Zanzibar ~ Stone Town

Tuesday, January 28

This morning we took a Precision Air shuttle from Moshi to Kilimanjaro airport which was about an hour drive and then a one hour flight to Zanzibar.

Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania. It is composed of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar), and Pemba.
Zanzibar's historic centre ~ Stone Town ~ is a World Heritage Site and is claimed to be the only functioning ancient town in East Africa. It was named for the coral stone buildings that were built there mostly during the 19th century, on the site of a very old fishing village.

We checked into our hotel and then walked around Stone Town.

Our hotel ~ the Abuso Inn ~



Our traditional Zanzibar bed ~



The view from our room ~ however if I turned the camera an inch to the left you would see the huge Hyatt hotel that is being constructed right in front of this hotel. They used to have a 180 degree view ~ thankfully, for this hotel ~ it looks like this much of the view will remain ~ others not so lucky ~



The water is so blue~




Stone Town is a maze of alleys and narrow streets containing housing, shops, businesses, restaurants ~ one could very easily get lost.
We walked around checking out some of the old buildings ~









The old fort ~ built around 1700 by Omani Arabs as a defense against the Portuguese. The old fort is now a cultural centre where there are classes, shops and there are drama and music performances in the open air theatre.









Center of the Forodhani Gardens ~ dozens of vendors cook up local cuisine each evening ~ some local favorites include squid, octopus, goat meat and Zanzibari pizza ~ (we ate down the street at a restaurant)




Zanzibar National Museum of History and Culture ~ one of the most prominent buildings in Old Stone Town and one of the largest structures in Zanzibar. It was built in 1883 by Sultan Barghash as a ceremonial palace.





The narrow alleys ~ as you are walking through it is not uncommon for motor bikes to come whizzing by ~









We stopped to have lunch at the Stone Town Cafe ~
We were dripping ~ it is really a different kind of heat here ~ the temperatures
have been over a hundred and it is very humid. Walking around in between these building, in these temperatures is sweltering ~ for us. I start out wearing a shirt and by noon it has stretched to a dress!





We had a good lunch but more importantly ~ a cold drink ~




The famous doors of Zanzibar ~ at last count there were 560 carved doors in Zanzibar. The oldest door discovered in Zanzibar is dated AD 1694. The custom of putting brass knobs on the shutters comes from India, where the knobs were said to prevent elephants from crushing the doors. There is some mention of elephants in Zanzibar by early explorers but there have not been elephants in Zanzibar for some time so the brass knobs were mostly added as a decoration and to show the wealth of the owner.










The dhow boats ~ fishing boats ~ ready to give you a tour ~


Some huge freighters ~


A school bus ~





Just some of the views ~





They'll take you anywhere ~



Overlooking the water ~






Many of the bars and restaurants have "sunset bars" ~ a bar on the top floor to sit and watch the sunset ~ we went to Tatu on the top floor ~ there are no elevators in Zanzibar ~ so it's up the stairs everywhere ~


Margarita time ~


The place next door ~



The African House ~ two doors down ~


Rooftops full of people ~




All watching the setting sun in the beautiful tropical breezes ~ it was only 99 degrees at 7:00 ~ so much better!
















Then we walked down to the beach ~ there had to be 30 - 40 or more guys playing soccer ~ it seems to be a daily event~



Lastly we went to the Tembo Hotel ~ right across the road from our place and had a cold drink on the beach ~ no alcohol sold here ~

Kisha at school

Sunday, January 26


Sunrise over Moshi ~


We were up early listening to the beautiful, lively music coming from the Lutheran church behind our hotel and spotted the magnificent sunrise ~















And a great day for the mountain as well ~





This turned out to be quite an eventful day!
First the beautiful sunrise and then we were going to see Kisha at school.
We would be taking a bus from the busy bus station right around the corner from our hotel so Mama Elitha said she would come here at noon.
Now, every year Dana tells us stories of events like this and it is hard to believe but now we have experienced it first hand ~
So, at noon we thought we should wait on the street in front of our hotel just in case mama Elitha wasn't sure where our hotel was ~ we waited and waited. Dana tried to phone her but she couldn't get through. Finally mama called Dana at 1:00 and said she was on her way. So we went back inside the hotel area and waited in the shade until we figured it was time she should be there. We went back outside and waited some more. FINALLY at 2:30 they arrived ~ two and a half hours late and no big deal.
~ TIA ~
I will say that some of the problem is the language ~ neither side can be sure they've delivered the message correctly however no one seems to care much about time here. When Dana orders a cab she has to say ~ mzungu time ~ white people time ~ ha.
The bus was another whole experience ~ it was like a large dala dala. We got on ~ took seats ~ plenty of room ~ no problem! I sat next to the window and John sat in the isle seat however there was a sort of portable seat next to John ~ it folded up and down. After people filled the rows behind us that seat would be pulled up ~ filling the isle ~ for someone to sit on. We figured on the one person eventually sitting there ~ we just didn't figure on the three people that actually sat there. Ha! We were smashed against the window. When we started moving the wind was blowing through the window so much that I couldn't keep my eyes open but I couldn't close the window either because it was sooo hot ~ I just closed my eyes for half of the one hour trip. Every time you ride one of these buses they have to stop for gas because they have to wait until they collect cash from the passengers to buy the gas! (It only costs about $1.25 to ride the bus). This place is really amazing!

Here we are smiling with plenty of room ~ Elizabeth and mama Elitha in front of us ~




We got off the bus in the middle of no where ~ walked up this dirt road ~
We have seen several schools in our travels so we didn't really know what to expect ~ bad or worse ~



Vunjo Secondary school ~


We were extremely surprised when we entered the grounds of Kisha's school. It was really lovely, peaceful and quiet.


The administration area ~









And Kisha spotting Dana ~



Last Sunday we did find out Kisha's birthday is October 1st and she turned 14 yrs old.


She seems happy at school and introduced us to some of her friends ~





Church was just letting out so we saw all of the kids coming out ~ heading back to their dorm areas. There are boys and girls at this school all wearing different color t-shirts ~ red for form I ~ blue - form II ~ green- form III ~
purple - form IV and yellow- advanced. The "form" is the grade level and there are multiple ages in each form because some children don't continuously go to school if they don't have the money.



Mama Elitha and Elizabeth and Kisha insist on carrying our backpack out of respect for our old age ~



~ so John carried Elizabeth's



Mama and Kisha ~



Kisha and Elizabeth ~



Kisha, Dana, Elizabeth ~



John, Kisha, Lynn ~


A classroom ~




Boys dorm area ~ laundry day ~





Classrooms ~



Church on the right ~






So Dana carried mama's purse ~



New eating/ testing hall expected to be completed by April ~





The school store ~










Sign on the administrator's door ~



Time to say good bye ~



Kisha's cousin also attends this school ~ (on the left)





Kisha's English/Swahili teacher ~


It was a great visit ~



We road the bus back to town ~ another eventful experience and brought mama and Elizabeth back to the hotel for something to eat. They laughed and said they were no longer in Africa ~ too many mzungu (white people)





Another great day!