Safari 2011: Tanzania

Thursday, 13^th January

Farewell Kenya, hello Zanzibar!

Some impressions of Kenya:

Once again we enjoyed the warm and wonderful hospitality of Helen and Tim for our last night in Nairobi. According to Tim, who is South African, Kenya now has more white people living there than ever before. It has become a haven for white refugees from Zimbabwe as well as a favoured alternative for South Africans looking for fresh pastures and new opportunities. Despite Nairobi having grown from 1 to 5 million people in the last 30 years and an explosion of vehicles causing traffic to have become a nightmare, Nairobi is not as bad as it’s reputation would have one believe. Yes, the slum at Kibera, just up the road from where we used to live, is vast and appalling and, since the worldwide publicity given to it by that famous documentary, remains unchanged despite huge amounts of aid being sent from around the world. Our cynical driver simply told us that the makers of the documentary and certain people have become very rich as a result and it is not in their interests for the problem to be solved. There are other slums in the city apparently which were just as bad, but they are slowly improving. Security in a city of such extremes is a problem (and nowadays, we were told, all over the country guns or other weapons are usually involved), as are any tasks involving bureaucracy. So the details of daily living and getting around can be frustrating. However, set against that, a slower, more relaxed way of life, a perfect climate, house servants to do all your household chores and take care of your kids and the privileged status whites still seem to command in this society and it begins to look tempting. The coast is quieter, cheaper & less congested, with more availability of delightful places to live, however, I would find it way too hot and lethargic a way of life there, not to mention boring for longer than a week or two. As it always has been, Kenya seems to me to be a good place to retire to, or a place to live while young, until children get to the age when serious schooling is necessary – unless one were very highly paid, employed by a company or organization that paid school fees and/or one didn’t mind sending the kids off to boarding school from a young age.

And so to Tanzania:

Mount Kilimanjaro

‘Imprecision Air’ did not live up to the reputation implied by its nickname and brought us to Zanzibar this morning on time and without incident. What’s more, they served us breakfast and our luggage arrived safely.

First impressions of Zanzibar:

Stone Town from the air in the pouring rain

Very wet – it was raining when we arrived and continued to do so for well over an hour, unlike the Kenya coast, where the short rains failed and there’s a serious drought and no rain expected before April. The south-west part of the island was very green, and covered by luxurious vegetation. Also much standing water and mud. This changed as we drove north and west, passing through irrigated rice paddies in the centre of the island, then the rain stopped and the sun came out as we approached the east coast and the landscape became scrubby and arid and the earth changed to the light coloured sand of old reefs. This part of the island is sparsely populated except for fishing villages and tourist hotels.

Buildings – in the villages as well as in the city, the Arab influence on the architecture is strong. Unlike Kenya, even outside the city the buildings are mostly constructed of concrete blocks rather than being predominantly built of mud bricks and sticks, though this began to change the further we left the city behind. Near the east coast there were many houses with walls made from woven palm matting.

Transport – way less cars than in Kenya. Biblical style bullock carts were everywhere. Lots of bicycles and mopeds. The matatus are more like the ones I remember – overflowing with people and luggage and mostly lopsided. As in Nairobi, we were glad to be in the hands of a reliable driver recommended to us and arranged in advance, rather than taking pot luck at the airport.

People – Predominantly Moslem and dressed as such, rather than in the traditional East African style.

Smells – the built up areas stank this morning as we drove through them, mainly of rotting vegetables, cows, goats and garbage. Smells I’d forgotten and was not pleased to be reminded of. I didn’t notice this at all in Nairobi or Watamu. Also, an incredible amount of garbage littering the landscape.

Shootingstar Lodge, our home for the first 24 hours – despite the unpromising name, this place on a pristine beach with and a very big reef, is a little gem. Not very large and owned and operated by a German couple who gave us a personal welcome. Our palatial suite is decorated with flowers and towel swans like in Mexico and the Caribbean and overlooks the garden, the pool and the ocean beyond. If we were only staying here for more than a day, I might even trust my accumulating laundry to them! In Watamu, having our clothes washed was a big mistake. They were returned to us damp, not properly rinsed, un-ironed and with my only short cotton dress ruined by what must have been someone rinsing out a pail of bleach and throwing it on the grass too near to the washing set out to dry. (They were very apologetic and nice about it, offering suitable compensation and so forth – I shouldn’t like to have been the culprit who did the deed – but that still leaves me short of a dress in a place where one is expected to wear them. Besides, it was a nice one.)