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.......