Zanzibar
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| The most beautiful water |
Last week, we traveled to Zanzibar, Tanzania with our friends Johnny and Melissa. Zanzibar is an island off the coast of Tanzania. Tanzania is the African country below Kenya. My parents and brother had been here the two weeks previously, which was wonderful. Because my family had been here and it was the end of the semester, I had not had tons of time to think about our trip to Zanzibar. We left the day after my family left Nairobi. Though I had not had much time to think about our trip, I woke up the day we left excited for a new adventure. In my mind, I was picturing a Florida-esque atmosphere of luxury.
Early in the morning on the 27th of December, we headed for the airport. I was a little nervous, as I usually am when we travel. I was also nervous because the Kenyan police are notoriously annoying at the Nairobi International Airport. Just the day before, a police woman had threatened to arrest my brother for a made-up offense in the airport parking lot. The week before, a police man had threatened to arrest John for opening and closing a car door at the airport. While I truly love living in Kenya, the police are a major nuisance, in my opinion. In search of bribes, they will harass, threaten, lie, and annoy people when given the chance. The Kenyan police, because of this, are a major source of anxiety for me. I, personally, have only had one "run-in" with an officer since moving here. But, of course, my anxiety gets the best of me. I have a tendency to "talk-back" in the face of injustice (or even minor annoyances- my mouth tends to get me in trouble). So, naturally, I have a difficult time dealing with Kenyan police. To date, I have never been rude to a police officer here, just for the record. But, honestly, I would really like to. However, lately, I have been thinking about what Jesus would do if he were bothered by the Kenyan police for a completely made-up offense. Would he bribe them? Almost certainly not. Would he "talk-back"? Never. I am not really sure what he would do. He probably would just draw in the dirt and leave everyone thoroughly confused. Anyway, I need to be praying about what my response should be in the face of these 'officers.'
Back to our Zanzibar trip. So, we got to the airport. We were dropped off peacefully and were not approached by any Kenyan officers. We arrived early, so we sat and waited until check-in opened. Then, we checked in, went seamlessly through security (they did not even make us dump our full water bottles...Oh, Africa), and found our gate easily. Since we arrived pretty early, we had about an hour until our boarding time. We were supposed to board at 9:10 am. We sat and chatted and read for an hour. 9:10 rolled around. Knowing that this was, in fact, Africa, we were not super surprised when boarding did not actually happen at 9:10. However, when we had not even seen anyone at our gate by 9:30, we were getting a bit worried (considering our flight was supposed to leave at 9:30). Johnny and John each went to the gate next to us and asked about or flight. They both got the same answer from the four ladies behind the desk, "we don't know." I, of course, was not satisfied with this weird answer and went to ask myself. When I got to the desk, all four ladies were scrolling on their smart phones. Not a one of them even looked up at me. I was annoyed. I asked politely. They gave me the same answer, barely looking up from their phones. I walked away exasperated. John asked another airport employee, who told him that, "someone will come." After another few minutes, I went back to the four ladies. I asked if they could find someone who could actually answer my question. Looking back, this was not probably the nicest thing I could have done. However, they then told me, "someone will come." At about 9:45, someone finally did arrive. The person, of course, arrived at a different gate than we had on our tickets. We got on a bus that would take us to our plane (even though the plane was definitely within walking distance). We got off the bus, ready to board. But, then, they told us to get back on the bus. So, we went and sat on the bus. Then, they finally told us to get off the bus and we actually got to board our plane! By now, it was at least 10:00, if not later. Our plane was supposed to leave at 9:30. But, of course, everyone was acting like this was totally normal. One day, maybe I will get used to "African time."
We flew to Mombasa. It was about a 45 minute flight. We were asked to get off the plane here so that the jet could be refueled. We got off, sat down inside a building and as soon as we sat down, we were asked to get up and get back on the plane. Of course, I am thinking, "this is so dumb." We then flew another 30 minutes and landed, finally in Zanzibar. I am thinking this is going to be the end of the stressful traveling. However, all of us had forgotten our yellow vaccination cards. In all my time in Africa, I have NEVER been asked for this. Of course, I usually have carried it with me for the past two years, anyway. But, for some reason, I completely forgot to bring them on this trip. What is the first thing they ask for when we step inside the airport? The yellow vaccination cards. We are asked to step to the side. The airport official tells us we can either get our yellow fever vaccinations (again, because all 4 of us have already had them) here in the airport for $40 each or get back on the plane and go back to Nairobi. Of course, we agree to get them here. When I see the dirty little room where we are supposed to get these shots, I kinda freak. But, we each get our shots and it all seems ok. Then, we go to pay for our visas. I am prepared. I have the exact amount in new, crisp American dollars (In Africa, some years and conditions of American dollars are not accepted. Also, they never seem to have change). When I walk up to pay, (for the first time since entering Africa; cards are not used often in Africa at all) I am told that they only accept cards for visas. I am beyond annoyed because I had already realized that we had forgotten to call our bank to inform them that we would be traveling. I know our card will be declined until we can call them and of course, it is Sunday. They run it, and of course, it is declined. Finally, they agree to take the cash. We finally make our way out of the airport.
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| Definitely not Florida |
We successfully get a taxi and make it to our first stop: Stone Town. Stone Town is a beautiful, old city in Zanzibar. It is insufferably hot, but we relax and eat and then walk around in the evening, exploring and shopping a little. In the morning, we leave for our final destination: Jambiani (the beach). It is beautiful. The water is turquoise and the beach is calm and quiet. It is not at all what I expected. I expected a little bit more commercial and built-up, but it is not. There are only small villages between here and Stone Town. The closest ATM is back in Stone Town, which is two hours away. Our bank makes things difficult, telling us our card should be ready to use, but it is not. Thankfully, we are traveling with friends and everything works out. It takes a few days for me to adjust my expectations to reality. But, once I do, I realize how breathtakingly beautiful this place truly is. I let myself relax and enjoy. We read, swim, and lay on the beach. John and the others swim with wild dolphins one day, as I stay in the boat and watch. We go snorkeling in a tiny sail boat. John and I go to see the Zanzibar red colobus monkey, which is only found on this island. We make it back to Nairobi with relatively little stress, except for our dumb bank. But, it eventually works out.
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| The view from our hotel |
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| A Zanzibar red colobus monkey...smiling for us |
-R
Bullets:
- those monkeys are dang cool
- swimming with dolphins in their home was INSANE. I started screaming underwater when 2 that I didn't even know were there flew by right under me, the top one's fin maybe 5 yards below
- Places where Christians and Muslims get along.... I like those places.
- 6 cheetahs on safari! Feasting on fresh kills too
- New Years goal: speak Swahili well by next Christmas
- reading is one of my main activities... I always hoped I would be able to say that
- went on a bike ride this week and saw 9 sykes monkeys (I also bit it right in the entrance -_-)
- "you are boy... but you are coward"
- saw 7 rhinos in Nairobi National Park
- still no leopard
- eggi? omeletti?
- Rileigh made out with a giraffe
- Stacey did too.....
- Tod passed on that one
- they play the national anthem at the movies
- "pudding" here is fruit salad
- I fell into the compost pile
- geckos tails still move after they come off :o
- "sugar ants... they taste like sugar" man this kid reminds me of my nephews
- Rileigh should really post more often, shouldn't she?
- I ordered a "full grilled cheese" (as opposed to half), and they brought me FOUR #kikuyustrikes
- Rileigh rode an ostrich
- walked around Crescent Island and found a baby giraffe that still had her umbilical cord... the mom didn't like us getting between them
- I'd take ecoli for a barbacoa burrito any day... what are you all complaining about? #fairtrade
- We saw hippos running and simultaneously found Derulo's inspiration for "wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle"
- Let the rhinos be horny
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