Zanzibar = Paradise. The island is nothing but white sand, crystal clear water and this laid back way of life that's very easy to get used to. The first 4 nights were spent at Jambiani, a very chilled little village where we did a snorkelling trip and a spice tour. The snorkelling trip brought back all the trauma of the rafting incident, I basically sat there with my eyes closed and my head between my knees, praying for Jesus to get me through it alive. When we got to the island though, it was magic. We ate freshly caught seafood for lunch, and yes I actually ate some seafood! I ate lobster which was delicious, and fish and octopus and calamari, but of the last 2 I had one bite and went yeah not for me sorry. The snorkelling was pretty cool but it has nothing on the GBR. The spice tour was also pretty cool, basically got shown a bunch of plants, of which I was able to guess only 1, cloves, then had an awesome meal and bought a bunch of spices from the farm. I also managed to have the worst massage of my life while there, hence the title of this post. I'm covered in bruises from the rafting and I swear this woman went hmm bruise, i think I'll focus on that area with excessive force. I was laying on this grass weave day bed thing and she was pushing down so hard on me I thought I was going to go straight through it. Not in any way pleasant.
We also spent a night at Nungwi beach which I would definitely recommend over Jamobiani. Nungwi is party party party! And heaps more beautiful that Jambiani, you can swim right off the beach, no coral or rocks or sea urchins, so awesome. The only negative to Zanzibar is the blatant corruption that is everywhere you go. To get from Stone Town to the beach which is about 1 hours drive, there are 4 police check points and when they see white folk in the car, they'll find any excuse to get a bribe out of the driver. Apparently the police have quotas from the cheifs of how much they need to get in bribes each day. The staff at the Jambiani hotel we stayed at also told a number of horror stories eg. There was no electricity in all of Zanzibar because the council forgot to pay the bill to the mainland, so most hotels went out of business even though they'd paid their individula bills. Or the international development company that was prepared to invest $7 million in a sanitation/sewerage project, however the local council demanded $100 000 in "paperwork fees" before the project could be started, causing the company to pull out and the people of Zanzibar to continue to have no sewerage. The place is nuts.
And now I find myself in Arusha, after a 15 hour journey on a ferry, 2 busses and 2 cabs and one very sore back later. Tomorrow we head to Ngorongoro Crater for a bit of safari action, maybe get a bit lion king, sing a few songs etc. Although the place we're staying is delightful, I can't wait to get the hell out of Arusha. The touts are relentless and you can't go one step without someone trying to sell you something. I guess we all gotta make a living though!
