Zanzibar: Farewell Zanzibar......for now

Well, I have just one week left in Zanzibar, so it is time for the next instalment of my blog (which will probably be the last from these islands). 

Since the previous post, the low season has really hit and, apart from the odd couple of days, the dive shop has been very quiet. So, for the last few weeks I have spent more of my time sitting in cafes and bars or on the beach. The temperature is steadily increasing too, which can be very draining (sorry to rub it in!), so it has really felt like being on holiday here (although almost everybody else that I know here has to work during the days, unfortunately). 

I am still meeting new people and making new friends, like Steffi (from Germany, working for a tour company in Stone Town), a group from London here to learn Swahili and a few more of the local beach boys. With my mindset firmly in holiday mode, there have been some big days and nights out at Tatu, Livingstones and Mtoni. I managed to make it to Kendwa Rocks for the full moon party with Steffi and Laura too, although after three big parties in a row, with perhaps ten hours sleep in total, I was in need of a rest after that. The following weekend had another all-nighter, at the local nightclub (Bwani), which was also a bit of an eye-opener! 

On top of that, I had my first (and only) experience of the local police force, visiting the police station in Malindi with Steffi to help get her driving licence back. This is how it works:

1. The traffic police stop you for a minor misdemeanour and confiscate the driving licence.

2. It is illegal to drive without your licence, so you need to go to the court or police station to get it back.

3. The first time you go, they send you away saying come back tomorrow.

4. On the second visit, they’ll keep you waiting around to get you pissed off at the inefficiencies and ineptitude of the staff (which they have taken to an art form).

5. Then they tell you that, although they have the licence with them, it is too late to go to court to pay the fine.

6. You ask to pay the fine there and then, which they are more than happy to agree to - provided there is no receipt.

7. The police get in your car and you drive around the corner to pay the bribe and then go on your way!

The funny thing is that it works, in a corrupt and slow sort of way!

My diving course is almost completed. All the theory has been done (with one exam left to sit) and all the workshops and practical assessments finished (bar one final day in the pool). Swimming 400m for the first time in about 30 years - against the clock - was a bit of a killer, and I still have the 800m swim in the ocean to complete before I finish the course, which I am not looking forward to. I did, though, pass my physical exam at the local doctors - apparently I am "a healthy young man fit for scuba diving"! It's been quite a while since I have been called young!

What next?

Of course I'm excited about the rest of my planned travels, but I will be sad to leave. I think, in part, that is why I have been putting off going to the mainland to get my visa for Vietnam. That is not the main reason though - although Zanzibar is technically a part of Tanzania, Zanzibaris still tend to think of the archipelago as a country in its own right, so I may have struggled to get back to the island from Dar if I had to leave my passport at the Vietnamese embassy for a few days (and for those of you that have not been, being stuck in Dar for more than a day is quite a depressing proposition). It is just one of the small day to day problems that you come across here - it is like needing a passport to go to or from Wales. Come to think of it, that may not be such a bad idea...! It looks like I will need to make a flying visit to London when I am in the UK to get my visa sorted there.

There are things that I won't miss about Zanzibar, like the daily power cuts and calls to prayer at all hours, which sound like air-raid sirens going off. But mainly, as you may have guessed, I have loved my time here and there is a lot more that I will miss. As well as all the friends I have made and the general lifestyle, there are small things too, like speed bumps that get less effective the faster you go, or having bush-babies scurrying around in the trees in the garden at night. Dining like the locals has been a fun experience as well: eating chapattis, kebabs and samosas by the roadside at Darajani, or chipsi maya sitting under a tree in the middle of nowhere, or drinking and eating from a freshly hewn coconut down a Stone Town backstreet.

It is the people I will miss most though: from Rueben’s pneumatic laughter to Rich’s Manc sense of humour; from Esther’s love of the water to Mark’s love of the beer; from Emilia’s psychoanalysis sessions to David’s kindly Irishness; from Laura’s bubbly approach to life to Helen’s love of being photographed; from Amani’s cheeky grin to Faridu’s screeching laugh; from Nell’s care for the environment to Steffi’s smiling eyes; and all the other people that I have met, sometimes briefly, but always with a warm welcome. I know I will keep in touch with lots of them, and maybe even see them again later on my trip or beyond. 

For the rest of my final week, there are a few nights out planned – Laura and Iain’s Kiwi pub quiz at Mercury’s, a Halloween fancy dress party at Mbweni Ruins, which should be a good laugh, and I hope to fit in a sunset cruise with all the friends I have made here. After that, before my next leg of the trip, I'm off back to England to visit family and friends for a few days and to celebrate Matt & Jon's wedding. I wonder if I can get away with shorts and a t-shirt.......

Zanzibar: Jozani Forest, Spice Tour & Paje (...and happiness)

Hello!

Just a quick update this time, with photos and stories from a couple of trips I have had around the island.

Jozani Forest

Taking advantage of the fact that my friend Laura runs a tour company and needed to try out the tours that they offer (and so I got to go for free!), I spent a day at Jozani Forest and on the ubiquitous spice tour. Jozani is situated in the south east of the island, and is made up of ancient forests, plantations and mangroves, where locals can get all their medicines, food, clothing and just about everything else they need to survive. It is also home to the rare and endangered red colobus monkey, which is indigenous to Zanzibar.

There are only around 2,500 of these monkeys left in the world; half of which live in Jozani. Luckily, despite the best efforts of the Finnish monkey killer, there were lots of monkeys around and they were out in force. The main road from Stone Town to Paje runs through Jozani Forest and the monkeys were congregated only a few yards from the roadside. Although they are wild, they are used to humans (and traffic) so were happy to come quite close and allow me to get some photos.

Spice Tour

To be honest, I wasn't really that bothered about going on the spice tour beforehand and probably wouldn't have done so if  Laura didn't need to see it. I've been on these kinds of trips before, where the guide tells you that spices and fruit grow on plants and trees and then try to sell you packs of spices at silly inflated prices. Perhaps it was because the tour guides were already known to Laura and so everything was very informal, but it actually turned out to be a very good tour - both informative and entertaining - and I enjoyed it. Of course they did take you to their shop at the end of the tour, but there was very little hassle and, besides which, the prices weren't too ridiculous. I still didn't buy anything - old habits die hard! - but I can recommend the tour to anybody who comes to Zanzibar.

Around Stone Town, you can always tell who has been on the spice tour because of the woven palm leaf paraphernalia they are adorned with. It doesn't hurt to look like an idiot every once in a while, and Laura and I took that to heart (although she did manage to carry off the look a lot better than me!).

Paje

The kite-surfing season ended at the start of October and there was a big end-of-season party planned in Paje. So, Helen, Emilia and I joined Ipyana and a few other friends for a weekend away at Teddy's Place. Staying in a traditional makuti banda set just back from the ocean, we spent two days and nights on the beach, at Teddy's or in the nearby bars, and it was the most wonderful weekend break.

Paje is located on the south east coast, with long white beaches flanked by palm trees and mangroves, and a fairly constant wind from the south meaning that the blue-green ocean is a Mecca for kite-surfers (which seemed to please Helen and Emilia for some reason!). As it turned out, the big end-of-season party mainly passed us by, but we were having such a great time in our small group that it wasn't until the day after that anybody noticed. I don't know whether it because it is a bit of a back-packers' place, or just because of the setting and the fact it was the end of the season, but the atmosphere was very chilled - the place has a different feeling when compared with the equally beautiful Kendwa.

The days in Paje were like a throwback to childhood holidays. We idly passed the time swimming in the turquoise ocean, jumping around like school kids in the soft sand while strolling down the beach or just sitting in the sun watching the waves roll in. The evenings started by drinking colourful cocktails with who-knows-what in them (they tasted good, but they certainly had a kick!) and continued in the local "nightclubs" or on the beach; having moonlit seaweed fights or sitting under the stars, waiting for the expected meteor shower (which I think we missed due to the aforementioned cocktails!). We then stayed up until near-dawn, lay in the hammocks, chatting about life, the universe and everything. It turns out the answer is not 42 as I long believed, but it may be 23......

Nothing that we did was particularly exhilarating, or unique to Paje, or would ordinarily be unforgettable, even though it was all good fun. What really made the weekend so special was the company. Not just the people I was with, although they are good friends and that helps, but more the fact that everybody was, quite simply, happy.

Sitting on the beach or in Stone Town gives you lots of time to think and I have been considering why people are happier here - not just in Paje, but in Zanzibar in general. I'm sure I don't have the answer, I don't think there is an "answer" to such philosophical questions, but here is some backstreet psychology based on my musings. (I won’t be offended if you choose to stop reading here!)

The happiness of Zanzibar

The weather here is (usually) fantastic, the island is beautiful and, compared to western societies, the cost of living is cheap - all of these factors help - but there is also something more fundamental. If I were to try and put it in a nutshell, I would say that that people in Zanzibar (both locals and those people who have made it their home) have a better sense of priorities. That is not to say that people here are inherently "better", because I don't think that is the case, but the environment and circumstances of life help (or even force) people to focus on what is important.

As an example, in the UK (and, I would guess, in most of the developed world) people, and societies in general, place a higher value on having the latest gadgets or fashion. I have certainly been as guilty as anybody of the first and possibly the second, although people may - and regularly have - questioned my choice of clothes! But here, getting hold of the newest toy or this season's must-have clothes is, if not impossible, then difficult. So people don't think about it too much or worry about whether owning these material things will make their life better. Instead, they focus their attention on the people they love, make the most of what they do have and enjoy living in the moment.

It is not just luxury items either. Basic day-to-day essentials (like food) can be easily bought here, but although there are lots of stalls in the market, they all sell broadly the same things. There isn’t a lot choice and if something is not available, then you simply need to make alternative plans for dinner or do without. Shortages of food items, as with the power cuts, are just accepted; as far as I can see, there is no (or, at least, less) time spent worrying about what might have been or over things that a person cannot influence. And I think it is healthy. Filling a mind with unnecessary worries about the trivial things in life crowds out the thoughts about family and friends, whereas collectively giving priority to the latter leads to a greater sense of community, and that in turn leads to happier individuals and a happier society.

As well as the (general) lack of a culture of materialism, there are other values that lead to these different priorities. In western societies, there is a tendency for people to focus too much on their work and careers (another confession!). At home, it is common for those in high-pressured jobs to worry about getting the right work/life balance, but all too often it is only paid lip service. Here, the pressure and urgency at work doesn't seem to exist in quite the same way. I have seen people get frustrated by the length of time that things take to get done, and I can understand this, but I think it is a consequence of applying a western value to a different culture whereas, when everything moves slowly, who really cares if things take longer or if you meet or miss an arbitrary deadline for a task. Especially if, by missing the deadline, you get to spend more time doing the things that are important to you or being at home with those that you love.

That is not to say that a career or job is unimportant. A lot of people spend a big chunk of their life at work and job satisfaction can be a major influence on whether or not a person is happy. It is therefore important for people to care about their work, but what I have seen here is that where people do care about their work, it is because it aligns with their values, rather than just caring about work because they want to do a good job. The prevailing laissez-faire attitude can and does hinder progress but, despite this, they are happier than those in developed societies who live life under constant stress about work or money. Who is to say which is right? I think I know which I would prefer

Of course, Zanzibar is not Utopia. There is sadness here too, and poverty, sickness (especially with the accompanying poor level of health care), and wanting to have some life's luxuries all lead to a degree of unhappiness - it is just that it does not seem to be to the same extent as at home. Status is a big thing here too and there are some people here for who status (which can include career progression) is very, maybe overly, important. I actually think this is the root of a lot of the corruption that undoubtedly exists and, tellingly, a lot of the status symbols that people have are based on owning material possessions. I think it is also telling that those who are always trying to move up the social or career ladder are perhaps those who are least happy.

To be fair, I haven't met many of Zanzibar's high flyers, so my view is based more on hearsay and supposition. The people I have met here are, almost without exception, extremely considerate of others and will try to help if they can. In a society where the prevalent attitude is to care about others, you know that others care about you, and so the challenges you face can be more easily overcome (and so they are less of a worry). It allows a person to think more about the internal values by which they want to live their life, and it reinforces the value that the people in your life are more important than "stuff", so friends and loved ones are placed, without caveats, at the top of the list of priorities. When material possessions are less of a concern, and work doesn’t dominate your thoughts, you just need to get the people part of your life right to be happy. It is a cliché, and just a bit soppy, but of all the wonderful sights I have seen here, the most beautiful is that of a girl falling in love (even if it is not with me!). Onnea hunaja pupu!

Of course, these thoughts are a bit (a lot?) of a generalisation and I know people back home to whom these comments don't really apply, so it may be more of a reflection on me than on the differences between the UK and Zanzibar. But I do think there is something endemic in the respective societies that results in more smiles and laughter in Zanzibar, despite the (material) poverty and tragedies that occur from time to time, than back home.

Zanzibar: Living the (expat) life

Hello everybody!

Ready for some more tales from Zanzibar? I thought so, so here goes:

My second month on the island started with the tragic ferry accident that killed hundreds of, mainly, women and children (you can read more about this on my earlier post if you've not already seen it). For the three days of official mourning, the place was very subdued, but it quickly turned back to normal after that. Yes, stories continued to emerge (some heart-warming ones, like the four-month old baby found floating on its back, wearing just a nappy, but blissfully unaware of what had happened) and it is still a topic of conversation, but I think the expats and mzungu talk about it more than the locals. Thankfully, the loading of the ferries does seem to take place in a slightly more orderly fashion, at least for the time being.

The start of my second month also brought with it my first bout of Delhi Belly. Mark, the manager, assures me it has nothing to do with the food I ate at Tatu. Oh no. Definitely not. Whatever it was, it lasted for about a week so I had a bit of time out of the water - a wet suit and an upset stomach is not the best combination in the world. It seems, though, that I can out-drink bacteria and after a week, there was a party one evening and I think I must have killed whatever it was with alcohol, as the day after everything was back in working order.

September sees the start of the summer months and there has been a noticeable increase of temperature (it's thirty to forty degrees most days). There has also been an increase in the number of red faces around town (not least my own), but I've managed to avoid getting badly burnt so far. September also heralds the start of a mini-rainy season but, just like the people, the weather is very accommodating and the main rainfall takes place early in the morning before I need to set off and I haven't been caught in it yet. That said, there was one day of absolutely torrential rain; the kind of rain that you see in the tropics, but usually only lasts for 30 minutes, whereas here it just kept coming and coming. The playing fields near the hospital were completely flooded and the potholes in the roads (which were packed level with dust and stones) were given a bit of a blasting so driving around has been a bit more bumpy. 

Talking of getting around, the more I travel on the dala-dalas, the more I think they are a great form of transport. Of course, they can be dirty and overcrowded, and I know their safety record is not spotless (especially if you are clinging on to the side of the bus, gripping the footplate with your toes!), but they are incredibly efficient and epitomise the community approach to life in Zanzibar. For example, if a mother boards with a baby, the baby is passed along to somebody (anybody) else, including me, to hold to make life easier for them. Similarly, small children automatically give up their seat and sit on the floor or wheel arch when adults board. If there are just a couple of people going to a particular place, the dala-dala pulls alongside another, checks if that is going that way, and you just swap vehicles. And it is all for about 12p a trip for any distance within Zanzibar Town - even trips to the other side of the island (about 30/40 miles away) only cost about 60p. I can't really see them catching on back in the UK, where most people I know prefer to avoid public transport if they can, but here everybody uses them from businessmen to labourers, school kids to old ladies and, as the world's resources continue to diminish, they may just be a workable solution to the transport problems.  

Life in Stone Town

Away from the roads, there are other day-to-day challenges that you need to overcome. The ATM networks do not always work, so you need to make sure that you have a sufficient supply of hard cash. The power cuts are frequent (i.e. almost every day), sometimes planned, sometimes not, but they usually only last for one or two hours. It is not too bad to work around, and everybody copes, although after five days of cold showers I was ready for a bit of predictable electricity. These are, though, small problems and quite easy to put up with - or at least they have been for me, but I know I have only been here for a couple of months and some of those who are here for longer may understandably get more frustrated (like when the power cut lasted for three months last year, during the hottest months of the year!).

The main market in town is called Darajani. It is a melting pot of colours and noise (and smells!) and it is generally well stocked (with local produce) and very cheap, especially if you try a bit of Swahili when ordering. In the shops that fill the sprawling bazaar behind the main food stalls, where you can pick up fruit and veg or meat and fish, you can find most of the things that you need to live here as long as you know where to look. I've even found a pie shop! I must admit, I haven't tried them yet, but I'm sure they won't be as good as those from Little Bird Catering (sorry - that was a blatant plug for my friend Robyn, who has started a catering business around Manchester).

I have been working on learning Swahili and am slowly getting a bit better. Other than the usual please and thank you, and learning how to ask for things, the main phrases I know seem to relate to greeting people, which may not sound much, but it is an important aspect of life here and greetings can go on for quite a while! I think it is going to take a little longer before I get to grips with the nouns and I’m sure my syntax is incorrect more often than not, but the locals I know appreciate the effort and are happy to help you learn more. 

In the evenings, I meet up with friends and usually go out for dinner and a few drinks in one of the many restaurants, talking about everything and nothing. It’s a simple pleasure, but it has made the whole experience of being here so much better. I think my favourite evenings are those spent at people's houses with some food, wine and beer and just sitting around chatting or listening to music. I've even found another keen Bob Dylan fan, and I'm working on converting a few more!

There have been some big nights out too, in the bars listening to the DJ or live bands, or just quiet nights which then turn into much livelier affairs as everybody drinks the night away. For the more sedate evenings, you can sit under the stars (and even catch sight of a shooting star or two if you’re lucky) or in one of the top floor bars, where there is usually a cool breeze blowing in from the ocean.

There was even a fashion show held in the ruins at Mbweni. It wasn't quite Milan or Paris, but the free wine made for a great evening and the clothes were a combination of western styles and Zanzibari colours. The after show party was also a lot of fun - although some of the dancing was a little bit, erm…, unusual (and I am not just talking about my silky dance floor moves!). There are exceptions to the cheesy dancing - one guy is a walking Michael Jackson tribute act and his reputation is such that when he walks into a club, the DJs often put Michael Jackson on for him so he can show off his moves. 

One thing that leaves a bit of a nasty taste about the bars is that any black girl in the bar is automatically assumed to be a prostitute, no matter how they dress or who they are with, and I have friends who have been propositioned. I know there is a different culture here, and of course there are prostitutes around whereas most local women do not go to the bars to drink, but it is so casually demeaning. Men really do have it so much easier here. Perhaps the worse thing is that there is, in part, a resigned acceptance that this is a how black girl will be viewed and treated if they do want to go out for a drink with friends.

As I continue on this voyage of discovering new things, I am also trying out a few new experiences and I’ve got to admit that yoga is deceptively difficult. I’m sure that more women practice it than men because it prepares them for the pain of childbirth (although I'm not sure that standing on your head will be especially useful in those circumstances!). I am slowly getting the hang of it but, being male, I did, of course, try to run before I could walk. I’m sure the rest of the class were just laughing with me as I had the unedifying experience of getting stuck in a headstand, unable to get down! At least it was reassuring to find that, at two o’clock in the morning after god knows how many sambucas in Tatu, even the yoga teacher cannot stand on one leg! New experiences are all well and good, but I did draw the line at Laura's zumba class to try and keep at least some of my masculinity. Maybe by the time I get to Buenos Aries or Rio I will be ready......

Away from Stone Town

I have only just started exploring other places on the island and I will tell you all about it next time. During September, I mainly spent any spare time in Stone Town itself or in one of the suburbs of Zanzibar Town. The place I tend to go to the most is Mbweni, which is where a lot of my friends live and there is a bar that has a jetty out through the mangroves into the ocean. It is a great place to relax and go for a swim or have a beer or two (usually both!). As an added bonus, it is west facing, so you get to see beautiful sunsets at about 6.30 each evening. I hope that when the tourism industry fully realises what a wonderful place this is, then it doesn’t spoil it too much and bars like this continue to survive.

Another place we go to is Mtoni Marine, about 10 minutes north of Stone Town by car, near the town of Bububu (named after the noise the trains used to make as they pulled into the station which used to be there). There is a sports bar at Mtoni and we have been up to watch a couple of football games (including watching United beat Chelsea with a couple of their fans, which was nice!) and the rugby world cup. It’s a good place and there is a great atmosphere there (especially for the big football games), but it is also one of the places that usually has a working generator, so after trying to find a place closer to town, it sometimes is the only option.

In the Octopus’s Garden

It is low season here now, so the dive boat does not go out everyday and when it does, it is usually a bit quieter than in August although, to be honest, I think I prefer going out with smaller groups of divers. I'm still getting out most days though and have now passed the 100-dive mark. As for the course, I have pretty much finished all the theory work and just need to sit a couple of exams (I really thought my exam days were behind me) and complete a couple of skill demonstrations and stamina tests, which should all be done in the next couple of weeks. 

I'm afraid that I don't have any more underwater shots for you. The charger for my camera was lost/stolen in the dive shop, so while I have been in the water, there are no new photos. I have managed to get hold of a Zanzibari-style battery charger now though, so I will take some more in the final month here (as long as it continues to work!).


I think the worst thing about the diving life is that I am getting a white sock mark in my tan where my dive boots cover my feet in the boat - but at least everybody can tell I'm English without asking!


Ok, I think that's all for now. Talk to you soon.


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