Wrapping Up in Stone Town

Our return to Stone Town on Wednesday marked the beginning of the end, so to speak. TC would head to Dar on Thursday before flying home on Friday. I was staying in Stone Town until Saturday when I would commence a couple of marathon travel days. (I'm writing this during one of my layovers. By the time I get home, it will have been 36 hours of travel from departing from Zanzibar airport to arriving at the Victoria airport.) To celebrate our last night together, TC and I headed to Traveller's Cafe for beautiful views of the sunset.

Once it was dark, we wandered around Stone Town to work up an appetite and then headed to a little Indian restaurant that TC liked. We were the only people in there and the proprietor sat down with us and chatted about what it was like to live in Zanzibar Town. Still a little sore from our Tuesday night at Gerry's Bar in Nungwi, we called it an early night. It was a low-key but very enjoyable last night together.

The next morning, TC and I said our goodbyes and I headed out on a tour of Stone Town. Through the magic of Instagram, I had befriended a local tour company a few years ago. It just seemed rude to not hire them for something while I was in Zanzibar. Despite repeated visits to Stone Town, I ended up being really happy with my choice to do a tour. Because the streets of Stone Town are so twisting and confusing, you get into the habit of only walking the ones you know. With a guide, they know all the shortcuts so you end up seeing a lot of smaller side streets you wouldn't normally take.

We visited the Anglican Church and the site of the old Slave Market. Always an uplifting way to start the day.

These were believed to be the holding cells for slaves before being shown at market.
(There are a few historians who dispute this.)

This memorial stands roughly where the market was located.

We then headed to the Fish, Spice, and Chicken markets for a wander.

One section of the fish market is an auction. This was fish waiting to be auctioned.

Fish Market auction: all the pride of showing the fish you caught without actually having to catch it.

The other section of the market was vendors with their fish to sell.

There may have been a few cats hanging around. I can't think why!

Thanks to an overly aggressive tout, I got distracted in the Spice Market and realised after that I didn't get any pictures. (Just a reason to go back... again.)

Every street in Stone Town is picture worthy.

Cats the world over are exactly the same when it comes to sunbeams!

The spikes on a Zanzibari door. Once upon a time, these helped repel invaders.
Now they're just pretty.

An Indian-style Zanzibari door.
(The persian style ones have a rectangle instead of arch at the top.)

All the doors on this street were being refurbished. (You can see
water damage on the lower left of the door.) The worker was trying
to clean up the doorway for me. He became part of my pictures.

Like any good tour of Stone Town, we ended up at Mercury House. Freddy Mercury was born in Stone Town to Indian parents. Freddy didn't live in Mercury House - it's pretty much just a cash grab on the name because it was built on or near the site of his home which was demolished  - but when standing in front of Mercury House...

Friday was souvenir shopping and lazy day. After I picked up a few items for the few people on the list (the handy thing about almost all of your family have visited at one point or another is that you don't need to get them squat!), and headed to a waterfront cafe I liked for one last fruit smoothie and the gorgeous view.

The last time I left Tanzania, the morning started with a massive downpour and Justin, our gatekeeper at Cradle of Love said that it was Mother Africa crying because I was leaving and she didn't want me to go. Well, she cried this time as well. In fact, she cried for over 2 hours and with thunder and lightening, I started to get a little worried about flight cancellations. Instead, I spent three hours hanging out in Traveller's Cafe drinking coffee and chatting with Suleiman about life, politics, and religion in Zanzibar. If you have to wait out a storm, it's the way to do it.

This little guy decided that my table and chair was the perfect spot to hide from the rain.

I had a great time, Tanzania. I'll see you again!

Island Life at Nungwi Beach

I arrived in Stone Town to a downpour to which I ended up having to sacrificing my runners.

*sigh*

I really should have stayed on Pemba!

Also, so many white people! More than I had seen the entire trip and it freaked me out a little.

TC and I reunited with overpriced non-alcoholic drinks at Mercury's (where the picture above was taken) before heading back to the hotel, avoiding two more downpours, and then heading out for dinner, drinks, and English Premier League soccer.

Obviously, we have our priorities straight on this trip,

We headed to Forodhani Gardens for dinner. It did not disappoint.

The next morning, we headed to Nungwi for a couple of days of beach time.

That's our bungalow on the right, hotel restaurant on the left.
This did not suck at all.

I had stayed in Kendwa (5km south) and Nungwi on my previous trip. To say things had changed was an understatement. What used to be a backpackers hide-away with cheap accommodation has become overrun with resorts. I ran into a guy that I knew from my last trip and we ran through the list of changes. It was long. Like, we're-still-texting-each-other-the-changes long.

Don't get me wrong, I still loved my time in Nungwi (and as long as Jambo Brother's doesn't change too much, I'd gladly go back there because the village is lovely), but every once and awhile I'd trip over a memory from last time and marvel at how different it now was.

Still, it hadn't gone so upscale Mr. Moo and his family couldn't enjoy a day at the beach

But enough about my nostalgia.

We stayed in Nungwi for three nights and did almost nothing. It was glorious. We'd get up, eat breakfast looking at the Indian Ocean and then... one of us might wander down the beach, one of us might read, one of us might go for a swim, one of us might sleep an entire day away. Not me on that last one, by the way.

Morning traffic in Nungwi is crazy!

We did wander to Kendwa one day - a walk that can only be down at low-tide - for lunch and we walked to Gerry's Bar and back twice which was a bit of a jaunt, so it's not like we never moved. We were just very, very selective about when we did.

I mentioned that I ran into a guy I knew from my last trip, King. (Yes, that's actually his name. It was his mother's maiden name.) At that time, he was a tout who I found annoying, to be honest. (I didn't remind him of this, but I distinctly remember him annoying me to the point of swearing.) Now, older and wiser, he's a fisherman, and we had a couple of good chats about his trips up and down the coast following the fish amongst many other topics.

If these were the waters I got to sail in every day, I'd probably become a fisherman too

On Wednesday morning, we packed up our bags and headed back to Stone Town.

*sigh* At least I'll always have the memories... and about 400 pictures.

Prepping the fishing net for easy casting

Dhow at sunset

Helping the fishermen bring in their supplies after a day at sea

Island Hopping to Pemba

Pemba had been on my list of places I'd like to visit in Tanzania since my last trip here, but it's not an easy destination to get to. I even contemplated including it when I was drafting up some tentative travel plans before leaving Canada this time, but getting there was either long or expensive. If it hadn't been for a poster in my Tanga hotel showing a $65US price to fly from Tanga to Pemba, I would never have gone.

What a mistake that would have been.

The plane ride over was worth every penny, for starters.

There's a dhow (traditional wooden boat) hanging out by this sand bank.
I wouldn't mind hanging out with them.

My first view of Pemba Island was actually the smaller islands on what
I guess you could call 'the outer bank' before the sea floor drops away.

I arrived at the airport on the east side of the island and caught a taxi to the capital city of Chake Chake. The city is built on a hill above Chake Chake Bay and I could walk from one end to the other in about 20 minutes. Two other wazungu got off the plane in Pemba, but they were picked up by a resort car. After that, I saw one white person my entire trip and he was a Peace Corp volunteer, not a tourist.

The view from my first hotel. It was closed my second night so I had to move to another one.

Pemba is beautiful but very poor. While both Zanzibar and Pemba feel that they are forgotten by the mainland government, Pemba is also forgotten by the semi-autonomous Zanzibari government. Unemployment is high and salaries, even for government jobs, are below what they are worth elsewhere. Politics is a big topic in Pemba, and I was a willing participant. "What do you think of CCM?" I'd ask feigning innocence, then I'd sit back and let them ramble.

I booked a guide, Nassor, for a full day tour of the island for Friday. We started by heading out the peninsula Ras Mkumbuu to the Qanbalu Ruins. The ruins are believed to be Africa's oldest Muslim town and a large portion of the Friday mosque remains.

The mihrab wall (the niche that points towards Mecca) from the outside.
The round structure is where the Iman would stand to call people to prayer.

After we were done checking out the ruins, we walked back to Nassor's car which was parked by the hut used by the anti-smuggling police. They were sitting down to breakfast and invited us to join them for some chai (tea), tuna, and cassava. Sometimes the best parts of travel are the parts you could never plan.

Have breakfast here? Well, if you insist!

We drove up to Wete, the second largest city, where I saw Pemba's Flying Foxes, fruit bats which are endemic to the island of Pemba. I've received a few odd looks over the years when I say this but I think bats are beautiful so I was delighted that we spied some in a tree.

Washing day near Wete

When we returned to Chake Chake, I headed to a little hut I had discovered earlier for some mishkaki na chipsi (beef skewers and chips). It was run by the delightful Hatim (at least, I think it was. My swahili is limited, and so is his English.) They were elated when I returned a second night in a row, although Kilo - their friend who spoke very decent English - wasn't there so the conversation was a bit more a struggle without someone to translate. As I was leaving, they asked if they'd see me the next day. In Swahili, I explained that I was going to Unguja (Zanzibar) the next morning, but that I hoped to return to Pemba some day and spend more time there. Hatim nodded, smiled, and then said in English, "I know you will be back." I hope you're right, Hatim.

Hatim's wife, Hatim, and the cook. If you ever go to Pemba, I'll give you directions.
You will not find friendlier service in Chake Chake.

The boat to Zanzibar leaves from Mtoani at the south end of the island but there isn't a hotel there (well, there is but none of the reviews sounded too positive), so I was up before the sun for one last car ride with Nassor. After he dropped me off, I walked the length of the pier while people swam in the water on one side and fishermen prepped their boats as they returned from a night of fishing on the other. 

The fishing dhows winding down after a night of fishing

I boarded the ferry (which was also a cargo ship), found someone sitting in my seat who refused to move, ended up sitting a few rows over after climbing over a sleeping family on the floor, moved my bags so someone else could also store their chickens there, and settled in for the five hour ferry ride to Stone Town.

Coastal Humidity

Our travel day to Pangani was long and hot. I had tried to buy tickets the day before but one of our new friends – he’s a friend; he’s added me on What’s App. I just can’t remember his name – said that we didn’t need to. Buses to Tanga (where we would have to change buses) leave every 30 minutes. I kept asking which of there were the fast buses to Tanga. “Oh, they’re all fast. Four hours to Tanga. All of them.”

Haven’t sworn on this blog yet, but I have to start. Bullshit.

I knew, from my previous visits, that there are regular buses to Tanga but that two of the companies are known for being quicker than the other ones. Well, we didn’t catch either of those companies. What should have been a 4-hour ride to Tanga, turned into a 6.5-hour bus ride. This was followed up by the slow bus to Pangani. It was slow because it was one of the big busses that drives the route so it had to stop in every village to pick-up and drop-off supplies. Ben, an Englishman we had met in Lushoto, left an hour after us and arrived in Pangani almost two hours before us.

If you could see my face right now, it’s making the Queen Victoria ‘We are not amused’ face.

To add to the joy of the bus ride, once we were out of the Usambara Mountains, the temperature was a cool 32°C with a humidity of 75%. That was it for TC. No more Tanzanian bus rides after that one.

On the upside, this is how the ride ended.
It was followed by a beer. Then another beer.

You will all be relieved to know that Fawlty Tower’s Manuel has been reincarnated as the well-intentioned but social awkward Balthazar of Seaside Community Centre Hostel, Pangani. In his odd, inept way, he kind of made Pangani for us. Our first night there, we decided to stick to the hostel for dinner. Balthazar brought us a menu. We ordered and he let us know that they were out of everything we wanted. What did they have, you ask? Fish. Lots of fish, such as red snapper. Oh, we love snapper. We’ll have that. They’re all out of red snapper. If our plates had arrived with chicken on them instead of fish, I would not have been surprised.

TC and Ben discovered that when you order fish in Tanzania, you get the whole fish. Head, eyes, angry little mouth included. I knew this; I have no idea why I didn’t think to tell them. We ended up ordering a larger fish divided between the three of us. I got the tail which was easy to eat. Ben got the middle, and poor TC got the head.

This was a different order of fish, but you get the idea.
Also, I obviously have no problem with my food looking at me as I eat it.

The thing was, this continued the entire time we were there. Settling our bill after a few beers on the beach? I’d like to pay now. You pay? Yes. Now? Yes. Okay, so you will pay now. Yes. Okay. [Awkward pause while he stands there looking at you.] I will bring you the bill now, yes? Oh good grief, YES!

Perhaps the best service we got was when there was no service because everything
stopped for a Tanzanian Premier League game.

Our days in Pangani were very lazy. For one thing, there isn’t much to do. For another it, it is so hot by 11am that you don’t want to do much. And the humidity! It didn’t matter if you showered in the morning or the evening; the minute you stepped out of the shower, you started to sweat. Sitting in the shade on the beach wasn’t too bad because there was a slight breeze. Walking around town involved multiple stops to have a cold something; pop, water, beer. It didn’t really matter, it just had to be cold!

The view from one of our cold liquid refreshment stops

We lost Ben to beaches on the south side of the river, but we picked up Lucas, a nomadic Dutchman, in the process. He happily came with us to eat dinner, drink beer, and watch soccer his first night. He and TC hit it off and as TC was game to head straight to Zanzibar from Pangani but I had no interest in two weeks on Zanzibar, they decided to head off together while I headed back to Tanga with the intention of heading to Morogoro.

The Pangani ferry crossing the Pangani River

My plans changed when I got to Tanga and had missed the bus I was hoping to catch. Instead of play bus-hopscotch to get to Morogoro, I hunkered down in Tanga for a night intending to catch the direct bus the next day. I’d quote Robert Burns, but I’ve already done that. I decided on a whim to fly to Pemba, part of the Zanzibar Archipelago, for a few days before catching a boat to Stone Town. 

The dhows of Pangani They head out at night to fish.
If you sit on the beach, you can watch their lights blink on the horizon.

Touts, Beers, and Hikes

After our safari ended, I took TC up to Ngongongare to see Jifundishe. We were picked up by the ever gracious Paulo who, other than plans to change the oil in his car, had made sure to free up his day to be at our disposal.

The fields around Ngongongare

On our way in, I did a quick tour with TC of the Jifundishe Library and grounds before we headed out to the staff house for a quick chat with Anne and Deb. Unfortunately, Anande was away at training all week so I missed seeing her again. By all accounts, she was sad to miss me as well, but I’m pretty sure she was just upset that she could no longer come to Cacti House – the volunteer quarters – to eat my leftovers every day.

These three brothers came running out and asked for a picture.
Don't have to ask me twice!

You can walk Ngongongare in about 10 minutes, but we made the most of it and followed a few of my favourite walks out and back so TC could see the countryside as well. We waited for Paulo in front of the duka (shop) on the CCM flag stand as it was the only place to sit.

The traffic in Ngongongare is insane!

CCM stands for Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Party of the Revolution) and it is the current ruling party. Their green flag can be seen flying in almost every village you pass, although it is also common to spot the flag of the main opposition party, Civic United Front (CUF), flying as well. As I explained this to TC, the woman running a small fruit stand overheard and started cheering and clapping for CCM. It was clear who she had voted for in last year’s elections!

Bought my last Coca-Cola baridi (cold) from the duka.

We bought our bus tickets for the next day. Paulo came with us to make sure it all goes okay because apparently I’ve never bought bus tickets on my own in Tanzania… As we walked back to his car, he spotted someone he knew and started chatting. TC and I walked to the car and patiently stood to the side waiting for Paulo to catch up. Instantly, I was swarmed with guys asking if I needed a taxi, they could get me a taxi, here’s a taxi (pointing at Paulo’s car). One of them went to open the door for me, saying “I know this taxi driver. I’ll get him for you.” I pointed at Paulo walking up to the driver’s door, and said “I know him, too. He’s my rafiki (friend).” The tout then asked Paulo to give him some money for finding the fare. Paulo and I looked at each other with ‘what the hell’ faces as the tout realised we already knew each other and disappeared down a side street.

Paulo: taxi driver, Swahili teacher, cheaper-price-getter,
grocery runner, beer provider, and good rafiki.

It was just such an African moment.

We went to Paulo’s favourite restaurant for lunch where we introduce TC to ugali, a corn-mash dish eaten all over East Africa. Ugali is bland and tasteless, but that’s okay because its main purpose is to act as a food-picker-upper for whatever you are serving with the ugali (usually steamed spinach and some sort of meat). Paulo devoured his portion of the ugali; TC and I, in true wazungu fashion, dropped almost as much on the table and ourselves as we got in our mouths. We may have been the butt of a few jokes.

After the hustle and bustle of Arusha, Lushoto was such a nice change of pace. A sleepy little town tucked up in the hills of the Usambara Mountains, Lushoto has friendly touts, chatty locals, and cooler weather. Everything you could want after Arusha! We booked ourselves into the only dry hotel in town because it was also the cheapest, and while I had a nap after our 8-hour bus ride, TC checked out the town and found a little hole-in-the-wall to buy beer. Our evening plans were sorted.

The wall of the Lushoto beer shop.

The main reason for coming to Lushoto is hiking. TC had been contemplating a multi-day hike to the Mtae (a village on the other side of the mountain range) but a knee injury shortly before departure ended that plan. Instead of heading off in different hiking directions, we booked a day hike together to the Mazumbai Forest Reserve. The hike starts with going up about 600 metres and it’s pretty much straight up. I’ll give you two guesses who the slow one was. Hint: it wasn’t the person with the knee injury.

About halfway up to the summit. Lushoto is in that valley behind me.

When we reached the summit of our hike – through the forest to an old German lookout fort – our guide, Ali, made lunch. Who should we run into but Agri, one of my guides from when I was in Lushoto in 2007! He’s doing well, thanks for asking. He’s now working at the Irente Bio-reserve as a guide. Yes, Yassin (my other guide from another trip there) still works at Friends of Usambara. Ah, Lushoto.

Even the middle of nowhere needs a corner store.

One of the great things about doing these hikes with a guide is that they take you through all the backroads and small trails that the locals use. One of the not-so-great things about doing these hikes with a guide is that the backroads and small trails are small. If you stop walking, you can barely fit both your feet on the path.

Two guesses who totally bit it on the walk back to Lushoto. Hint: it wasn’t the person with the knee injury. (Although I had one after I fell!) What a sight the two limping wazungu must have been straggling back into town.

The view from the path through another nameless village

We spent another day in Lushoto to give us time to recuperate from our injuries because Market Day is Thursday and we wanted to check it out. I always love Tanzanian markets, well, food markets. Not only is the food cheap, the colours and atmosphere are always so vibrant. And in a fun twist of events, the declaration of love hurled at me came from a young woman, not a man. She was telling me in Swahili that I was pretty, so I smiled and said ‘asante’ (thank you) as I wandered past. Then, in really loud English, she calls out “Dada (sister), I love you,” and the market full of dadas, mamas, and bibis (sisters, mothers, and grandmas) roared with laughter. What else can you do except laugh with them and say ‘asante’ again? 

Market Day in Lushoto