December 17, 2010
Heading out of Yola.
Headed to Zanzibar! We started our journey from Yola at 6:45a. The previous night we received multiple text messages from Arik Airlines that our flight was leaving 50 minutes earlier than scheduled (odd for Nigeria). We were also fortunate that the driver picked us up 15 minutes early (also odd). We arrived at the Yola Airport and were greated with a mass of AUN students pushing and elbowing to get their boarding passes. Jess took care of the girls and I jumped into the fray. After about an hour of pushing and shoving I finally managed to get our boarding passes and our luggage checked in (no x-ray…all hand inspected). We were off to Abuja! The funny thing is the flight was not overbooked, everyone got on, so why the fuss? I guess it is just status quo.
Are fortunes continued as we were on the flight with the President of AUN who very generously allowed us to hop onto one of the university vehicles to schlep our stuff from the Abuja domestic airport over to the international airport. Once in we got in the cue for Ethiopian Airlines, and were pleasantly surprised that there was actually a cue, no matter how slow it moved (They still handwrite all of the ticket information, which is not very efficient. Through security we went and up the stairs to grab some breakfast and…The cook placed a moratorium on food as we walked up claiming to be overwhelmed. So being the great health conscious parents we are we got the girls a Mars Bar and I had a Guiness while Jess took a Harp. We were now officially on vacation.
The flights on Ethiopian Airlines were fine. The second leg of our trip was delayed — not actually, they just combined our flight with a latter flight from Addis Abbaba to Zanzibar. We actually enjoyed the Ethiopian airport. We had some njera with beef and goat, bought the girls a couple of beautiful linen dresses, and enjoyed the cold weather (in the low 60s). At 2:20 we hopped on the twin prop plan and in 3.5 hours we were in Zanzibar (almost 10 years to the day).
December 18, 2010
We arrived in Zanzibar at 5:30a, paid the $100 for each of our visas and walked out to be greeted by Bill, an ex-pat from Pennsylvania on sabbatical with his family. It was great being hosted by the Bill and his family. His wife Caroline and two children Zora and Theo were fun and hospitable. It was a pleasure being hosted by real experts on life in Zanzibar — Bill should write a book about it…oh wait he did — as well as being fluent in Swahili.
The morning was spent by Jess and Emma catching up on sleep while I hung out with Addie and Zora. Zora caught us up on the goings on in her house and school. It was quite relaxing hanging out and meeting the family. After a couple of cups of coffee and excellent banana muffins we headed into Stonetown.
Walking around Stonetown brought about so many memories. We strolled through the market and Bill bought some groceries for the evenings dinner. I exchanged money ($1.00 = approx. 1450 Tanzanian Schillings). We downed some of the local sugarcane refreshment and headed to the fish market. The fish market was as I remembered it…smells and all (Tuna, Swordfish, Parrot fish, squids, and assorted other fruits de mer). Now the true bonus of staying with “locals” is that you get to stray from the “tourista” restaurants and eat some more local foods. We ordered two types of chicken, coconut beans, coconut peas, chipatas, rice, and more. The eight of us were sated for about $20, and Jess and I were taken back to our first trip here as we savored the spices and coconut. We finished our little reacquantance with Stonetown with some excellent ice cream by the seaside (Mango for Addie and I, Passion Fruit for Jess, and Smurf for Emma…now I know why Gargamel always wanted to eat them…tastey buggers!).
The afternoon was spent napping and reading (I think Emma watched Elf with Zora). When everyone woke up we put on the suits and headed to the Indian Ocean. We went via Mweni Ruins (a hotel) out to the dock and into the shallow salty water. It was low-tide, but we made the best of it as the sunset and the moon rose. A fabulous reunion with the Indian Ocean.
The evening was spent prepping dinner and getting ready for a fish feast. Bill and Caroline really outdid themselves. We dined on:: Salad (Yeah! With a Balsamic Dressing!), green beans, grilled king fish (?), coconut rice, quacamole (Wow!), and more. The evening was fabulous. Great food and geat company. Stuffed to the gills and weary from travel, after the evening conversation died down we slipped easily into the arms of Morpheus.
December 19, 2010
The next morning was relaxing. Coffee and and these local donuts with honey (shucks I forget the name). Theo was a trooper and woke up and biked out to get them for us. We spent the morning chatting until we had to catch the ferry over to Dar Es Salamm to meet Tom and Lauren. Staying with Bill and Caroline (of course Theo and Zora as well) was a really pleasant beginning to our vacation. It was nice to relate to another expat family. We drew a pretty bleak picture of Yola for them (especially in comparison to Zanzibar), but it has been or first trip out, and we needed to vent. It was cathartic…a good way to drop the stress and truly begin a vacation. We thank our host immensely!
After breakfast Bill dropped us at the port to catch the Ferry. We had booked economy class tickets the day before on the Fast Ferry ($35 for adults $25 for kids). We waited for the ferry to arrive and for the mayhem to begin. Once the gates were opened to crush began. Not much regard for small children, but the less aggressive Zanzibari/Tanzanians were no match for two Nigerian trained parents. It was chaos, but we managed. We made our way to the top outdoor deck and setup camp. Despite our efforts we did not make it into the AC’d indoor seating. Initially it was breezey and beautiful, but as we left the port it got quite hot. It seemed as though the speed of the boat exactly matched the tailwind that we had. This lead to a stagnant and hot trip…though still beautiful. The trip lasted about 2.5 hours and the kids napped a bit. Jess enjoyed having a hot and sweaty Addie pass out on herJ. We were comforted with fruits that our host had packed for us., they took the edge. We were also fortunate to have calm seas the entire trip.
Coming into port at Dar brought back a flash of memories from a decade ago. You never know how your mind plays tricks on you and you remember things differently. They skyline looked quite different to me. I remembered seeing minarets dotting the skyline, but now it was new high-rises. I must be mistaken, but the dock was exactly how I remembered it near a prominent gothic styled church. Anywho, we got off at the dock, did another crush, push, yell, squeeze to get our bags and in no time we were on the taxi for the Holiday Inn.
The Holiday Inn was nice. The girls were disappointed as the website had had a picture of a swimming pool on it, and it was nowhere to be found. Though upset they rallied once we got into the AC’d rooms and they showered up and put on their Ethiopian dresses for Pops and Lauren. We went down the bar and were acquainted with some old friends, Tusker and Safari, two great East African beers. We sipped our drinks in frosted mugs (Awesome!) and waited for Pops and Lauren to complete their trip from Pennsylvania, who arrived around 5:30p to two very excited little girls.
The evening was spent eating and drinking and catching up at the rooftop bar. We sorted out some minor travel arrangement glitches (do not count on travelers checks in Africa!). We were all tired. Some of us enjoyed a sheesha and then we all headed to Bed.
December 20, 2010
Safari! We headed out from Dar Es Salaam around 8:30a. We hit some traffic, but nothing too awful. Our driver Saluum headed southwest towards our destination, Mikumi National Park in our classic Toyota Landcruiser outfitted for Safari. The trip was lovely, it really brought me back (yet again) to the E. African landscape…soo beautiful. Much more lush than Yola and great roads all the way from Dar to our camp Vuma Hills Camp. I believe Tom and Lauren enjoyed seeing the sites along the way. It is nice because it helps to open your eyes once again to things that we become inured to.
We arrived at Vuma around 2 and had a small lunch and relaxed a bit until our safari at 5p. All of us were excited about the safari as we saw several animals just along the ride in, including Giraffes and Elephants. The evening was warm and dusty, but once we got into the park our attentions were diverted to some of the classic megafauna of sub-Saharan Africa. We were treated to Gnus, impala, buffalo, zebra, elephants, giraffes, warthogs along with several birds hornbills, honeyguides, rollers, and more. The girls were fascinated with the elephants and were generally thrilled by the whole experience, but kids being kids, their attentions and enthusiasms waxed and waned. One of those times you try to tell them how lucky they really are to be experiencing this.
After our trip, we cleaned up and headed to dinner. As we enjoyed a sundowner the kids were entertained with bush babies, a honey badger, and a gennet. Dinner was nice and we enjoyed one another’s company and talked about the experiences of the day. We retired to our luxury tents, the kids gave into slumber and Jess and I enjoyed one last beer (and a pipe) on our deck before we joined them. Sleep came quickly, but not un-interrupted as I was sandwiched between Jess and little Addie who kept trying to muscle her way into sleeping sideways. Her attempts resulted in my waking up several times to two little size 3Ts digging into my back…persistent little bugger!
December 21 – 25, 2010
Sorry, its been a while. The safari ended nicely, we really enjoyed our time in Mikumi and Vuma Hill Camp. We didn’t see any big cats, but we saw an extraordinary abundance of wildlife. The girls will never forget this experience. The 23rd of December was spent in transit. It took us about 12 hrs to get the Bwejuu Zanzibar via a safari vehicle, a plane, and a minivan. Hard travel as we hit jams in Dar Es Salaam. The girls as usual were great, and the trip was quite worth it to get to Breezes Resort in E. Zanzibar. The place is beautiful and we have been enjoying the sun, sand, ocean, pool, and everything about being here (yes the bar tooJ).
Christmas eve was great. We spent the day relaxing and swimming. Emma learned how to snorkel and I took here to some shallow spots where we say an amazing array of trigger fish, butterfly fish, surgeon fish etc… Emma picked it up quickly and has loved it. The girls swam and swam and were exhausted come days end, but mustered enough energy to decorate the mini Christmas tree that Lauren had packed all the way from Pennsy.
At night the resort had some Christmas festivities. A choir from Stonetown came in and sang carols in Swahili. We had a feast for dinner and then we packed in. The girls put out cookies for Santa and Toffee for the reindeer and fell fast asleep. In the morning they were so excited. They had written Santa before leaving Nigeria that we would be in Zanzibar and weren’t quite sure he would find them there. No fear he did and the girls could not have been more pleased. They had a ball opening gifts and getting their prized Barbie Dolls and game players (e-readers). All in all a spectacular Christmas in Zanzibar!
THE END!
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