Monthly Archive for September, 2008

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Doors of Zanzibar

Published on 14th September, 2008 in Africa. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

One thing any tourist visiting Zanzibar will notice is the intricate and extremely ornate doors into many of the buildings. Whilst much of Stone Town has suffered from neglect since the revolution in 1964, there are still a number of the traditional doors. Many of which are over 150 years old and last for such a length of time because of the hardwoods they are made from (some are made from sesame imported from as far away as India and are perhaps the source of Ali Baba’s “Open Sesame”). Residential doors tend to be the most elaborate. They’re often divided into two panels, one on the right for men (mlango mdume) and a smaller panel on the left for women (mlango jika).

Example of a Zanzibar door

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Spice tour

Published on 13th September, 2008 in Africa. 0 Comments Tags: , .

We were picked up for the spice tour we’d booked the day before at 9 am. Upon arriving at the spice farm my hopes that it was only the 9 people who had got into our minivan were soon let down when another 2 minivans stopped. Despite the large group the tour was really good and the guide was very knowledgeable. There’s just something fun about seeing something growing and “pulling a few off” and smelling that familiar smell.

After lunch (which was for me at least, one of the best meals so far) we headed off to the beach via the old slave caves. The caves were where they hid the slaves after the British colonial administration abolished the trade on the island. The small part of the cave we saw was nice but certainly nothing on the ones in Malaysia.

When we got back to Stone Town we headed to the Anglican cathedral which had previously been the site of the slave market (the whipping post the slaves were tied to is now the alter). Below the church are two remnants of the trade, small rooms where the slaves were kept in horrible conditions.


Cocoa bean

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Anglican Cathedral

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Slave Monument

Zanzibar

Published on 12th September, 2008 in Africa. 0 Comments Tags: .

After getting our fix of the internet, Bhav and I headed off to Zanzibar. We were fleeced for our tickets but at least we got there without being sick; Bhav’s Indian sweets were a little too much on our empty stomachs.

At the ferry terminal on Zanzibar Bhav got talking to 2 men who promised to find us good accommodation. Normally we’d politely but firmly refuse (as they’d probably be out to rip us off or worse) but we decided it couldn’t hurt. First stop was Bottoms Up and the hotel managed by one of the 2 men. It’s a fairly typical hotel made out of what would have been flats or a big house and was essentially a brick skyscraper of 6 floors. The top floor was an open viewing platform where they served breakfast. The room on offer there was on the 4th floor and contained 2 traditional style beds. Having been conned for the ferry ticket we were keen to save some money, so even though the room was normally US$30 inc breakfast we were aiming for $20 but the best we could get out of him was $22. This prompted us to try another 2 hotels until, tail between our legs, we returned to Bottoms Up and told the manager who’d just started his shift that the previous guy had said $20 and we wanted to accept.

After all that there wasn’t much daylight left. Zanzibar is our first real taste this trip of the potential problems created by Ramadan. Approximately 95% of the population are Muslim and with such a high concentration it means food and drink opportunities are limited during the hours of daylight, and even if you can find it (which actually isn’t difficult) you’re not supposed to eat or drink in public otherwise the police might “get interested”. After sunset, marked by air raid sirens (seriously!) and the call to prayer the night market at the waterfront gardens were open.

Zanzibar being an island meant that the majority of the food on offer was seafood, not being a fan I went for amongst other things some barbecued chicken (the best I’ve ever tasted!). Food wasn’t the only thing we spent money on that night. We ended up buying some artwork too.


Our room at Bottoms Up


View over the roof tops of Stone Town from our Hotel

First visit to a Gurdwara

Published on 11th September, 2008 in Africa. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Another bus we had to sleep on and another poor nights sleep. I’d say never again, but I remember saying that the last time. After almost 18 hours sat on the same seat my bum was literally red raw!

Dar es Salaam (or Dar as I’m going to refer to it from now on) has to be my favourite city so far (outside of South Africa). It’s a very relaxed place and is a mixture of different cultures and peoples from around the world. It’s cosmopolitan nature and architecture make it a welcome change to the dust bowls of other cities.

After Bhav’s rather long trip to the police station we went to the National Museum and briefly walked around the botanical gardens (which have seen much better days). In the evening we decided to visit the Sikh Temple (or Gurdwara). I’ve never been to one and Bhav being a Sikh (at least in upbringing) herself meant I’d have the perfect guide. The chance of a free dinner at the end of all that culture also sounded good.

We were the first people to arrive for the evening prayers, so only the two men (one singing and playing a small organ like instrument and the other playing two drums) witnessed what could have been a faux pas if it wasn’t for Bhavneets briefing on how to bow and that I needed to tie a handkerchief to my head.

Dinner was good although basic by what Bhav’s seen. I certainly felt welcome and was invited in to one guys room to listen to him playing the sitar. I though I’d have a go but it’s definitely best left to the professionals. My brief twangs and listening to the guy play for what must have been 30 minutes made me want to buy a CD when I get back!

Being scammed in Tanzania

Published on 11th September, 2008 in Africa. 0 Comments Tags: .

Our first impressions of Tanzania weren’t great. After being fleeced again for a visa (another US$50 for me and free for Bhav) we were fleeced for the minivan ride to Mbeya, from where we planned to catch the train or bus to Dar es Salaam. The “bus company employees” that hoarded around us at the bus station also tried to fleece us but it wasn’t until we took a minivan to the train station (a surprisingly attractive art deco building) that Bhav had her shoes stolen (she was wearing my Nepalese flip-flops) and someone tried to pickpocket my wallet. It was either that journey or the one back (having discovered that the train was delayed by over 24 hours) that Bhav had her mobile phone stolen from her bag.

In the end we decided to get to Dar by minibus. During the 3 hours we had to wait for it to fill up with customers I decided to get off and buy a drink for the journey. Upon returning to the bus I discovered it had dissapeared. Fortunately it returned less than 10 minutes laters but Bhav and I were no doubt the source of much amusement for our reactions to it driving off.

Down to our last £1.90

Published on 9th September, 2008 in Africa. 0 Comments Tags: .

Bhav and I had intended to get up early with the aim of getting to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. We’d planned to get the direct bus but we’d heard some bad things about it. It was after lunchtime before we arrived at the bus station in Muzuzu but the direct bus didn’t leave till midnight and wasn’t cheap. We decided to try the method everyone had suggested; by getting a series of minibuses the over 1,000 km distance. The problem we discovered at Karonga, 50 km south of the Tanzanian border was that it closed at 5 pm, it was by then after 6 pm. Bhav was all for getting a bus to the border town but I felt it would be easier to get food and accomodation where we were.

Considering the previous nights accomodation had been MWK 1,700 each, we only paid a bargin MWK 400. It had to be as after paying the other bill at Mayoka Village I was almost out of money to the point that we had to share dinner and couldn’t afford a Coke. It wasn’t the best place I’ve ever stayed but it was the cost that was important. I left Malawi with MWK 500 (about £1.90) and Bhav didn’t have any money left.

Natures fish tank

Published on 8th September, 2008 in Africa. 0 Comments Tags: .

I’d booked a dive starting at 9 am since I hadn’t been able to tag along with Craig for his night dive the previous evening. The last time I’d dived was in Australia a year ago and this was to be my first experience in freshwater and at altitude. It was a nice relaxing dive and we got to see many of the unique fish of the region including a family of fish called cichlids which shelter their offspring in their mouths at the first sign of danger.

When you consider that the majority of fish that people have in their fish tanks (except the ubiquitous goldfish) are from one of the African Lakes and that diving here is so cheap you’d be surprised at how few people dive into natures fish tank.

A stay in paradise

Published on 7th September, 2008 in Africa. 0 Comments Tags: , .

I slept on the bench come bed that I’d used my bags to claim for the grand total of about 3 hours. Second class had got more busy and added noise and people (including a woman that fought her way onto my bench) made any hope of sleeping after that impossible.

The boat arrived at Nkhata Bay, our departure point, very early although it was delayed by a few hours. It must have been about 5:30 am when we finally got off that wretched boat. Craig had told us where to find him and we were escorted there by a few of the locals out to earn a finders fee. Mayoka Village described as paradise by Craig, and once we were shown to our water front chalet we had to agree! It would be all to easy to stay there for weeks.

Nkhata Bay itself is a small fishing village on the western shore of Lake Malawi/Nyassa. It has a completely different feel from Senga Bay just down the coast. Senga Bay is more of a traditional lake side holiday destination consisting of a string of hotels and lodges where as Nkhata Bay is a backpackers retreat or should I say paradise?


Our waterfront chalet at Mayoka Village

MV Ilala

Published on 7th September, 2008 in Africa. 0 Comments Tags: , .

I now no longer have anything nice to say about the MV Ilala, the decrepit Glasgow made ferry. I can only assume it features on the list of Malawian highlights because of the frenzy it causes when it comes into port. It’s a complete free for all with people pushing their way and manners forgotten just to get off as quickly as possible.

Our day was largely uneventful. We eventually sneaked up stairs to the first class deck and spent much of the afternoon there. This offered the best views and a welcome relief from the overcrowding of 2nd and ordinary class (and a welcome break from the horrible stink of dried fish).

This afternoon we docked off three Mozambican villages (only 2 places on the entire lake have docks) and picked up a kiwi guy called Ashley. He’d been travelling the world for the last 8 years and this was him working his way up the east coast of Africa having gone down the west coast already. His attitude to travelling was rather different to ours and he found it both amazing and funny that we only had two months to see 8 countries and that we were on course to do it. It would be easy to envy his lifestyle but to me it’s more of a curse. In response to my question “Where out of all the places you’ve been would like to live” he said no where and that he’d just get restless and bored. I couldn’t imagine being on my own with no friends, support network, very little money and and no home. My attitude to travelling is completely different. Sure I’d like to visit almost every country in the world but not in one go. I like having fixed dates for arriving and going home so I can make the most of the time I have and not just day dream through it. Not many people look forward to going home unless they’re not enjoying themselves but I find that when I’m abroad I do look forward to going home as well as wishing I didn’t have to. It’s good to have a break but I get really motivated to get on with things on my return. Being in a different country/culture also makes me appreciate the UK more. We’re lucky people, many of us just don’t realise it.


Looking into “Ordinary Class” (3rd)


One of the 2 boats ferrying people ashore

Day trip to Mulanje

Published on 5th September, 2008 in Africa. 0 Comments Tags: .

We left our bags at the backpackers and took a minivan down to Mulanje where we wanted to see the mountain (preferably from the bottom) and tea plantation skirting its base.

Mulanje is a small town with the main road (the Robert Mugabe Highway) running as might be expected straight through it. It wasn’t difficult to find the tourist information office and the Italian owned pizzeria below.

To the man in the tourist office Bhavneet sounded like a Dutch name, when corrected he assumed I was Indian too! It was a change from people assuming we were either brother and sister or married.

I’ve done a tour of a tea plantation and it’s factory before in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia so I wasn’t in for anything new for me. After a really good and authentic pizza we headed off for what was a trek round the plantation. Whilst I enjoyed the tour more in Malaysia it was still a nice walk without any other tourists around.

Our goal for the evening was to try and get to Monkey Bay at the bottom of Lake Malawi so we could catch the weekly ferry leaving at 10 am the next morning. On getting back to the bus station in Blantyre we discovered that there wasn’t any buses in that direction till the morning, so keen to not stay another night under the roof of the rude owner from the day before and to not miss out on the ferry, we decided to get the bus back to Lilongwe and catch the ferry from somewhere else.

The idea of an overnight bus appealed as it would also provide our accommodation for the evening. Buses, like minivans don’t run to a schedule in these parts but instead leave when full. Our bus eventually left at about 8 and arrived around 1 am in Lilongwe. We were relieved to find that we could sleep on the bus in the bus station until morning. We awoke that morning at 5:30 am and walked into town in search of breakfast. The problem was that almost half the population are muslim and it was the start of Ramadan.

We eventually headed off to Selima en route to Chipoka a little later than we should and we were getting a bit worried that with only a few hours to go before the ferry set sail we were still stranded in Selima without a reservation for the boat. When we eventually made it to the Chipoka turn off we had 45 minutes to go and had to travel the final 2km on the back of a bicycle.

The ferry, built in Glasgow, is one of the highlights of Malawi. Guidebooks talk about sailing under the stars. We didn’t think that sleeping on the exposed deck warranted 3 times the price of 2nd class, so we found ourselves 2 benches to sleep on and dumped our heavy bags.

Sleeping was a challenge and I wasn’t particularly successful. The novelty of being on a boat had worn off the old rust bucket already.


Looking from the tea plantation towards the mountain