Hellooo Johannesburg!

I've been in Jo'burg now for just under a week. So far a lot of partying has been on the menu. I've been meeting nice people, watched some hockey and saw various parts of the city.

Johannesburg is such a green city! Wherever you look it seems there are hills and green sprawling in all directions, absolutely gorgeous!

We went to the botanical gardens today, of course it's winter here so the flowers aren't flowering as they would be, but one can imagine how it would look in full bloom. We had a nice walk in the sun and fresh air exploring the gardens which include a dam where canoeing seems to be a popular pass time.  

And another positive thing since I've been here:  BARCELONA winning the Champions League Title!

Tutaonana Tena Tanzania, Hello South Africa

Leaving Tanzanian was quite emotional; saying goodbye to everyone I met there and was staying with was quite sad.. but, heading to South Africa (SA) is the next exciting step in my journey!

I took the smallest airplane I had ever been on from Zanzibar to Dar and then had to hang around the airport there for about six hours before I could check-in. There is absolutely nothing to do there! I met another traveller waiting for his flight, so we had a drink together and a chat, so there was at least some distraction!

Upon checking-in, I was told that there were some issues, because I only had a one-way flight to SA and was not returning to Dar. So they thought that I was a Libyan refugee or terrorist (they never made it clear to me) and thought that I had a forged passport. So while I was waiting for them to sort out the problem they had with my documents (I have a perfectly valid European biometric passport) the entire plane managed to check-in. I had to explain to them why I had not arrived by airplane into Tanzania and why I was not returning; and since the airline I'm using to leave SA does not fly to Dar, they did not have the ability to verify my flight out of SA and they were worried that I would be rejected at the border in SA and sent back to Dar (for which I didn't have a ticket). They were not able to scan my passport for my details because apparently the airline did not contract with them to use those machines, so they didn't do that for this flight (instead they stress the passengers at 1 in the morning) and I had to convince them of my identity and that I would not have issues entering SA. So after like 1.5 hrs of explanations and them reassuring themselves that I am who I say - and my passport says - I am, they finally let me go.

Then the security check was the next joke; there were two airplanes worth of people and one x-ray machine and 2 security people. So you can imagine the queue and the speed with which that went. By the time we actually boarded the airplane, I think most people on the flight were rather irritated by the inefficiency and silliness of the airport staff. There was also a box in the waiting area where one could fill-in forms to let them know "about your experience at the airport and any suggestions" - funnily enough, there were no more forms to fill-in (if there were ever any)!

Obviously, I didn't have any issues entering SA and I am now safely here, having a nice time so far and enjoying a relatively western lifestyle (which makes for a nice change again) - constant power, proper roads, proper supermarkets etc.

Spice Tour

I went on an organised spice tour, which involved a trip to the farms where all the spices and more is farmed. I went on a tour with a group – a very nice group of people from various different countries. The farm was quite a large plantation, where guides took us around and showed us the different spices and foods that are grown there and let us taste them and smell them. It was definitely a sensory experience – my favourites being cinnamon and lemongrass! They also grow vanilla there – although this is not naturally found in Zanzibar, and has to be pollinated by hand, making it rather expensive. Surprisingly, cloves are one of the most expensive spices in Zanzibar – and the government has a monopoly on its sales (usually as export goods). We got some coconuts that we could drink the milk from – so refreshing!

The trip continued to take us to a hammam which one of the sultans of Zanzibar had built for his wife – so that when they came to check on the farms she could spend time there, without having to spend time with the locals (as you do). After having seen that, we went for lunch in a village, where they had prepared a meal of rice, sauce/curry, spinach and chapattis (simple but very good).

The group then split into two – those who wanted to head back to Stone Town, and those who went to the slave caves and the beach. I went to the slave caves – which were used to hide the slaves which were being traded illegally by the Arabs, after slavery had been officially abolished by the British at the end of the 18^th Century. Initially the cave seemed quite small, but upon further inspection it was rather large, with two tunnels – one leading to the village and one leading to the beach. These were used to transport the slaves from the village/land to the beach where they were loaded onto the ships for transporting. As many as 400 men and women were kept in the cave at any one time – resulting in many dying of the inhumane conditions that they were subjected to. There is a natural spring in the cave and the water is used by the villagers to this day for household use (it does not look to hygienic – but ok, they seem to be doing fine with it...).

After exploring the cave for a while, we went to the beach – which really was quite rocky, but the water was wonderful to swim in. However, when getting out of the water, all of us managed to sustain some form of injury – most of us cutting ourselves on the rocks. Two of us stepped onto sea urchins! Our guides got some unripe papaya and used the sap as an ointment to put on the stings; this apparently makes the skin tender and after a while the stings supposedly just come out, making this treatment better than going to the hospital or doctor, where they just pull them out (I hope to find out if this really is the case). After we took care of all our war wounds, we headed back to Stone Town.

Upon our arrival there we decided to go to the House of Wonders (Beit El-Ajaib) – which is the national museum of Zanzibar – this contained some interesting information and artefacts relating to Zanzibari history and culture. Also, it has some amazing views from the top floor balcony – over the old fort, the sea and the roofs of the city.

We then wanted to organise a sunset boat trip – but found only dodgy people who wanted to offer us these, so we rejected them – with some still wanting money from us, because we had “wasted their time”. They were really persistent and we made it clear to them that we were not going to pay them and went to sit at a hotel and had a drink with a view over the ocean (one of the best fruit juices ever!). The people were still trying to hustle us into giving them “their” money and we had to call the hotel security to get rid of them, and they just kept returning. So when I left, I decided to get a taxi instead of walking, as I was going alone (the taxi driver refused payment, because of the inconvenience these people were causing – this is what most Tanzanians are like). We and the hotel management even threatened to get the police – which seemed to finally work, as the guy had disappeared when I called the others to check on them. Being hustled is one thing, but being persistent – especially when not having agreed to anything and then asking for money and talking as if it’s their right is really something irritating to a whole different level.  This is Africa... which is a shame, because most people really are extremely friendly and try to help, or at least leave you in peace.

In any case, it was a great day, meeting a great group of people with interesting experiences and fun times!    

Paje

After a week spent volunteering at the school, which proved to be an interesting experience to say the least; Irene and I made a trip to the East Coast of Zanzibar where all the beautiful beaches are. We took a dalla dalla (local bus) in the morning (a trip of about 1.5 hrs) and spent the day relaxing on a powdery white sand beach in Paje. When we arrived, the tide was very low and the water was extremely far out. We took a walk and just chilled at the beach, enjoying the sun. In the afternoon, as the tide started coming back in, the kite surfers started to appear – so it was nice watching them surf the waters, doing tricks etc. Later when the water was really close I went for my first swim in the Indian Ocean – wow, the water was so warm and nice! I loved it! The sand on the beach was so white, that it reflected the light almost as strongly as snow would... my feet got totally sunburnt (and I don’t burn easily). In the evening we took the dalla dalla back to Stone Town and had a great dinner at Forodhani (the peoples’ garden), where stalls are set-up every day selling all kinds of different foods (sea-food, meats, vegetarian foods) and it’s all really cheap! So we sat there for a while eating and then slowly made our way back home later, relaxed and exhausted from a long day out. 

Yara the teacher (who would have thought)!

Today was my first day volunteering at a school here in Zanzibar. The school is a private primary school and the lessons are taught in English (except of course Kiswahili, which is taught in Kiswahili). The children are very well behaved and most really do try hard to work. I taught/helped teach an English class and also helped some students with their preparations for Africa Day – a day where the kids perform African dances, plays and have a fashion show to model some African clothes. The kids were so happy to have a new person around and were not at all shy to approach me and ask me questions about myself, as well as asking me for help with their work. I think it’s really cute, how the kids call me “Miss Teacher” (they do this with all teachers), and the staff address each other with “Teacher So-and-so”.

The younger girls were fascinated by my hair and at one point I had like five or six of them all standing around me braiding it – which, needless to say, turned into a complete disaster, I still have random knots in my hair that I'm trying to get out!

The school itself is quite well "decked out", having some computers and it's own library (meaning some old computers and an area with about five small cupboards of books). There are 6 or 7 classrooms and few students in each class - so the student to teacher ratio is actually quite good, though this may be due to the fact that it's a private school. I find the job that the teachers there are doing very impressive, especially when considering the limited resources in comparison to what is available to us in Europe or elsewhere in more developed countries. 

What has really struck me, is that the students here are very keen to learn and do not take school for granted (at least most of them), so they try really hard. I've also noticed this with people I have met generally, they practice English and Maths by themselves with any resources they can find - for example, by using magazines to broaden their vocabulary and then using the words to write a few simple sentences. It's nice to help these people, because you know that they are genuinely grateful for any help they can get. 

Hopefully tomorrow will be just as successful as today, I've already been booked to take a class at the end of the day, just to spend some time with the children and dance with them; for some reason I've become the go-to person to dance with the kids... and anyone who knows me can vouch for the fact that I'm probably the world's worst dancer, so I don't know how I ended up in this situation but I'll just go with the flow!

Zanzibar

I've now been in Zanzibar for five days already, how time flies! I took the ferry from Dar to Stonetown (the capital of Zanzibar) where, surprisingly, I had to fill-in another immigration form and get a separate stamp (no extra visa though) to enter the country! This is because Zanzibar - although officially unified with Tanzania - has its own government and functions as an almost autonomous country. The unification happened after the revolution of 1962 when the Zanzibaris got rid of the sultan of Zanzibar, and in 1964 the unification with Tanzania took place; however, Zanzibar still has its own president and government. The majority of people living in Zanzibar are Muslim, with the second largest religion being Roman Catholic Christians.

Stone Town is a historic city, with many Arab influences that can be seen in the buildings - the wood carvings on the doors and the opulent architecture can still be seen in many buildings. The city itself is comprised of many small streets and alleyways that are full of life and little stores (touristic and non-touristic). There are many little workshops (carpenters, artist studios etc.) that one can enter and view, being able to discover the type of work done and how this is done here. What is also fun about Stone Town, is that from the more "commercial" areas - if you can call them that - all of a sudden you end up in the middle of the food market! This market is quite large, selling all types of fruit and vegetables - many of which I've never heard of before - the colours are amazing and the smells even more so!

During my time here I have also had the opportunity to attend a funeral; Zanzibar being a Muslim country, this was inevitably a Muslim funeral - so I had to wear a head scarf (the first time I actually had to do this ever in my life). We went to the family's house, where the death had occurred and found many, many women sitting outside and inside the house all together reciting verses and prayers from the Koran. What struck me most was that everybody was wearing different colours and that it was just a sea of colours, very unlike a western funeral, where everyone is dressed in black! This praying session went on until the men came to collect the body, after which it is tradition that the women stay and chat for a while (there is no set time) as a way in which to console the family. This experience was definitely something new and, although a sad occasion, I was very glad to be able to participate and to have this experience (sadly I don't have a camera at the moment - otherwise pictures would have been added - I am trying to find a disposable camera for the time being, but this is proving harder to do than expected...).

On a different note, I got a Zanzibari driving permit and am driving a car on the wrong side of the road in an African country - so I'm feeling quite proud of myself. Seriously, avoiding potholes, bicycles, humans and other vehicles and obstacles, as well as driving on the wrong side of the road (on narrow streets also) is definitely a challenge - at least I won't be afraid to drive in the UK from now on!

Oh, and I've also hand washed some of my clothes for the first time... you'll find it amusing to know that I got blisters on my fingers in the process - clearly my hands are just too delicate and not made for manual labour!

Dar Experiences (Common Sense is NOT Common...)

I arrived in Dar and had a nice first evening there, meeting a friend for dinner and a good sleep afterwards. The next morning I moved to a different hostel, where I was welcomed in a very friendly manner. I then decided to go for a walk around town, to discover the city. It having been a Sunday, I thought it would be nice to walk around.

What actually happened was not so nice... and for reasons that become apparent later, also extremely stupid on my part. Let me start at the beginning... I was walking and had had quite a nice walk around town, obviously having been approached by various people trying to sell me things etc. when at one point I was approached by someone claiming to be a university student, studying music and who would like to give me one of his cds (first stupid part...) I agreed to walk to the shop with him.... of course, then on the way a "friend" turns up in a taxi (might I add, a legitimate looking one - with the yellow stripe and a cab number etc.) and offers to take us... (next EXTREMELY stupid part).. I get in the cab. I honestly do not know what I was thinking/that I was thinking at all... this is the stupidest thing a person could ever do, and is something I would never do at home, so why in a foreign country - where these things happen ALL the time and one is given a million warnings?!!! In any case, the rest can be summed up very quickly - I was robbed of all the valuables I had with me and some money which was taken from the ATM with my card (luckily my cards don't work very well in Africa and only a certain limit can be taken from them per day); more importantly, I was very lucky that it was clear all they wanted was to take my money and that nothing worse happened. They let me keep my cards, sim cards and my camera memory card, also they gave me some money to be able to take a cab back to the hostel (nice thieves if you will...).

Obviously I was in shock, but most of all I was so angry at myself for putting myself in this kind of position - and really what worries me most is that I do not understand how I could be this stupid! In any case, I'm very happy nothing worse happened and I consider myself extremely lucky. But this just goes to reiterate that these things do happen, and that one should be vigilant at all times!

In any case, upon arrival at the hostel the manager was extremely helpful and friendly, comforting me and trying to make me feel better. I also met another nice traveller that evening and we spent the evening chatting - obviously I told her what had happened and she said that she probably would have done the same thing.. which is also why I want to share this... just to make people aware that these things happen and to really really be careful!

The next day that girl and I spent the day around Dar, discovering the cloth markets, taking in the different colours and patterns (absolutely beautiful!), going to the fish market and buying a ferry ticket for my trip to Zanzibar! We found an amazing bakery in the Hindu part of town, where there are also quite a few Hindu temples. Surprisingly we couldn't find a single bookshop selling normal books - we found one selling childrens' school books and one selling religious texts - goes to show that some things we take for granted are really not found everywhere (not to say that there isn't a bookshop in Dar, we just couldn't find one)!

Apart from my stupidity and what happened as a result thereof, Dar is actually quite a nice city, although in my opinion two days would suffice to see what there is to see. Most people do tend to use it as a stop-over on the way to Zanzibar anyway, which is where I am now; but more on that next time :)

Arusha to Dar es Salaam (Dar)

Yesterday I said bye to my dad in Arusha and took the bus to Dar. The journey took quite a while, taking us through some breathtaking scenery! Tanzania is a beautiful country, very green and full of hills. The journey was relatively pleasant, except for the minor incident that when we got stopped for a police check they found someone who was smuggling ganga! So that was interesting to see! But it didn't really seem to phase anyone, however, all were saying that someone must have tipped off the police, as they don't usually stop coaches and search bags etc. This is affirmed by the fact that they didn't check all bags, only some which would have had a similar description.

I stayed at an interesting hotel/inn last night - I forgot to take pictures! The people were very nice, but I'm not sure about the neighbourhood. In any case, I moved to a hostel today where everyone is friendly and the neighbourhood seems to be a bit better/more friendly.

Arusha

Arusha is a quiet city/town with friendly people and where it's easy to get around. It is known as the safari capital of Tanzania, since very many wildlife safaris set out from there - it being close to Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, various lakes and the Ngorongoro Crater. It also turns out that it's the sister town of Mürzzuschlag in Austria - how funny is that?!

Having taken the shuttle from Nairobi to Arusha, we arrived in the evening and had a good nights sleep at the hotel. The next day we met some friends for lunch and organised a trip to the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda), which is based in Arusha. We toured around the premises and watched a video of the setting-up of the tribunal and the difficulties that were faced when doing so. The main issues were in relation to infrastructure - Arusha was not more than a little town before the ICTR was set-up, and did not have the proper facilities to house such a Tribunal. This had to be changed quickly - and the tribunal actually started its work prior to the completion of the conference centre and UN premises there. Unfortunately we were not able to actually see the tribunal in session, as the sessions for that day and the rest of the week were closed sessions - probably to protect state secrets (I think it was a high military person that was on trial).

We tried to arrange for a day-trip to Ngorongoro crater - however, due to high fuel prices and shortages thereof - it was not really a viable to option to pay $500 for a drive there to take some pictures and then to drive back.

During our stay there, we also went to the National Natural History Museum in Arusha - which was quite small but had some interesting information regarding tropical diseases/prevalent diseases in Tanzania and East Africa. We also saw the workshop where they restore the animals that are put on display. Funnily enough it turned out that the museum cafe is where I ended up going clubbing the night after!

This seems to be a popular place for interns at the ICTR, as well as locals, to go clubbing. We went to play pool at a little bar before going to Via Via (the club). The clubbing experience was topped off with an end of the night meal - "chips mayai" (chips with eggs - basically an omelet with chips, folded in half, put in a black plastic bag with ketchup) - surprisingly it tasted quite good and once I got used to the idea of eating my meal with my fingers out of a plastic bag I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The clock tower in Arusha is said to be the mid-point on the route between Cairo and Cape Town; whether it's true or not I can't say - but it makes for a nice picture anyway!

On the last day in Arusha we had a quiet evening - having had lunch with a few friends earlier. It was going to be a long day for both of us, travelling separate ways.

Nairobi to Arusha

We took the shuttle from Nairobi to Arusha yesterday, it took about 5 hours. Crossing the border and getting a visa was not at all a problem (not that we expected it to be). It was all quite "high tech" - with webcams to take your picture for the visa and fingerprint machines to take those. I must say that I was quite surprised by that.

What really struck me, was that nearly as soon as we had crossed the border, everything seemed much cleaner and more organised. The houses/huts were built in a more orderly fashion than in Kenya and the roads, though not necessarily better, were not accompanied by litter either side of them.

We arrived in Arusha in the early evening and one can tell that it is a smaller city: less noise, less people milling about and a much more relaxed atmosphere than either Nairobi or Mombasa.

This morning we took a walk into the city centre to discover the area - at first sight there isn't very much to see, but there was definitely less hassling going on - we could walk around with hardly any people coming up to us, and those that did were not as persistent as has been the case so far. We saw the clock tower of Arusha, which supposedly marks the mid-point of the journey between Cairo and Cape Town. Other than that I got myself a sim card, so now have a Tanzanian number and walked around a bit to get our bearings in the city.

Arusha is also the city where the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is situated - so in the next few days that will be a definite destination! 

A few relaxed days in Nairobi

The last few days have been quite relaxing and chilled out. Just met up with a friend and hung out - seeing Village Market and experiencing the Nairobi night life.

Village Market is a western style mall where lots of the ex pats hang out - on Fridays they have a market on the roof, where you can acquire any of the typical Kenyan souvenir/curio items. I did find it quite a contrast to the mall part below.

Going out was really good fun - the bars are nice and the people are very friendly; so much of the night life is outside, the place we ended up in had its dance floor outside (pretty much on the pavement in front of the bar)! It is normal that commercial sex workers - I quite like that term - frequent the bars and attempt to find clients there. It is not abnormal to find yourself dancing with someone only to then get asked whether you're coming home with them - happened a few times to my friend during the night hahaha!

Heading to Arusha, Tanzania in a few hours - will update again from there!