In the Air Again...

Our last night in Zan was nice. We took the day to just wander around. I bought an English newspaper from a guy who is doing his Math Degree in Waterloo.

The flight to Dar es Salem was uneventful. The whole flight took us 15 minutes. After checking into the Jambo Inn, we walked down to see some old churches on our way to the National Museum. The churches were nice. The Museum was fantastic! The displays on the history of Tanzania were very informative and I was definitely in my element.

We walked to a book store called "A Novel Idea" and by chance, ran into 2 Canadians. They are doing their masters on International Studies. They invited us to a cultural dance near our hotel and since they knew their way around, we agreed. It was very neat to see some local performers on an open-air stage. We walked home without incident. I had some type of beef kebab at the hotel's restaurant. It was decent. It was so luxurious to have power (lights and a fan) once again. I slept like a log.

This morning was an early one: 5am to catch our "7:45"am flight. One the taxi ride to the airport, we were almost hit by another driver. He swerved around us and hit the car in front of us. It was pretty scary, even our driver was doing some Hail Mary's. Turns out our flight was delayed and this caused us a great deal of stress because we would miss our connection in Kili airport. Everything worked out okay and we made it to Entebbe in one piece. We are staying at Green Valley again tonight. Tomorrow we are going to Kampala for a day trip then meeting the other girls for a trip to Chimp Island.

Zanzibar

Hello everyone!

I thought I was headed to civilization in Zanzibar, but it turns out that power and water are in very short supply. This has been my first chance to go online in several days.

Day 1: we settled into our hotel, which is in a renovated Sultan's Harem. Our room was nice with 3 beds, an en-suite bathroom and a fan. The only problem is it was terribly hot with no power.

Day 2: Spice Tour. In a min-van type vehicle, we headed up to the highest point of Zanzibar. Our guide walked us through a spice plantation and showed us a variety of spices including cinammin, pepper (looks like peas!), and lemon grass. We also tasted some fruit: oranges, star fruits etc. On the way back to town, I had my first bath since I left Jess's place in Edmonton (don't worry, I have been showering!). It was in the Indian Ocean! I really enjoyed the white beach, the waves and the warm aqua-blue water. I even tried swimming (read: floundering)!

Day 3: This day was dedicated to exploring Stone Town. We followed the map and saw all the big sites including the 2 sea-front palaces, the Natural history Museum (including a dodo skeleton minus the head). The Anglican Church over the old slave market was very sad. The holding chamber we entered was tiny, tiny and they said it would hold 75 slaves before they were sold.

Day 4: Out to the coast we went to swim with the dophins! We had a nurse from Holland join us, Monique. She was very fun. The 2 boat drivers suddenly told us to get ready and then to jump! My initial fear of the water (the waves looked really big) combined with my poor swimming skill (and lack of recent practice) made me quite apprehensive about the whole thing. Once I saw the sleek, grey dophins arching out of the water, my fright evaporated and I very ungracefully jumped into the water. I got a good look at a few below me and also saw several jumping out of the water. They were amazing. We snorkled a while near a coral reef. The fishes were great, but the Jelly Fish were not! I must have been stung 10 times, it felt like a mosquito bite, so not too bad. Yes, Teri, I was takin' on the Jellies!

Day 5: we hired a car to drive us to the North coast. We stopped at a local fish market on the way. They fish for sale were layed out on these cement tables. There were all these people arounds staring at us. I felt like a fish out of water. Our guide explained the different species. I watched as a toothless old man gutted a shark. To my delight, a small fish hit the ground. Then I realized it was a fetal shark, not something the big one had eaten. The shark minus the fins sold for 80,000 Tanzanian Shillings, which is around 80 US dollars. The beaches so beautiful! I really enjoyed walking down the beach with the waves trying to wash me out to sea. I found some pretty shells, but I have to leave them behind because I have bought too many books! The turtle sactuary hosted about 10 turtles in a natural pond. Maria went swimming with them, but I didn't want Salmonella so just petted them from outside the water. They are very fast and elegant swimmers. I held a baby one and have some great pictures! On the way back to town, we stopped at a Place Ruins. There were several individual baths with a couple really big ones including one with water lilies. Sadly, the local people actually use these for bathing (water shortage and all). I don't think it is very clean...
Day 6: we are just hanging around Stone Town today. I finally managed to buy a newspaper from a guy who is home for the holidays. He is studying math (ewe!) at Waterloo and actually knew where Saskatchewan is! I took a stab at my German lessons and I realize I have a lot of work to do.

We fly to Dar es Salam tomorrow then Entebee. Next post will be asap but I have no idea when.

Safari Day 1: May 11th

Somewhere between Moshi and Arusha, we stopped because neither Elis (our Kili guide) nor Walter had “taken breakfast” yet. I drank a glass of African Tea (boiled milk, water and sugar). The 3 of us shared a bowl of African Porridge, which contained bananas and some tough beef. It actually tasted like potato soup. Maria and I shared the African equivalent of a meat and egg spring roll. I really enjoyed eating some local cuisine.

The hike up Mount Kilimonjaro started with fairly easy. The forest was so beautiful; I have never seen anything like it. There were plants growing on top of plants!

Lunch was a welcome rest. I watched 2 porters go by, they carried the baggage on their heads with perfect balance in addition to the load on their backs. 2 young Canadian women were just leaving when we rolled in. They said they are from Ontario and are volunteering in Tanz for a few months.

The post-lunch climb was more challenging for 2 reasons: 1) I was more fatigued and 2) the path was much steeper. We saw Colobus Monkeys, which I would describe as skunks with hands. The Blue Monkeys are actually blue-grey but are named for their juvenile colour.

Our climb could only be described as “Pole, pole (slowly, slowly). 5 hour later, we reached the camp and took a short pause. I had a snack and changed my socks as the men watching had a laugh at me (my new socks were tiny and pink).

On the descent, Maria and Viv led the way while I walked with Elis and had the most informative conversation:

• Kenya: Old tribal issues are the root of the current violence. Tanzania hasn’t experienced this because the first president successfully united the countries tribes. Everyone is so intermarried it would be nearly impossible to create such divisions any more.
• Education: “Free” primary school for all children has come at a great cost. The attendance has sky-rocketed and there are not enough teachers or spaces for the new students. Also, teachers are not being paid regularly, so nobody wants to teach. There are fees, which fund new classrooms and supplies like desks. This fee is still limiting for some people who live in absolute poverty. Secondary and post-secondary school is inaccessible for most students.
• East African Community: in Elis’s opinion it will be good for Kenya, bad for Uganda and Tanzania because the education is not comparable (Kenya has the best education system of the three). Kenyans will out-compete Tanzanians in all aspects of business.
• Government: corruption is rampant and offenders resign when caught but are not brought to justice. Elis said: “Tanzania is a poor country, but not as poor as you would think.”
• Rwanda Genocide: The Tribunal is being held in Arusha.
• World Cup in South Africa: The construction of the stadium has doubled the price of cement in Tanz. People can no longer afford to build homes.
• Marriage: complicated because very beautiful women should be avoided in Elis’ opinion because of the risk they might run off with a wealthy man. He thinks most marriages in Tanz are more like business arrangements.
• Women: Elis is definitely a feminist! Unprovoked, he launched into a rant about women’s rights, education for women, family planning, and overall empowerment of Tanzanian women as the solution to his countries problems.
  
• The trail: paid for by someone in Denmark and built with the help of a Canadian engineer.
  
  It was dark before we reached the bottom. Maria had her headlamp, which was great. She turn around on the really difficult sections so we could see as well. As I crossed a wooden bridge, I saw the remnants of the sunset. The words hauntingly beautiful do not begin to describe the African Jungle.
  Our hotel was nice enough with hot showers and food.

Safari Overview

I am back in Arusha. My appologies, but I forgot my journal at the hotel, so I will only briefly describe the safari with more detail to come.

The safari was amazing! It was really neat to see all the animals in their natural habitat. The entire trip fits with the theme of seeing to believe rather than reading about it. Our guide, Walter, proved to be very knowlegible (and a safe driver!). The lodges we stayed in were fantastic! All had rustic, African-themed decor with excellent service. It might be a little hard to revert back to budget hostels and simple meals after 5 star luxury ;)

The climb up Mt. Kilimonjaro was very tiring and long. I can't remember ever walking 16 Km in one day, let alone up hill and down. That said, the experience was well worth the sweat and blisters. The forest had more shades of green than I have ever seen before. It contained Colobus and Blue Monkeys, which were a delight. We were rather slow and made it to the 1st camp at 5pm. After a quick rest, we hurried down, but still didn't make it before dark. Maria gets the girl-scout award for bringing her headlamp. I had the most interesting discussion with our Kili guide, Elis. We talked about all things Tanzanian from the school system to coruption in the government.

Arusha National Park, Lake Manyara NP, Serengeti NP, and Ngorongoro Crater were all stops on our trip. My favourite was Ngorongor Crater which had all the animals I wanted to see (except giraffes) set in beautiful flowered open areas and the crater side as the back drop. I saw 5 black rhinos! Walter had said we would be very lucky if we get to see one! Another favourite experience was being 'charged' by an angry female elephant when we got too close to her baby. Walter very quickly 'backed the truck up.' The girls are teasing me now because I thought we were gonners. I saw 3 cheetahs and over 40 lions! One female was so close to the safari vehicle (I can't think of a good name for it), I could have almost reached out and touched it. Another male gave me the shivers when he looked directly at me with piercing green-yellow eyes and licked his lips.

I watched the sunrise over the Serengeti one morning at breakfast and concluded the classic Acacia tree silhouetted with a red sky might actually be a morning scene rather than sunset.

We saw wildebeast in a portion of their great migration. As the hundreds of animals plunged across the stream, I couldn't help but think what I was seeing could be straight out of Discovery Channel. The herd was divided when a hyena trotted into their path.

Zebras are really neat. They also migrate, we must have seen several thousand.

This hippos were much different that I expected. They are in the water to avoid the hot midday sun. The few hippo pools we came across were vats of excriment that according to Maria and Viv smelled really bad (thank goodness for my poorly-functioning sniffer).

Aside: My written descriptions cannot begin to describe what I have seen, but my attempt to upload pictures is failing miserably. The internet is rather slow. I will try this again soon. There are a few on Flickr, please take a look.

We are going on a 1-day Culture Tour including Camel Rides (yay! Note: South of the Sahara, Micha!). Then we are flying to Zanzibar, which should be fantastic!

Safari planned!

We got one! It is a 11 day 10 night safari including a hike up part of Mt. kKilimanjaro. It also includes 3 of the near-by national parks including the Serengeti. There was a great deal at the company we choose because this is there 'slow' season. So our package includes 5 star lodges, and our own personal tour guide/driver. We leave tomorrow at 8am for Kilimanjaro. I am so excited.

There was a party in the bar at the Masai camp last night. They know how to party here, the music played until 4am. Thankfully I brought my earplugs, but unfortunately (I guess) my book was so gripping I wasn't tired and couldn't sleep. I just finished Blood Letting and Miraculous Cures.

Today we walked into Arusha again to finalize our safari plans, get our phone minutes working (we can receive calls, but not make them), buy some more fruit, hit the bank, and do our emails. It has been much better today because I think the locals realize we are not brand new. I also stopped saying Hi to everyone I meet. The cook at the camp told us some choice works in Swahili to discourage the "fly catchers" and other 'sales people' who harassed us yesterday. Go away is Apana Nenda (this is phonetic spelling). Works like a charm.

I am uncertain of the internet access on Safari so don't fret if you don't hear from me in 11 days. We should have cell coverage.

Arusha

We arrived via a tiny little plane. Thanks for taking me flying Harold, because I was slightly more prepared for this than I would have been without. We stayed at the Masai camp outside the city. Our taxi drive was special. The driver had little English and was unfriendly. I think he was having a bad day. We were stopped by a police type person who gave him heck, I think about insurance. Then I was pretty certain he was having a bad day. The car also shut off periodically. There were people grazing animals along the road and there were half-built brick houses along the route.

Our room was tiny with 2 beds. I slept on the floor for 2 reasons: I had the single bed the night before and I also wanted to give all my nifty camping gear a try since I've lugged it all the way from Canada. We had a great supper in the restaurant, even though it was over-priced. There was one shower, which had icy cold water. I keep having to remind myself that I can't use the water to brush me teeth.

We are looking into Safari's today. It has been quite the adventure going into the city. There are people everywhere trying to sell things. We got our money exchanged, which is nice to actually have some local currency.

The plan is to buy some water, fruit ect. on our way home and book the room for an additional 2 nights. The culture shock is starting to hit me. I think I will be glad to leave the city and get into the parks. It looks like the Safari for 10 days will be more than I expected, but it will be worth ever penny.

Entebee

I think we should fly Emirates home. The food and service were amazing. I had 3 seats to myself on my flight from London to Dubai so I watched The Bucket List and had a great sleep. Dubai was amazin! On the dessent, the desert was visible: dunes dotted with shrubs and straight roads. There were people from all over in the airport. It was insane how many there were! There were families sleeping on the floor and there was no respect for personal space. If I stopped, I felt I would have been run over. We only had time for a quick look around the airport before our flight left.

The flight to Addis Ababa was good. We had a delicous breakfast. The landscape in Ethiopia looked like I expected Africa to look like. There were irregular lots of tilled land, women in long, flowing dresses, and modest homes. The Airport was definately where I realized I was in a developing country. There were a few older planes parked along the runway. We stopped for 1 hour but were not allowed to leave the plane. During the wait, it started to rain. This may sound cliche but I didn't think it rained there.

I was very tired when we started the descent into Uganda and I could hardly keep my eyes open. I saw some of Lake Victoria. The lanscape is green and lush. We disembarked from the plane and walked into the airport. Our visas were easily obtained for $50 US. I spelt Mbarara wrong on the application and the Official teased me. Our bags miraculously made it here! I was so relieved. Even though I had prepared for the worst, it would have been very hard to live without my bag. Moses and Peter from Green Valley hotel had a sign for Viv. Viv went to find out about our flight to Tanzania and left Maria and I with Peter. We were standing by the airport entrace with around 20 men. They are all well-dressed in white shirts and dress pants. They were staring and talking about us (I'm pretty sure), but it wasn't awkward. Maria saw a stork flying overhead. The airport was all decorated with flowers and shrubs. Sorry no pictures for this because the travel guide said it wasn't a good idea. They drove us to the hotel in a white van. This was a fun drive. We passed people walking, riding bikes and driving motorcycles. The roads are RED (think PEI). They drive on the left, like England. It has taken some getting used to because I keep feeling like we're going to crash. Our room is large with a double and single bed complete with mosquito nets. The windows are screened and barred and the patio door has this ginormous lock on it. The bathroom has a tub with shower (but no curtain).

After 36 hours on planes and in airports, I needed a shower. It was glorious. The plan was to go find an internet cafe but as Viv was getting our phone hooked up, I fell asleep in the chair. They woke me up at 6pm so I could get under the mosquito net before dusk (that's when the Malaria bugs come out to play). I tried to stay up reading with my flashlight, but I only lasted another 20 minutes. We slept until 4am local. The birds started to sing and they are very nice. We couldn't watch the sunrise because the malaria risk.

We had breakfast at the hotel (eggs, passion fruit, pineapple, toast, and tea) then walked to downtown Entebee. It is very tropical and warm here. The plants are beautiful. I feel like I am in the jungle (or what I would imagine it to be). We passed by people with motorcycles offering us rides on their Abodas, but we say no to that! So far, my impressions of the people are that they are very polite and nice. They are well-dressed and proper. I'm a little sad we're leaving so soon, but we will be back! We fly to Tanzania this afternoon.

My phone number:
011-256-754-637-411
It doesn't cost us airtime if we recieve the call, so feel free!

Heathrow

After much last-minute shopping, packing, repacking and packing once more, I am finally on my way! The flight from Edmonton to London left at 8pm. We (Maria and I) arrived at 11:30am London Time. A few flight highlights:

• Finally getting a chance to catch up with Maria. It has been so busy these last few months...it was nice to have a visit without the stress of school weighing overhead
• Watching National Treasure: Book of Secrets
• Seeing the sun caress the horizon somewhere over the North Atlantic
• Comparing the perfectly-square Alberta farms to the oddly-shaped, tree-lined lots around the Heathrow Airport.
• 2 really good airplane meals (chicken for dinner and a continental breakfast-how appropriate).

We weren't really exactly sure how to find Vivaen in the airport. After waiting by the airline counter for a few minutes, we found the Air Canada counter (it was hiding) and discovered her flight arrived before ours did. We choose to wonder around Terminal 3 in hopes of running into her. Barring that, we would see her at the gate, when it is announced before the flight. Luckily, the book worm in us all worked in our favour. We found Viv in a bookstore shopping for a novel.#

Heathrow is nice, but it actually reminds me of a shopping mall. We found a cosy set of benches between Gucci and Armani to settle down in. Maria is reading and Viv is fast asleep. The people watching has been great! There are people from a multitude of ethnicities; more than I have ever seen in one place. For example: across from me is a Jewish family with 6 boys + one baby in the carriage and another on the way. I have seen 3 African men in traditional-looking robes. I just passed a fellow that has the same haircut as mine. There are seasoned travelers, obvious tourists, business people, employees and lots of children (more than I expected). I always thought it was difficult to travel with kids.

Viv has us booked into a hotel in Entebee and a driver will be picking us up at the airport. The plan for Tanzania is yet to be finalized but likely we'll take a day or 2 to see what types of tours/safari's are available and go from there.

Jenna teased me this year about my habit of saying "I've read about it...". After this summer, I should be able to say I've actually seen it. So far, I noticed vehicles driving on the opposite side of the road. I also saw a Double-Decker bus and overheard a woman saying "David" with the same accent as in Love Actually.

I'm feeling tired, excited, and content all at the same time. It still hasn't sunk in that this is actually happening! We board the plane in another few hours, then off to Dubai!

*Jme*

Marie is on her way to pick me up then I'm off to see the world.

I just wanted to say thank-you to everyone who has supported me on this trip. You know who you are ;)

"The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old reminiscences of what never happened" -Saki Munro.

I don't want this to be true for me, that's why I'm off to see Africa and some of Europe.