Looking back at Zanzibar

The island of Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania, is one of the most beautiful places I've seen. I studied in Tanzania with UGA's African Studies Institute. It was the reason I started my blog! I read through my posts from Zanzibar again this morning and it brought such a smile to my face. Read (1) & (2).

Zanzibar's been having some problems recently. It's an island that heavily depends on tourist revenue, but they've had a hard time getting tourists because of acid attacks. Earlier this year, two British girls had acid thrown on them in the middle of the city. Their bodies are badly, badly scarred. Check out this article to learn more. Luckily, the Zanzibari government has arrested 15 people associated with the attacks. Because I loved Zanzibar so much, this news was deeply troubling but hopefully things will be better with the arrests. 

I never uploaded pictures onto LT&C of Zanzibar, so better late than never. Enjoy...

Exiting the port

Our hotel!

That sunset...

Freddy Mercury was born in Zanzibar! He has/had a restaurant in Stone Town. 

Red Colobus monkey

Miles of Mangroves

Still not sure how this didn't win the UGA Photo Contest. 

My waterproof camera case came in handy while snorkeling.

It's always nice to take a stroll down memory lane. 

zanzibar

Zanzibar used to be an independent country, but became a part of Tanzania after a revolution in the 60's. We're staying at a hotel called the Tembo Hotel. It's awesome. You could look it up online, I wish there was a way for me to upload pictures, but I don't have a way to put them on a computer. Hotel's right on the beach, crystal clear water with our balcony overlooking the pool. There are a lot of tourists here, so everything is more expensive, relatively speaking of course. For example, there was this beautiful nativity set that I saw in Arusha and got quoted 50,000 Tanzanian shillings for it. In Zanzibar, the guy told me 170,000 shillings. I can't believe I look so stupid. I rolled my eyes, laughed and walked away. You can't be a sucker in this world.

We went to the food market in Zanzibar on our first day here. It was gross. Meat was hanging from hooks in the ceiling and there was a little room in the back where chickens would go to get their heads cut off. I walked by this one door and saw a cow head, eyes open, just laying on the table. FREAKED ME OUT. I had curry vegetables for lunch that day. I guess its better knowing where your meat comes from, than having cows that see nothing but the inside of a factory their whole lives.

The Sultan of Oman ruled Zanzibar for a while, and his palace is still in the middle of town, along with another large exhibition building called the House of Wonders. These building have the potential to be incredible works of architecture, but there's hardly any money to fix them to mint condition. They can't just call up a company or trust fund to sponsor a renovation, so that was a little disheartening too. I tried to just look past the leaking ceilings and imagine what the palace would have looked like in its glory days.

Freddy Mercury was born in Zanzibar. Yes, THAT Freddy Mercury from Queen. He has a restaurant in town so 5 of us went the other night for dinner. They only played Queen. It was awesome.

We went to a forest on the west side of the island that had red colobus monkeys. They were very cute, and very unafraid of people. The little monkeys wrestled around on the ground while most of the grownups watched in the tree tops. I could have stayed and watched them all day, but no such luck. Later that afternoon we went to the leading NGO for women development in Zanzibar. We met with the Chairwoman of the National Progress for Women. She looked like she was about 40 but was 55. Incredible lady. She talked to us about the problems faced by women in Zanzibar, it was a very interesting lecture. My roommate might even come back next summer and intern with her.

There's an associate dean from UGA visiting and reporting on the Study Abroad program. Pretty sweet deal, he's spending the summer traveling around the world staying in the nicest hotels in the cities. I'd loathe him if he wasn't so nice. Plus, he invited us to his swanky hotel for drinks a few night ago. Did I mention the legal drinking age is 18 here? But few people drink because it's against Islamic law. Jersey Shore was on TV later that night.

Yesterday, we went on a tour through spice farms in the country. I got to see cinnamon, lemongrass, ginger, cloves, vanilla, ylang ylang, saffron, jasmine and a few others growing. It was really neat seeing how it looks before the spices get in the grocery store. Cinnamon, for example, comes from the bark of a tree. Once you dry it, it rolls up into sticks. Cool right?

Went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch yesterday, then watched the 2nd game of the Celtics/Magic series. Never would have guessed I could do that in Africa. Last night at the old fort with dancers. Had a good time.

We just got back about an hour ago from snorkeling off one of the small islands around Zanzibar town. I get overwhelmed in water, as some of you know :/ so snorkeling has never really been my thing. Remember SB 06 Nat? haha But I gave it another shot, with life jacket on, of course, and I got to see some really cool coral in the reefs. Coolest part, I got some pictures underwater. (THANKS FOR THAT BAG, DAD! IT WORKED!) The camera in general is just awesome. I've gotten some of the best pictures but the underwater ones are really nice. We got to the island in this 10 passenger wooden boat with a small motor. Waves were a little intense on the way there but it was fine. A storm started coming in while we were out, so we started heading back to town, but got stuck in this HORRIBLE downpour. For about 15 minutes, we couldn't see any land around us. I was starting to feel very anxious but then we saw another boat, and reached shore soon after. It's still raining, but my computer times up.

If I decide to become an ex-pat, you can find me in Zanzibar

So I realized I haven't really given any descriptions about the group I'm with. I'm in Tanzania with the African Studies Institute at UGA. I applied in December much to my mom & dad's initial hesitations because I mean really, Africa isn't the number one place a parent hopes their little girl will go running off to. Good thing I flew, and I promise, I'll be home in less than 2 weeks. Weird that much time has gone by already. There are students in the Maymester program. I'm the only rising sophomore, 3 boys and 6 girls. There are 3 other girls that are in Tanzania with UGA and they're meeting up with us in about a week to go to the parks but they're primarily working in an orphanage in Moshi. We have 2 professors here plus Dr. Moshi, the program coordinator. She's kinda a big deal around here. She's also a professor and used to be Head of the African Studies Institute, has 2 Ph.D's, used to teach at Stanford, and has been bringing UGA Students to her home since 1998.

Sunday morning we went to this outdoor museum in Dar that celebrates all the different tribes that make up Tanzania. We basically looked at 22 different recreations of huts and villages, real size. Really interesting seeing how people used the materials they had available to create their homes. It was blistering hot, as is every day on the Indian Ocean near the Equator. Duh.

After we were all hot and sweaty and gross we got to go to the Ambassadors House. Like the United States Ambassador to Tanzania's house. It was AWESOMEEEEE. I drank tea and ate cookies on china with the seal of America gold-plated. We talked to the Ambassadors Wife and his Chief Deputy for about an hour. It felt like home, just with soldiers with guns at the end of the driveway. No big.

Went to take a walk on the beach about 3 miles from the main port. Ew, bad idea. There was trash everywhere and it smelled like sewage, because basically, it is. Not a place to build sandcastles, but there are incredibly nice beaches in Tanzania. Just google it.

Yesterday we drove to Bagamoyo. Its a town about 2 hours north of Dar es Salaam but it feels like a world away. A majority of slaves that were sold to Middle East came through the port so we saw the ruins of the old fort that belonged to the Arabs and then the Germans. We also went to the ruins of a town from the 13th century. Pretty spectacular. There was a mosque, a few houses and a bunch of graves. There's also a well right outside the mosque that people come from far away to drink from or bottle because it never changes volume. You can take a gallon from it, but it never increases or decreases, even in the rain. Scientists came in and tried to find the source but had no luck. All the water around it is salty, which makes sense because the well is about 200 meters from the ocean.

For lunch, we went to the Bagamoyo Beach Resort . It was just really incredible. I felt like I was in the Caribbean, but the palm trees were better. Then we headed back to Dar, packed up because we left this morning for Zanzibar. I called Mom Dad & Nat (MISS YOU!) and woke up at 5.30 ughhhhh.

We caught the ferry to Zanzibar at 7 AM. There were so many people at the port, all asking to help us with our bags, but then they ask for $5 when you get to the ship. Everyone's trying to make a buck. We got to see the sun rise, which is always nice. A nice encouragement for those that have to start the day so early. The ferry ride was about a hour and a half. Our group sat upstairs in the open air. Less likely to get nauseous that way.

THEN we dock in Zanzibar and oh man, this place is sweet. I feel like I stepped into Ancient Arabia, or some exotic bazaar. The Arabs and Africans have lived here without (almost) any conflict for centuries. It's about 95% Muslim, but Christians are here too, no issues. I'll write more about this place later because we'll be here for a few days but I'm basically in love.

Other things:

My roommate had malaria. She got medicine and is fine now, after about 4 days. It's not contagious but I didn't want to say anything until after she was 100% better. In Africa, malaria is so deadly because people can't afford the medication (about $70). So people use preventative measures, like nets, to lower their chances. If you can afford medicine and you get diagnosed early, not a huge problem.

LOST. My favorite show of my older teenage years is ending on Sunday. For those that just rolled their eyes in disdain, just stop reading. But for the REST of you that understand how great this show is, understand my pain. All the internet cafes don't have flash, so I haven't watched the last 2 episodes, nor will I be able to watch the 2.5 hour season finale until June. If I were home, I would be having a huge party for whoever wanted to come. Maybe serve Lost-themed food. Probably not. Then the show would end , not all questions would be answered, but I like the idea of watching it at the same time as everyone else in America. So, consider yourselves invited to my post-finale party in June, when I finally figure out how that polar bear got on the island. And if you spoil it for me, consider yourself dead. Only half kidding.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMMAW!!!!! I'm sorry I didn't get to call you today. I hope you have a great day. I love you very much.

I'll write more about the intrigue of Zanzibar tomorrow.

Namaste.