Stepping out of the plane into Dar es Salaam, I was dazed by a blast of heat. It was like a re-entry into the Africa I experienced in Ghana, with those things that are "typical" of the continent: heat, humidity, sickness, scarce water, intermittent electricity… I was back in Africa to celebrate Christmas! Since this entry covers a lot, I've divided it into the main parts of the two weeks: Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam, and Selous Game Reserve.ZANZIBAR
Cristiano, Prasanna (two other CBA interns) and I intended to pass the holidays in Tanzania, with a rough plan to spend a few days in Zanzibar and visit a game park. But as is often the case in Africa, things did not exactly work out as planned.In transit that morning in the Joburg airport, I got a text message from Cristiano: "Taya and Prasanna will pick you up from the airport. I'm not well." This did not prepare me for the state I found him in that night – pale and sweating in bed with a fever of nearly 40°C. It was clear he could not join us on the ferry to Zanzibar the next morning. So I showered with a trickle of water, used the toilet that I couldn't flush, turned on the A/C and climbed under the mosquito net. Early the next day, Prasanna and I headed to Zanzibar, two interns in a strange land.
Although Zanzibar is now part of Tanzania, they still make you pass customs to enter. Once you do, you're on an island paradise. Zanzibar is a dream. I've never seen such aqua blue water – sometimes milky, sometimes fluorescent. Stone Town is mysterious with its narrow winding streets (where we endlessly got lost), shrouded women, and calls to prayer. There is fresh seafood, spicy sauces, exotic juices.
We spent the first day in Stone Town with a detour by boat to Prison Island for the afternoon. Prison Island is the site of an old prison (apparently never used), a beautiful beach, and a turtle sanctuary full of giant stinking turtles that you can feed and that frequently have loud sex. Back in Stone Town, we hoped to eat street food at the famous Forodhani gardens but were disappointed to find that they were closed for renovations until god-knows-when. But we heard about a night market on the street beside the Old Fort, so we returned there that evening for crab claws, fish skewers, Zanzibari pancakes, and sugar cane juice spiced with ginger.The next day, we went on a Spice Tour with the (apparently legendary) Mr. Mitu, which took us through the nearby spice plantations to see and taste the plants, then served lunch and brought us to a secluded beach for the afternoon. On the way back, Mr. Mitu's entourage flagged down a dala-dala for Prasanna and I to take to the north of the island. We grabbed our bags, I hitched up my sarong, and we ran. The dala-dala dropped us on the road and we walked about 20 minutes in the heat down a dusty road to arrive at our resort, Kendwa Rocks. We must have been a strange sight, an Indian man and a Chinese woman with backpacks, beachwear, our feet covered in dust and a straw bag full of spices. There is not much to say about Kendwa except that it was incredible blue sea, white sand, and sun.
IN & AROUND DAR ES SALAAM
On Christmas Eve, Prasanna and I returned to Dar to find Cristiano feeling much better on a pharmaceutical cocktail prescribed for him by a Cuban doctor. It's still not clear what he had, but it may have been a strange form of pneumonia. Unfortunately, the electricity was out so we couldn't make Christmas Eve dinner. Luckily, there was electricity in random parts of the building, including the kitchen of Cristiano's friend Wies, so we went to cook and hang out there. We then passed a sleepless night in the heat, waiting for the power to come back.We had our Christmas Day miracle! At 7am, the electricity came back with a roar of fans and air conditioners. We all ran to the living room, cheering! Then went back to bed to catch a couple hours of sleep.
We decided to treat ourselves for Christmas at the Hotel Kilimanjaro Kempinski, the most expensive hotel in Dar. We figured they would have Christmas trees, maybe a fancy buffet, and (very important) air conditioning. I realize this was very "ex-pat" of us and most Tanzanians never enjoy such luxuries, but far away from home and family, it was comforting and I think we did well to pamper ourselves. We had a lovely Asian-style meal at the Oriental Restaurant in the Kempinski (I had hot & sour soup and my first proper sashimi since leaving Vancouver), finishing with individual chocolatey desserts.
The next few days were spent exploring Dar and the surrounding areas. We visited Bagamoyo (a crumbling colonial seaside town), dined at "A Tea Room" in the Indian area, shopped for Tanzanian souvenirs, and saw Kariakoo market. Prasanna left Tanzania on December 27. Cristiano and I spent a few more days around Dar, walking through the city, lounging at the stunning pool at the Golden Tulip Hotel, and visiting nearby beaches at Kipepeo and Bongoyo Island.
THE SELOUS
Studying the travel guides, Cristiano and I were enchanted by the idea of a boat safari on the Rufiji River. We decided to spend my last few days in Tanzania at the Selous Game Reserve.
Selous was an adventure, to say the least. Game parks in Tanzania are incredibly expensive (most people travel in private planes, park fees are upwards of US$50/day, and lodging easily costs US$500/night), so Cristiano and I had to find a way to do it relatively budget. We found a backpackers' special at the Selous Mbega Camp; the condition was that you had to arrive by public transport. Our first clue to how uncomfortable the journey would be was our trek to buy bus tickets at Sudan Market in the Temeke suburb of Dar. We searched for the "Morning Star Bus Company" ticket outlet, and found it in one of the shacks selling biscuits and drinks, including a most dodgy-sounding "Chemi-Cola".
Our bus left at 4am on New Year's Day. We had a tame New Year's Eve eating giant Tanzanian king prawns and lentils (an Italian New Year's tradition) then watching fireworks around Dar on Cristiano's roof. We caught a couple hours of sleep before we had to trek back out to Sudan Market to catch the bus. As mZungu ("white person" – although I was more often called mChina or "ahhh-chingchingchong!" and Cristiano was sometimes called mArabo), we had the automatic privilege of the front seats in the bus. It is only 250km from Dar to the Selous, but it took 7 long hours, half of which were over a violently bumpy dirt road. I have ridden public transport in other parts of Africa, but I think it's possible that they cram the vehicles the fullest in Tanzania. The seats were full of people and the bus was full of cargo, yet they kept piling people on top of people on top of the cargo in the aisles. I had a perfect view of the dried fish buzzing with flies on the dashboard that someone would surely eat after 7 hours in the sun, and of the uneven dirt road stretching ahead of us that we kept bouncing along at dangerous angles at seemingly breakneck speed.We finally arrived at Mloka, the nearest town to the Selous, where our lodge picked us up in their 4x4. We stayed in a safari tent in the treetops that had generator power between 6-10pm and a full bathroom with (brown) running water. We booked a boat safari for that evening and a full-day driving safari for the next day.
The boat safari was peaceful, except for the hippo we saw charging someone's canoe! (We were safe because our boat had a motor, which the hippos are scared of.) Hippos are dangerous animals with bad eyesight, reputed to cause the most deaths in Africa each year. Luckily, the man we saw crossing the river escaped. We saw hippos, crocodiles, monkeys, and many bird species. Our guide had an incredible eye and was able to spot the smallest bird from across the river.
The driving safari was a little disappointing. Being the most budget option, perhaps our lodge did not have the best guides and vehicles. Our 4x4 had no shocks and a dead battery – our guide could not turn off the engine, so we were stuck with the sound of it running the entire day. We saw impala, giraffes, zebra, buffalo and elephants (although these were far away). But the highlight was the group of female lions that we found resting under a tree. I was terrified when our guide drove right up to them, but the lions only looked at us. They were remarkably like cats, sleeping and stretching in the shade, but clearly much more powerful.
The next day was another brutally early morning (3am) and the bus ride home. We were glad to arrive in Dar alive.
RETURN TO SOUTH AFRICA: THOUGHTS ON COMING HOME
Landing in South Africa was like returning to the developed world. Stepping into the Joburg airport, I ordered a cappuccino and four cheese & olive muffin at vida é caffé and noticed how everything moved more quickly. The boys behind the counter joked as they busily made lattés, slid drinks across the counter, yelled out order numbers. The temperature was comfortable and you could hear/understand the voice announcing flights on the PA system. Going to the public toilet was a pleasant experience!
I also noticed again the multi-racialness of South Africa. I must admit that when I first arrived, I was a bit disappointed. I felt like this was not "real Africa" – the Africa of the Blacks, I suppose, that you get sucked into and fall head over heels in love with. But the attitudes here reflect a much more sophisticated consciousness and relationship between races that goes beyond calling mZungu at you in the street. For better or for worse, people are aware – of what racism is, what it feels like, how important it is in their lives. Over the last 4 months, I have grown to love this country where nothing – especially race – is ever simple. South Africa has become another home.
