Zun-zee-baww...as the locals call it...

Zanzibar!  What a beautiful place to be in life.  It has been nearly a week since my latest enrty, and as imagined, things have improved dramatically.  Obviously (I haven't been robbed in six days!!).

On the evening of January 1st, Amanda and Heidi arrived at the airport in Dar.  We had stayed at the YMCA the night before, which was a much better decision than staying near the airport again.  The Y was not the most luxurious place, but Jory and I were fine with it the night before, and Amanda and Heidi will make do for the night.  Before we came back to the Y, we went to see the Tanzanian musician Jory has been managin, Nukta (I think). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQeUgr1KfVM.  We took a taxi from the airport, and drove down a sketchy dirt road to this bar somewhere.  On the way, we crossed some train tracks...further south down those tracks, is where we met some new friends and decided to donate all of my clothes to them a day earlier...  Aside from it being sketchy, nothing bad happened.  We got to the bar, Nukta came and met us, we said hello for five minutes, and then left back to the Y.

We did not dally in Dar es Salaam for longer than we absolutely had to.  The next morning we took a taxi to the ferry and were on our way to Zanzibar.  The ferry was $35 for regular fare or $40 for VIP.  We got VIP and were extremely happy about that decisions.  For a 2 hour ferry ride, we had seats and airconditioning; for $35 you were not guaranteed a seat, but perhaps would have to sit, lie, sleep on the floor, or if you did have a seat, with someone sitting, lying or sleeping at your feet.  Good decision #1.  Upon arriving, we had to stand in another line just to get onto the island.  Even though it is part of Zanzibar,we still had to show our passports and yellow fever certificates before we could get onto the island (Quebecs dream aside from independence).  We got off the ferry and found a place to stay in Stonetown, Zanzibar.

Stonetown is a nice little place, with lots of old stone buildings and streets.  Nothing in this country has really been built since the British left in 1961, so everything is from before then.  And everything is likewise crumbling, bit by bit.  Stonetown was a key port, not only in Zanzibar but in all of East Africa...during the slave trade.  This is where slaves were not only traded, but brought to, kept and auctioned off.  Lovely place.  We went to visit St. Augustine's curch, which was built on top of the old slave market.  One story:  The front of the church is built on top of the spot where the whipping tree or weeping tree (I can't remember and the internet is too slow to check...so feel free to let me know!).  Slave traders used to bring slaves here and whip them, and if they screamed they got a lower price.  If they did not, that meant they were strong and got a higher price, and also included a young boy slave.  Although generally they killed the children because they werent strong enough to work, and didnt want to spend the money feeding them.  GT's.

So we stayed in Stonetown for two nights, and also went on a spice tour to see all the spices that they grow there.  It was a really neet tour, and got to see a bunch of different spices and fruits they grow on the island, most of which were brought here by Europeans, Indians or Arabs.  And at the end I bought a whole bunch of spices.  We also ate at the food market they have every night at the Fodhorani Gardens.  I had Zanzibar Pizza, which is just vegetables, meat and spices fried in a thin pastry dough.  It was pretty good.  I tried the kebobs but they were not as good; I got a chicken kebob, but it looked f'n grosse.  I am going to steer clear of chicken entirely on this trip. 

After Stonetown we headed north to Nungwi.  The taxi ride was exactly 1.5 hours.  We stopped at three police checks, and the taxi driver paid them off three times.  We think about 1000 Tanzanian Shillings each time, so about 70 cents each.  Doesn't even seem worth the time, but hey...Jory hates the corruption here, and if only they could make this country into an actualy, properly run place without corruption, then it would be such a powerful, amazing place in all of Africa.

We got to Nungwi, and have been here for four days.  We leave tomorrow morning by boat to Tanga.  We have been sitting on the beach, walking around a little, lying in the sand, going into the water, and all the things that one does in a beach resort.  We eat lucnh at Mamma's every day, consisting of rice and beans, and sometimes meat (we think goat).  It is quite tastey and cheap, 2000 Shillings.  Dinners we eat on the beach and is a bit more expensive, about 10,000 for a meal.  Yesterday I went scuba diving.  It was not cheap, but was good.  I saw many many fish.  I saw a sea turtle lying around, and then another one swimming.  I think I saw a tuna, and for sure a kingfish.  What amazing places.  There are more fish here than in Vietnam, b/c there they used to dynamite fish, whereby they throw dynamite in the water, and after it explodes, whatever floats to the top is dinner.  Also here we were in a protected area.

Today, I went back to the Rasta bar and bought a painting.  I can't wait to show everyone, as it is really, really awesome.  I saw it at the bar we were at the other night, and wanted it.  There are beach boys walking around selling all kinds of paintings, the same ones each time.  But this one was completely different, and non of us have seen it anywhere else.  DJ Monkey is the title.  I will upload a picture when I can.

Anyways, I am about done my time here now.  As mentioned, we are doing much, much better and are safe and travelling together now.  I am a little nervous about our boat ride tomorrow...but will let you know about that next time!

When we get to Tanga, I will try to upload some pictures from Jory's computer. 

Thanks for reading.  Now...back to the beach!!

Elliot S. Weinstein