The african way

I have had an eventful few days since I last wrote in Zanzibar. I was in the beautiful north for a while but soon craved the excitement and buzz of Stone Town, so made my way back there and checked into a hostel for a few nights. St. Monica’s hostel was built on the site of the old slave market, so I was able to do a tour of the church, monument and the eerie slave chambers where 75 men, women and children were held for days on end to test their strength before being auctioned to rich Arab masters at the market. This was after having been forced to march for days on end without food or water – only one in five slaves taken from the villages of east africa made it to Zanzibar. So picture the scene: I am in the slave chamber with my guide, Elvis (?!) and he has just told me about the horrific plight of the slaves. Then he says ‘So, would you like to go for a drink with me tonight?’! I quickly said no and then asked a question to get him off the subject, but the Tanzanian men are nothing if not persistent and he asked me twice more before the tour was over! I don’t flatter myself, I think that every lone western woman gets asked the same but it happened with 2 other tour guides… cheeky beggars!

Anyway, my experience has been that the vast majority of people here are very friendly and just want to say hello and practice their English. Of course some are trying to sell you something but I have become adept at saying ‘hapana asante’ (no thanks in Swahili). Before leaving Zanzibar I also traveled down to the south coast where you can take a boat trip to see wild dolphins… (tissues at the ready linzi and rach). Unfortunately it was not the best experience of my life, as I love dolphins and didn’t like the fact that the boat chased them and everyone jumped in the water to try and get close to them even though they clearly weren’t in the mood to play. It was still a good day though as I got to go snorkeling again which is incredible. We also went inland to Jozani forest where the endemic red colobus monkeys, only found in Zanzibar, can be seen. Here we were able to get very close to a whole family which was a real privilege.

I spent the last couple of days exploring the atmospheric streets of Stone Town (which is a Unesco World Heritage Site) and had delicious cheap street food at the Forodhani gardens in the evening with a friend, Anna. I met some really great people in Zanzibar and had a fantastic time, but by yesterday was ready to move onto Arsuha, where I write from now.

I had a bit of a stressful day yesterday as I was meant to be at the airport for 10am, but had loads of missed calls from a Tanzanian number on my English mobile. I rang back and it was the travel agent telling me that I was now on a different flight to Arusha (via Dar es Salaam) and had to be at the airport by 9am – bearing in mind it was already 08.55 you can imagine my panic. To cut a long story short, I battled my way through the incomprehensible system that is Zanzibar airport and eventually arrived in Arusha at around 2pm. The hotel Mondo has arranged is very nice (and cheap which is a bonus)! Althgouh I now know why – it is right next to a mosque and the muezzin chants for about ½ hr every morning at about 4.30am, and ever afternoon. Good job I have ear plugs, but even they don’t do the trick!

Arusha is at approx 1000m above sea level and is very green. My first impressions of the town are good – lucky as I will be spending a lot of time here over the next 3 months. Last night I met some fellow volunteers and went out for dinner and a few drinks at the local wuzungu (white persons’) bar. Today I have had an induction by Leonard, the friendly and helpful Mondo Challenge guy in Tanzania, and a Swahili lesson which I have been practicing with the locals a bit already. Tonight there is a volunteer meeting followed by dinner at a local place. And then an early night as I am going on a safari this weekend with some other volunteers – to Ngorogoro Crater and Lake Manyara. I am very excited, I had expected I would do a safari at some point but hadn’t planned on it being so soon – however, I thought I would take the opportunity to go with the others as it is a relatively cheap deal with a reputable company, and will be nice to get to know the other volunteers. On Monday I travel to Longido, the village where I will be based – I am looking forward to meeting the family I will be living with and also the children at the school. The boxes of books/pens etc I sent over have arrived safely so I will be able to give the children some presents which will be nice. So to sum up – all is going well so far…