The Best Holiday Ever

Thursday, January 18th, 2007

Wow. Holidays. So amazing. So wonderfully amazing. I don’t think it’s possible to describe all that we did and everything that we saw, so you’re just going to be getting the highlights, which is probably all you have time (and interest enough) to read!

Our holidays began with spending four nights on the Indian Coast of Kenya – three in Malindi and one in Mombasa. To get to Mombasa we took a blessedly air conditioned bus from Nairobi. It was a night bus, about 10 hours. From Mombasa we took matatu north to Malindi. Malindi is like Little Italy. There are copious amounts of Italians floating around that city. Why? Because there are numerous large resorts owned by Italians and catering to Italians. Malindi is so used to all the Italians that many of the locals speak Italian. The little children greeted us in Italian. I believe the Kenyans call the Italians Spaghetti Eaters. Aside from an excellent selection of pasta and pizza restaurants, Malindi also has some beautiful beaches. We got to swim, snorkel, walk along the beach and generally take it easy. One day we didn’t pack a lunch and just bought food from vendors that wandered by. It wasn’t your typical vender food. No hotdogs here. That day our lunch was roasted peanuts, bananas, mangoes and coconut juice to wash it all down. Pretty tasty.

After Malindi we spent a night in Mombasa at the Castle Royal Hotel, which I would highly, highly recommend. Thank you, Lonely Planet, for that one. Newly renovated with AC, TV, a safe, hot water, a buffet breakfast (to Dave’s great delight) and all for an incredibly reasonable price. Mombasa is the textile capital of the coast, so I spent an afternoon buying various fabrics at a steal of a price. Unfortunately I did have to lug my purchases around with me for the remainder of my holidays.

Following our stay in Mombasa we caught a bus to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. It was only a 14-hour bus ride, but it felt like longest ride of my life. That night we stayed at the Starlight Hotel in Dar, an establishment which I would not recommend. We tried to find something more suitable, but everything was booked, which was very unfortunate for us.

From Dar Es Salaam we took a ferry to Zanzibar Island. On the ferry we got to sit in the VIP section even though our tickets were only for First Class. When we arrived in VIP we saw cushy couches, a television, coffee tables and felt the wonderful AC. We commented about how this was going to be such a comfortable and easy trip. And then the boat started to move. Then it wasn’t so comfortable and easy. We pretty much slept the whole time, which was the only thing you could do with the boat moving and grooving the way it was. Three hours later we knew that it was worth it because we could see the beautiful waters and beaches of our island destination.

To say that Zanzibar is beautiful hardly encompasses just how incredible it is. Let me recite to you some excerpts from Lonely Planet’s Africa on a Shoestring:

“The name Zanzibar conjures up such exotic images that you might be forgiven for thinking it’s not a real place at all, but just somewhere that appears in fairytales or stories from the Arabian Nights. But it’s real all right – Zanzibar Island (known in Swahili as Unguja) and neighbouring Pemba island, plus a scattering of off-shore islets, together make up the state of Zanzibar, semi-independent from mainland Tanzania.

“…It doesn’t take much effort to escape the traces of the modern world and plunge back several centuries into Zanzibar’s heyday – it was once the capital of the Arab empire in East Africa, with its own sultan (complete with harem) and a flourishing trade in spices and slaves. The sultan and his slaves have gone, but the spices are still there, bubbling in fragrant pots of seafood curry or haggled over in tiny, dark markets.

“And then, of course, there’s the beach. Zanzibar’s beaches are the kind of chocolate-box, picture-postcard fantasies you thought only existed in Bounty ads. The sea is impossibly turquoise, the sand is white and talcum powder soft, and it all stretches for mile after unbroken mile, punctuated only by the occasional seaweed farm hauling in her crop.”

It’s all true, every word of it. I can attest that Zanzibar is just as good as it sounds. (I’d like to note here that on the boat to Zanzibar, Lindsey did a dramatic reading of the above passages, a reading that definitely got us pumped for Zanzibar, enough though we felt like running for Gravol at that particular moment.)

Three nights were spent in Stonetown and five nights at beachside lodgings. How did we occupy ourselves? We went to the beach, of course, swimming, snorkeling, shopping, eating, walking, exploring, getting lost (repeatedly) in the winding, narrow streets of the city. The snorkeling tour that we did took us to three islands and our own private sandbar where we got to leave our footprints in the fresh sand. The colours of coral and fish that we saw were like something out of Finding Nemo. It really does exist! Another day we rented Vespas and traveled to the other side of the island. I felt very European riding my Vespa, despite the fact that I was at the Indian Ocean. The man who rented us the bikes is written up in Lonely Planet. It reads, “Vespas and Honda 250cc motorcycles are also available for hire at about US$20 per day – the main man in town for motorbikes is a colourful character called Ally Keys. He’s not as disreputable as he looks, and his bikes are safe.” Ally knew that he was getting business from the write-up, but had never actually read it in the book, so he was delighted when I pulled out my copy for him to see. I had to explain what disreputable meant.

Zanzibar is definitely a good place to relax, especially if you’re staying on the beach, which we were. We stayed at a place called Sunset Bungalows. Despite a name that makes it sound a bit dumpy, it was a really wonderful place. The price was good. The view – incredible. Each morning we had breakfast at the beachside restaurant. Each day I laid on the beach and read (except for the day when I had a really bad sunburn and had to stay indoors to hide from the sun). Each afternoon there was a volleyball game with players from all corners of the world. And each evening there was a bonfire fire where the local beach guys would pull out drums and sing in Swahili. The locals here are definitely easy going and welcoming. Some have the Rastafarian thing going on with the treads and all. The funniest Rasta that I met was this guy who was sitting on some steps knitting in Rasta colours. He was wearing this pair of shorts in the same colours which he had also knit. Bethany took a picture. I’ll post it latter.

The best food in Zanzibar was found at the fish market. Each evening the market is set up along the dock in Stonetown. All types of fresh seafood, ready to eat, are available at incredibly low prices. One night I had lobster, jumbo prawns, snapper and chips (French fries) for under $10. Not only was it cheap, but also fabulously tasty. Mmmmmm. I could have eaten there every night.

You see, there are so many wonderful things about Zanzibar, I’d have to write a book to tell it all. If you are ever in East Africa, make sure you visit the island. It is certainly worth it. Our holiday came to an end too quickly. Yesterday we all made it back to Nairobi. Today we arrived back at MCF Yatta. Bethany and Dave will be staying with us for a week or so before returning to Zambia. We’ll be taking them around to the different projects and showing them all about MCF. It may not be Zanzibar, but it’s still pretty amazing.