Hi!
Right now I'm next to a beautiful white sand beach on the north shore of Zanzibar in a town called Nungwi. It is absolutely gorgeous here with aquamarine water, palm trees and tropical flowers. Josh, Laura and I are taking a quick vacation before SIC begins in Arusha on the 23rd. Last night we spent in Stone Town a historic area of Zanzibar Town known for its narrow streets and Arabic architecture. It was fun to wander the winding streets, and get lost, shopping for scarves and kangas. We ate dinner at a beautiful restaurant on the beach where we watched the sun set.
We left Nairobi on the 15th and took a mini van to Arusha. The border crossing was slightly stressful as we were squeezed into a tiny room where we had to wait and push to get to the counter 45 minutes later. Claire, the new SIC volunteer coordinator, greeted us in Arusha and brought us to a hostel to spend the night. We briefly explored Arusha, a small, quaint town surrounded by beautiful mountains--Kilimanjaro and Meru in the distance. The next day we woke up early and took the 6:30 am bus to Dar es Salaam. We arrived in Dar about 3:45 pm hoping to catch the last ferry to Zanzibar. Our cab driver gave me a mild heart attack swerving through the cars trying to get to the port when suddenly he slammed on the breaks, stuck in a traffic jam. We missed the ferry, and spent the next few hours searching for an open hostel in Dar. The next morning we caught the 8:30 ferry to Zanzibar; it was a picturesque boat ride as we passed small islands and dhows (fishing boats often sailboats).
Zanzibar has been a beautiful and luxurious vacation spot. However, just outside the gates of the touristy hotel district in Nungwi lies an extremely poor village. Today we walked along the beach to Kendwa (a nearby beach), when we turned around to come back the tide had come in and we could no longer walk along the beach. Instead, a local man offered to show us another way which involved trekking through piles of trash, which smelled vile and had been dumped by a local hotel. Monday I am looking forward to going SCUBA diving and then returning to Arusha on Tuesday for SIC!
Back to Nairobi... I just wanted to write a little bit about Nairobi too! I was so happy to spend a few days in Nairobi, one of Africa's biggest and most industrious cities. Still on the U.S. Government's travel warning list, Kenya and especially Nairobi is though to be dangerous, however I found it to be very safe and comfortable. We spent one day exploring the city and visiting the Maasai Market in town where we bargained for beaded bracelets, candle stick holders and t-shirts. Another day we visited Village Market, expat central. When we entered Village Market I was convinced I had left Africa. Situated amongst the embassies in suburbia, it contains everything an America mall does--a large supermarket, clothing shops, jewelry stores, lots of restaurants and tons of white and Indian people. For the first time we completely blended in with the crowd. Our last day in Nairobi we visited Nairobi National Park where we saw two lions eating a carcass, giraffes, wildebeast, lots of zebras, impala and many birds. Afterwards we took a Safari Walk, basically a guided tour through an outdoor zoo, that had pygmy hippos and a white rhino. The guide let us climb inside the rhino's cage to get close-up pictures then took us to pet the cheetah!! I thought we would be petting a baby, but our guide led us right into the cheetah's cage to pet the full-grown cheetah. It was completely calm as we pet and snapped pictures of it.
We spent the last 2 nights in Nairobi with Dr. David Waithaka's family. He lives outside Nairobi in Kikuyu Town. We enjoyed learning about his microfinance community projects and hearing a first-hand account of the election-related violence. His whole family was so welcoming and kind to us and we were grateful to have a nice bed, warm shower and delicious food! The 2nd night with the Waithaka's we ate tilapia cooked whole, which was absolutely delicious--tender and flavorful--yum!
Avery
Zanzibar has been a beautiful and luxurious vacation spot. However, just outside the gates of the touristy hotel district in Nungwi lies an extremely poor village. Today we walked along the beach to Kendwa (a nearby beach), when we turned around to come back the tide had come in and we could no longer walk along the beach. Instead, a local man offered to show us another way which involved trekking through piles of trash, which smelled vile and had been dumped by a local hotel. Monday I am looking forward to going SCUBA diving and then returning to Arusha on Tuesday for SIC!
Back to Nairobi... I just wanted to write a little bit about Nairobi too! I was so happy to spend a few days in Nairobi, one of Africa's biggest and most industrious cities. Still on the U.S. Government's travel warning list, Kenya and especially Nairobi is though to be dangerous, however I found it to be very safe and comfortable. We spent one day exploring the city and visiting the Maasai Market in town where we bargained for beaded bracelets, candle stick holders and t-shirts. Another day we visited Village Market, expat central. When we entered Village Market I was convinced I had left Africa. Situated amongst the embassies in suburbia, it contains everything an America mall does--a large supermarket, clothing shops, jewelry stores, lots of restaurants and tons of white and Indian people. For the first time we completely blended in with the crowd. Our last day in Nairobi we visited Nairobi National Park where we saw two lions eating a carcass, giraffes, wildebeast, lots of zebras, impala and many birds. Afterwards we took a Safari Walk, basically a guided tour through an outdoor zoo, that had pygmy hippos and a white rhino. The guide let us climb inside the rhino's cage to get close-up pictures then took us to pet the cheetah!! I thought we would be petting a baby, but our guide led us right into the cheetah's cage to pet the full-grown cheetah. It was completely calm as we pet and snapped pictures of it.
We spent the last 2 nights in Nairobi with Dr. David Waithaka's family. He lives outside Nairobi in Kikuyu Town. We enjoyed learning about his microfinance community projects and hearing a first-hand account of the election-related violence. His whole family was so welcoming and kind to us and we were grateful to have a nice bed, warm shower and delicious food! The 2nd night with the Waithaka's we ate tilapia cooked whole, which was absolutely delicious--tender and flavorful--yum!
Avery
1 comment:
Hi Avery,
Thank you for writing your thoughtful comments about your experience. I am enjoying it vicariously, although I am glad not to know about some of it until after the fact--in the cage with a rhino and a cheetah??
LH
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