End of Zanzication

Unfortunately we could only spend a few days in Bwejuu before hopping on a daladala and heading back to Stone Town. That afternoon we went snorkeling off a reef near Stone Town.

It was kinda cloudy out.

I was mildly freaking out, even though there aren’t supposed to be sharks around Zanzibar. The reef was not very deep and there were all kinds of different corals and creatures. My favorite were the spiny sea urchins. These are dangerous if stepped on but they are beautiful to look at. They are midnight black with spines that are about a foot long. If you look at them closely you can see them undulating and moving.

All the time we were snorkeling there was a little, tiny clownfish that swam in circles around Nick. Sometimes it would hang out in front of his chest, other times it would swim circles around one of his arms. He tried to shoo it away as it liked to hang about in front of his mask. (He saw also having trouble with the seal on his mask, so a small fish lurking about it was not helping). I took to swimming circles around Nick in order to find the little fish.

Snorkel!

I was super upset that I didn't have my underwater camera for this particular adventure. 

After snorkeling we grabbed some ice cream and sat around chatting and people watching. Later, we grabbed dinner at Forodhani Gardens.

Cane Juice

hahaha I promised I wouldn't put this on facebook.....

The next morning we had to head back to the airport to make our flight back to Arusha. 

Beach Adventures

The next few days really blended together. We didn’t do much; it was wonderful. We walked on the beach, poked around in the ocean, read books in lounge chairs, rode bikes down the shore, played mancala and ate delicious food, sat on the porch in the comfy chairs  and talked, laid around recovering from sunburn, and I drank a lot of sangria.  

The way we got those sunburns goes like this; We took a walk on the beach, a walk which Nick now refers to as the “Death March” because he may have gotten sun poisoning from it. (He’s from the North; they don’t have sunlight there) We kept walking and walking and walking and then when we decided to turn around, we had to walk all the way back. It was roughly mid-day and the sun was blazing.

The second night we were there, Jah really wanted to go to a local bar. I think he was the only one on duty at Upepo and therefore couldn’t leave us alone. So he invited us to come along with him. We walked across the beach, up through some trail and then a long way down the main road until we came to an obviously hoppin local hangout. It had a huge dancefloor that was filled with men shaking their thang. Nick and I hung out at a table on the outskirts before drinking some liquid encouragement and joining the dance floor.

One day we rented bicycles and went for a ride down the beach. There are a few other beach hotels and then you end up going through tiny beach towns. The children there chased us for a bit screaming “welcome!” and “hi!” and trying to grab Nick. We biked through a tire graveyard and stopped everynow and then to pick up shells and investigate.

The tidepools were also fun to investigate. There were little hermit crabs, regular crabs, all kinds of little fish, and various other sea life.

Zanz Cont'd

The next morning we got up and visited the House of Wonders. This is a massive building right across the street from the wharf area. It originally was a palace for a sultan of Zanzibar. Now it houses the Zanzibar culture museum. We strolled through the various exhibits but the best part is the massive balcony that gives you views across the top of Zanzibar. It is lovely.

 

Later that day we hopped on a daladala to Bwejuu, a beach on the east coast where we were staying. To get to the daladala stand we first had to navigate the back alleys (thank goodness for Nick) Once we got there, we spotted the Bwejuu daladala and hopped on. And thennnnnn…..

Nick's hardcore face. 

THE ONE AFRICAN RIP OFF! This guy hops on and tells us to pay for our ride(we assume he’s the daladala guy) So we pay him 2,000 tsh per person and 1,000 for the luggage. Total: 5,000tsh or $3. Turns out he wasn’t the daladala guy, just some sneaky enterprising local. A little bit down the road we paid the 2,000 per person to the actual daladala guy (and luggage is free). This one was not so bad in terms of African Rip-Offs.

We didn’t quite know where the place we were staying, Upepo, was. I knew the general road it was on and I had the phone number. As the daladala flew down the road I tried to be on the lookout for the sign. Thought I might have spotted it once, but I wasn’t sure. We kept going. I tried calling the number but of course no one was picking up.

We decide to hop off the daladala, convinced that we’ve passed it. We stand on the side of the road for a while before we flag down a bus going in the opposite direction. They let us get on. I then finally get through to the hotel (they were just confused in general) Then we see the sign, get off the bus, and meet up with (what's his name Nick?) and his sidekick Jah on the road.

Take a picture with meee!

Upepo was tiny and very beautiful. We settled in, I grabbed some sangria, and we went for a walk on the beach. We ate dinner at Upepo and the food was delicious!

Zanzication!

After the Uganda/Rwanda week, we had one stupid week of school that half the kids didn’t bother to come back for.

Steps near our room and the breakfast area.

 Then another week off! Nick and I jet-setted off to Zanzibar!

I managed to find plane tickets from Arusha airport (2 minutes down the road) to Zanzibar that were reasonably priced. Arusha airport is a tiny airport and so fittingly they also have tiny planes. The plane we got in had maybe 12 seats. The pilot wasn’t separated at all and we could look out the windshield and see all the dials and gps stuff. (I found this less than comforting when we went through clouds, cause you can’t see nothin)

We landed in Zanzibar, hopped off the plane and headed into Stone Town. Nick was in charge of the first night’s accommodations, so naturally we had none. (His plan was to walk around and pick a place) We stopped and had lunch before choosing a hotel out of the guidebook. Nick redeemed himself by being surprisingly good at navigating the maze of sidestreets and alleys without getting lost. We checked into the hotel; the room lacked decorations but the rooftop breakfast area was gorgeous!

We then wandered some more. I love the Zanzibari doors so Nick tried to retrace the Door tour he went on the last time he was in Stone Town.  (He had gone a few months before with the students on a school trip.) We wandered in the old fort but there was not much to see there. 

      

          

We also watched the kids that jump off of the wharfs for a while. They’re quite good at doing back flips and spins. 

Forodhani Gardens

As night falls the wharf area called Forodhani Gardens becomes an outdoor fish market. Fishermen bring back whatever they have caught that day (prawns, various fish, shark, calamari, octopus, all kinds) and lay them out on tables lit with lanterns. They then try to call you over to eat their seafood. We wandered for a while looking for a good table. (You want to pick a table that doesn’t have a lot of fish on it because you want it all to be fresh caught, not old leftover fish from other days) Then you pile your plate with whatever you want and the fishermen cook or heat it up as you choose an area to sit. They then bring you your food. I had calamari, king prawns, some fish and some rice cake balls. To drink we had fresh cane juice (my favorite). There are men with these contraptions that they feed the sugar cane into with limes and then they crank it back and forth to squeeze out all of the cane juice. It’s super delicious.

Cane Juice Squasher

As you eat you have to fend off the cats that come to beg and steal (if they can) any of the seafood. 

Bus Ride from Hell and Back

After making it back to our hostel, we all took showers and hung out on the porch reading our kindles. While out there we made friends with a girl named Sophya who worked at an international school in Mombasa. We also ran into a teacher from Botswana. Both of them were having the same kinds of issues that our school has. (Supply issues, management, and so on) We decided it was an African school thing. We ended up grabbing dinner with Sophya and then passing out.

We decided for the way back to take the whole journey from Kigali to Nairobi in one go. That’s roughly a 28 hour bus ride. Sounds crazy, but we did it. At first it wasn’t that bad but by the time we reached Kampala the bus was sweltering hot. We stopped to pee a few times along along the way and at one of those stops was the worst bathroom I have ever had to pee in. I’m used to tiny crampt bathrooms where it smells like shit and worse. I’m used to the bathrooms where it’s just the hole in the ground that you squat over, no problem. I  sometimes kinda prefer those because then at least you aren’t touching anything. On this trip at one place we stopped, the men’s bathroom was regular with toilets but the ladies bathroom was just a slab of concrete slightly angled towards a drain in the center. Around three sides of it, presumably for privacy, was propped up pieces of plywood. The slab was wet all over from where other ladies had done their business and I cringe to think what goes down if someone has to do more than just pee.

In the many hours that we were trapped in the enclosed, smelly, bouncing bus, I had lots of time to think.

This is how I imagine the interview process for Kampala Coach bus drivers go:

Interviewer: Do you drive recklessly fast?

Potential Driver: Always!

Interviewer: Even over potholes the size of kiddie pools?

Potential Driver: Most definitely.

Interviewer: Do you ever slow down for speed humps, bumps, or rumble strips?

Potential Driver: Certainly not!

Interviewer: How much space do you think is appropriate between two vehicles?

Potential Driver: Space? What does that even mean?

Interviewer: Perfect! You’re hired!

Enroute to Kampala from Kigali we went over a speed bump so fast that all three of us flew up and whacked our heads on the ceiling. We all put on our seatbelts after that….

Border crossings were arduous, especially after I was jostled out of dozing for the 80 millionth time. The last leg of the trip from late, late night until the morning was the worst. We had already been on the bus for something like 20 hours. I had little to no sleep and was grumpy/crazy tired. At one point in this leg, right after a border, an immigration official got on the bus and walked around looking at everyone’s passport. He got to me and I handed him my passport and was so tired that I fell back asleep before he handed it back to me. Maureen had to nudge me awake.

We finally made it to Nairobi and hopped on the shuttle to Arusha. It was just our luck that every bus on the way back was completely full. The shuttle ride wasn’t too bad (we met a girl named Jessica who was moving to Arusha) but by the end of it I just wanted to have a shower and be in my own bed.

When I got back Tisa was super happy to see me!

GORILLA TREKKING!!!!

(In case you can't read it the title says GORILLA TREKKING!)We hopped back in our car and then drove another 30 minutes to the edge of the Volcanoes National Park where we met up with the rest of our group. (Us three, the two guides and then about 6 people from a primate tour group, who were gorilla trekking for professional development. ) When we got there, they handed out walking sticks to everyone and suggested that we pay porters to carry our backpacks, because it often takes hours of walking through the jungle to come across the gorillas. Some of the primate tour people did, and suggested we do as well, but we decided against it because we’re badass (and the porters cost 10usd).

The primate tour group was a bit snobby about us. They kept suggesting that we were not equipped properly and they were overly concerned about us carrying our bags and being able to handle the trek. They were super pissing me off. Sorry we weren’t dressed in utilitarian khakis and sasquatch hiking boots, but my jewel tone jacket and running shoes worked just fine, thank you very much.

So we set off on our hike. We walk about 20 minutes past a little village and some cows and into some farmers fields. At the edge of the field is the entrance to the jungley part. As we walked, our guide did his imitation of the silverback, which was pretty spot on. He also showed up how and what the gorillas eat, by eating some himself. We get over there, all geared up for our multiple hour hike, when out of the jungle pops a gorilla! The family group we were tracking, the Agashya group, had decided to come down the mountain that day. We stayed back a safe distance and watched as they all came tumbling out of the woods.

There were females and babies all over. They were yanking down small trees and eating all kinds of leaves. They completely ignored us and everynow and then bounced a little too close. After about 20 minutes, we went into the bamboo jungle in search of the silverback. We found him sitting against a tree right inside the forest. He absolutely emanates arrogance and control. As we came up, he decided to move. The guides herded us back some, but he literally walked by me so close that there was just inches between his arms and my legs. Later, we caught up with him again as he munched on some tree. He was really calmly sitting as we took pictures until (I kid you not, this actually happened) a female came up to him and whispered something in his ear that really pissed him off. He stood up with a growly whuff sound and moved really quickly straight in our direction. Luckily he wasn’t interested in us and moved along.

The gorillas stayed mostly in the same area. They generally stuck close to the silverback though a few females ventured off a bit farther. We had an hour with the gorillas and we spent the majority of that just inside the jungle. We stood in a clearing for awhile watching the gorillas climb up and swing off the bamboo. A few times one of the them would get really close as they were walking by or settle into a spot a little closer than they should. The whole while we were with the gorillas, the guides were making gorilla noises to keep them from touching us or being alarmed by our presence. After a bit the gorillas were pretty amusing because eating the bamboo gets them a little drunk so they were stumbling about and became a bit more friendly and comical.

Right before we left, I was kneeling down in front of the silverback whole the guide took a picture of me, when one of the playful females came basically barreling at me. She didn’t seem to be aggressive or angry, just jumpy and excited. She got within a few feet of me really quickly before the guide leaned over me and made some kind of “gorilla go away noise” in gorilla-ese. No harm, no foul. 

 

We trekked back to the car and hopped in for our two hour drive back to Kigali. Rwanda has beautiful scenery and I got sucked into watching the countryside go by; it was gorgeous. 

Kigali, Rwanda

After getting of the bus we hopped a cab to our hostel Discover Rwanda Youth Hostel (which I highly recommend. It was a good price, clean, and full of friendly people) Kigali was absolutely beautiful; I really want to go back. 

We went to the Genocide Museum and let me just say, that place is very intense and very emotional. The genocide that took place there was utterly horrific and the museum does a good job of presenting the facts coherently while really making you feel. The Genocide wasn’t really that long ago, only roughly 20 years. There were many Rwandans crying throughout the museum and the memorial had lots of people laying out flowers. The most intense room for me was the children’s room.

The whole aim of our trip was to go gorilla trekking. Before the museum we wandered down to the Rwandan Tourist Board Office and paid for our trekking permits.

We paid for our trekking permits the day before and then had to make our way to the town of Musanze, which was a couple of hours away. To get there, we woke up at 3am and then met our cabbie outside the hostel at 3:30. I was awake for the first part of the two hour drive, but drifted off after a while. As we drove away, we headed up one of the taller surrounding hills, giving us a good view of the city at night. Kigali at 4 in the morning mirrors the night sky; rolling blackness sprinkled with millions of twinkling white lights.

I was mildly freaking about getting there late, but as it ends up we got there early; even before the office was open. We hung around and then did a short orientation about the group of gorillas that we were going to see. The Agashya Group. The group is led by a silverback called Agashya, hence the name. The group consists of 26 gorillas, the silverback, his ladies and all the babies. Each gorilla has a name and apparently the guides can tell them apart based on their noses. 

Kampala!

Uganda wasn’t too eventful. We wandered in search of an atm that actually worked and then we visited a internet café so we could update facebook (important) and say hello to the family (because it was Easter). We went back home for a bit and planned on making it back out, but ended up falling asleep in our beds. 

The next day we wandered around Kampala looking for things to do. We hit up a Baha’I Temple,kinda boring, though pretty, and we did get some pictures of us jumping with the city in the background.

Pretty Roof

Us in our skirtys

 Later we visited the Kasubi Royal Tombs which is the burial grounds of the Kings of Buganda, which was the tribal name of the central part of Uganda. The history behind it was pretty interesting and the grass huts were kinda cool. Since we were girls, it was disrespectful to the dead kings for us to be wearing pants so, as the woman working there put it, “ladies in trousers must wear skirt”. They gave us basically kangas with a string around the top to be worn as a wrap skirt. There were a few awkward things about the site. First, I wandered too far into the sacred drumming hut (also an affront to the king spirits because, you guessed it, I’m a woman), second because the ancestors of the kings concubines still live on the site and it kinda feels like an invasion of privacy, and third because the biggest hut, where all the bodies and artifacts belonging to the kings was burnt down in March 2010 by some random arsonist.

What the Royal Tomb looks like now. 

What it used to look like. 

Off we go!

After that, we came across what we considered to be the best part of Kampala, the bootleg dvd shop below our hotel. I got sooo many seasons of tv shows; it was amazing (Bones, How I Met Your Mother, Project Runway, Without a Trace, Criminal Minds, etc) I was blatantly missing my crime dramas.

We got the dvd dude (cause we bought a lot; we were friends) to come with us to the Kampala Coach night bus station because it’s not really safe there at night. It kinda looked like the aftermath scene of a riot there. To get into the bus station you had to be security checked and metal detected. When we walked up, the security guy basically waved us through saying, “Let the muzungus through. Muzungus don’t carry bombs. You got a bomb in there? (chuckle chuckle)” Which of course we didn’t. Once again we were the only muzungus on the bus. Loooooong bus ride again. This one was 12 hours through the night and it wasn’t as nice as the first one, though it was much cheaper. The seats were pretty dirty and the area where the lights and air vents were supposed to be was all torn out. Along the way we peed in some pretty sketch places and made it across the border (night time border crossings not fun. And it's illegal to bring plastic bags into Rwanda so they went through everyone's luggage at 2 in the morning looking for them) before getting into Kigali, Rwanda in the morning. 

Nairobi, Kenya to Kampala, Uganda

The night bus from Nairobi to Kampala Uganda was a nice one. We rode Modern Coast and it had super comfy seats that were pretty clean. It also had working personal lights and air vents. In addition, it didn’t stop to pick up random people along the way. The night was long (8 hours) and I had a hard time sleeping mainly because it was so bumpy, but I did manage to drift off just before we arrived.

Upon arrival in Uganda, we had our one African rip-off (cause there is one on every trip) The bus pulled into the stop and we got out. We then bargained a taxi to take us to The New Annex Hotel. He originally asked for 20,000 ugandan shillings but we bargained him down to 10,000. So we hop in the car and he proceeds to make a wide loop involving three left turns. I found this fishy, but in my dead tired state I didn’t really think it over too much. Once we woke out of our travel comas and ventured out of the hotel in search of food, we realized that the bus stop was literally two shops over from out hotel. The cab driver had just driven us in a big circle and then pocketed the money.

Nairobi Wildlife!

The next day we headed to a baby elephant sanctuary to meet and greet with the babies. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is open to the public everyday at 10am only for an hour. You get to watch the little troops of baby elephants get fed by their caretakers who live with them and even sleep in their stalls. They fed them from huge bottles and then the little elephants walked around saying hi to all of the visitors. In places they even shoved up against the ropes so hard that the posts began to tilt. One of them came right up to me tried to grab me with his trunk; he leaned up against the ropes and I got to hug and pat him. He was really, really sweet. By the end of the session all of us got to hug and take pictures with the baby elephants. It was a really cool experience.

Directly after the elephants, we went a few roads over and visited the giraffe sanctuary. This was super cheap to get into because we were East African residents. (Like two us dollars or something) At this place you climb up onto this platform and feed the giraffes that come over. Their favorite food is carrots and the cool thing to do is hold the carrots between your teeth and the giraffe comes over and licks it off your face. It’s basically kissing a giraffe. Their mouth is kinda smelly and their tongues are pretty slimy.

 After that we may have gone to another mall to look around and buy much needed things. Then we headed back to the hotel to hang out before hopping on the night bus to Uganda. One of these nights I was in the hotel lobby on the second floor (it has a central courtyard which is open to the sky) and this humongous rat goes strolling by right in front of me. He looked at me one as if to say, “sup?” (for those of you not down on your rad 90’s lingo, that means “wassup?” which means “what’s up?”) and then just walked down the hallway. I was the only one who saw him, so no one freaked out and I figured as long as he wasn’t in my room it was all good.