Island Paradise

Wow I haven't updated in quite a while...sorry all life's been crazy these past two months! Hope things are going well back home! I miss you all and thanks so much to everyone who has written and sent things...it really means the world to me!!

So let's see...where in the world has Sarita been recently? Well like my previous blog said, I embarked on a wonderful train journey across the mountainous plains of Tanzania on a mission to hear some fabulous African music under Zanzibarian skies. The train journey, which was suppose to start at 3:00 am, of course being Africa where everything runs on African time, didn't roll into the station until 4:30 so Kate, Meera, Mary Ellen and I were exhausted, having been up all night excited for this adventure! We got settled in our first class compartment and we were surprised at the great condition of the train! Our compartment had two bunk beds and a desk...it was small but cozy. Besides the jerks and rocky-ness, we were able to get a few hours of shut eye before awaking to immigration officials asking to stamp our passorts saying Karibu Tanzania--welcome! There is something so romantic about train travel...especially when you have good company, and I certainly did. So for our 36 hour train journey, the four of us read a lot, played some card games and hung out in the dining car/lounge with the other group of PCVs who are from the intake right before us. About three hours before we got to Dar, the train rolled through a game park--it was so cool! We saw elephants, giraffes, monkeys, zebras, warthogs and wildebeast. Nothing like a free train safari to put you in a good mood, despite little sleep and hours of being trapped on a moving train! So we finally arrived in Dar Es Salaam on Thursday, around 3:30 pm and the last ferry heading to Zanzibar island left at 4:00 pm so we joined forces with the other PCVs and booked it the dock. Luckily one of the PCVs had a number for the ferry company so we were able to have them hold the boat for us, and lucky for us, they boat was all full except for first class so we all got upgraded to the VIP lounge-comfy chairs and airconditioning--perfect way to start a vacation :-)

So we arrived in Stone Town just as the sun was setting over the Indian Ocean...it was absolutely beautiful! After going through immigration, we split from the other PCVs and found our way through the winding streets to our hostel called Karibu Inn-Welcome Inn. Our innkeeper was so nice and helpful, he gave us such great tips and sightseeing suggestions. We settled into our dormitory and headed straight for some yummy spice island food. Fish was had by all and we all enjoyed it...so great to eat food that has some spice-sorry Zambia, there's no comparison. The one down side to our trip was that the power was out on the island, something about an electrical pipe being broken, so the entire island ran on generators. This was great, but unfortunately made it extremely hot! At times in the day is was so unbearable, we were just dripping in sweat. And the worst was at night, they shut off the generators so we woke up drenched. Yes, it was a down side to island paradise, but regardless, we managed to still have fun and enjoy ourselves! The first night we were too exhausted so we did not go to the music festival but we bought our passes-and they gave us residents' rate so we managed to save a pretty penny, yay! On Friday, we did a spice tour which was pretty neat. We were allowed to sample different fruits and then enjoyed a traditional Tanzanian lunch...similar to Zambia only with a lot more flavor :-) After the tour, they took us to a beautiful beach...none of us brought our suits because we didn't know this part was included, but we still enjoyed the crystal clear blue water! It was amazing and the water was a perfect temperature.

That evening, we went to our first night at the music festival. We heard some great musicians and wondered around to the different vendors, window shopping. Kate and I decided to get henna tattoo...big mistake on my part! The lady was so nice, she told me she would use black and red henna and I, not knowing the difference, agreed! Well turns out my skin doesn't like black henna...and I had a horrible allergic reaction to the henna, which was on my arm and on my ankle, so today, I have a nice beautiful scar from this henna experience. So beware all, stay away from black henna! But it was still nice at the time, and it added to the whole ambiance of the music festival..it was great. Saturday, we explored Stone Town, did a lot of shopping-got some really fabulous jewelry and clothing-and ate at an Indian restaurant. That night we went back to music festival...some of the artists were really amazing. One Ugandan group did dance performances and that was the highlight! Other artists weren't so great...but the festival was held in the old fort of Stone Town and the atmosphere was just wonderful. It was great to hear live African music in a very cool African town!

So Monday, we headed up to the North Coast for a few days of rest and relaxation on the beach. We stayed a very quaint hostel and the ocean was just amazing! It was the most perfect blue water I have ever seen! I will post pictures, but for those of you who have facebook, check them out! So yes, the first thing we did was put on our swim suits and race down to the water. We were only out in the sun for about 1 1/2 hours before Kate got a horrible sun burn-like lobster red all over her body-that we took cover in some shade for the rest of the day. We decided that on Tuesday, since we were only in Zanzibar once, we would splurge and go on a snorkeling trip. The guy running it gave us a great rate so we jumped at the opportunity. So Tuesday morning, we boarded a dhow boat (traditional wood sail/motor boat) for a two hour trip out to a private island, Mnemba Atoll Island, where there is a great reef with lots of beautiful fish. We were able to snorkel for about 2 hours and then they took us to another beach where we enjoyed a delicious fish barbecue! IT was the best fish I've had yet and the fruits were so delicious, it made the trip worth while. The snorkeling was great, but to be quite honest, the snorkeling in the Red Sea is more impressive, but this was a great trip and I really enjoyed it! IT was a great way to end our time on Zanzibar.

Wednesday, we decided to head back to Dar Es Salaam and explore that city for a few days before embarking on the train back on Friday. Wednesday was also Kate's birthday so we settled at our hostel-the YWCA- and then got dressed up for a night out in Dar. We went to the Holiday Inn and they had air conditioning-a wonderful blessing!!- so we decided to have a couple of drinks and eat dinner at their restaurant. The food was surprisingly very good, and Mary Ellen, being the wonderful mother-figure that she is, bought the meal for us...it was a pleasant surprise and a nice end to our great trip. Thursday, we were told to explore a certain part of Dar that was known for having good souvenir shopping so we headed out there on a crowded mini bus. The market was a cool setting, but the prices were muzungu prices-white people prices-so we had to do a lot of hard bargaining, and we did walk away with some cool things.

Friday, we headed back to Zambia. The train journey back was forever long...still beautiful but toooo long. We crossed the Zambia border at 8:30 pm on Saturday night, being told that we would arrive in Kasama around 1 am but that ended up not happening and we did not get off the train until 9 am on Sunday...more than 12 hours to go a small distance on the map-crazy! But the trip overall was so great and I highly recommend Zanzibar to everyone! Come visit me and I'll take you there myself!

Alrighty more to come but I must sign off for now. I hope all is well!! PLEASE write me or comment-even if it is just a hello, I LOVE hearing from you!!! Miss you tons!!