Finally in Zanzibar!!

Before I get to talking about Zanzibar, I want to say what an experience it was just getting here. I got into Dar Es Salaam late last night about 8:30 PM (BTW, I'm 7 hours ahead of DC time and 10 hours ahead of San Diego time -- I'm adjusting, but boy! do I want to nap during the day). After picking up my luggage/customs etc., and picking a cab driver amongst many, I was driven to the middle of Dar Es, to find a decent hotel in my price range. I would compare the feeling to driving through Mexico, except everyone is speaking Swahili and they drive English style (on the left). Why is it that cab rides are pretty much the same in all poorer countries? A little scary but I soaked in the experience nevertheless. And after catching a few hours of sleep, I got up at 4AM to catch a 6:30AM flight to the island of Zanzibar....

Speaking of Zanzibar, this place is simply amazing. I'm now staying in Stone Town. In the 1800s, Stone Town Zanzibar was where the origins of the slave trading industry began. Catholics, Muslims and Hindus make up much of the people living here and much of the architectural structures still remain and are maintained as they have been for the last couple of centuries. I was just having a glass of wine over looking the port and this old world scene that looked like something out of Casablanca. With the old single sail ships and market places, this place exudes kind of a classic romantic theme a la Indiana Jones. I would definitely recommend Zanzibar as a destination and if I were a writer looking for inspiration, I would come here in a heart beat. Haven't seen too many Americans tourists as there are mostly Europeans on holiday.

After breakfast this morning, I got a personal tour from a guide, Mr. Atuba. He grew up here and has a vast knowledge of the history Zanzibar. Explained/showed me everything from the sultan slave trade organization, the fish market, facts about Barbara Bush's visit, to showing me where Freddy Mercury was born (did you know that? I didn't). Tonight they are having a film festival in the oldest open building in Zanzibar that I'm going to try to check out. I leave for Kilimanjaro tomorrow for the next stage and most challenging part of my trip so stay tuned...

FYI, I'm not the best blogger or elegant writer in the world so please be patient with me. I will try to post a couple of pics here shortly as I have already taken over 150 pics today. Tomorrow I will try my hand at video. Also, I have no email capability but I can text. If you have quick questions you would like to ask while I'm on my trek, you can text me at 7039552728 and I will do my best to respond. Otherwise, continue to comment and I will get to all of your questions if you have any.

Additional Comments and Photos (updated 31 Aug):

I'll try to post a few more and some commentary later when I have more time. I overslept this morning so I'm rushing a bit before I have to get out of here. Enjoy!!

These two pictures were taken from the hotel cafe when I first arrived yesterday morning. Not too bad, eh?




These next pics were just from walking around Stone Town and inside some of the shops and market place. As a side note, there were a lot of Obama references, i.e. posters, graffiti etc. They love him here. I had one shop keeper yell to me “Yes We Did”! as I walked by giving me the thumbs up.



I was hanging out at this place last night having a glass of wine while they played some pretty cool down tempo tunes. At one point a tiny monkey jumped up next to me (I thought it was a cat at first). I think he wanted a drink.



I love the children shots. The children that I saw were running around and playing in the very narrow streets of Stone Town. Fortunately I was able to take these before they noticed I was there.





The fish market had the worst stench you could imagine. I held back on the close ups for this post.



I didn't notice it during the day, but while walking around at night, there are so many families that live in these old dwellings.



This was my tour guide Mr. Atuba. He was awesome!!





These last two shots were take from the patio of one of the hotels I was checking out.





Well I'm off to Kili now. Bye for now.