A collective taxi takes us to Dar ferry terminal to go to
Zanzibar. Takalani persists staying around me, I nearly can't stand that
anymore. As soon as they open the external access I literally fly out cause I
need some fresh air. A two long hour-trip will take us to Stone Town, where
we'll stay at the Flamingo Guesthouse, which is not exactly the best but at
least it's clean and we just have to stay here for a night. It's around 45° C,
this is what the local guide says. It's hotter than ever and I'm almost kicking
the bucket. We decide to visit the Anglican Church with slave market attached,
where at least 50 people used to be imprisoned in small dark cells.
Later on we take on a tour through the old town. The town rises on a triangular peninsula on the western coast of the island and it's characterized by a maze of narrow streets packed of houses, shops, bazaars and mosques. You can move around on foot, by bike or by motorbike; cars are unusable in most of inner roads, which are too narrow. Everything is crumbling but it attracts me a lot. I keep meeting lots of Italians. This place is packed of tourist shops, all selling the same stuff.
Later on we take on a tour through the old town. The town rises on a triangular peninsula on the western coast of the island and it's characterized by a maze of narrow streets packed of houses, shops, bazaars and mosques. You can move around on foot, by bike or by motorbike; cars are unusable in most of inner roads, which are too narrow. Everything is crumbling but it attracts me a lot. I keep meeting lots of Italians. This place is packed of tourist shops, all selling the same stuff.
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| © 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. Stone Town, Zanzibar |
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| © 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. Stone Town, Zanzibar |
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| © 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. Stone Town, Zanzibar |
The "two ladies" showed up at the hotel lounge bare-chested and they looked surprised when Angem kindly asked them to put on a shirt: don't they know we are in a Muslim country?
We allow ourselves an appetizer, we all are at the Africa House chatting and relaxing on the terrace. The atmosphere is ideal to see the day while drawing to its close.
For dinner we go to the gardens beneath where dozens of pitchmen sell fish and meat, pizza and french fries. I get two prawn skewers and fries: it's all great.
We are all very tired so that after a drink at the Africa House we decide to go back to our rooms.
23rd February 2009
Wake-up time is free but anyway I decide to wake up early. The suffocating heat during the night didn't allow me to sleep. I was even scared to turn on the fan cause it looked to be barely hung on the ceiling so I decided to activate it just around 6 in the morning when I obviously was more watchful. We spend the morning between the fish market of Stone Town and the spices tour. It was awesome to try different tastes from the ones I am used to as well as as fruits from the local vegetation. Unfortunately it started to pour down! I bought some lemon grass to make tea; this herb is sensational even though prices are prohibitive for being here (3 dollars a bag).
Wake-up time is free but anyway I decide to wake up early. The suffocating heat during the night didn't allow me to sleep. I was even scared to turn on the fan cause it looked to be barely hung on the ceiling so I decided to activate it just around 6 in the morning when I obviously was more watchful. We spend the morning between the fish market of Stone Town and the spices tour. It was awesome to try different tastes from the ones I am used to as well as as fruits from the local vegetation. Unfortunately it started to pour down! I bought some lemon grass to make tea; this herb is sensational even though prices are prohibitive for being here (3 dollars a bag).
In the early afternoon we arrive to
Nungwi, in the north of the island. At the beginning I wanted to cry when they
showed me my bungalow, but when they serve me at the restaurant I'd like to cry
even more. I think tension is the main reason for my last few days' feelings.
After a couple of hours it's all gone by, I can finally relax and everything
seems great now.
This is a big village, hidden amongst palm groves in the northern side of Zanzibar. This is the main area of the manufacturing of "dhows", and one of the must see touristic destinations on the island. It's also the place where tradition and modernity meet together patently. On the splendid white sand beach, fishers stay in the shade to mend the nets and the fishes caught in the morning are put onto wooden racks for the drying process; the expert hands of the carpenters axe the grossly cut boards, giving them a new life by creating dhows, practising a professional as old as centuries. Nevertheless, if you take some step away from the beach, you will enter a completely different world, with music at full blast, internet bars, a quite motley series of guest houses, one next to another and with a festive atmosphere.
In the late afternoon I pop in an internet point to then run to the beach for a swim. The blue water is warm even if not completely clean.
This is a big village, hidden amongst palm groves in the northern side of Zanzibar. This is the main area of the manufacturing of "dhows", and one of the must see touristic destinations on the island. It's also the place where tradition and modernity meet together patently. On the splendid white sand beach, fishers stay in the shade to mend the nets and the fishes caught in the morning are put onto wooden racks for the drying process; the expert hands of the carpenters axe the grossly cut boards, giving them a new life by creating dhows, practising a professional as old as centuries. Nevertheless, if you take some step away from the beach, you will enter a completely different world, with music at full blast, internet bars, a quite motley series of guest houses, one next to another and with a festive atmosphere.
In the late afternoon I pop in an internet point to then run to the beach for a swim. The blue water is warm even if not completely clean.
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| © 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. Zanzibar, Nungwi Beach |
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| © 2009, Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. "Dhow" a typical Zanzibar sailing vessel. |
24th February 2009
Takalani knocks on my door because I gotta have breakfast and go snorkeling. I say goodbye to Bianca which is going back to Johannesburg, this was her last trip as a tourist guide, from tomorrow she'll start working in a totally different position.
At 9 am we leave for the adventurous day of snorkeling, which actually lasts not more than half an hour itself, but it keeps us busy all day long. A 2 hour-trip to get there and another 2 to get back, plus about an hour spent on a desert beach, eating fish and tuna for lunch. On the way there we ran up against a tropical storm that washed completely even though I was staying under the boat canopy. The barrier reef is quite disappointing, the one in Red Sea is definitely much better. In short the excursion was only one as well as the ones the natives can traditionally give. I had fun anyways and I had the chance to meet a group from Avventure nel Mondo, the same group I had been keeping an eye on for months on the internet because I would have loved to join them during a tour: life is full of coincidences!
Takalani knocks on my door because I gotta have breakfast and go snorkeling. I say goodbye to Bianca which is going back to Johannesburg, this was her last trip as a tourist guide, from tomorrow she'll start working in a totally different position.
At 9 am we leave for the adventurous day of snorkeling, which actually lasts not more than half an hour itself, but it keeps us busy all day long. A 2 hour-trip to get there and another 2 to get back, plus about an hour spent on a desert beach, eating fish and tuna for lunch. On the way there we ran up against a tropical storm that washed completely even though I was staying under the boat canopy. The barrier reef is quite disappointing, the one in Red Sea is definitely much better. In short the excursion was only one as well as the ones the natives can traditionally give. I had fun anyways and I had the chance to meet a group from Avventure nel Mondo, the same group I had been keeping an eye on for months on the internet because I would have loved to join them during a tour: life is full of coincidences!
The group asks me to have dinner with them and I accept with pleasure. Takalani gatecrashes but remains aside almost all night without bothering anyone. I'm a little bit sorry for him but he perfectly knew what he was going to head for; he's lived to his own cost the matter of the foreign language, to be semi-excluded from conversations, to be isolated. But he doesn't seem to be worrying to much about it. He watches me closely. A bit later on he told me that he wanted to take advantage from this situation to understand my behaviour and my real nature when I'm next to people speaking my same language. His conclusion was that I am a surprisingly agreeable person, wonderful when I smile and sociable. Not that big news! To go back to the dinner, I ate some delicious octopus with fries and I spent a really nice night. Then the two ladies and a Danish guy join us because they had arranged a meeting with the Italian group to go watch the soccer game Roma-Arsenal. But I am too tired and I decide to go back to my room. Takalani doesn't want me to go back alone and he wants to go with me at all costs and seeing that everything is dark around the village, I accept willingly and thank him. He would like to pay me a beer at the beach bar but I refuse and decline the invitation also for the massage he'd love to offer. I start thinking he is either badly love in me or he is having a strong sex abstinence!
25th February 2009
The day starts with a long walk on the interminable
foreshore of Nungwi to then relax between the beach and the bar. Today total
relaxation, I don't do absolutely anything. Takalani keeps hovering around me
and this is starting to annoy me: so much that soon after having dinner, I pay
my bill and hole up in my room. I wanna be alone. Maybe it's also because I
can't stop thinking of Gio, today is the anniversary of his death and I can't
stop thinking of him. I try not to cry but sometimes it's just so hard. I go
straight to bed feeling totally empty.
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| 2009 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. Zanzibar, Nungwi |
26th February 2009
I wake up in the morning and I found myself bombarded with text messages from Stefano which is totally pestering me, today I'm totally intolerant towards anyone! During the morning we leave Nungwi to head back to the same flea-bitten place where we had lunch the other day. Evidently Angem has some good rate of return for the tourists she takes there.
At 1 pm, according to the African timetable, the ferry-boat sets sail. The crossing doesn't last to long between a nap and a not much reassuring movie about a family who go on safari to then be all torn apart by lions: really nice preview as we're actually gonna spend the next few days just going on safaris!
We finally arrive at the same campsite in Dar Es Salaam, I pitch my damned tent again (never put up in a worse way before) and I have a shower because I'm really pissed off today!
I'm shagged off and even though nobody wronged me, I'm sad, anguished....I'm simply alone and probably in the worst period of the year. It was my choice to go away from the people I love trying to hide the worst side of my character, the one I hate the most and that I can't control: pretending everything is fine doesn't help at all. Whenever you are said and desperate you gotta cry and let off steam. That's that.
Keep reading... My travel story
continues in the next post!
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