It's just not East Africa without something strange and
unforeseen happening. Some of the troubles were of our
own making. Some were clearly the fault of others. And
some were unclassifiable.
Our first hint that things were amiss came at the Tanzanian
border when they said we owed another $50 US. We told them
that we had dealt directly with the Trade Attache and after
a phone call they let us through. However, when we got to
Zanzibar two days later, it all hit the fan with their border
people. This despite Zanzibar being part of Tanzania. It
took all of Chris' negotiating skills and knowledge of Swahili
to get us in at a discount. The bus out of Mombasa couldn't
make up their mind whether we were supposed to get out of the
bus to ride the ferry across the harbor. The ferry to Zanzibar
was a little on the choppy side. And our flight out wouldn't
take payment in anything but dollars at the airport. Wouldn't
take payment at all the day before at the agent in Zanzibar.
Chris had to once again pull out all the stops just to get us on
a flight that had both our names on it.
Despite all of that, Tanzania was great. Once we got past the
street hawkers, the people in Tanga were just as nice as could
be. Dar was every bit the world class city without the rampant
theft of Nairobi. A bustling downtown, lots of traffic, stores
full of interesting stuff.
Zanzibar was even more amazing. After the fiasco with their
border people, the main village, Stone Town, was an absolute
delight. Most of the streets are very narrow, only permitting
bicycles and scooters. But there are all kinds of cool little
shops tucked away in all sorts of tight places. What really blew
both of us away about Zanzibar was the artwork. Some of it was
museum quality work and even the stuff that wasn't was darn good.
There's enough tourist traffic that the prices are higher than
elsewhere. Even so, Zanzibar is one good shipping company away
from being a major place to get good art.
The final treat was getting to see Kilimanjaro from the air, poking
through the cirrus clouds at over 20,000 feet it was a majestic
sight. And almost enough to make us forget about the hassle of
making sure we got on the flight at all.
