Hi, hope everyone is well!
I’m going to try to get this blog caught up now as I’ve been slacking
off... most of my internet time has been
dedicated to looking up South Africa info as I’m headed there in a few weeks
with my sister Laura (after a short 3 day safari here in Tanzania) and my
friend Rebecca who’s flying down from Munich.
Can’t wait to see both of you!
Can’t remember where I left off last time but on Monday the
13th of September I left Zanzibar and traveled to meet my friend
Jessica and her husband Bryan in Malta for 5 nights. After a few long layovers and flight
transfers I arrived in Malta Wednesday afternoon. I met Bryan and Jess in the lobby of the resort
we were staying at, I’m sure I wasn’t looking too nice as I’d been traveling
for a few days and hadn’t showered since Sunday night in Zanzibar. We ran up to the room, changed into my
swimsuit and hit the pool. We were at the
Westin Dragonara Malta Resort (or something like that), really nice and right
on the Mediterranean Sea. Had a few
beers, Jess and I started catching up and talking and I don’t think we stopped
until after 2 in the morning. Bryan was
a good sport and did a great job zoning out and letting us catch up. Our days were pretty relaxed, lots of
sleeping in, swimming, relaxing and swimming the in pool and the Mediterranean
Sea. The water was gorgeous and nice and
warm, not as warm as the Indian Ocean in Zanzibar but much better than freezing
Lake Michigan. We took a great tour of
the island one afternoon to see all of the “important” sights and on Sunday we
woke up super early and took a 90 minute ferry ride at 7 in the morning and
spent the day in Sicily. Toured around a
portion of the island and stopped in a really nice town close to the sea. Visited an old theatre that was really
pretty, completely forget the name right now and forgot to bring my camera
today to look it up but it was old and somewhat crumbled down and gorgeous with
stunning views of the homes on the hillside and the beach on the Mediterranean. Had lunch at some random restaurant and had
the most delicious spaghetti with tomato sauce I’ve ever had in my life. I’m sure if I ever go back to Sicily I’ll
never find the place but it would be worth trying! After lunch we drove a couple of hours to Mt.
Etna “an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily,
close to Messina and Catania.” “Mount Etna is one of the most active
volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of activity.” Thank you Wikipedia for that
brief description…it was really super windy there and got pretty chilly. Got some cool pictures and it was a good stop. Headed the few hours back to the port after
Mt. Etna for the ferry ride back to Malta and arrived around 11:30 PM, a full,
great day out. The next morning I had to
pack up and leave…we had a really nice lunch then time for goodbyes. Still horrible at goodbyes and spent half the
cab ride to the airport in tears. It’s
always so hard to say bye to family and friends when I’ve been lucky enough to
see them on this trip.
Short flight from Malta to Rome, 4 hour layover in Rome then
flew to Istanbul and arrived around 1:30 AM.
No electricity at the place I was staying but by that time I was used to
electric going out although every house/ guest house/ hostel I’ve stayed at in
Africa has always been one level so the winding staircase in a dark, old guest
house in Istanbul was a bit of a challenge in the middle of the night. Woke up the next morning and was assured the
power would be back on in an hour.
Wandered around all day and got back around 5 PM. No power.
Left a bit later for dinner and got back around 10 PM and there was
power.
Istanbul was amazing, would love to go back and spend more
time in Turkey. It was so beautiful, hit
up most of the major sights including the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi
Palace/ Gardens, Gulhane Park, various other famous mosques, the Basilica
Cistern, Egyptian Spice Market and took a really nice sunset ferry ride down
the Bosphorous River which runs through the middle of the city. Istanbul lies on both the European and Asian
continents and the Bosphorous runs between.
There were so many beautiful mansions and restaurants along the river
and would have loved to have more time to explore a few more neighborhoods in
the city.
Although my little guidebook didn’t give it much credit,
Gulhane Park was one of my favorite places.
Went there a few times to walk and relax. It was full of super old, tall trees and
people walking around, picnicing and when you walked all the way through you
ended up on the seafront and could watch all of the boats coming in and out of
the harbor. There was a nice jogging/
bike path along the water and it reminded me a lot of Lakeshore Drive.
Almost every home and most restaurants in the city have
beautiful rooftop terraces/ gardens which offer fantastic views of the water or
city. Had breakfast every morning on the
terrace and drinks before dinner watching the sunset. The weather was a bit cooler and more fall
like which reminded me of Chicago. Made
me a bit homesick towards the end, good thing I’m back in Africa where it’s
about 10 times hotter and sunnier than it was in June now that it’s turning
into summer. It was really nice being in
a big, well lit, super busy city where I felt safe walking around at night alone
which doesn’t happen in Africa, at least where I’m staying.
After Istanbul I flew back to Dar Es Salaam in
Tanzania. Didn’t have plans from there…decided
on the plane I wanted to back to Zanzibar for a week. Got to the airport, the ATM wouldn’t accept
my “international” card and had enough cash on me to get a one way ticket back
up to Arusha. Could have taken the bus
for a lot cheaper but it’s a 12 hour bus ride from Dar to Arusha and I was hot,
really tired because I didn’t sleep very well on my overnight flight and
splurged on the plane ticket. Probably would
have fallen right asleep on the bus if I had taken it and woken up and found
all of my stuff missing so plane was the best/ safer option at that point. After buying my plane ticket I texted my
friend Evan, the last person that I knew from the summer that was still staying
at Mama Z’s. Had him ask them if I could
come stay with them for a bit but not through the volunteer organization. Got the text back “she said yes and seems
really happy!” Ended up on Mama’s
doorstep about 5 hours later and am staying here for 4 weeks for $50 a week or
$7 a night including all of my meals, can’t beat that! Back in the swing of things, dirty and dusty all the time, bucket showers, huge bowls of rice or ugali for lunch everyday at the orphanage, right back at home.
I’ve been back in Arusha for a little over a week now and it’s
been great. Showed up at Glorious
Orphanage although they were not expecting me and Alice and Julius who run the
orphanage were so happy. It’s really
nice being back here now that everything is familiar, seems 10 times easier
than it did the first time around. I
feel so welcome, the ladies that run the internet café remembered me, the woman
who washes my clothes yelled “Catherine” and was really excited that I came
back, probably more excited for the money than to see me but whatever, it’s
been really nice. As I mentioned earlier
the weather is a lot warmer here now and the sun is super bright and hot by mid
afternoon. Oh and the mosquitoes are
about 10 times worse too, not enjoying that part and fingers crossed my malaria
medication doesn’t fail me!
Besides everyone at Mama’s and the orphanage I’ve had the
chance to meet up and go out with some friends and teachers I met here last
time and it’s really nice to be back even if it’s only for a month. Probably won’t have too many new, exciting
things to post over the next few weeks but its great being back. I was sad leaving last time but I have a
feeling when I have to say goodbye in a few weeks it’s going to hit a lot harder…
that’s it for now, hope everyone is well.
Cath
