Zanzibar!

Zanzibar was AMAZING. So amazing I seem to have run out of words to describe it, since everything I try either seems corny & over-the-top or inadequate & still a little corny. Granted, there’s nothing quite like being at home for the holidays, but as far as 2nd-best-things go, spending ten days in one of the most beautiful places on earth has got to be at the top of that list. (Add 5 Princeton in Africa housemates to the mix and that just sweetens the deal.)

Some memorable moments:
Day 1 (Christmas Eve): Stu (Uganda) met Tim (TZ), Kevin (Mozambique), and me at the ferry in Stonetown, and after stocking up on groceries we headed to our rental house in Uroa. There weren’t many pictures of the house available online, so we weren’t entirely sure what to expect, but wow … I think even if we had known, the house would’ve still surpassed those expectations! Three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a big den and dining area, kitchen, small downstairs porch, large upstairs balcony/patio – and all right at the water’s edge. By the time Nana (Ethiopia) joined us that evening, we’d tested the water, started exploring the neighborhood and making friends with the local kids, and discovered that Mwanajuma (the cook/housekeeper) was a fantastic cook :-)

Day 2 (Christmas!): We celebrated Christmas by adding a few festive touches (a few strands of lights, gingerbread cookies) to an otherwise lazy day on the beach … which was then topped off by a Christmas feast of Sting Ray (that we’d picked up at the local fish market that afternoon) and a trip down the beach (and then down a long dock) to the Christmas party we’d seen advertised at one of the neighboring hotels. As it turned out, we were apparently the only ones who had seen the advertisement … but we got the DJ to put the music on anyway and started our own little dance party.

Day 3: More of the same (swimming, reading, hanging out, etc.)

Day 4: Feeling adventurous and having rented 3 Vespas for the day, we set off for the north of the island. The guys were driving; Nana and I were taking it easy on the backseats of Stu and Tim’s bikes; we were off! And then, about 10km later, the whole trip was off. The guy who had rented us the bikes had assured us that as long as the bikes had permits, the drivers didn’t need separate permits. The policemen at the roadblock down the road, however, assured us that this was not so. And just like that, our fun day-trip up north turned into a 1-2 hour-long ordeal that ended with the police confiscating the bikes (until their owner could come and clear things up) and left me feeling like I’d just finished the linguistic equivalent of a marathon. The day wasn’t a total loss though … an afternoon swim and one of Mwanajuma’s delicious meals brightened our moods and after dinner we ended up catching a ride (in the other direction this time!) to see what the nightlife in Stonetown had to offer.

Day 5 (or, Destination: north Zanzibar, Objective: windsurfing, Attempt: #2): Thanks to Kevin’s international driving license and a rental car, we finally made it! Unfortunately, once did finally get up north, we discovered that the only hotel with windsurfing boards was lacking a windsurfing instructor, so instead we settled for a mini tour of the northern hotels … lunch at one, swimming at its neighbor, and watching the sunset at another. All in all, an excellent day … until the car broke down on the way back to Uroa that night, that is (part of our continuing un-lucky transportation streak…)! Thankfully, the Tanzanian version of AAA (i.e. a friendly person passing by) wasn’t long in coming, so we made it back to the house soon enough :-)

Day 6: Having already done Stonetown at night, we decided to do a daytrip on Sunday. The original plan was for us to hang out in town, meet up with Emily (DRC) – who had gone home for Christmas but was coming to Zanzibar for New Years – and then head back to Uroa. About halfway through the day though, we found out that she was actually arriving on the 30th, so that part of the plan got scratched and we just spent the day exploring Stonetown.

Day 7 (or, the Great Zanzibari Fishing Adventure):


Day 8 (New Year’s Eve): Back to the north of the island (this time not driving ourselves though!) for the New Year’s Eve party at Kendwa Rocks. Advertisements for the party had promised African dancers, fire eaters, acrobats, a BBQ, a Tanzanian DJ, an American DJ, and a “surprise” at midnight … if the first three did really perform we didn’t see them and the BBQ turned out to be more of a normal dinner buffet, but the DJs were definitely hard at work all night and the fireworks at midnight were a bit of a surprise (especially because there wasn’t a countdown, so it really was a “surprise! It’s 2009!” moment…). As expected, the party was packed, everyone was having fun, and the dancing on the beach continued well into the New Year (when we left around 5am, the party was still going strong!) :-D

Day 9 (New Year’s Day): Sleep!

Day 10: One last morning in Uroa and then back to Stonetown. Stu left to catch his flight back to Uganda, while the rest of us spent the rest of the day walking around town and had one last tasty meal at Freddy Mercury’s Restaurant (not his restaurant – just a restaurant named after him (he was born in Zanzibar)).

Day 11: Ferry back to Dar.