Day 10: Arusha to Zanzibar

Maya was feeling a little under the weather yesterday afternoon. Last night she was talking in her sleep a bit more than normal and this morning she woke up at about 4:00 am with a fever. I knew there was a small but distinct chance of malaria so I checked with the receptionist at the hotel this morning who recommended that I get her checked so Dad and I brought her to the Lutheran Medical Center hospital. It seems like a pretty modern and efficient place funded by a number of Lutheran donors from the Midwest of the United States. No malaria was detected but the doctor prescribed an antibiotic and some rehydration mineral salts to treat her illness. Between Maya's illness and the rain, I'm glad we decided to head back to Arusha yesterday.

After the trip to the hospital, Maya seemed to be feeling better so we loaded up in Bone’s Land Rover and headed off to the airport to fly to Zanzibar. We were met at the hotel by a representative from the tour company with our plane tickets. Unfortunately there were only four tickets for the five of us. This prompted a dash downtown to the airline office to arrange for another ticket; to add to the excitement, after a bit of bouncing in the back of the Land Rover Maya puked out the window and onto the truck's steps and the road. We finally got a ticket, but by now we're getting pretty worried about making our flight but at least we were moving in the right direction...only to run out of gas en route. At this point Carol literally has her head in her hands; this is not the way things work in Waconia, but here Bone remains cool. He coasts to the side of the road, pulls a plastic container out of the back, and flags down a motorcycle who gives him a ride to the next petrol station for some fuel. He returns quickly (the station turns out to not be far down the road) and puts some diesel in the tank. That turns out to be enough to get us to the station where Bone gets some fuel and tops off the oil (a frequent and necessary task). We're back on our way but by now thinking we're not going to make the flight. Representatives from the airline met us at the curb, hustled us through security, and we made the flight with literally only minutes to spare.International travel is fun and exciting and that also means stressful. This is why people don't travel internationally and, if they do, they stick to first world countries or go with a tour. When I think back on all of the times I've had to deal with illness, injury, broken down cars, lost airline tickets, cancelled flights, late arrivals, missing passports, poor sleep, jet lag, etc., etc. while on the road it's a wonder I ever leave home myself. At least the food has been pretty good on this trip. The food on safari was pretty much western fare: soups and breads, rice or pasta, some kind of meat or stew. I finally got to try some Swahili food at the Ilboru Safari Lodge in Arusha and I liked it. We met the head chef last night and again his morning. He's a very jovial and friendly European who was quick to share credit for the food with his "team". The local alcohol is Kanyagi, a typical clear distilled drink. You can buy it at the Ilboru for about $1 per "tot". There are a few choices for beer, all of them fairly good: Safari, Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, Castle, etc. They are sold in cans at the store or in half liter bottles in restaurants for two or three dollars. South African wines are also available. We brought a few on safari and they were quite good.

Zanzibar

Just the word Zanzibar evokes the exotic even if, or perhaps partly because, most of us are unable to locate it on a map. Zanzibar is, in fact, a collection of islands off the East coast of Tanzania in the turquoise blue waters of the Indian Ocean. From the air it is not hard to locate what look like fantastic snorkeling reefs studded with the white sails of dhow boats, which are, according to my guidebook, traditionally made without nails.

Until the early 1960s, Zanzibar was under the control of the Sultan of Oman who moved his court from Muscat to Zanzibar to better control trade, including that of slaves, from what was at that time the economic and political hub of the African continent. As a result, the population is about 95% Muslim and a distinctly Arab vibe pervades the tropical African sultriness. The first part of our stay in the island is in the old “Stonetown” section of Zanzibar City, now a UNESCO world heritage site that remains every bit a bustling city although one that is long past its prime.

Our hotel, The Abousa, is very nice but it must be a couple of hundred years old. Everything is wood framed with some stained glass over the windows and doors. Our first night in town we ate at Livingstone's, a beautiful beachside restaurant. We enjoyed cold beer and sodas by candlelight under the mangroves while, just to our right, a rusty old transport ship sat with its front loading door opened directly onto the beach. A large gang of young men muscled large bundles, bicycles, and even small trucks over the soft sand and onto the ship; no giant cranes here.
After our meal we walked up to the night open-air food market but after seeing the flies covering the vendors’ fish earlier in the day, we decided to pass.