Zanzibar
My Africa trip is in no way in chronological order but this is how I ended it, in Zanzibar. To get to Zanzibar we had to drive for 18 hours from Arusha to Dar Salaam where we would get a connecting ferry to the island. We were told that Dar Salaam is not a place to hang around so as soon as we got there our plan was to high tail it to the port to get the ferry.
Our bus to Dar Salaam was a total nightmare. It was crawling with cochroaches, and I mean crawling. They were falling from the roof down our clothes and everything. After a couple of hours we got used to them but the heat on the non-airconditioned bus was torture. Half way to Dar Salaam and we hit a dead stop. There had been a crash on the road between two trucks and the road was totally blocked. We waited in the midday sun for two hours desperately trying to hide under bushes to get some relief. When we eventually got going our driver told us that he would try and get us to Dar before the ferry left. He floored it.
We arrived at the port to see the ferry sailing away in the distance and us stuck in hell. People crowded around us to try and sell us fake tickets/drugs/knives and anything else you could imagine. Our hands were firmly stuck to our wallets as they tried separating us from each other. Eventually we heard that this guy would fly us over to Zanzibar for cheap and that his cousin would drive us up the coast to our destination. We had no choice but to accept as none of us wanted to hang around dodge city for much longer.
We were taken out to a small runway where sure enough there was a plane waiting. We crammed into this tiny plane as the propelors started to turn. Thirty minutes later and we landed somewhere. The doors opened. It was pitch dark. As our eyes adjusted we could see the outline of a building. We were then told that there had been no electricity in Zanzibar for two weeks as Tanzania had cut the power lines. We were in Zanzibar airport and there wasn't a light to be seen. As our plane turned for home we were told that we would have to walk over to the terminal and go through customs. If anyone asked where we had come from we had to tell them that we were on the last flight and that we had been in the toilet. Nervously we went into the open terminal and over to passport control. Not an eyelid was batted as they gladly accepted us and stamped our passports.
Outside waiting was our bus up to a small village called Nungwi. The drive took a total of three hours on the worst roads/dirt track imaginable. Twice we had to pay off the police who are as crooked as the hind leg of a dog. People had told us of the paradise that Nungwi is but when we arrived our expectations were severely dashed. It was the most poverty torn looking place that we had come across so far. With no accomodation arranged we managed to secure a room in a B&B sort of house. Going to bed we were not in the best form at all.
Our bus to Dar Salaam was a total nightmare. It was crawling with cochroaches, and I mean crawling. They were falling from the roof down our clothes and everything. After a couple of hours we got used to them but the heat on the non-airconditioned bus was torture. Half way to Dar Salaam and we hit a dead stop. There had been a crash on the road between two trucks and the road was totally blocked. We waited in the midday sun for two hours desperately trying to hide under bushes to get some relief. When we eventually got going our driver told us that he would try and get us to Dar before the ferry left. He floored it.
We arrived at the port to see the ferry sailing away in the distance and us stuck in hell. People crowded around us to try and sell us fake tickets/drugs/knives and anything else you could imagine. Our hands were firmly stuck to our wallets as they tried separating us from each other. Eventually we heard that this guy would fly us over to Zanzibar for cheap and that his cousin would drive us up the coast to our destination. We had no choice but to accept as none of us wanted to hang around dodge city for much longer.
We were taken out to a small runway where sure enough there was a plane waiting. We crammed into this tiny plane as the propelors started to turn. Thirty minutes later and we landed somewhere. The doors opened. It was pitch dark. As our eyes adjusted we could see the outline of a building. We were then told that there had been no electricity in Zanzibar for two weeks as Tanzania had cut the power lines. We were in Zanzibar airport and there wasn't a light to be seen. As our plane turned for home we were told that we would have to walk over to the terminal and go through customs. If anyone asked where we had come from we had to tell them that we were on the last flight and that we had been in the toilet. Nervously we went into the open terminal and over to passport control. Not an eyelid was batted as they gladly accepted us and stamped our passports.
Outside waiting was our bus up to a small village called Nungwi. The drive took a total of three hours on the worst roads/dirt track imaginable. Twice we had to pay off the police who are as crooked as the hind leg of a dog. People had told us of the paradise that Nungwi is but when we arrived our expectations were severely dashed. It was the most poverty torn looking place that we had come across so far. With no accomodation arranged we managed to secure a room in a B&B sort of house. Going to bed we were not in the best form at all.
Our bad moods were immediately taken away when we woke up to what Nungwi actually is......heaven.
We relaxed here for a week and vowed that we were not getting the 20 hour bus trip back to Nairobi.
A boat trip.
posted by Unknown at 12:44 p.m.
1 comments
Surrounding it are the rugged mountains.
There is a perfect road all the way up the mountain.
