a day in the life, zanzibar style

We're back from our 3-day adventure on the intriguing isle of Zanzibar, a fascinating mix of African and Arab cultures in a beautiful (though extreeeeeemly hot and humid this time of year) setting. Here's a simple recap of what a day was like, as we wiled away the hours at Paradise Beach Bungalows on the east coast of the island, in Paje.

6am - The boys (3) are up, after what was not the most restful night's sleep (though the ever-optimistic Matt announced that he felt well-rested after our sweaty night under, then not under, the mosquito netting).

7am - A family walk along the beach - HOT already (that equitorial sun is serious business for our northwest skin).

8am - Breakfast! Delicious fruit (watermelon, pineapple, bananas), coffee, juice, eggs and homemade rolls....

9am - Books in the shade, imagining a faint breeze. We watch the local folks come out to begin gathering seaweed as the tide starts to go out. There are little seaweed farms that appear as the water recedes.

10am - A walk out as the tide continues to go out (which takes some time, since it goes out about a mile on this very shallow coast).

11am - More books (with a little napping) in the shade. The resident monkey at Paradise (Matt and Andy were convinced he was constantly preparing to mount an attack against us) wanders onto our table to sip my coffee.

12noon - More low-tide walking, though we never made it all the way out to the reef. Now it is even hotter than HOT. Saw a little angel fish, a little ray, many sea urchins (don't step on them!) and a gazillion (perhaps a brazilian) hermit crabs.

1pm - Delicious lunch of spaghetti, grilled fish and Japanese noodle soup (the host of Paradise is a Japanese woman).

2pm - Watched one of the resident dogs (of which there are almost as many as the resident cats, though the dogs chase the monkey, while the monkey chases the cats) sleep on the beach in the shade of a palm tree - moving every few minutes to keep up with the shade.

3pm - Bought a coconut for about 50 cents from the old man walking the beach selling them - he cracked it right there for us and we had a little coconut milk and meat snack - hmmmm! Andy and I went for a little baking-hot run on the beach, which was to be followed by a refreshing dip in the ocean. However, the super-heated shore from the long low tide had super-heated the water, which by then was well over 90 degrees. So much for refreshing dip, but we dipped nonetheless.

4pm - Still more books in the shade, and more breeze than the morning.

5pm - Card games (gin, crazy 8s, war...) in the shade. Chrissie took an intermittent shower, as the water came and went.

6pm - Bought a couple of bracelets from the Maasai who work at the bungalows as security. They walk the paths with their big sticks, and make jewelry at rest-times. Passed some time by trying to remember any jokes we could.

7pm - Dinner! Prawns, traditional Swahili stew, chicken, ocra w/tuna (fresh), spinach/egg soup... all accompanied by a local one-man band.

8pm - More crazy 8s in the room, under the fan that just didn't move as much air as we would like. Followed that up with a slathering of bug spray (jungle juice, for those REI fans out there), for what we hoped would be a more restful (and it was) night's sleep.

9pm - sleep....

So there you have a day in Paradise. This evening we're off to Arusha (by Mt. Kilimanjaro), and tomorrow morning we head out on our big trek through the Crater Highlands. We'll be back in a week, and will update you then.

Tanzania!

Ahhh... we are settling very happily in with our dear friends, David-Susan-and-Nolie Giles, here in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We arrived Thurday afternoon, and they have been taking wonderful care of us ever since. David and Susan are teachers at the International School of Tanganyika (the name of the country before it united with Zanzibar) - David teaches in their secondary school (English), and Susan teaches grade 2. Nolie is their almost-6-year-old daughter, who is loving to entertain her new guests. We have entered the HOT and HUMID equatorial zone (the boys say it feels like Iowa in July) with temps in the 90s and quite humid. Yesterday we dealt with the heat by heading out to the beautiful little island of Bongoyo for some floating in the water, and sitting in the shade. We had some absolutely delicious fish and chips, where the fish was bbq'ed whole, and served up smiling.


Some highlights here so far:
-David and Susan's friend, Fuad, toured us through Dar on Friday morning. Great to get our bearings a bit, and hear the lore from a local. The local fish market is quite a feast for the eyes, and an experience for the nose as well.


-All three boys decided that it was way too hot to have hair, so we visited David's local barber, and had him shave it all off. I'm sure that was the most American hair he's ever had sitting on his floor at any one time. This was also a remarkable event, because it's the first time we've ever paid for a haircut for Andy or Matt (almost 23 years combined boy life). I figured my frugal streak can still continue in the US, and Africa is a fine place for the first paid haircut. ($6 for all three heads!)

-While things have been going quite smoothely with our trip, I have had a couple of opportunities to practice my resourcefulness (McGyver skills). I sewed up a torn loop on Andy's shoes using dental floss, and I borrowed some athletic tape from the nice guys on the beach at Bongoyo to (temporarily) fix Chrissie's sunglasses.

-The boys are fully enjoying the different pace in Dar (only one museum so far...). They have a bit more chance just to be kids - playing at the beach all day yesterday - and Matt is having a wonderful time being the big kid playing with Nolie (she won't let Matt out of her sight), and Andy's been reading novels from David's classroom and playing frisbee with the big boys.

Tomorrow we catch the early ferry off to Zanzibar, where we'll spend the next three days. It should be a wonderful adventure (just buying the tickets was quite an experience itself), as Zanzibar is a fascinating place of Arab and African culture coming together, with beautiful beaches as well. Since we're well computer-connected here with the Giles, we should be able to give an update after we return from Zanzibar, before we head off to the next adventure - our Crater Highlands Trek, next Friday.

Jo'burg

(by Chrissie...)

After such an amazing week in Cape Town, we must admit we were a little nervous about our next adventure in Johannesburg. We didn't have anyone meeting us, and were going to be on our own for the first time. We had all heard rumors about the dangerous big city, and tourists being easy targets for crooks and scammers. But... We had no need to worry! We had arranged to stay at Mama Lolo's Guesthouse in Soweto (SouthWestTownship), and her son, SonnyBoy, was to pick us up at the airport. No sooner had we arrived at the Guesthouse, than Mama Lolo put us back in the car and whisked us away to a wedding! (If you know our beloved Mom Wilson, you will have an inkling of Mama Lolo's personality. She loves you, and you don't tell her no.) We were treated like VIPs at the wedding, and Chris and Ernie both made toasts to the bride and groom. We ate some traditional African food, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We just kept looking at each other and giggling.

The next day, Sunday, we arranged for transportation to Uniting Presbyterian Church, in the nearby township of Alexandra. The pastor, Dr. Maake Masango, is friends with our own Pastor Harvey in Seattle, and Aisha had visited his church before. Aisha had contacted Dr. Masango in advance, but we hadn't heard from him definitively, so we didn't even know if they knew we were coming. Again, why do we worry?!? We were welcomed with open arms, and it turned out they had rearranged the service in our honor. They celebrated Confirmation, with 10 teenagers affirming their faiths, and baptized a teenager and a baby. Dr. Masango conducts the service in three languages simultaneously (english, sotho, and xhosa). We sang so many songs, all accompanied by a choir, and a hand drum. The program was typed out, so it was fun to try to sing along in other languages. Then we were hauled up front, we all gave greetings from home and introduced ourselves, and we were given African names. What an honor! Here they are:

Ernie: Maake (warrior; the pastor's own name!)

Katrina: Lesedi (light)

Aisha: Mpho (gift)

Chris: Katlego (success)

Chrissie: Thando (love)

Andy: Thabo (happy; the name of the current president of SA)

Matt: Kgosi (king!)

For the balance of the week, SonnyBoy took us on an insider's tour of Soweto, and we spent half a day at the Apartheid Museum. Andrew's summary of Apartheid: It's a cross between American slavery, and the Holocaust. I think he's got the picture! To round out our adventures, we also visited Gold Reef City casino, and gambled away about 40 Rand ($6). The boys spent about the same in the video arcade. We also enjoyed ourselves at the casino buffet, ironically called Boston Bbq.

And finally, we had saved our last day in Jo'burg for shopping and recuperating from the above. We had made a call to Anthony Morgan, who is the great-nephew of Mom Wilson back home, earlier in the week. She had given us his number, and "told" us to call him. Like we said, you don't tell Mom no. To make a long story short (shorter?), Anthony is the producer of the South Africa Lion King show. He got us tickets to Wednesday's matinee, and then took us backstage to meet the cast. The show is licensed through Disney, so the set and costumes are the same as the Broadway show. But the cast is all South African, and the script is tweaked to give it a SA flavor. We LOVED it. Anthony put the boys on the aisle, and they were treated to a giant elephant entering the show at the beginning, and Matt was scared out of his pants when a hyena rubbed up against him a while later. Thank you, Anthony! And thank you, Mom W.! After the show, we went to dinner with Anthony. It was great to get the perspective of an African American who has lived in SA on and off for 10 years. He's marrying a local girl in a few weeks, so it looks like he's staying for good!

Thursday morning, we said goodbye to the Cathcarts. We all rode together to the airport at 6am, and we left for Tanzania, while they waited most of the day for their 6pm flight home. Yikes! It was such a blessing to spend these last two weeks with them. They brought us a little feeling of home (and cards from the kids' friends!). South Africa is such an amazing country, full of so many contrasts, that it was great to debrief with them at the end of the day, and have them to share the experience with. Hopefully they feel the same way, after two weeks of very close togetherness! We look forward to traveling other places with them in the future.

a little math problem from drape academy for you...

Andy and Matt are going to let you in on a little Drape Academy traveling math problem. This is from our time in South Africa. We'll post the answer in a week or so....

Before heading to the airport in Port Elizabeth, we filled our rental car with petrol (gas). Here are the questions for you to answer:

1. How many gallons of gas was this fill up?

2. What was the cost in dollars per gallon?

3. What was the total cost in dollars?


Here's the picture of the pump:

Double-click on the picture to enlarge it, if you need. Our information is on the left.

The rest of the information you need is:

1. There are 3.8 liters in a gallon

2. We figured an exchange rate of 6.5 Rand to the dollar

transitions...

Just a very quick note here (because of very sketchy internet connections).... Tomorrow morning we head out for Tanzania and the next stage of the adventure. This past week here in Johannesburg with the Cathcarts has been amazing, and once we're settled in Tanzania, we should be able to get a more detailed update out.

Be well!