Day Twenty: Tanzania: Last Day in Zanzibar

7:27pm, May 19th, 2019
Today my aunt and I spent the day relaxing out in the sun appreciating our last day in Zanzibar and under the sun before we leave tomorrow. We laid at the beach for a few hours and then a sudden downpour came our way, so we ran for cover. After the rain passed, we hung around the pool for a while before we went for lunch. After lunch, we transitioned back to the beach. When we went back to our villa, I noticed I had gotten incredibly sunburnt, which is quite unfortunate, but the heat and sun were worth it. I am incredibly sad to leave this fantastic continent tomorrow, but I know I will be back to see my new found friends.

Until tomorrow
Maria

Weekly Update #3

7:36, May 19th, 2019, Weekly Reflection

This week I learned about Ramadan because while being In Zanzibar, a predominantly Muslim place, I had seen all of these people fasting as well as when I was staying with Sula. I learned about the struggles of the farmers by the Masai Mara and how their farming and living interrupts how the animals in the game park live and migrate. The Masai have set up fences around their properties, and this has only started to happen in recent years. With the fences animals that are migrating get caught up in the fences and either hurt themselves or die. Sula told us of a story that happened recently where about 35 wildebeest entered a fenced in area but could not figure out how to get out, so they were all found dead because of the intense heat and no water available. I also learned about how the soil in that area makes travel very difficult, the earth is very loose so if a road is to be put in with asphalt and then it rains, the road very quickly crumbles away with the unstable soil. 

I had a lot of fun in the Mara and getting to know Sula and his family especially one of his two sons Izzy, he’s a very spunky little boy, so it was fun to talk to him. It was interesting to go to Zanzibar because it was extremely different from both Uganda and Kenya. There is a powerful middle eastern and Muslim influence that was evident in the architecture and the people which I did not see a significant amount of in Uganda and Kenya. It was a different aspect of being in a Muslim country because I have never been to one before. I felt the Muslim influence the most in Stone Town but then when we traveled to the beach, to Kendwa, there was deff of the middle eastern vibe, and more of just the beach feel with the bungalows and everything typical to an exotic beach.

The surprise which we kind of forgot about was that it was the rainy season, which we forgot, and so it rained a lot while we were there. We expected to have beautiful sunny days while in Zanzibar because that is what we had the weeks before in Uganda and Kenya but rainy season had come two months late in Zanzibar and the worst of it was just hitting the island now. So we had to cancel some plans because of the rain that would come on so suddenly.

This week I saw a very different aspect of the continent, which I think broadened my horizons as to how different the countries vary from each other even if the countries are right next to each other.

I gathered more of an awareness, and I saw and met more cultures which is one of my goals, cultural experience, I saw more landscapes and made more life long friends in Kenya with Sula so I know I will always have a place to go to in Nairobi if I ever need one. I immersed myself in the culture I think by hanging out and speaking with Masai warriors. 

Until tomorrow

Maria

Day Nineteen: Tanzania: Rainy Day at the Beach

9:36, May 18th, 2019

Today we woke up and it was raining pretty hard. We went to breakfast and then walked the beach for just about 2 hours searching for sea shellsand talking to locals. I have never seen that many shells or coral before. It was like thrift shopping and every where you looked there would be something else you liked. Then we sat and had coffee while we watched the never ending sheets ofrain come down hoping it’d stop. We then went back to our villa so I could wash off the shells and organize them to see what I was working with. I found two similar shells and put them on some earrings I already had and made myself some new and improved earrings With was very exciting.Today was more of a relax day because of the rain and it being rainy season. Hopefully it will be nicer tomorrow. 

Hours for the day: 2

Hours in total 111

Until tomorrow 

Maria

Day Eighteen: Tanzania: Traveled to the Beach Kendwa

9:08, May 17th, 2019

Today we woke up and had breakfast on the roof. During breakfast a rain storm swooped in from no where and we had breakfast while we listened to the rain hit the tin roof creating a calming noise. After breakfast we wanted to stop by a store to get some souvenirs but we got caught in a torrential downpour. The rain came out of no where and then suddenly the rain was coming down hard and we were running for cover. We were stuck under a ledge for about 15 minutes while the streets flooded and the water was up to our ankles. We ran back to our hotel when the rain was only coming down lightly. We then drove to Kendwa beach and relaxed after the long drive. We walked around the hotel and sat and admired the long white beaches for a while before we headed for dinner.

Until tomorrow

Maria 

Day Seventeen: Tanzania: Stone Town and Roof Top Dinner

9:31pm, May 16th, 2019

This morning I woke up at 5am for the airport so we could go to Zanzibar, Tanzania. The night before we had been informed that our flight to Zanzibar had been canceled so we spent all night with Sula, who travels worldwide almost every week for his job, looking for other flight options that would get us to Zanzibar early in the day. Anyway, we go to the airport, and Sula talked his way into getting us on a flight that had a very short layover in Kilimanjaro before we headed to Zanzibar. When we arrived in Kilimanjaro, we had quite a few difficulties with customs and then checking in for our flight and security, but we finally made it through and were on our way to Zanzibar. We arrived, and after we go to our hotel, we went on a walk around Stone Town, which is a pretty historic place. There are lots of forts and such left over from when it was being colonized by the British and Armenian. We walked to the beach and visited another hotel that had some beautiful architecture. We were pretty exhausted from our early wake-up and traveling, so we went back to the hotel early before dinner. For dinner, we went to a traditional Zanzibar celebratory dinner, which had us sitting on pillows on the ground and sharing a big plate of food with traditional foods, music, and beverages. It was on a rooftop of our hotel’s site hotel, and we made friends with all of the people sitting around us and talked about everyone’s adventures so far in Africa. Zanzibar is a predominantly Muslim place, so hearing the call to prayer to break fasting because it is Ramadan was pretty impressive. 

Hours for the day: 5

Hours in total: 109

Until tomorrow

Maria

Day Sixteen: Kenya: The Ngong Hills

8:08pm, May 15th, 2019
This morning I was able to sleep in which was very nice after the very early wake-ups for the past few days. My aunt and I headed towards the Ngong hills with Mr. Peter, who is Sula’s driver. The Ngong hills are a set of 7 very tall hills outside of Nairobi, which is very important to my aunt and family. Every weekend my aunt, mom, uncle, and grandparents would go and walk the hills when they were living in Nairobi so many years ago. It was a place that my aunt frequently visited outside of the weekend visits as well.

We started walking, and by the second hilltop we met these two men from the Masai tribe. The Masai were there so their sheep and cattle could graze on the bright green grass covering the hillsides. Mr. Peter started talking to the Masai, and they gave him one of the sticks they had carved. Then they jumped for us, and the younger man wanted a photo shoot, so he laid out all of his sticks and got his penga, which is a machete, and started flashing it for the camera. It was really quite entertaining.

We then sprinkled some of my grandmother and grandfather’s ashes at the top of the hill because it had been such a special place to them. It was a special moment to have been able to do that on those hills that looked over Nairobi and the Rift Valley.

Hours for the day: 3.5
Hours in total: 104

Until tomorrow
Maria

Day Fifteen: Kenya: Hot Air Balloon Ride Over the Masaimara Game Park

9:22pm, May 14th, 2019

It was a bit hard waking up this morning considering it was at 4:15am. We had to wake up so early because we were going for a hot air ballon ride over the game park and we had to be at the lunch site in the park by 6:30 but there were some people we had to pick up first and it was a long drive to get there. We finally arrived at the launch site and the sun was still coming up and it was amazing. There were zebras and impala around us that we could faintly see in the low light. As the sun came up so did the balloon. Right at 6:30 we hopped into the balloon with our pilot Razi and 14 other people. So this was a 16 person basket which is the biggest they get I think. Take off was a bit scary and bumpy but once we were in the air it was wild. We instantly saw massive hearts of zebras and impala and wildebeest and buffalos. Seeing the animals and the park from the sky puts into perspective just how many animals there really are and how vast the park is. We saw buffalos running, a den of hyenas and we saw the babies, and we saw elephants. We would go way high into the sky and then skim the ground to get different points of view. We learned about the balloon and the park from Razi, he has been flying big balloons for 10 years now but has been working in the park for many many years. 

Finally we had a very easy landing we were able to stay standing as we landed because it was such an easy tough down. We then got picked up by the crew and taken to our breakfast site which was breakfast in the middle of the game park amongst the animals. My aunt and I sat with a Scottish couple who were on their honeymoon and we had a great time with them they were very fun to chat with. 

We then drove back to our camp with the pilot because he was going to the dentist clinic. We were able to learn all about him on the way back and we also jammed out to some oldies music on the drive back which was pretty fun. We also saw three female lions that we named Sharron, Mathilda, and Alexis. 

Once we got back to the camp we quickly packed up our bags and hit the road to drive back to Nairobi. The ride was about 6 hours and it was extremely dusty. I am a bit sick of cars for the next few days I think. We arrived back at Sula’s house and greeted his wife and son and then sat down for dinner.

Hours for the day: 7

Hours in total: 100.5

Until tomorrow

Maria