Sunday, August 29, 2010
Zanzibar Archipelago, Tanzania
Well… Ramadan in Stone Town, the old city in Zanzibar.. not a party time but we made it so!
When I showed up to meet Dullah, he had met Beth, a lawyer from LA and Rudy, a Costa Rican living in France. We organized a Dhow and headed out to Prisoner island to go snorkeling and visit the tortoise sanctuary. Frankly the snorkeling was crap and the water had lots of tiny jellyfish particles in it so it felt like you were being pricked by pins all over.. not fun!
So, the tortoise sanctuary was indeed very cool.. MASSIVE .. O*L*D* turtles up to 180 years old were everywhere so incredible. Beth and Rudy turned out to be great company so I ended up hanging out on the island for a while with them swimming and enjoying the beach.
After the island, a quick shower, and we’re back on the tourist trail with Dullah who took us to the Slave Market site which was an incredibly powerful tour.. I cannot possibly believe the depths we would sink to treating other humans as we so did! But after that it was a walk through the local market where you could buy everything from underwear to toothpaste to shoes to fruit to kitchen sinks.. literally. Then onto my favorite part of the evening.. a beer at the Africa house overlooking the harbor for a few minutes while we waited on Beth’s takeaway Indian food and then we headed down to the night fish market. Table after table after table.. you get the idea.. of fresh food, prepared on skewers, between nan, in rosti and you just order till ya can’t hold any more down.
While we waited we played with some local boys who wanted to sing Michael Jackson songs with us and do the moon walk! What sweet kids they are here, so sad on so many days to see the conditions in which they have to live when they have nothing buy joy in their eyes most days.
So some late night beers again with some Austrians who were sitting by us at the night market and we rounded out the evening as I needed to get home to pick up my laundry.. but thats another story for another day.. I’m almost out of time on this computer so I have to run.
http://gino
So no matter where in the world you go you always gravitate to "miles and miles of crap on a shelf"! Keep up the safe travels and the good times. Do your best to show the world that not all of humanity is terrible even us dispicable (I'm sure I butchered that spelling but I did type it with a Daffy Duck voice) Americans. Keep putting that new camera to good use. Glad you got the Olympus, you need to become their spokesperson or at the very least a model tester.
http://Mom%20adn%20Dad
Can't text back. Keep sending. Miss you.
http://Cousin%20Paula
Hey Bill, Great to hear how your trip is going! Keep the updates coming. Wish I was there!
http://Michelle%20Berti
Hey, the restaurant in Cape Town you have to go to is called Mama Africa. It's on Long Street, this is the street that has a big bar scene. They will serve you all the game meat you can eat. I recommend the meat sampler. They give you a little bit of everything. And they have live music every night except for Sunday. If you're taking a group, you have to make a reservation. Make sure you order a Springbok shot at one of the bars on Long Street and try the cider. They're yummy. Watch out for pick pockets on Long Street. Oh, and the wine country that is near there is Stellenbosch. Fun place to do wine tasting. I recommend the bike and wine…if you don't mind drinking at 9am and then biking your butt off. The van picks you up and takes you out to the wine country. If I think of other stuff, I'll let you know…you still have a while till you get there.Keep clear of those jellyfish and keep up the exciting stories…although I'm not surprised you missed the boat…ha, ha. 😉
http://Mombossbe
Bill, The jellyfish did not sound like fun, but the "tortoise and the Hat" were cool. Sound slike the UN over there. I think the world survives more on beer than oil!! Waiting for more. Keep writing and keep taking lots of pictures.
http://DefinitionOfProlific=MJ
Ha! Love the tortoise shot! Was watching a Hulu episode of 'Who Do You Think You Are?" a reality show that followed several celebrities in their tracing of their ancestry, and one former football player went right where you were at for the show as it was the most likely send-off point of his slave ancestors, it was terrible and moving. I think if I lived to be a 100 years like that tortoise in your picture I'd look just like it, and probably move as slow… sounds like you're seeing all the best of Tanzania! Safe travels!