Well there is more to cover here than Zanzibar, but I love the way it sounds... Now that I am in South America I should have no problem posting more regularly. Has to be said, it has been a bit flattering to get complaints about the lack of posts. Thanks for reading everyoine...
Right, back to Africa. From Mombasa I crossed into Tanzania (and paid the $100 visa fee- traveling as an American is expensive!). I spent a night in a cute little seaside town called Tanga and was planning to head to Lushoto to do some hiking, but I could not get an honest fare from the public bus station so I opted to use a private bus company to go directly to Dar Es Salaam. I spent a couple of days wandering around Dar and trying to sort out plans to get to South America. I decided to cut Africa short as I had already done a safari and beaches and it is surprisingly expensive to travel independently through Africa. There is definitely more I want to see there in future trips though! Anyway, my friend Heidi was nice enough to put me in touch with her friend Patricia who lives in Dar and she agreed to meet me for dinner. I had quite an adventure trying to get to the suburb of Mikocheni- my lack of swahili and knowledge of Dar made a 30 minute daladala (public minibus) ride into a 2.5 hour excursion including 3 daladalas and some help from friendly locals. But I made it right about on time. Patricia took me to this great restaurant called Dar Alivc that is right on the beach and decorated with old traditional African wooden boats. We had terrific grilled snapper while sitting on the sand with the waves crashing in the background. If you go to Dar, definitely eat there! Patricia then took me home to meet her family which was awesome! It was a terrific evening all around.
After one more day in Dar (sorted out my South America plans- finally!) I hopped on the slow boat to Zanzibar. Has to be said, Zanzibar deserves the hype. It really is a beach paradise. I spent the first night in Stonestown which is an old colonial town and a great place to wander the narrow, cobblestone streets. For dinner I headed to the nightly market where stalss set up selling cheap, fresh seafood on skewers and Zanzibar pizzas- dough filled with your chice of meat, veggies, eggs, and chiles or banana and chocolate. I had both. The next morning I took a shuttle to Nungwi, a beach town on the north coast. I got a cute little room just off the beach and spent the day reading and sunning. That evening I met a trio from Ireland and through them a couple of Danish guys and a couple from California. We all headed to the full moon party down the beach at a nearby resort. The party was great, music, bonfires, the beach and lots of people. The next couple of days I spent relaxing on the beach and hanging out with that cerw and some others we met. It was pretty much perfect! Finally it was time to head back to Dar. Sawyer and Malana- the California couple, and an English guy named Lee accompanied me back to Stonestown for one more night. We watched the sunset over beer at the Africa House and went back to the night market. Lee and I took the ferry back to Dar the next afternoon and hung out there. He was going to the beaches south of Dar for a few days so I tagged along for the day. Has to be said, as nice as Zanzibar is, the beaches south of Dar are equally lovely and much less expensive... I{m glad I got to see both.
The next few days was a whirlwind. I flew to Cairo where I was hoping to see the pyramids on my 22 hour layover. Unfortunately it took Air Egypt 4 huors to sort out the transit visa and hotel (which was free with my ticket, but had I known how long it would take, I would have passed) so I did not get a chance to go. The next morning I flew to New York and spent a lovely evening and day with my aunt Randi and family (thank you Randi!!). The next night I headed into NYC for dinner with Kara and Justine. Monday morning I flew to Fort Lauderdale for 4 hours and had lunch and ice cream with my parents before flying to Lima, Peru that night. Three continents in four days.
I spent a night and a day in Lima. It was really nice to be there as I know my way around a bit from the 6 weeks I spent there in 2005. My Spanish seems to be rising to the challenge of South America and it is so nice to be able to understand some of what goes on around me! I pretty much flew through Peru on my way to Bolivia. Overnight bus to Arequipa, then bus to Puno. I spent a night in Puno with a couple from Oregon I met on the bus and then crossed the border to Bolivia yesterday afternoon. And now, I am really going to try and slow down a bit! Wish me luck. Last night I met up with Molly and Devin (OR couple) on the top of the hill that overlooks Copacabana and Lake Titicaca to watch the sunset. It was awesome! It is a little chilly here at 12,500 feet since it is winter, but the scenery is lovely and the town is super laid back. This morning I went to the cathedral to see the blessing of the automobiles. Every day the priest comes out and blesses a line of cars and buses. Flowers are adorned on windshields, holy water is sprinkled, beer is sprayed and ashes scattered. It was really interesting to watch. Tomorrow I am planning to head to Isla del Sol- the Island of the Sun, which the Incas believed to be the birthplace of the sun. Should be fun!
Pics from Africa are up-
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/Africa
All for now- more soon!
Right, back to Africa. From Mombasa I crossed into Tanzania (and paid the $100 visa fee- traveling as an American is expensive!). I spent a night in a cute little seaside town called Tanga and was planning to head to Lushoto to do some hiking, but I could not get an honest fare from the public bus station so I opted to use a private bus company to go directly to Dar Es Salaam. I spent a couple of days wandering around Dar and trying to sort out plans to get to South America. I decided to cut Africa short as I had already done a safari and beaches and it is surprisingly expensive to travel independently through Africa. There is definitely more I want to see there in future trips though! Anyway, my friend Heidi was nice enough to put me in touch with her friend Patricia who lives in Dar and she agreed to meet me for dinner. I had quite an adventure trying to get to the suburb of Mikocheni- my lack of swahili and knowledge of Dar made a 30 minute daladala (public minibus) ride into a 2.5 hour excursion including 3 daladalas and some help from friendly locals. But I made it right about on time. Patricia took me to this great restaurant called Dar Alivc that is right on the beach and decorated with old traditional African wooden boats. We had terrific grilled snapper while sitting on the sand with the waves crashing in the background. If you go to Dar, definitely eat there! Patricia then took me home to meet her family which was awesome! It was a terrific evening all around.
After one more day in Dar (sorted out my South America plans- finally!) I hopped on the slow boat to Zanzibar. Has to be said, Zanzibar deserves the hype. It really is a beach paradise. I spent the first night in Stonestown which is an old colonial town and a great place to wander the narrow, cobblestone streets. For dinner I headed to the nightly market where stalss set up selling cheap, fresh seafood on skewers and Zanzibar pizzas- dough filled with your chice of meat, veggies, eggs, and chiles or banana and chocolate. I had both. The next morning I took a shuttle to Nungwi, a beach town on the north coast. I got a cute little room just off the beach and spent the day reading and sunning. That evening I met a trio from Ireland and through them a couple of Danish guys and a couple from California. We all headed to the full moon party down the beach at a nearby resort. The party was great, music, bonfires, the beach and lots of people. The next couple of days I spent relaxing on the beach and hanging out with that cerw and some others we met. It was pretty much perfect! Finally it was time to head back to Dar. Sawyer and Malana- the California couple, and an English guy named Lee accompanied me back to Stonestown for one more night. We watched the sunset over beer at the Africa House and went back to the night market. Lee and I took the ferry back to Dar the next afternoon and hung out there. He was going to the beaches south of Dar for a few days so I tagged along for the day. Has to be said, as nice as Zanzibar is, the beaches south of Dar are equally lovely and much less expensive... I{m glad I got to see both.
The next few days was a whirlwind. I flew to Cairo where I was hoping to see the pyramids on my 22 hour layover. Unfortunately it took Air Egypt 4 huors to sort out the transit visa and hotel (which was free with my ticket, but had I known how long it would take, I would have passed) so I did not get a chance to go. The next morning I flew to New York and spent a lovely evening and day with my aunt Randi and family (thank you Randi!!). The next night I headed into NYC for dinner with Kara and Justine. Monday morning I flew to Fort Lauderdale for 4 hours and had lunch and ice cream with my parents before flying to Lima, Peru that night. Three continents in four days.
I spent a night and a day in Lima. It was really nice to be there as I know my way around a bit from the 6 weeks I spent there in 2005. My Spanish seems to be rising to the challenge of South America and it is so nice to be able to understand some of what goes on around me! I pretty much flew through Peru on my way to Bolivia. Overnight bus to Arequipa, then bus to Puno. I spent a night in Puno with a couple from Oregon I met on the bus and then crossed the border to Bolivia yesterday afternoon. And now, I am really going to try and slow down a bit! Wish me luck. Last night I met up with Molly and Devin (OR couple) on the top of the hill that overlooks Copacabana and Lake Titicaca to watch the sunset. It was awesome! It is a little chilly here at 12,500 feet since it is winter, but the scenery is lovely and the town is super laid back. This morning I went to the cathedral to see the blessing of the automobiles. Every day the priest comes out and blesses a line of cars and buses. Flowers are adorned on windshields, holy water is sprinkled, beer is sprayed and ashes scattered. It was really interesting to watch. Tomorrow I am planning to head to Isla del Sol- the Island of the Sun, which the Incas believed to be the birthplace of the sun. Should be fun!
Pics from Africa are up-
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/Africa
All for now- more soon!
1 comment:
Let's try this again....I am SO happy you were able to meet Patricia. She had emailed telling me you met for dinner at that you are "cool people." We all know that but a thrill for me to know you two got together. I can't wait to hear about Bolivia! My aunt and/or cousin are anticipating hearing from you if they don't contact you first. Take pictures and eat the delicious foods!
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