Zanzibar and Dar go Kerboom

Zanzibar has definitely made my list of Top 5 Tropical Islands to Get Stranded On. It’s stunning. It’s a lot like Mauritius in terms of its physical beauty but way more interesting with Stone Town, the spice trade, lots of history, friendly people and bustle.

We took the Kilimanjaro ferry from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar on the basis that the boat was bigger than the others and we’d probably be able to weather the 2 1/2 hour journey better than in the smaller, more vomit-inducing vessels. And a very, very civilized trip it was. In Zanzibar we rented a Suzuki 4×4 for $30/day, having left the Land Cruiser in the trustworthy hands of the cathedral security guards in Dar es Salaam. The Zanzibar car rental agreement was negotiated and hand-written at the bar of the guesthouse. “Yeah, yeah. Just write that you are fully insured.” In Zanzibar, for reasons only Zanzibarbarians can understand, the rental cars come with NO fuel in them, but lots of air. They clearly siphon all the fuel out before you are given the vehicle – the gauge was sunken well below E. So the first stress is trying to find a petrol station while your 3 kids figure out how 2 seatbelts restrain 3 children in the rear, and your wife reminds you how it would be unpleasant to run out of fuel. The “girly” Suzuki only broke down once and the “rental company” replaced it immediately with an even more girly, baby blue with flowers on it, Suzuki 4×4.

We stayed in a simple but lovely guesthouse with 6 rooms on the Matemwe beach, in the northeast. Our room was great – an open loft with two king-sized beds, mosquito nets and beach views. We spent the first day just relaxing on the glorious beaches of Matemwe and Nungwi, the second day eating local foods at very local restaurants and getting ourselves to Stone Town for a night.

We were stopped by the police for the umpteenth time on the trip and finally found a way to outfox them. The policeman inspected the Suzuki and gleefully announced “Your car has a problem. It is missing a wheel screw. You must got to court on Friday. Or we can make the problem go away now…” Gormless looks back. “Do you understand?” We gormless-looked, gibberished, made circular arguments, placed lots of useless phone calls, shuffled papers and pretended we didn’t understand until he finally, after 45 minutes, lost his patience trying to extract his bribe. “You will have to go to court on Friday!! Aren’t you in a hurry?!!” “No, no, we love Zanzibar…” Chris and Fiona 1, African Police 3.

Stone Town is beautiful – a real hybrid town: African, Indian, Portuguese, English and Omani architectural influences – and great fusion food. The kids chowed on octopus, curries, samosas, local pilaus, falafels, ugali and more and loved it all. And yes, they did eat a pizza one night when we were treated to a lovely dinner in the heart of Stone Town by a local photographer, a friend of friends. (Thanks, Aisha!)

The last morning in Zanzibar was spent on a spice farm where we were shown and ate all the various spices and fruits that grow on the island: cinnamon trees, pepper trees, turmeric root, cloves, cardamon, coffees, nutmeg, vanilla, litchis, mango and more… The farmers really put on a show for us and had the kids totally enthralled – brilliant.

We’re back in Dar es Salaam now, on the same beach. Last night a military base (and 23 munitions depots) a few miles from here blew up, killing at least 20 people (thanks Cam Taylor for the link: BBC News – Tanzania Blasts) – we initially thought it was military training but the distinctly military explosions and flashes went on for about 6 hours – and Fiona and I were trying to figure out whether the Congolese had invaded or there was a coup underway. Tragedy.

I had to have the car suspension repaired today. No mean feat. The first couple of repair shops were not English speakers so I had to resort to charades to try to explain that I thought I had a shock or strut problem. (Cue my best Mick Jagger impression). I gave up pouting and strutting and went to Toyota Tanzania where they fixed me up like a VIP and charged me nothing. I ended up making a donation to the mechanics’ coffee fund for more than 4 hours labour… Nice folk who were genuinely happy we were doing the trip in a Land Cruiser!

Tanzania is awesome and we’ve only seen a little of it so far. We’re heading off early from Dar es Salaam tomorrow morning towards Arusha and Mt. Kilimanjaro. Hugo’s eye infection is fixed but I still have a hell of a man cold (sympathy please). The car has been given a clean bill of health so we’re hitting the road to northern Tanzania (Kili, Ngorongoro, Serengeti) for at least a week.

We’re not sure whether Kenya is going to happen. We’re torn between turning around at northern Tanzania, and seeing a bit of Kenya at the expense of Mozambique, Malawi and Swaziland (but Chris and Fi have both been to Kenya before)… Uganda is definitely out as they won’t let us in without a Carnet de Passage (vehicle import permit) and that would cost us about $40,000. So I guess Uganda will have to wait for another time.

We’ve now been travelling for more than two months and we’re a strange combination of rested, exhausted, exhilarated, fed up, homesick, and full of wanderlust. But this is, without any doubt, the most incredible trip we’ve been on. And we’ve still got 4-8 weeks to go.

The only significant stress is the looming reality that awaits us in Canada: jobs, houses, schools, cars. Trying… Not… To… Think… About… It.

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