Leaving Pemba and a little bit of fun on Zanzibar...
on Kev in Tanzania (Tanzania), 16/Apr/2009 07:20, 34 days ago
This is my last update from‘My first trip to Pemba’Wednesday 8th AprilWas my last day and night in Pemba as we were going to Zanzibar on Thursday. The weather was not great and I relaxed again while Liz worked (like a good Tanzanian male…). My cold had moved on to become an earache (and I don’t mean Liz!) but after putting in some drops it was not so bad - I just get frustrated not being able to hear as well as I normally do…We went out to the street venders for dinner and John and Mickey came along. In the evening we watched‘The departed’ but I fell asleep… Liz stayed up because she had work to do before we fly to Zanzibar.Thursday 9th AprilWe had a lie in this morning and after packing up all my stuff we got the dala to Chake to see Anne and then on to the airport. The airport on Pemba is tiny and after having our flight changed to a later one we went through security and waited in the departure lounge. We met the Swahili divers who run a diving school up the top of the island and it was nice talking to them as they have been on the island for almost a decade! (I wont mention the incident when they‘lost’ 5 divers though…)We boarded a small twin engine plane and did a glamorous island hop from Pemba to Zanzibar, the flight was only about 10-15 minutes but the views were fantastic. We got out of Zanzibar airport without a hitch and met Ken just outside. Ken since language training has moved into Chris’ old place and Liz and I decided to stay with him for a few days. Wille, Jo and Andy were also staying there as Wille was flying back to Holland to on Friday.For dinner we went down near Africa House hotel (where Livingstone used to hang about– when he was not lost…) and we ate some street food down by the sea. It was lovely there were all kinds of fish kebabs, I ate shark, marlin and king fish. The street food in Zanzibar is always good quality and there is a nice hustle and bustle feel about it.After our street food we went to Sunrise bar near Shangani hotel for some well earned beverages, we met up with John and Lisenka. After a few beers we met up with Mickey, Mike and Rico as well and moved onto the Dharma lounge nightclub.The nightclub was quite busy and we said goodbye to Wille, Jo and Andy who needed to get back and rest before taking Wille to the airport tomorrow. John was quite drunk and there was an artist at the bar who for some reason had bought some water colours with her. John and I decided to do some painting whilst having our beers, we made quite a strange sight! We got a cab back to Ken’s place at around 2.45am and went to bed.Friday 10th AprilWe woke up late and missed our chance to say goodbye properly to Wille but she forgave us. We went to meet Marius at Mygambani a nice little bar in the heart of Stonetown (no way I could find it on my own…) John came along and met us there and after a couple of beers we had some nice local food wali na boga (rice and veg) and had some great chats with Marius.In the afternoon I went and checked my emails and was tempted to add to blog but knew it was going to take some time! Liz went and found us a hotel to stay in for a couple nights so Ken could have some space.We went to Rico’s farewell party at his place at around 4pm, the Filipinos had been cooking up some lovely food for most of the day and it was wonderful to have a little party with lots of VSO all together. Martin, Yasmin and Matty came over and I saw Maurice again too.Saturday 11th AprilWe had a lie in at Kens and as we got up he was not around so we left him a note and went off to find the Kiponde hotel where we would spend the next 2 nights. It took a little while but we found it and I was glad to be able to dump my heavy bag. We went for lunch at the Archipelago (where I ate with Sandra over New Year) the food was great (as usual) and it was nice relaxing with a sea view– I do miss the sea while I am in Mpwapwa!Early afternoon Liz (tough girl!) went to the‘bottoms up’ bar to meet Marius, John and Lisenka. I (being a wuss) went back for a little nap and then went to meet them an hour or so later (after spending 30 minutes trying to find it!) I was told that ‘bottoms up’ was a rough place but it is just like any small old pub in England really– it even had some prem footie on for me to watch. I got teased about going for a nap but it was ok coz I ignore them watched the footie! Bottoms up is not rough! The bars in Mpwapwa are worse than this!After a couple in‘bottoms up’ we moved onto a place Marius knew called ‘The Doctors’, this was really odd because it was like sitting in the cross between a shop window and a guys front room! But it was cozy and there was yet more football to entertain us. There was only one toilet (a urinal) so I did not envy the girls…After a couple more (yes it is a bit of a bar crawl…) we moved on a rough bar which was only lit by a dodgy green light from above the bar, we stayed in there for one and then went to get some street food by the sea again – its so fresh and great value! We returned to our favourite Mygambani for a final beer before going our separate ways to ourrespective beds.Sunday 12th AprilLast full day and night on Zanzibar and in the morning Liz and I went to buy our tickets– hers back to Pemba and mine to Dar. After tickets we did a little souvenir shopping and then had lunch by the sea at ‘The Fenice’ a very nice Italian restaurant, I had Gnocchi in Bolognese sauce which tasted divine!In the evening we went over to Martin and Yasmin’s for dinner which was nice because I spend 10 days there over Christmas and New Year and it was good to be back there and see how much more homely they have made it (they also now have a kitten!) Martin cooked some very nice squid – I am getting used to the island food!Monday 13th AprilBoat was leaving at 9.30am so after breakfast Liz and I went down to the port, my boat was boarding so I quickly said farewell to Liz and then jump onboard. The trip was very bumpy (it is a fast boat!) and lots of people were sick, by the end I was feeling pretty queasy but managed to hold it all down. The entertainment on the boat this time was the movie‘Congo’ which I had not seen before but remember it being advertised when the family and I were in L.A 14 years ago. The film was not as good as the book (no surprise there…)In Dar I ignored the hustlers at the port and got a cab to Ubungo to buy my bus ticket to Mpwapwa and then decided to go back to Dar to stay at Econolodge as I detest Ubungo with its pickpockets and hustlers. Had my lunch at Chefs pride and was thinking about contacting some people for dinner but was missing Liz and felt like being alone so I got some snacks in the bakery I know before relaxing in my room and waiting for my 4.30am alarm…Tuesday 14th AprilGot the bus without a hitch and the journey back was a tight fit as next to a‘Big mama’. Back in Mpwapwa my garden was dead due to the chronic lack of water but the chickens were fine – Dave (my cock) is getting big and looking very healthy. Still no eggs though…I went down to the TTC to collect my laptop and check to see if I had any mail– still none, it has been nearly 6 weeks with no mail and I am suspicious the some bast**d might be stealing it (pardon my rudeness!)Had no power or water but did go and pay my electric bill and then Tanesco (electric guys) came and fixed a dodgy wire so I could have power back.