and sunset booze cruise on a dhow. The latter is excitingly Shagaluf/Oibeefa-esque in my opinion so am excited to see what it holds. Hopefully will be a gigolo-free dhow...
Popped back down to Stone Town yesterday so stock up on shillings and plan our next steps. Mafia Islands are relatively impassable due to the whole needing-to-get-a-flight thing so we've binned that idea, but to be honest am verrrry happy with that decision. Yesterday was rainy and power cut filled so a good day to be back in ST, plus we finally tried the guide-book recommended chinese and found it to be most to our liking. Delish. Got the minibus back up here this morning (slightly less overfilled than yesterday - the 15 passengers in a 7 seater bus had us called over at pretty much every police point on the way down to ST). It starts off hugging the coast and then works up through the center of the island, passing various schools along the way. You see children everywhere - the little girls look like butterflies in their white headscarves and deep indigo blue skirts - making their way patiently towards the huts. Also lots of bicycles, invariably carrying either precariously balanced baskets of fish/fruit, or at least one extra passenger. Our driver nailed it on the way up here - to the point that someone in the van asked him to slow down. From my wordly weary (oh yes folks, 6 weeks in S.America and I'm a gap yah aficionado, dontcha know) perspective this was pretty lame, given that a. the road was tarmac-ed, b. it's flat, and c. there were no blind hairpin bends around which to play chicken with large juggernauts hurtling in the opposite direction. Child's play.
So, having had a delicious lunch looking out at the beach and a gentle wander around, back to our room for siesta time. Yippee!
Love to all in England, we miss you. Yes, you over there. You.
Popped back down to Stone Town yesterday so stock up on shillings and plan our next steps. Mafia Islands are relatively impassable due to the whole needing-to-get-a-flight thing so we've binned that idea, but to be honest am verrrry happy with that decision. Yesterday was rainy and power cut filled so a good day to be back in ST, plus we finally tried the guide-book recommended chinese and found it to be most to our liking. Delish. Got the minibus back up here this morning (slightly less overfilled than yesterday - the 15 passengers in a 7 seater bus had us called over at pretty much every police point on the way down to ST). It starts off hugging the coast and then works up through the center of the island, passing various schools along the way. You see children everywhere - the little girls look like butterflies in their white headscarves and deep indigo blue skirts - making their way patiently towards the huts. Also lots of bicycles, invariably carrying either precariously balanced baskets of fish/fruit, or at least one extra passenger. Our driver nailed it on the way up here - to the point that someone in the van asked him to slow down. From my wordly weary (oh yes folks, 6 weeks in S.America and I'm a gap yah aficionado, dontcha know) perspective this was pretty lame, given that a. the road was tarmac-ed, b. it's flat, and c. there were no blind hairpin bends around which to play chicken with large juggernauts hurtling in the opposite direction. Child's play.
So, having had a delicious lunch looking out at the beach and a gentle wander around, back to our room for siesta time. Yippee!
Love to all in England, we miss you. Yes, you over there. You.
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Mr Lucky and the Parrot Fish
Hello from possibly the nicest internet cafe in the world - view wise that is. We're sitting all of 25 metres from the water's edge....
Yesterday was Dhow-n time mk 2 (I'm sorry but I'm now sort of proud of that pun. Embarrassing, I know). Boat left at 9am for the Mnemba Atoll, round the top of the island and on to the eastern side. Fully suncreamed up as ever, we hopped aboard and they obligingly unfurled the sail (cheating as motor was on) to whisk us - relatively speaking, everything is as they say pole pole here - to the atoll. The reef was really beautiful, tho' rammed to begin with with other snorkellers so V and I paddled away a bit from them. Saw loads of fish again, proudest moment being spotting a parrot fish and also an extremely well disguised one that looks identical to the coral it was lying against so am guessing is probably called something inspired such as 'coral fish'. V also proving v.useful (!) in both knowing lots about what the fish are called, and how my camera works. Top marks.
Lunch was on board the boat - tuna wrapped in foil cooked on a barbecue in the most delicious herbs and garlic, with onion/carrot/tomato and chapatti, followed by mounds of fresh fruit. Amazingly good. More snorkelling in the afternoon and then back to the western side of the island. V and I wrapped ourselves up in sarongs and climbed up to the roof of the boat, snoozing there as we sailed back.
We were also separately both fairly sure that we heard dolphins, even if we didn't actually see them....
Today we slept in (through the thundering rain, that had cleared by late morning leaving behind the usual bright blue skies, mwah ha ha) and then wandered to exchange our books, and then grab lunch. Not as good as the excellent Manduka's tho' the view was incredible and the loos were the best I've seen so far in Africa. I'm not even joking about the latter part. It's quite amazing the joy clean white tiles can instil in a human being. We then purchased our first African friendship bracelets before wandering up the beach to the turtle aquarium (also containing python, thought immediately of Miss Little....). Set up by locals to protect the turtles, it basically works as a natural lagoon. Fishermen bring them turtles they've caught and they rehabilitate them before releasing them. They also collect the baby ones when they hatch and bring them up before releasing them (when they can find them - the mama turtles hide them all over the place apparently). We also met 'Mr Lucky', a tiny weeny 1 wk old turtle found by fishermen on the reef, obviously lost/drifting. So sweet and very small indeed. The sanctuary pays the fishermen not to kill the turtles and also marks the turtles so that when they are caught they release them again. Also took in the skeleton of a young humpback whale (HUGE) and very sadly dolphin skulls - about 400 died off the coast of Zanz in 2006, reasons unknown.
We then headed to Cholo's for a happy hour cocktail (Passion under the Palmtrees, yum) before heading back to the sea as the tide comes in around 5pm to swim.
Pretty much a perfect day. We've got in stocks of Konyagi and Pringles for a pre-dinner dancing session in our room (COOL) and then, well, it just has to be Manduka's.
Oh, and Cholo's played 'Club can't handle us' this afternoon, unprompted, and remix version of 'Waka Waka'. L11, thought of you....
Yesterday was Dhow-n time mk 2 (I'm sorry but I'm now sort of proud of that pun. Embarrassing, I know). Boat left at 9am for the Mnemba Atoll, round the top of the island and on to the eastern side. Fully suncreamed up as ever, we hopped aboard and they obligingly unfurled the sail (cheating as motor was on) to whisk us - relatively speaking, everything is as they say pole pole here - to the atoll. The reef was really beautiful, tho' rammed to begin with with other snorkellers so V and I paddled away a bit from them. Saw loads of fish again, proudest moment being spotting a parrot fish and also an extremely well disguised one that looks identical to the coral it was lying against so am guessing is probably called something inspired such as 'coral fish'. V also proving v.useful (!) in both knowing lots about what the fish are called, and how my camera works. Top marks.
Lunch was on board the boat - tuna wrapped in foil cooked on a barbecue in the most delicious herbs and garlic, with onion/carrot/tomato and chapatti, followed by mounds of fresh fruit. Amazingly good. More snorkelling in the afternoon and then back to the western side of the island. V and I wrapped ourselves up in sarongs and climbed up to the roof of the boat, snoozing there as we sailed back.
We were also separately both fairly sure that we heard dolphins, even if we didn't actually see them....
Today we slept in (through the thundering rain, that had cleared by late morning leaving behind the usual bright blue skies, mwah ha ha) and then wandered to exchange our books, and then grab lunch. Not as good as the excellent Manduka's tho' the view was incredible and the loos were the best I've seen so far in Africa. I'm not even joking about the latter part. It's quite amazing the joy clean white tiles can instil in a human being. We then purchased our first African friendship bracelets before wandering up the beach to the turtle aquarium (also containing python, thought immediately of Miss Little....). Set up by locals to protect the turtles, it basically works as a natural lagoon. Fishermen bring them turtles they've caught and they rehabilitate them before releasing them. They also collect the baby ones when they hatch and bring them up before releasing them (when they can find them - the mama turtles hide them all over the place apparently). We also met 'Mr Lucky', a tiny weeny 1 wk old turtle found by fishermen on the reef, obviously lost/drifting. So sweet and very small indeed. The sanctuary pays the fishermen not to kill the turtles and also marks the turtles so that when they are caught they release them again. Also took in the skeleton of a young humpback whale (HUGE) and very sadly dolphin skulls - about 400 died off the coast of Zanz in 2006, reasons unknown.
We then headed to Cholo's for a happy hour cocktail (Passion under the Palmtrees, yum) before heading back to the sea as the tide comes in around 5pm to swim.
Pretty much a perfect day. We've got in stocks of Konyagi and Pringles for a pre-dinner dancing session in our room (COOL) and then, well, it just has to be Manduka's.
Oh, and Cholo's played 'Club can't handle us' this afternoon, unprompted, and remix version of 'Waka Waka'. L11, thought of you....
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Dhow-n time
Terrible pun there. Came up with it on the spur of the moment. Such wit.
AMAZING day yesterday, tho' sadly having gone with the eco-friendly dolphin option, we didn't get to see any dolphins :( on the other hand that probably means they're happy dolphins, and in any case apparently there are loads around here in the North at the moment, so fingers crossed...
We were driven to the south of the island (air con, joy of joys) yesterday morning where the dhows were waiting for us. Had to wade out to get to them (Vikki sad to have left her geeksome but useful river shoes behind) - ours was Kikale - and then set out for beach spot one, cool coke in hand. Passing myself off as an experienced snorkeller I headed out with V and a few others. Saw loads of amazing fish, including clown fish. My favourites though the huge shoals of pale turquoise fish - they make such beautiful shapes through the water. Also my flippers actually fitted this time, so much more enjoyable. We then went to snorkel spot 2, in hope of seeing dolphins. Emitted as many positive come-hither-dolphins vibes as I could, to no avail. We were cheered by arriving at the most beautiful beach for lunch - crayfish, octopus, etc barbecued as we waited, with plenty of rice and tomato stuff. Delish. V and I then wandered down to the end of the beach and back, before arriving for pudding - piles and piles of fresh fruit. V's singaporean background means she is less thrilled/excited than I am by such novelties as fresh ripe mango, but we swap (she likes the bananas. Bananas! I ask you).
Took a swift ride out to sea on a wooden catamaran, and headed briefly inland to look at a baobab tree which I climbed. That's just the sort of sprightly youngster I am. Eventually climbed back on to the dhow and headed round to a mangrove lagoon for one last swim, before setting sail back to the main island. A beautiful, chilled out day.
Supper was at the Archipelago cafe, then a quick g and t at Mercury's before bed.
This morning we headed up here to Nungwe. Left V with the bags whilst I foraged around for the cheapest accommodation - Union bungalows. Great mosquito nets, shame about the lack of water most of the time.... The night life is supposed to be a bit more exciting here, so may actually get stuck into the Konyagi! Spent the day wandering the beach and getting our bearings, main night spot being Cholo's, where we'll head now....
Tomorrow - another dhow trip, more snorkelling, and according to Vikki's new beachside pal Hussein (!) DOLPHINS. He may however have had ulterior motives when telling her about the dolphins, largely luring her onto his boat...His nickname apparently is Captain Governor...
AMAZING day yesterday, tho' sadly having gone with the eco-friendly dolphin option, we didn't get to see any dolphins :( on the other hand that probably means they're happy dolphins, and in any case apparently there are loads around here in the North at the moment, so fingers crossed...
We were driven to the south of the island (air con, joy of joys) yesterday morning where the dhows were waiting for us. Had to wade out to get to them (Vikki sad to have left her geeksome but useful river shoes behind) - ours was Kikale - and then set out for beach spot one, cool coke in hand. Passing myself off as an experienced snorkeller I headed out with V and a few others. Saw loads of amazing fish, including clown fish. My favourites though the huge shoals of pale turquoise fish - they make such beautiful shapes through the water. Also my flippers actually fitted this time, so much more enjoyable. We then went to snorkel spot 2, in hope of seeing dolphins. Emitted as many positive come-hither-dolphins vibes as I could, to no avail. We were cheered by arriving at the most beautiful beach for lunch - crayfish, octopus, etc barbecued as we waited, with plenty of rice and tomato stuff. Delish. V and I then wandered down to the end of the beach and back, before arriving for pudding - piles and piles of fresh fruit. V's singaporean background means she is less thrilled/excited than I am by such novelties as fresh ripe mango, but we swap (she likes the bananas. Bananas! I ask you).
Took a swift ride out to sea on a wooden catamaran, and headed briefly inland to look at a baobab tree which I climbed. That's just the sort of sprightly youngster I am. Eventually climbed back on to the dhow and headed round to a mangrove lagoon for one last swim, before setting sail back to the main island. A beautiful, chilled out day.
Supper was at the Archipelago cafe, then a quick g and t at Mercury's before bed.
This morning we headed up here to Nungwe. Left V with the bags whilst I foraged around for the cheapest accommodation - Union bungalows. Great mosquito nets, shame about the lack of water most of the time.... The night life is supposed to be a bit more exciting here, so may actually get stuck into the Konyagi! Spent the day wandering the beach and getting our bearings, main night spot being Cholo's, where we'll head now....
Tomorrow - another dhow trip, more snorkelling, and according to Vikki's new beachside pal Hussein (!) DOLPHINS. He may however have had ulterior motives when telling her about the dolphins, largely luring her onto his boat...His nickname apparently is Captain Governor...
Friday, 7 January 2011
Hunt the sarong
Firstly as Moo has asked for an itinerrrararrary again, as follows my plans for the next few weeks:
Zanzibar til sometime mid next week
Then Mafia Islands (to see basking sharks among other things) for a few days
Then tour, starting I think on the 18th of Jan? For 2 1/2 weeks
Long w-e in Livingstone at the Falls walking with lion cubs
Back across to Dar es Salaam by train
Last long w-e in Zanz before HOME
Today was giant tortoise day - hopped on a boat to Prison Island (ours was called Gladiator, favourites thus far Hakuna Matata - PEOPLE ACTUALLY SAY THIS ALL THE TIME JUST LIKE IN THE LION KING - and Mr Bean). Over 100 giant tortoises there 'living happily together' - a present from the Seychelles apparently - one of them is 185 and as they arrived in the first half of the 20th century must have been pretty darn big when even first in Zanz. Also lots of cute baby ones. Fed them lots of spinach which was great fun. Even stroked them - tho' my first attempt backfired as I made Mr Tortoise jump with fright and pull his head back which made me simultaneously jump. Quick look around the prison (never actually made it as a prison and was used as a quarantine centre but if it had would have surely been the prettiest on record) and then headed to do some snorkelling. The visibility wasn't great tho' and my flippers were too big for my midget feet so kept falling off. Did see lots of prettttty fish tho, inc a small yellow and black striped one that kept swimming near my head which was fun.
Then wandered the beach and took various posed photos gazing meaningfully at the horizon etc before heading back to the mainland, managing to miss the rain in the process that had hung over Stone Town in the morning.
Afternoon entailed some very successful navigating by me and Madley (we now have two maps to cross check with) in a fruitless epic search for a sarong with a swirly pattern of fish on it. We could only find one for 12 dollars which seemed heinously expensive to us. Alas, despite length of search, no such luck. We'll either have to settle for some lesser inferior number, or hopefully find it in the north instead. Bah humbug.
Settled ourselves by the water for a coke in the evening sun, watching the usual display of local boys hurling themselves into the water in endless repetition. We were joined by 3 small boys (vastly preferable to the usual harassment) including one very cute one who sat shyly leaning his arm on my chair for about half an hour. Tried to ask his name but he answered so quietly I couldn't make out what he was saying. Sweeeeet.
Very excited indeed about the dolphins tomo....
Zanzibar til sometime mid next week
Then Mafia Islands (to see basking sharks among other things) for a few days
Then tour, starting I think on the 18th of Jan? For 2 1/2 weeks
Long w-e in Livingstone at the Falls walking with lion cubs
Back across to Dar es Salaam by train
Last long w-e in Zanz before HOME
Today was giant tortoise day - hopped on a boat to Prison Island (ours was called Gladiator, favourites thus far Hakuna Matata - PEOPLE ACTUALLY SAY THIS ALL THE TIME JUST LIKE IN THE LION KING - and Mr Bean). Over 100 giant tortoises there 'living happily together' - a present from the Seychelles apparently - one of them is 185 and as they arrived in the first half of the 20th century must have been pretty darn big when even first in Zanz. Also lots of cute baby ones. Fed them lots of spinach which was great fun. Even stroked them - tho' my first attempt backfired as I made Mr Tortoise jump with fright and pull his head back which made me simultaneously jump. Quick look around the prison (never actually made it as a prison and was used as a quarantine centre but if it had would have surely been the prettiest on record) and then headed to do some snorkelling. The visibility wasn't great tho' and my flippers were too big for my midget feet so kept falling off. Did see lots of prettttty fish tho, inc a small yellow and black striped one that kept swimming near my head which was fun.
Then wandered the beach and took various posed photos gazing meaningfully at the horizon etc before heading back to the mainland, managing to miss the rain in the process that had hung over Stone Town in the morning.
Afternoon entailed some very successful navigating by me and Madley (we now have two maps to cross check with) in a fruitless epic search for a sarong with a swirly pattern of fish on it. We could only find one for 12 dollars which seemed heinously expensive to us. Alas, despite length of search, no such luck. We'll either have to settle for some lesser inferior number, or hopefully find it in the north instead. Bah humbug.
Settled ourselves by the water for a coke in the evening sun, watching the usual display of local boys hurling themselves into the water in endless repetition. We were joined by 3 small boys (vastly preferable to the usual harassment) including one very cute one who sat shyly leaning his arm on my chair for about half an hour. Tried to ask his name but he answered so quietly I couldn't make out what he was saying. Sweeeeet.
Very excited indeed about the dolphins tomo....
Thursday, 6 January 2011
"You are so beautiful....you from the moon?"
Most inventive shout out to us of the day, along with (having stumbled over a stone): "We have many stones in Africa. Welcome!". Woke up feeling rested if revoltingly shveaty (overshare?!) and headed up to the rooftop terrace for breakfast, which by budget hostel standards was pretty awesome - mango, banana and pineapple, plus scrambled eggs and toast. Teabags in wild contrast to South America VERY strong, condensed milk a bit weird but I'm sure I'll get used to it...
We then headed out to organise the next few days' excursions, namely going to Prison Island to see the giant tortoises and then down to the south to SWIM WITH THE DOLPHINS. I may or may not be very excited about this. Apparently under no pretext are we allowed to touch said dolphins. I am hoping one will take it uupon itself to be my friend tho. Alternatively I have read stories about dolphins saving humans from drowning.....step too far to fake drowning? Probably.
Stopped at a tasty place for garlic prawns for lunch called The Dolphin, complete with talkative parrot that said 'Mambo' to us a good few times. Back to the hotel for the requisite siesta and 2nd shower of the day and then out to forage for sarongs. Found the ones we like the most but at an outrageous 12 dollars each we declined to purchase and will continue the hunt tomorrow. Then headed to the Forodhani (sp?) Gardens for supper - fishermen set up their stalls their alongside people making pizzas etc and you pick what you want and they barbecue it for you. Shared prawns, delicious chicken, chapatti and a samosa, all delicious. Highlight definitely pudding: a banana and chocolate pizza - which is a sort of eggy omelettey chapatti with bananas galore and nutella in the centre, smothered with chocolate sauce on the top. Aka Wilfred's dream meal on a plate, and even for a non-sweet toothed being I thought it was AMAZING. Will definitely be going back for more.
Back in the hostel ridiculously early again but v.overexcited at the prospect of the giant tortoises tomorrow plus snorkelling. Being in the sea will be so nice - it's tantalisingly close here but despite the fact that all the local children hurl themselves off the side of the path into the sea at every opportunity, it is actually massively polluted and not recommended. Bring on clear waters demain.....
We then headed out to organise the next few days' excursions, namely going to Prison Island to see the giant tortoises and then down to the south to SWIM WITH THE DOLPHINS. I may or may not be very excited about this. Apparently under no pretext are we allowed to touch said dolphins. I am hoping one will take it uupon itself to be my friend tho. Alternatively I have read stories about dolphins saving humans from drowning.....step too far to fake drowning? Probably.
Stopped at a tasty place for garlic prawns for lunch called The Dolphin, complete with talkative parrot that said 'Mambo' to us a good few times. Back to the hotel for the requisite siesta and 2nd shower of the day and then out to forage for sarongs. Found the ones we like the most but at an outrageous 12 dollars each we declined to purchase and will continue the hunt tomorrow. Then headed to the Forodhani (sp?) Gardens for supper - fishermen set up their stalls their alongside people making pizzas etc and you pick what you want and they barbecue it for you. Shared prawns, delicious chicken, chapatti and a samosa, all delicious. Highlight definitely pudding: a banana and chocolate pizza - which is a sort of eggy omelettey chapatti with bananas galore and nutella in the centre, smothered with chocolate sauce on the top. Aka Wilfred's dream meal on a plate, and even for a non-sweet toothed being I thought it was AMAZING. Will definitely be going back for more.
Back in the hostel ridiculously early again but v.overexcited at the prospect of the giant tortoises tomorrow plus snorkelling. Being in the sea will be so nice - it's tantalisingly close here but despite the fact that all the local children hurl themselves off the side of the path into the sea at every opportunity, it is actually massively polluted and not recommended. Bring on clear waters demain.....
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
Stone Town = worthy of Crystal Maze
So firstly a great big HUZZAH for the arrival of Vikki plus my luggage on the continent, all in one piece (and adorably re-folded and tided by Holdsworth. Mummy W-D: "Gosh darling, you have such fantastic friends". YES I DO). Greeted Vikki with great excitement and a selection of dubious looking Indian food (deep fried potato sausage things anyone?) but as neither of us has been sick as yet they can't have been too bad. Also engaged in my first lengthy conversation with restauranteur, mostly centering on football. All subsequent conversation has mostly revolved around football too. Chelsea and Manchester United are popular. Think I may start lying and pretend I actually support someone just to prevent the look of disappointment when I confess my lack of interest.
Anyway, after a sleepless night in baking Dar es Salaam, we awoke raring to get the hell out this morning. Thankfully checked out where the Flying Seahorse offices were yesterday as it was something of a rugby scrum when we got to the marina - men surrounding our car etc. Bit unnerving to say the least. Favourite part being the man who offered us 'same price' for fast ferry - I query disbelievingly, 'What, 20 dollars?' His response - '35 dollars'. Errrrr..... Despite his firm belief that we were missing out on the bargain of a lifetime to pay 15 extra dollars to get there a whole 30 mins faster we politely declined and nabbed our VIP tickets. VIP = air conditioning. Win.
Zanzibar slowly appeared on the horizon (population 1 million - every time I go to an island I'm surprised by how big it is. It's as though I assume that an island by its nature must be small. Is this what people think about England?) - colonial style buildings clustering the shore, palm trees everywhere, and once we got off the ferry comparitively little hassle. Other than a man trailing us from hotel 1 to hotel 2, the lovely Hotel Pyramid which shall be our home for the next few days.
Room is lovely - high ceilings, old beams, four poster beds, fans. I may consider it less lovely if bitten to pieces by tomorrow morning.
We set out to explore and quickly realised quite what the guide book meant by saying Stone Town is confusing. It's like Venice, but narrower, and without any street signs. At all. Plus people hassling you all the time which doesn't encourage laborious searching of map to establish location. However we discovered (by accident and going in entirely the wrong direction to our intended one) the important things: the shops with the nice bags/sarongs/bangles etc in them. It's right by the sea so we should be able to find it tomorrow (she says hopefully).
Thus exhausted we spoiled ourselves with an evening in a bar called Mercury's drinking cocktails as the sun went down and planning the next few days. It includes dolphins. EEEP.
Anyway, after a sleepless night in baking Dar es Salaam, we awoke raring to get the hell out this morning. Thankfully checked out where the Flying Seahorse offices were yesterday as it was something of a rugby scrum when we got to the marina - men surrounding our car etc. Bit unnerving to say the least. Favourite part being the man who offered us 'same price' for fast ferry - I query disbelievingly, 'What, 20 dollars?' His response - '35 dollars'. Errrrr..... Despite his firm belief that we were missing out on the bargain of a lifetime to pay 15 extra dollars to get there a whole 30 mins faster we politely declined and nabbed our VIP tickets. VIP = air conditioning. Win.
Zanzibar slowly appeared on the horizon (population 1 million - every time I go to an island I'm surprised by how big it is. It's as though I assume that an island by its nature must be small. Is this what people think about England?) - colonial style buildings clustering the shore, palm trees everywhere, and once we got off the ferry comparitively little hassle. Other than a man trailing us from hotel 1 to hotel 2, the lovely Hotel Pyramid which shall be our home for the next few days.
Room is lovely - high ceilings, old beams, four poster beds, fans. I may consider it less lovely if bitten to pieces by tomorrow morning.
We set out to explore and quickly realised quite what the guide book meant by saying Stone Town is confusing. It's like Venice, but narrower, and without any street signs. At all. Plus people hassling you all the time which doesn't encourage laborious searching of map to establish location. However we discovered (by accident and going in entirely the wrong direction to our intended one) the important things: the shops with the nice bags/sarongs/bangles etc in them. It's right by the sea so we should be able to find it tomorrow (she says hopefully).
Thus exhausted we spoiled ourselves with an evening in a bar called Mercury's drinking cocktails as the sun went down and planning the next few days. It includes dolphins. EEEP.
Monday, 3 January 2011
Jambo Dar es Salaam!
I think Jambo means Hi. Fairly sure that even if it doesn't, none of you reading this are going to be able to pick me up on it.
5 mins til my internet time runs out so - Dar es Salaam. Equals hot, shveaty, dusty, full of people staring/calling out to me. Hotel is a short walk from the centre of town. Navigated my way to the shopping centre so have made all crucial purchases of mosquito repellent and suncream. Vikki is heading out with bag tomo so will have company and clean clothes. Bonus!
Proper update when have actually done something of note. Hotel is nice, and (touch wood) my room is mosquito free as yet. All good.
5 mins til my internet time runs out so - Dar es Salaam. Equals hot, shveaty, dusty, full of people staring/calling out to me. Hotel is a short walk from the centre of town. Navigated my way to the shopping centre so have made all crucial purchases of mosquito repellent and suncream. Vikki is heading out with bag tomo so will have company and clean clothes. Bonus!
Proper update when have actually done something of note. Hotel is nice, and (touch wood) my room is mosquito free as yet. All good.
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