My apologies for the long winded posts :)
Day 4: rest and relaxation. Repeat.
Today didn't amount to much. I slept in, took two hours to eat breakfast, finally got on the internet, laid by the beach and went to the Zanzibar IKEA. I chatted it up with some more locals and got duped into a few souvenirs.
In the evening I joined my new Scottish friend in the most horrifically awkward hotel for dinner. We saved each other from being our respective hotels solo traveler creeper. This romantic getaway hotel was a baffling experience to say the least. Awkward empty tables for 2, random karaoke entertainment, a "Massai show and tell" with a tepid audience. The most disconcerting was the staff who wouldn't stop trying to do things for me. It went beyond good customer service and was a clear reflection of a social divide deeply rooted in human kind. Nonetheless Scotland and I made the best of it, smoking hookah well into the night and discussing our superiority as solo travelers... ironically together.
Day 5: Stone Town.
I made a beach side agreement to utilize the taxi services of Captain Mao. I'll explain... I wanted so badly to not get screwed over with tourist pricing for a taxi back into town. Mister Mao, a Kendwa local just trying to make a living, and I made a deal for a Cheap taxi ride. Caveat... I'd have to share. No biggie, I like sharing. Well morning came and Mister Mao was leading me into an unexpectedly empty taxi and a driver that was not Mister Mao. This could have gone in either direction... Sketch balls or perfectly fine. The first ten minutes of the ride i was deciding my plan on how to best use my pepper spray. By fifteen minutes into the ride we were talking about clove trees and Bruce Lee. Since I'm sitting here happily writing on my tablet you can guess... The ride was Perfectly fine and actually quite great! My game of risk was beneficial two fold. I got to pass the miserable honeymoon couples waiting for the fancy $50 taxi with a very smug grin on my face and I had a great time chatting with my driver! He gave me an impromptu spice tour along the way and stopped to buy me some street food that I've been dying to try. He walked me to my hotel, gave me a Swahili lesson and many fist bumps to say goodbye. Now I am happily basking in my cheap but comfy hotel. Apparently the old house for a Sultan's harem. I'll venture out to the alley ways and explore the richness of stone town.
My wandering in Stone Town amounted to eating the most delicious seafood soup and passion fruit juice ever and chatting it up some more. I appreciate people wanting to practice their English and showing a genuine mutual interest in each others culture and home, but doing this person after person mixed in with predatory "beach boys" and "tourist traps" can be exhausting. After hours of exploring I sat on a long stone bench in Forodhani Gardens and watched people. I watched little boys chase one another with a stick, the littlest one lagging behind and crying. I watched tourists cling to each other as they walked by. I watched an old man watch me.
The evening amounted to eating more seafood- big surprise, and more wandering- big surprise. I walked through street markets with women sitting on the ground selling avocados as big as grapefruits and tables glistening with the days catch... Calamari, octopus, tuna. I waded through the savory smoke of barbecuing mussels and random meats, I bummed an African cigarette from a fisherman. I spilled ginger and lime sugar cane juice all over myself. By the end of the night I smelled like Poseidon's armpit.
Day 6: Stone Town to Kilimanjaro
I am on a flight from Dar Es Salaam to Kilimanjaro. This day has gone surprisingly well considering I had a sleepless night and an awkward morning.
My hotel room was right next to the hotel roof top restaurant. It is more like a room with chairs and a stove. Around 3am someone decided to make some food and invite their friends. By 4am someone decided to get belligerent and shout at the ghosts in the wall. I was glad my door had a good strong lock but needless to say I laid awake moderately terrified passing the hours battling with the one mosquito that made it under my net.
Morning rolled around and I was treated to a breakfast full of local fruits and fried balls of dough. The morning light hit the rooftop terrace just perfectly and my flowy skirt ruffled in the breeze. I feverishly jotted notes in my journal to the hum of chirping birds and a distant radio. It was quite a scene from "eat pray love" and super barfy ;) A little while later, I come to find my trusted hotel keeper... Sweet, quiet, and most important lucid Jerry was the one making all the racket throughout the night. Still quite drunk He stumbled to the breakfast area, interrupted my idyllic eat pray love moment and slurred out some sort of confirmation regarding my taxi to the airport. This put me on edge but Thankfully I had a few hours to confirm my ride with someone who wasn't falling over drunk.
The afternoon came and went. I visited the local museum and learned about the Sultan rule of Zanzibar throughout the 18th, 19th and early 20th century. I ate Palau (sp?) A Zanzibar dish sold from a milk crate a young girl was carrying a top her head. A local bought some so I thought I'd follow suit. It was a delicious rice dish flavored with spices from the island dotted with beef and tomatoes.
I finally arrive in Moshi. The starting point for many to pursue the summit of Kili, but for me the starting point of my nursing endeavor. There were a few hiccups along the way but mostly everything went smoothly. A Zanzibar airport grounds crew member now has a new phone equipped with a charger, a casio watch and some headphones... learned my lesson! I forgot my phone was in my luggage as I haven't been using one and really didn't think anyone would think twice about it. It is a dumb phone from the grocery store... A perfect testament to my absolute ignorance and naivety of being an entitled American.
Day 7: Post this blog, read my book and brush up on my maternity nursing as I start my first shift at the hospital tomorrow!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment