Alone in Africa

As the bustling activity of Stone Town overwhelmed me, I took a deep breath, absorbed the smells of African spices and let the exotic culture wash over me.

My first night in Stone Town was slightly intimidating. I hid out in my hotel room, comforted by an American television channel and a close friend to text back home. Despite thinking I could cope with anything alone, and despite having spent a few days in Jo’burg by myself only a couple of weeks before, Zanzibar was a complete culture shock.

My cumulative ten weeks in the continent had not prepared me for this. Zanzibar was a long way from Namibia or South Africa, and I don’t just mean in terms of physical distance.

The previous ten days or so climbing Kilimanjaro had been planned, organised, and I had had my father with me. So the fear and nerves of travelling alone dissipated after we had met up in Tanzania, leaving me to enjoy his wonder and amazement at his first time in Africa.

Arriving in Zanzibar, saying goodbye to the other two people with whom I did the climb at the airport, and then being whisked off alone down tiny bumpy back streets by a taxi I desperately hoped would deposit me at my hotel was momentarily terrifying. It was that evening, hiding out in my hotel room, that I realised I had only just turned twenty and I really had a long way to go.

The next morning I summoned my courage and ventured cautiously out of my stunning hotel. Whilst staring out over the clear turquoise water I noticed an American man I recognised from the flight over from Kilimanjaro Airport.

I once again found courage I didn’t know I possessed, went over and began talking to him. A large mountain we had both recently struggled up gave us initial common ground, and so I inadvertently found company for a few hours investigating Stone Town, which led to an incredibly memorable evening meal with him and his friends.

Back in my hotel, lying in my four poster bed that night, I realised that had I been travelling with someone else, my spontaneously enjoyable day would never have happened. Something worth remembering any time a new place and culture threaten to overwhelm.