Leaving on a (Propeller) Plane

Today I left the blue water of Zanzibar and flew to the green of Arusha. It was the smallest plane I have ever ridden in by a long margin (only 21 seats including the two pilots, but 5 of them were empty). The ride started off surprisingly smooth, but when we went through the clouds it was a bit rough. In the end I survived and made it to Arusha.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to start an 9-day tour including 4 national parks, 3 different UNESCO World Heritage Sites and a lot of driving around. I won't be able to post for over a week, but hopefully when I do return I will have a lot of nice pictures to share.

Here are some of the flight (including the plane and the pilot reading a newspaper):

Pictures of Stone Town

Here are some random pictures of Stone Town and my hotel:

Spice Tour

Yesterday I went on a spice tour in the middle of Zanzibar. Along with 10 other people (from Holland, Belgium, Germany, and the U.S.) I was shown many different spices and how they grow. We were also shown many different fruits that grow on the island and were given a chance to taste all of them (amazing for the most part). After a nice local meal, we set off to see a cave where slaves were kept by Arabs after the British abolished the slave trade in 1873. From there we took a short walk to a beach where we got to relax in the water for about an hour.

This tour was not as exciting as the one I did the day before, but it was still interesting and very relaxing.

Here are some pictures from the day: 1) nutmeg, 2) Jackfruit, 3) cardamon, 4) one of our guides with natural dye from one of the plants, 5) a pineapple, 6) vanilla, 7) an old bath house, 8) one of our guides climbing up a tree to get coconuts, 9) our delicious lunch, 10) the slave cave and 11) the beach.

Forodhani Night Market

If you ever go to Zanzibar and are wondering what to eat, my first suggestion to you would be to go to the Forodhani Night Market. It's pretty easy to find (it's on the waterfront in a nice park and many people go there when the sun goes down). There are a number of vendors selling: sugar cane juice, various seafood, Zanzibari Pizza (kind of like an omelet in chapati, but you can also get them with banana and chocolate/nutella), and many other things. The cost is pretty low and the food is pretty good. Here are a few pictures of the market at night:

Dolphins and Monkeys! Oh My!

Yesterday I went on a tour that let me swim with dolphins and see monkeys playing in the forest. Needless to say it was an incredible experience (ever been within arms reach of a dolphin in the ocean?) The animals were so calm and the experience was so surreal. For reference we swam with the dolphins at Kizimkazi Beach and saw the red colobus monkeys (which can only be found on Zanzibar) in Jozani Forest. Also included in the tour was some snorkeling near a small reef and a great lunch.

Below are some pictures but since I have limited Internet time, I will not label them. Sorry that you can barely see the dolphins. I couldn't take my camera in the water and the best views were straight below us while swimming. (more pictures to be added soon)

On to Zanzibar

After a long two days that involved: a bus ride to Dar, a short debrief session, saying goodbye to a large number of people at the airport in two different trips, a walk around town looking for books, and a ferry ride, I have finally arrived at the first stop in my 30 day journey. I am staying in Stone Town in Zanzibar. Stone town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (one of several I am visiting on my trip) and is basically a very old town with unique architecture and maze-like streets.

In the coming day or two I will try to come back and get some more Internet time so that I can explain more and put up nicer pictures.

I don't have much time left at the Internet Cafe, so I am just trying to upload some pictures from today. 1) The view of Dar from the ferry dock. 2) The view of Dar as the ferry pulled away. 3) Some boats docked off of Stone Town. 4) and 5) Some buildings in Stone Town. 6) The view from the restaurant where I ate dinner tonight (Amore Mio). 7) A dhow sailing behind children jumping off boats into the water during sunset. 8) A typical Stone Town street.

Goodbye Morogoro

In less than twenty-four hours I will be getting on a bus headed away from Morogoro for good. With that, it’s time to say my goodbyes. My eight weeks here have been interesting to say the least. The best way to describe it is the answer I gave to a question on one of the many forms I’ve recently had to fill out. The question was: Describe in a few words, your experiences here. My answer: Challenging, frustrating and full of learning opportunities. At first glance my answer seems a bit negative, but only if you don’t think about it.

When I came here, I knew it would be hard. In fact, I wanted it to be hard. What would have been the point if this experience had been easy on me? I did get what I wanted, though at the time, I was not always happy about it. Now that the end is very near, I realize that this has made me a lot tougher. Difficult things at home will seem a lot easier and when bad things happen, they probably won’t seem as bad.

I’ve also made a few good friends here and have become used to a way of life. That all changes tomorrow. I am a bit sad to leave, but I feel that I am ready to go. I’ve done what I came to do and now it’s time to move on. It’s definitely something that will remain in my thoughts in the years to come. Here are some of the things I will think about:

Things I’ll Miss

• The friendliness of everyone
• The mountains that can be seen from town
• The friends I’ve made
• Seeing the effects (however small) of my work
• Trying to learn Swahili and actually being a little successful (though not as much as I would have liked)
• Bucket Baths (surprisingly, I kind of like these)
• Being sweaty and that being a normal thing

Things I won’t miss

• Ugali
• Oppressive heat in the middle of the day, every day
• The dust
• Getting punched by little kids who want to give me five but also hurt me

So what happens now? If you’ve been reading for a long time, you would have read all about my travel plans. On Monday, the bus will take us to Dar where we will have a short debrief session during the day. At night most of the other volunteers take off for Canada. The next day the last volunteer leaves (Evan and I get to spend a night in Dar together) and I will find my way to Zanzibar where I will begin my vacation. From there it is on to Arusha and a Safari, then to Kigali, Kampala, Jinja, Nairobi, Paris and after 30 days of traveling, back to Ontario.

Though this is the end of something, it’s also the beginning of something else. I’m excited, scared, nervous, anxious, worried but also ready for the coming weeks. Look back to this space to see how my travels are going and to hopefully see some pictures of the animals I get to see!

But for now, I say my goodbyes to Morogoro. So long and (no) thanks for all the ugali!