Hello from an internet cafe in Mwanza, Tanzania! Mwanza is the second largest city in Tanzania, and is about 45 minutes away (by dala-dala: a minivan for 8 that seats about 27) from Buswelu, where Jono and I are volunteering at the Hands of Mercy orphanage. We arrived in Dar es Salaam on the 5th of January, to be greeted by hallmarks of our time in Tanzania so far: numerous cries of "Welcome taxi?", and being overcharged because we are 'mzungu' or foreigners. We're actually doing pretty well with the bargaining despite our limited Swahili, especially since a few words goes a long way. Dar was simply the arrival point from India and the port of depature for Zanzibar, where we spent the majority of our time before coming to Mwanza on the 14th.
Although Dar is the capital, and a nice city, it's nothing too special. We arrived on a Sunday and were taken aback by how dead quiet the city was, and were glad to see it begin to bustle with life during the week. We spent only a day orienting ourselves, and hopped on the ferry to Stonetown, in Zanzibar. After the rocky 3 hour boat ride we arrived, forewarned about the over-zealous taxi drivers who would mob us when we walked off the dock. We thought we would try a new tactic: to pretend to be from France and speak only French. We thought the louts might tire of not being able to convince us, but in fact they only tried harder! They followed us all the way into our hotel, which then meant we couldn't communicate with the folks at reception because we had to continue speaking French! In fake broken English we made it up to our room, only to begin to hunt for another hotel because we discovered ours wasn't in the safest part of town, and significantly more expensive than what we were getting elsewhere. We stayed one night and moved the next day, to be greeted by random "ca va?"s on the road by people who remembered us from the dock. The double-life was difficult to keep up, but we would redden and switch to French whenever reminded of our disguise.
Stonetown was a wonderful place to explore: a complete maze of little streets which, on the map, looked like they were main roads but were actually alleys that a car couldn't have fit through. These streets were full of surprising twists and turns, and afforded us a real picture of life in Stonetown. The city is now a world heritage site per UNESCO and deservedly so - the buildings are beautiful but made from a type of rock that corrodes easily. Anyone who has heard about Stonetown has probably also heard about the beautiful doors that grace all sorts of buildings, from the homes of poor people to national museums. The Muslim influence on the architecture is unmistakable, but there are also gorgeous churches and modern buildings. We ate very well in Stonetown - favourites included Mercury's which was right by the sea and venerated Freddy Mercury who was born in Zanzibar, Archipelago, and La Fenice which also had great views of the ocean.
The ocean is the most glorious turquoise colour, and we took a small boat (small, i.e. very rustic with water that needed to be bailed out and without life jackets) over to Prison Island. It was originally built as a prison but never used as one. It was used to house slaves at one point, and then later converted to a quarantine station. Now it's a pretty hotel, and has a population of 150 year old giant turtles that are originally from the Seychelles. They are truly huge, very tame, and really seem to belong to another age. We fed them leaves and marveled at their size and slowness. Apparently they grow to be a meter high, but none we saw were that large. Our guide, Mani (short for Abrahimani) was a wonderful character who taught us Swahili and soon became a fast local friend, which was difficult to find because we were always potentially getting ripped off by people who befriended us. Stonetown is small, and when we said goodbye to him he told us not to worry, he would "see us around again like donuts!" He was right - we saw him a couple of times again, and were sad to say goodbye for real.
We then moved on to Paje, a beach town on the east coast of the island. This was our true touristy bit of the trip where we indulged in a beach resort where we stayed in a thatched roof bungalow literally a few steps from the beach. Still being on a budget we would wolf down the included breakfast, eat snacks for lunch, and splurge more on dinner. Although we were exhilerated to swim in the beautiful, warm ocean perhaps the most amazing thing we did was swim with dolphins. Kitted out with snorkeling equipment we spent a couple of hours in the water with these glorious creatures literally an arms-length away from us. Schools of them would swim below us in the clear water, and we could hear their high-pitched sonar communication under water.
Jono was so excited when he first jumped into the water he forgot to use his snorkel gear properly and breathed in a healthy dose of salt water. This was not, however, the silliest thing he did in Paje. The very first afternoon we arrived we jumped into the ocean, excited and happy to be there. I, naturally being more cautious than Jono, began to feel a little apprehensive about the little jellyfish in the sea. They were pretty small, with blue tentacles, but there were quite a few of them. I was making sounds of apprehension, and Jono said "Ayesha please just relax. You can't be afraid of everything, let's just enjoy the water..." and just then his condescension turned to cries of pain and surprise. I thought he was joking around with me, to make me more scared, but it turns out he was suddenly zapped all over his chest, arms, and legs. I got zapped just once across my arm (thank god for one piece bathing suits) and then really began to freak out. We splashed our way out of the water and some other tourists nodded sagely, "Yes, the jellyfish?" Thanks for telling us. Anyway, there was a very helpful Frenchman, who turned out to the hotel diving instructor, who gave us white vinegar for our stings. Jono's looked just awful but they weren't painful for too long. Thankfully the jellyfish were only brought in by some specific tides, so we were able to swim (not without a few scares and general nervous disposition) more comfortably the rest of the time we were in Paje.
Other than our taxi driver showing up an hour before we were supposed to leave Paje (and then leaving without us), and our flight to Mwanza leaving an hour early (although we managed to get that piece of information beforehand) we made it here without any mishaps. Jono's next blog on Buswelu and the orphanage will tell you all about the many experiences we've had in the last few days we've been here - it certainly feels like much longer. The volunteers are great people, and the children at the orphanage are just beautiful. They need so much love and attention, and have the most wonderful laughs. It really is the highlight of our day to make the 10 minute walk to the orphanage and be greeted by them, and the time we spend there goes by very quickly. We began our teaching on Monday, and it will be good to have some routine after a few weeks of traveling.
Other than our taxi driver showing up an hour before we were supposed to leave Paje (and then leaving without us), and our flight to Mwanza leaving an hour early (although we managed to get that piece of information beforehand) we made it here without any mishaps. Jono's next blog on Buswelu and the orphanage will tell you all about the many experiences we've had in the last few days we've been here - it certainly feels like much longer. The volunteers are great people, and the children at the orphanage are just beautiful. They need so much love and attention, and have the most wonderful laughs. It really is the highlight of our day to make the 10 minute walk to the orphanage and be greeted by them, and the time we spend there goes by very quickly. We began our teaching on Monday, and it will be good to have some routine after a few weeks of traveling.
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