June 15, 2011
I’ve arrived in my 11th country, Tanzania – whew! I went through airport immigration bleary eyed at 2:30am and took my reserved taxi to the hotel. I had planned on staying in the lobby until 11am rather than pay an extra $20 for a room, but the man at the desk was nice and gave me a room for half price. I was sworn to secrecy as he claimed the owner would not allow it. I got a glimpse of tensions between black Africans and Indian Africans. The receptionist is black was saying as an African he could not let me stay for so long in a lobby with mosquitos. He said his Indian owner would allow it and he’s all business, but he could not obey with a good conscience. Wonder where that $10 went…
I slept until 12pm and awoke to a long list of warnings posted on my door. They were mostly about not using fake taxis or going with people you don’t know. After the long list of scary warnings it said Dar es Salaam was a nice, safe place. I did generally feel safe and by using the common sense of staying away from certain areas, particularly at night, and only using taxis with a registered number help keep me safe. But it is exhausting keeping your guard up all the time.
Apparently, a frequent crime against tourists is once you are in the fake taxi or a private car other people get in and they drive you to an area and rob you. They will likely also drive you to various ATMs until your account is empty. I heard one story, where the robbers gave the lady they robbed money for one night at a hotel and taxi money! Maybe they have a Robin Hood mentality. I also heard one guy say he had a gun pulled on him. Hopefully, I escape this experience!
I wandered Dar and ate a lot of delicious food. There are a few sights to see, but I wasn’t really in the mood so I just wandered. Of course, this was after trying to get money for two hours. I couldn’t find a bank that exchanged traveler checks and the Barclay’s ATM machine ate my card 3 times. Then other ATMs wouldn’t take a foreign card. Finally, I found one and could get some food!
Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar were once controlled by the Omani Empire and then the British took control. Actually, they first controlled Zanzibar and Sultan Seyyid Majid wanted a summer palace and picked a fishing village, Mzizima. With this Dar es Salaam came into existence in 1862. As a result of the empire, the area is largely Muslim so I hear the call to prayer. I find it so soothing. The other part of Tanzania was under German control from the late 19the century until their defeat in WWI when they British won it. This part was called Tanganyika and when the two parts were united during independence the words Tanganyika and Zanzibar were combined to create Tanzania.
A friend put me in touch with a family they know who lives here and the woman works for the US Embassy. They nicely invited me over one evening and I had a nice home cooked meal and had fun playing with their 3 kids. This is the area where expats, choice diplomats and other rich folks live. It’s such a contrast to central Dar, which is rundown and crowded with only a few modern clean buildings. In the suburbs the houses get large, new, modern and offset with yards. They also have manned security gates.
After two nights in Dar I caught the slow ferry to Zanzibar. I took a taxi to the ferry. As we drove I got the fare out of my wallet and noticed the driver put the window up to thwart those who might be tempted. Anyway, we docked in Stonetown, where I spent my first night. The old part of the town is a maze of small streets. It actually reminded me of wandering in some old villages of Tuscany. Stonetown was a major town for the slave trade and I saw two former slave markets. Kelele Square was the main market until the 1860s and is now a grassy patch with the street running through. I included a picture so if you see one you can’t quite figure why I took it, that’s why. I also took an exterior shot of the home of Hamed bin Muhammed al-Murjebi (aka Tippu Tip) who was the major trader in the mid-19th century and was the de facto ruler of the Upper Congo. His slave caravans had a gruesomely high number of men – over 4,000. The now rundown home is now occupied by several families. The slave trade existed before the Omani Empire, but they expanded it.
Though many other civilizations interacted with eastern Tanzania, the Persians were the first outsiders to have a permanent presence. And they did so by the end of the first millennium CE. Persian traders actually called the East African coast Zang-I-Bar (“the sea of blacks”), hence the name Zanzibar.
There are some lovely buildings along the waterfront built by the Sultan and the British Crown. The House of Wonders (now the Zanzibar National Museum) was part of Sultan Barghash’s building spree and was completed in 1883. Two Portuguese canons guard the building and were captured by the Persians in 1622.
Ngome Kongwe, the Old Fort or Omani Fort, was built right after the Omanis defeated the Portuguese in 1698. The Forodhani Gardens fronts the fort and is the scene of a fun night food market.
I took a tourist shuttle to the east coast of Zanzibar and met three other travelers. Scandinavians seem to flock here in hordes! We were three different parties and we paid three different prices – so even shuttles are negotiable! I didn’t pay the lowest, but I didn’t pay the highest either. The benefit of taking a shuttle rather than the local transport is the driver takes you to various hotels to check them out. So we looked at three and stayed at Dhou Beach Village (dhou = their traditional boats). Our guidebooks said this is the party hotel on this strip of sand, but being the low season the whole area was extremely quiet. Just my speed! Most of the people working here or locals hanging out were Rastafarians. One guy in particular has smoked way too much – his mind is always in the clouds. Each afternoon when it cooled they played futbol/soccer on the beach. Every guy here seems to play or have played. I didn’t see girls play, but there is a team in Stonetown. Wonder who they play…
I was pleased with the rates given one place wouldn’t come below $15 for a dorm bed in a crappy room on the inland side of the road. I paired up with one of the travelers one night and we paid $25 together and then I got to stay in the same room with a bathroom and porch next to the beach for $15/night. Another benefit to being there off-season!
Somehow the days slipped away so quickly yet I was not doing a lot of activities. I swam, read on the beach, walked, ate (which took at least over an hour to get your food) and talked with people. One day a group of us went out snorkeling. Apparently, it’s better on the north side of the island, but I saw some cute fish and lots of sea urchins. It also was just nice to be in the water and on a boat. The sun set at 6:30pm and even with a nearly full moon there were many stars. With few lights along the beach the moon lights up the water and sand. There was a fire on the beach each night and I was so wishing for smores!!! I kept going to bed at 9:30 or 10 because my body figured it was so dark I should be sleeping. :) I did manage one morning to get up for the sunrise and though the sky wasn’t colorful the waters were. The tide here is very extreme since the beach is on only a slight decline. You can see that at low tide the water went out well over 1000 yards, I’d guess.
Walking the village you see many people resting on porches or working the few small stores. Everyone is extremely friendly and you don’t have to worry so much about theft, scams or pushy vendors – a welcome change after Dar and Stonetown (most of Stonetown is safe, but parts aren’t at night). Native-English speaking volunteers regularly come to teach the school children as well as the adults training in tourism.
Kids are EVERYWHERE in the village. One of the Rasta guys was telling me that it’s common for families to have 10 children! I didn’t meet anyone from a family that big, but some had 5 siblings. He wasn’t sure if people really wanted that many, but his friends have told him in the winter they stay inside more and babies are the result. :) Also, Muslim men might have up to four wives so they can father dozens of children. I don’t know how much knowledge or access to birth control there is and the man said women are afraid to have an abortion. They don’t think it’s safe and maybe it isn’t because in this village you wouldn’t be going to a hospital for one. But the number of children is such a burden on finances, I would think, and definitely in a country with high unemployment it’s a problem for the national infrastructure.
You see young children given much more freedom to wander on their own then you would see in the US. I took a daladala (local transport truck) back to Stonetown and one kid about five years old came on by himself. And on the beach I saw children of similar ages wandering around on their own. This has been a common sight throughout most of my travels. I don’t know how many accidents or problems arise from it, but given the community attitude others are looking out for their well-being. For instance, the daladala ticket seller carried the boy across the busy street when his stop arrived.
I also spoke with a few people about their government and no one seems happy with it. Yet again, corruption is rampant and my friend you see in the picture with me said he stays out of Stonetown during elections because they can get violent. Last year the presidential elections were held and several people died. Others have said how the politicians only pay attention to the poorer people when elections occur. I’ve also been told Tanzanians who are wealthy become so through corruption. So much money seems to be coming into the country through tourism (and aid), but I guess the majority of the money goes into only a few pockets.
It is extremely expensive to travel here considering it’s a developing country. Nearly everything has a tourist price. The parks will charge upwards of $30 just for you to enter and then you usually need a guide, car, etc. So for a day hike I looked into in Arusha it would cost me over $50! And accommodations are more expensive than most of SE Asia and the buses seem pricey too. In addition, the value you get for your money is much less than I was getting in SE Asia. In much of SE Asia I was able to keep my budget to about $20/day, but here I’m spending $30/day or more. Thank goodness I spent the bulk of my time in Asia!
I’m very indecisive about my plans for the rest of the trip. I started the ball rolling to try to volunteer in Tanzania, but am wavering on if I have the energy for it. I didn’t realize until I arrived here how tired I am from all the constant movement, figuring, and alertness. Turkey was a nice break from these things, but now I’m back to rough traveling, constant coordinating and worrying about safety. In a way it’s good Africa was last on my itinerary because I learned a lot about precautions while in Asia, but the flip side is I’ve been traveling 9 ½ months and am tired and weary of the hassles. I think the two months in India really exhausted me because everything was so intense there. I loved so many things about being there, but it is exhausting. I’m sure most people who go there feel they need a vacation afterwards. I’m also concerned about my budget so with these thoughts in mind I’m debating how much longer I’ll be traveling for.
I’ll only volunteer if I get a homestay in return because otherwise I can’t afford it and the length of time is flexible (if I decide to do it). I’m being put in touch with someone in Arusha who has lots of “ins” for volunteering opportunities so we’ll see. Beyond doing things around Arusha, I have decided I won’t explore more of Tanzania on this trip. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind! :)
My other dilemma is with regards to Ghana. I already decided not to do a stopover in South Africa, but Ghana is to be my last destination before heading stateside and I’m wavering. I don’t have a visa for there and they say you cannot get it on arrival. I tried to get it last summer in NYC, but couldn’t get hotels to respond with a reservation confirmation. This is required as part of the visa process. I didn’t think ahead of my arrival in Tanzania about trying to get the visa and, unfortunately, I’ve found out Ghana does not have an embassy here. I would have to go to Ethiopia! I’ve actually heard it’s an amazing country, but for the reasons I wrote about above I am not going to Ethiopia. And just like last summer, I cannot get any Ghana office to answer their phones or emails. Their website says you can get a visa on arrival if you get prior permission from the Director of Immigration, but I think this person is a ghost because the number I have doesn’t even ring.
So, my thought is to fly there and try somehow to get a visa on arrival and if that doesn’t work I’ll just catch my flight onward. If I get into the country I’ll stay maybe a couple of weeks. Two of the young women staying at Dhou Beach with me went there and loved it. They said it is safer and less touristy than Tanzania. They loved the landscape and people. So I got some good tips from them. They are also rock climbers and enjoyed the climbing. It’s a new sport there so they brought all their gear. Fate has repeatedly decided I should not rock climb, but maybe my luck will change…
My other option is to skip Ghana all together, but I hate to do that when I’ve come all the way over here and bought the airline ticket. I’d like to get to see the country a bit. We’ll see how I feel. Staying on Zanzibar and having this time with my expat friends is rejuvenating me. I’m just not sure how long the rejuvenation will last!
I’m with my friends until tomorrow then I’m out of “the bubble” again and have a 10 hour bus ride to Arusha. To relay to you how much of a bubble I’m in, I had over 200 American movies to pick from at their house and I watched an old silly favorite, “Weekend at Bernie’s.” Later today I’m making cookies and mac’n’cheese with the kids who are having a “happy hour” with their friends. Oh, I tried some spicy chicken they had bought and it was AMAZING! It had a bit of a tandoori flavor, but with many spices rubbed on and it was very juicy. I wish I could get the recipe to share.
Off to enjoy some tea at a fun café – making the most of my “bubble!”
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