Home safely

I am back in Arusha after my trip to Zanzibar. A week was enough time for me, for this trip. More even than here, Zanzibar is filled with people who want to sell you something or convince you to give them something, and telling them no (after a prolonged greeting process where they test your Swahili) is fatiguing. I will summarize the worst / most hilarious of these interactions. The first night we arrived, Ken and I were given a tour of the beach near our bungalows by a guy named Ally who was in some way associated with the hotel although perhaps not employed by them. About 20 minutes down the beach I decided that I would rather be swimming than walking on the beach, so I turned around to go home and get my suit and swim before it got dark or the tide got any lower. On my walk back to the bungalows, I was joined by a young man who spoke fairly poor English who walked along with me for most of the journey. I am still not entirely sure what he wanted - to practice his English perhaps or to recruit me for the full moon party at the nearby town of Jambayani that night, which he continued to ask about even when I said that I would check with my friends but it was unlikely that we would go. However, after I told him I was going home to go swimming, he asked me repeatedly whether I wanted anyone to shower with. I am fairly certain that he meant swim and it was a translation / understanding area, but it made me fairly uncomfortable and even though I told him no several times, he still walked all the way back to the hotel with me. I changed and headed out to the beach where he again approached me and asked if I wanted someone to shower with. I told him clearly and firmly that I wanted to be left alone and preferred to swim alone and he did go away at that point, but it was already 20 unpleasant minutes that I could otherwise have spent enjoying the beach, the warm weather, the water, etc. The last night in Zanzibar, I was sitting on the beach near our hotel (literally maybe 10 feet from the fence/ bushes that designate the hotel as a hassle-free zone) when I was surrounded by a cadre of small African girls in the 4-8 year old range. They yammered on at me in Swahili although I clearly didn't understand what they were saying, and pointed at my jewelry and theirs (I think they wanted to trade a bead ring for a silver one.) After a few minutes of this, which was not really unpleasant just somewhat distracting from the reading I had been intending to do, I was approached by 2 young men who seemed to be associated with the girls. They did the introduction / greeting test routine and then one of them asked me "Do you want husband." I looked at him skeptically and he repeated the questions. I replied "Not right now" and he said "Oh, you don't have husband?" He then asked me why I did not have a husband. At this point, I was tired of the whole routine and told him rather pointedly that this was a very personal question, it was rude to ask it to a stranger, and that if I were him, I would not do that again. Then, he asked me if I was interested in arranging a snorkeling trip the next day, told me I should give the girls some pens for school, and moved on to the next pair of white people down the beach when I was clearly uninterested in any of his suggestions. Obviously, some of these situations are comical in retrospect, but at the time, when you are having these conversations many times a day, they are just tiring, distracting, and annoying. The same things happens in Arusha to some extent, but not nearly as frequently or persistently, so I am glad to be back here.

After Mbweni and Chumwe, which did have excellent snorkeling, food, and a relatively interesting nature walk in the afternoon, we went to stone town and met up again with Ann, who had arranged a spice tour for us on Tuesday. The spice tour was interesting - we got to see cardamon, cinnamon, pepper, cloves and vanilla growing as well as seeing and tasting a wide variety of local and imported fruits, all of which were harvested along the way. Then we visited some relatively new abandoned Persian baths, and had lunch of spice rice, curry, and the ubiquitous spinach in coconut sauce (the main/only vegetable side dish in Zanzibar). After lunch we visited a nearby cave where slaves were hidden after the slave trade became illegal, the sombre nature of which was obliterated by the hokeyest guide ever, and had a quick swim at a fairly nice beach. That evening, we had dinner at the tower top restaurant which is recommended in all the guide books. The food was OK but the view out over the city and harbor at sunset was fabulous. The next day, Ken left for his brief Serengeti Safari and Ann and I went to Matemwe where we had a lovely air conditioned bungalow and a swimming pool, (the water is very low at low tide.) We spent most of the last 2 days swimming and reading but did walk up and down the beach and explored the tide pools as well. Yesterday we flew home in the same plane with the broken windshield and bargained from 20,000 shillings to 10,000 for the taxi ride home from the airport, which we were proud of. Today, Ann set out for home and Joel took Bryant, Eric, Laura, Charlie and I to Arusha National Park which is about a half hour drive from our house. It was nice and cool there in the morning.

Warning to all Minnesota readers: The following paragraph may be upsetting for you - you way what to consider skipping it.

Zanzibar was a beautiful and relaxing vacation destination and I can definitely imagine myself returning there again, especially since I didn't really get to see much of the historical sites or museums I had read about in "The White Nile" but it was too hot. Even with t-shirts and skirts, it was often uncomfortably hot and it didn't cool off at night. If I go again, I think I will splurge on hotel rooms with AC every night. And I will definitely take a friend - all the hasteling from the touts would be just too much to handle alone. But I think it would be a nice place for a family vacation if what you really want is fabulous sand, plenty of sun, and lots of fresh fruit and fish.

Monday I return to work at Selian and I have some projects in mind to help out the hospice team and interns so I'm eager to get started with the second half of my time here.