Jambo, Pole-pole, Karibu (yes, that's nearly our full Kiswahili lexicon)

As I was getting ready to write another posting I was thinking that those of you reading this are probably thinking that all we do is travel around East Africa, take holidays and go on adventures.  This posting will reinforce that belief as we are just returned from a 9 day holiday in Zanzibar, but be forewarned, I promise a very dull posting quite soon about the ways in which we spend most of our days in Kigali (sleep, eat, work, go to school).  Meanwhile, twende - let's go, I've got stories and over 300 photos to share!

About a month ago we decided to use the two week spring vacation period from Saadya and Nava's school to travel to a beach destination in East Africa.  We debated the possibilities...Madagascar, Mombasa,  Zanzibar...the costs, the multiple interests and decided to land in Zanzibar.  Within a week we got just the right set of flights, the right lodgings, a Tanzanian visa and everything seemed to be smooth sailing.  Then about a week before departure we started to get daily notices that our flights were being rearranged by an hour or two first forward in time then backward.  Finally, the day before we were set to leave we were notified that our flight had been cancelled but we could be rerouted and would leave at - ouch, 3:00am (in essence gaining a day in Zanzibar).  All of these flight changes gave us some worry about how travelling via Kenya Airways would be but we arrived timely though tired.  In fact, the U.S. airlines could learn a thing or two from Kenya Airways.  On our first flight from Kigali to Nairobi, since everyone was checked in, we left 1/2 hour early and on both of our flights we were served a small meal even though the flying time was no more than 1-1.5 hours; I'll never settle for a soda and a bag of nuts again!  For Saadya, the trip offered the thrill of flying on 3 new airlines, Kenya Airways, Precision Air and Rwandair.

Yep, here he is, the pride of Africa on his way from Nairobi to Zanzibar

On getting off the plane we were immediately hit by the fact that we had entered a tropical climate.  The long pants and sweaters we needed on leaving Kigali were about to be packed away for 9 days of heat, humidity and a bit of tropical rain.  Our first big schvitz occurred while waiting to get through the visa/immigration line, not because we were nervous about the experience but because it was hot and slow, slow, slow.  Having the visa in advance was not really helpful as we still needed to go through the form filling out, questioning, and fingerprinting process that marks both the entry and exit from Tanzania.  Once out of the airport we were met by an arranged driver and whisked away to our first destination Mbweni Ruins Hotel.  The hotel sits just south of Stonetown and incorporates the ruins of a school built in the late 1800's for freed slaves.

Ruins at Mbweni

Old Chapel from the ruins at Mbweni

The hotel also has a long pier that Saadya liked to sit on and read, a beautiful beach and a very nice pool for Nava and kayaks to explore the Mangroves. 

View of the hotel from the end of the pier

Our first sunset at Mbweni

The location was perfect for our first explorations which included a trip to a spice farm, exploring Stonetown, and a trip to Jozani forest.

The spice farm trip happened on our first full day over the course of a rainy morning.  The rain did not surprise us, April is the beginning of the rainy season in Zanzibar.  The benefit of rainy season travel is that there are fewer tourists and prices for many places are lower.  We hired a driver and ventured off to see how and where spices are grown on "The Spice Islands."  The tour was great fun, our guide on the farm played a typical tourist game with us giving us hints as we moved from plant to plant or tree to tree so that we could guess what was in front of us.  We saw, tasted and smelled nutmeg tree, cardomom, clove, ylang-ylang, peppercorn, vanilla, jackfruit, grapefruit, pineapple, cassava, cinnamon, starfruit and coconut as we wandered through the maze of palms, bushes and trees.  Each of us was given a banana leaf cone to fill with treasures during our walk.  The tour ended with one of the guides climbing a coconut tree and picking fresh coconut from which we drank the juice.

Nutmeg

Vanilla bean

Nava collecting spices

King of the spice tour

The coconut tree climber

Drinking fresh coconut juice

On our way back to Mbweni we stopped at the nearby Kidichi Persian Baths.  The baths are a beutiful building that were constructed by Sultan Seyyid in about 1850 for one of his wives.  During our 9 days in Zanzibar we made an effort to learn a bit of history.  Its a complicated and fascinating history involving trade routes, slave trade and migrations of people to the islands from Portugal, Oman, Persia and the UK.  We paid the caretaker to see the inside and were dismayed to see and hear about how the Tanzanian government, in an effort to make care easier, had whitewashed the building so the coloful Persian designs were gone and the stained glass from the ceiling was removed.

Kidichi

As we drove back to Mbweni our stomachs started making the I'm hungry sounds so our driver took us to a popular local eatery called Laakman's for our first taste of Zanzibar/Swahili food.  I immediately fell in love with the pilau rice and on a later day found the delight of the spice rice.  If I can learn to cook rice properly I now know which spices belong in it.

The following day we explored Stonetown, the large city of the main island of Unguja.  In Stonetown we saw so many other Muzungu tourists that it was hard to believe we were there in the off season.  Saadya was excited to tour the city since, as he often pointed out, it is a World Heritage Site.  We visited all the typical tourist sites learning some important history and seeing the amazing mix of city market area, narrow alleys, mosques and architecture that is part Moorish, part Persian and part Indian. 

Fish Market

Bananas in the market

Spices for sale



A Stonetown alley

We managed to avoid Freddy Mercury's house (yep, he was originally from Stonetown) and ended our day at the Mtoni palace ruins which was the palace  of Sultan Said where Princess Salme was born.  Your very own brief history of Zanzibar (and a recipe for Pilau Rice) can be found at ZanzibarNet.  While we were travelling in Zanzibar, Patricia bought a copy of Memoirs of an Arabian Princess in its original German, read it and filled us in on much of the history.

As wonderful and exotic as Zanzibar, Stonetown and our travels were, we also got some insight into the politics and issues that boil underneath the whitewash that is presented to tourists.  Our drivers told us of the problems of corruption and bribery, the government that makes promises but doesn't come through.  We saw the poverty and the effects of the high rates of unemployment.  We saw trash everywhere as the island has no sustainable approach to dealing with waste disposal.  The 3 hotels/resorts at which we stayed were all owned by Europeans so although we were contributing to the island economy much of our money was making its way back to the western world (except at Chumbe).  At our last hotel, Patricia and I explored by bike the neighboring towns and saw the poor living conditions that those who stay behind the resort walls never see.  In sum, like in most "fabulous" resort locations, the locals are not enjoying the sun, fun and food that we can afford.  This tainted but did not ruin our vacation, better to know and see than to ignore.

Our final day at Mbweni we took a trip to Jozani Forest where we walked through a beautiful lush forest, a boardwalk through a mangrove swamp and visited with the Red Colubus Monkeys.

Red Colubus

Our forest walk

The next morning we awoke and took a ferry for a two night stay at Chumbe Island.  I can't even begin to describe how special the stay on the island was.  Chumbe Island is a privately owned and protected reef sanctuary and forest preserve.  The island is a true eco-tourism site creating a minimal footprint, providing important edcational programming, conducting marine research and protecting the preserve.  We felt as if we were treated like royalty.  Two days of snorkeling, beach and forest exploration, amazing accomodations and gourmet food served always near the beach or in the evening, by candlelight on the beach.  On our first day, within hours of arriving, all 4 of us were taken out snorkeling on the coral reef sanctuary.  Our guide taught us what we needed to know, helped Nava and Saadya and we were off into the amazing watery wonders swimming with beautiful fish (yes, even Nemo was there) and even seeing and swimming with sea turtles.  By the second day, Nava was off and snorkeling on here own (Saadya got sick and had to skip day 2) and identifying the tropical fish as she went along.  If you ever find yourself thinking about a trip to Zanzibar Chumbe Island is a MUST VISIT site.

Chumbe as we approached from the boat

Our bungalows

First floor of one of the bungalows, sleeping quarters were up the ladder

Coconut crab (they only come out at night)

Nava with a fossilized giant clam

Exploring the Chumbe beach

As sorry as we were to leave Chumbe, we were certainly feeling relaxed and begining to get our tans on.

Tanned and relaxed!

Next stop, Pongwe Beach Hotel, a resort renowned for its beautiful beach and infnity pool.  Our goal at Pongwe was to spend our last 3 days roaming the beach and not really going anywhere.  GOOD NEWS, we accomplished this very difficult goal finding it nowhere nearly as difficult as it may sound to you.  Nava spent three days clad only in a bathing suit, creating shell gardens and swimming.  Saadya relaxed and continued to recuperate from his bout of Zanzibaritis.  Patricia and I ventured out on bicycles to see a bit of the surrounding area.  Nava, Patricia and I tried our hands at kayaking. We all walked up and down the beach, hung out at the pool and continued to feast on seafood.  The photos capture some of our Pongwe time but none of the amazing turqoise, purple and blue colors of ocean.

Sunrise walk

Kayaking

More kayaking

Our Zanzibari Bed

Our seashell garden

Nava on the beach wrapped in a Kanga



The view toward the beach at Pongwe

Our exotic Zanzibar journey came to a close with a quick flight from Zanzibar to Dar and another round of fingerprinting as we left Tanzania arriving back to the cool air, the clean streets and the now familiar sights and sounds of Kigali, the place we are currently calling home.