We arrived very late Monday night in Stone Town just as the sun was setting. The ferry ride over had been another exercise in intra-Africa travel where we literally had to beg our way on the boat. As we kept saying, at least we got out--we both needed to be away from the stresses of Dar for a bit.
Zanzibar was an Arab state for quite a long time with its own sultan and everything and Stone Town is all Arab architecture. It's really beautiful and unlike anything we've seen here. I'm assuming most of the buildings are at the very least 200-300 years old (some easy internet searching or guidebook reading could cure this ignorance but my computer problems, which have only increased, make me just want to write quickly, and accept some guesstimates) and are varying states of restoration and dilapidation. The lovely taxi driver sent by the hotel--Mohammed--had to make some stops on the way to the east side of the island, including picking up ice cream, beer, and diet coke (a failure on the last attempt). We then drove through the outskirts of the town, skirting villages.
Electricity in Zanzibar is a problem as it is all over Tanzania, but more acutely so here. There is a single power line that runs to the island, built by the Norwegians in the 1970s. But even more than the fact that there are frequent blackouts and power failures, it was amazing to see just how dark the island is. As we drove through these little neighborhoods, probably fewer than half the homes had light and if they did it was a single bulb on a string. Instead, the children played in the darken street, the adolescents sat along the edges of half-built houses, and the adults walked along the sides of the roads, sometimes riding their almost invisible bikes perilously close to traffic.I've known about the lack of electricity even in fairly developed parts of the country, of course, but to see this in such proximity was really striking. As we drove east, the island got more and more dark until we were essentially along country roads (where the bikes were even more invisible).
We arrived at our lovely hotel late and hungry after one more stop at a gas station, where Mohammed had switched us into his "brother"'s cab because he felt his asthma coming on. Again, what a shock to see asthma so debilitating, especially to someone who is more likely than not middle class. We arrived in our lovely hotel, Kilima Kidogo (Little Hill) where the proprietor and staff were probably among the most welcoming and awesome people we had met.
When we woke up the first morning, the sky was clear and the sea shone turquoise--clear turquoise in all its shades. Our first night and day were mostly spent relaxing, taking long walks on the beach, and finishing up a little work.
Today, we got up to watch the sunrise (extraordinary--so much more gentle than sunsets, in pastels) and are going on a sailing trip with the requisite snorkeling (supposed to be very good). Tomorrow on our way back to Stone Town, we'll do the spice tour.
Lots more to tell and share, but my computer is running out of juice and won't take a charge or run of AC with any consistency and more recently not at all. Technical problems!
Hopefully I'll be able to get enough to post again, but if not, I come home on Saturday and can't wait to share more of what an incredible trip this has been.
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