Hols - New Years on Zanzibar and Prison Island
on Kev in Tanzania (Tanzania), 13/Jan/2009 05:04, 34 days ago
Time has flown by since my last post and I am now back at work wondering where all the tutors and student teachers are... Perfect time to update the blog!Dec 30thI updated my blog at the post office and relaxed in a posh hotel called Africa House. This hotel was where Livingstone used to stay before travelling to the mainland exploring and preaching. It was very nice and the view of the ocean is beautiful! On the way back to Martin and Yasmin's I found a supermarket and bought myself some treats!New Years EveSandra flew back from Pemba and came over at lunch time, for New Years we were going to the southern part of the island for a beach party at Kizimkazi. We caught a daladala into town to meet Lisenka and Hiro, her Japanese friend (No he can't time travel...). On the daladala the conductor tried to pick pocket me! He kept sitting down close to me and when I looked down at my leg he had unzipped my pocket and was starting to stick his hand in! I shoved him away and said 'Whats this then?' and he looked at me and said he was sorry, I told him 'I should think so!' and we got off the daladala. Close call, mind you if they catch a thief in the street they get beaten by the mob so he was lucky...We caught a taxi to Kizimkazi, which was a great location by the sea. The food was great and the barman kept giving us free drinks (just to be safe we made sure they were bottles and opened in front of us - dont want to be drugged!). We watched a beautiful sunset, the last of 2008... The music was not too bad but the DJ was a bit rubbish, it did not stop us having fun though!! There was also a big headed Scot who insisted on playing his guitar and singing badly... By about 3.30 I was tipsy and tired and fell asleep in a hammock by the sea next to Lisenka.New Years Day 2009Woke up at 6am and wanted to go back to our house so we could catch up on some sleep properly and relax on a lovely New Years Day. I found Sandra and we managed to catch a daladala back to Stonetown. The ride was not the best I have ever had. The daladala had 2 full sized marlins on the roof, along with a massive manta ray (took 5 guys to carry...) the daladala was also very crowded and it was a 90 minute journey - boy was I glad to get home! We crashed out in our beds for a few hours before getting up in the afternoon to watch a DVD. In the evening we went to back to stonetown to get something eat in an Italian restaurant with Lisenka, the food was devine. We when we got home we watched 3 movies in a row and went to bed late!January 2ndHad a nice lie in and then we made garlic bread for brunch (its a holiday anything goes...) We decided to go to Prison Island today and went down to Livingstones to catch the boat with 4 other people. It was a 30 minute boat ride in a old Dhow. The sea was rough and I was a little concerned at the lack of life jackets but figured with plenty of boats around we would be ok. On the journey our Dhow (aptly named Tramp...) broke down and we had to be towed to the island. We all looked on the humourous side of things and we made it in one piece!The Island was very nice and we went to see the giant tortises, it was great fun feeding them. Despite being slow they seemed very dignified to me. They used to live on the mainland but as people kept stealing them they were moved to the Island. The old prison on the island was never actually used as a prison just as quarrentine for cholera victims. We exlpored a little and then caught the boat back.Back at Livingstones we met up with Saskia and her 3 dutch friends for a few drinks. Then Sandra and I went to the Archipelo where we shared a salad, burger and swordfish steaks. Very tasty and great value! We went back to Livingstones for some cocktails and met up with Mickey, Rico, Chris, Saskia, her friend. After 2 nights in a row going to bed past 3am Sandra and I were tired so we left at about 1.30am, but then when we got in we watched a movie again and went to bed late...January 3rdJohn came over during the day and wanted to stay the night as he was flying to Pemba the next day. We had a good catch up and went down to Alans local for beers and Mishkaki (goat kebabs) In the evening I taught John how to play the Sh*thead card game and then I lost a hearts (badly...)January 4thSandra and I went to Livingstones as during the day you can use their wireless internet for free and we needed to check emails. I emailed VSO as my VISA had expired on the 27th December and they were supposed to be emailing me a new one so I could leave the Island go back to work on the 5th. Not having a valid VISA could land me in jail especially when trying to leave the Island... No reply so I was annoyed with VSO...In the evening we invited Lisenka over, cooked some garlic bread and veggie spagetti.Final part of Zanzibar adventure coming up...