Christmas 2010 african style
on Melissa Hipkins (Rwanda), 21/Jan/2011 05:46, 34 days ago
I realise with surprise that it is over 6 weeks since I last put finger to keyboard. Things have not stopped happening; I’ve taken more time off than I meant to.The highlight of this year has been our visit to Zanzibar and to be joined for Christmas by Lucy and Edward. Like a lot of things in life, plans made far in advance had to be radically modified to allow for circumstance. Ideally, they were to arrive before we had made the transition from Dar es Salaam to the island but this year’s exceptional weather in Europe supervened to throw things up in the air. Snow closed Heathrow on the day of their scheduled departure and no replacement flights were planned until after Christmas. BA’s reputation for customer relations was not enhanced by the inability of the switchboard to answer calls and their unwillingness to offer practical help when the lines cleared. KLM proved to have more about them and using Birmingham instead of Heathrow their flight was successful on the day before Christmas Eve.We met them off the ferry and made our way to the hotel in the north of the island. They had arrived in Tanzania the previous evening and had some sleep in the hotel in Dar but the thought of a fresh bed to relax on was delightful to them. The notion of being able to unburden themselves of all the things we had asked them to bring also made the journey more pleasurable. The hotel was right by the sea, but the foreshore was composed of eroded coral and very flat; at low tide the breakers were nearly a kilometre off. High water found the coral bed completely covered with the waves right up to a low cliff. Wading in the shallow water around low tide allowed exploration of the bottom but when the water was higher and rougher, it masked the hiding places of the many sea urchins; footwear was really essential to make the experience less fraught.Overall, the hotel pool, albeit rather lacking in seating, was a more relaxing option. The inter-tidal pools on the shore offered variety but no relief from the relentless sun and nowhere to swim except at times around high water.Snorkelling is the activity on Zanzibar: the water is invitingly warm and clear, the reefs not too deep to view well from the surface and no elaborate equipment necessary. While waiting for the children’s travel arrangements to harden into reality, we had our first experience of this adventure in the south of the island. I’m not a great swimmer; I don’t normally go in water for the pleasure of it but just to cool off. The idea of being out of my depth far from shore did not immediately appeal. However, after a few practice sessions close to shore in shallower water I became a little more confident and welcomed the idea of breathing without the effort of raising my head all the time. It was also a relief to be able to swim with the fins and not need to use my arms.The test came when we sailed further on to a more remote reef with only the boat to turn to in case of difficulties. Despite my anxieties, the experience became more pleasant as the tranquillity of life intimate with the coral unfolded and took hold. My mood changed when unexplained prickings on my arms and face marred my pleasure. I could see nothing but afterwards the others swimming from the boat came across the same phenomenon and put it down to minute jelly fish. It got to the stage where everyone had to come out, some sporting welts on face and arms.We took a sailing dhow when we repeated the experience with Lucy and Edward. There are a surprising number of them all around the coast; most fitted with powerful outboards to mitigate the inconveniences of contrary winds. In contrast to only four of us on the previous trip, this time there was a genuine boatload, more than 25 if you include the crew. The deck was open and most were content to bask in the powerful sun but Edward and Lucy had not yet built up much of a tan and Melissa and I have not exposed legs much in Nyanza. Added to which, we had underestimated the effects of sun through water and we both had burned backs from the first voyage. We crowded into the limited shelter in steerage. We were headed for an island to the east with a reef that exactly fitted the requirements of snorkelling. In fact it was so ideal that half the tourists on Zanzibar seemed to be heading in that direction.The hidden form of the reef was reflected by the location of the dozen or more dhows anchored some 200 metres off the beach. Each was kitting out and launching its passengers until the swell heaved with floating divers. To be fair, we were not disappointed with the array of fish and coral formations on view. Edward speculated on seeing sharks, but the bigger hazard was getting a flipper in the face. About an hour of swimming over the reefs was followed by a splendid tuna fish barbecue and a proper sail home.Christmas day was celebrated with duty free champagne and a festive buffet. Exchange of gifts helped to reinforce the mood, but try as we might, the lack of a log fire and roast beef made us resolve to go back to tradition as soon as possible, maybe next year.The time on Zanzibar involved a lot of loafing around and eating too much, but to finish the break with a flourish Melissa had fixed a couple of days game safari about 200 km west of Dar. We were to be picked up at the Dar hotel by a guide in a 4x4 and driven to the game park with enough time free to see some animals before evening. Tanzanian roads are a little more challenging than Rwandan, many more heavy goods vehicles and the carriageway liberally scattered with road humps to slow traffic. Not a bad idea you may think, most have warning ridges raised in groups of three before and after the hazard. This would work well if the ridges wore evenly, but about 50% have a ridge significantly lower on one side of the road than the other and of course all the traffic heads for the quieter option. Only the fact that speeds are way down to negotiate the hump made the result less hazardous. Many pedestrian crossings in towns are a modified speed bump but a proportion have no warning ridges and the white markings to make them stand out have long been worn off. Unless one knows the road intimately you will take off; speed limits without the humps are just laughed at.Our driver had his own idiosyncratic method of crossing these humps; at some he would race over the ridges and only brake for the hump itself, at others he would jolt over each ridge at walking pace. His general speed along the highway also varied according to his mood. This initial inconsistency in his driving should have warned us of later events.We arrived in time to do a couple of circuits of the park and were excited to see the expected herds of wildebeest together with a good selection of other lion fodder. As we were dropped off at our hotel, arrangements were made for the driver to pick us up early to take advantage of our one full day here. The next morning the appointed time came and went and we could not contact him on his phone. He turned up 2 hours late claiming to have been robbed of his phone and to have had a flat tyre. He took us erratically by a back entrance into the park, saying he needed to have a talk with the manager of one of the hotels based in the park itself. This took another hour before at last we began in earnest. On the way along the wooded track, the truck veered off the road for a few metres and Edward who was in the front had the notion the driver was falling asleep or possibly drunk. We let it slide on little evidence until he finally pulled over and wanted us to have a break-we had only been on the road 40 minutes. Edward confirmed he could smell drink on his breath. He only admitted he wasn’t well. On further examination some of his excuses for having been late proved false. We said we could not continue with him in this state. Ringing his boss from the truck we made our feelings clear and demanded a replacement driver. We picked our way back to the hotel in the park where the exchange would take place.We waited a further hour or so to be met by the next driver who we vaguely recognised; it turned out he worked for the hotel where we were lodged. He took us back into the park and continued where we had left off on the first afternoon. We were even lucky enough to see lion albeit at a fair distance. He had heard of other lion being seen and as we hoped for better the next day we again arranged for an early start.I don’t know if it is part of the national psyche, but this new driver also had a blind spot when it came to turning up on time. A wait of an hour and a half was necessary before action resumed. Once in the park, number 2 was obviously not on the sparkling form of yesterday. He also had an air of lassitude and was driving far too quickly for us to take full advantage of all there was to see. Edward again had the front seat and it was not long before he confronted him with the accusation of being drunk. Two in two days!This allegation was hotly denied and as the driver turned to each of us in appeal, we all began to have reason to agree with Edward. We had little choice but insist he go back to the park entrance where we would have to wait for the driver from Dar.During the initial heated negotiations with the boss he had promised us another driver to take us back to Dar as we had no faith in the original. He would be on a bus to arrive at about 11 on our last day. Once parked up by the gate, we relieved N°2 of the keys and waited in the lodge café. In view of all the lost time, the boss conceded that we could continue in the park with driver N°3 until mid afternoon before we needed to make the return. He was at last what we had been hoping for; someone with knowledge, driving skills and no hangover. He took us to a lioness with cubs and our first sight of a leopard on the ground.The journey back was happily free of incident and there were no weather worries to delay the kids’ flight back to Birmingham. It has been a Christmas like no other; it’s the only time that the family get together has been made keener by a separation of such length. We must make the next one a proper Christmas including everyone, most likely in the UK.