A Little Bit Of Tourism

 Although I have been mainly focused on the class that I finished on June 24^th, I have been able to spend a little bit of my time in Tanzania as a tourist. Two of the other Cornell students were placed into a host family in which the father, Bwana Chuwa, runs a Tanzania tourism company. Bwana Chuwa must know everyone there is to know in Tanzania, because he hooked the group up with an awesome safari and trip to Zanzibar.

            Maybe not quite as densely populated as the Serengeti, the Arusha National Park had a decent amount of fauna including a lot of giraffe, zebra, water buffalo, baboons, and colobus monkeys (they look a little like skunks but with really fluffy white tails). At one point during the safari, we got out of the car and climbed up a hill to an overlook from which you could see a crater from a collapsed volcano. I was a little upset that I didn’t get to see any other big game, like lions or elephants, but the safari was worth the day’s travel.

            The Zanzibar archipelago is located off the eastern coast of Tanzania and is composed of many islands of various sizes. Technically, the name of the country in which I’m currently volunteering is the United Republic of Tanzania because back in the day, the mainland, Tanganika, and Zanzibar were two different countries. When they decided to team up, the president of Tanganika became president of the United Republic and the Zanzibar president became his Vice.

            If anyone can afford to go to Zanzibar on a holiday, I would definitely recommend it. A two hour ferry ride from Dar Es Salaam places you on a beautiful island that feels entirely different then the African mainland. With about 95% of its inhabitants Muslim, the island definitely shows off its Arab influences. This was also the first time I had completely immersed into an Islamic culture, although I’m guessing that it would be very different to be a tourist in a Middle Eastern country.

            Walking through the small corridors of Stone Town, the prominent town in Zanzibar, I felt as if I was back in Europe, walking through alleyways that have endured countless generations of people. One difference between Stone Town and it’s European counterparts are the elegant, carved wooden doors of the Stone Town buildings. Each door is said to symbolize the wants and desires of its original owner, and some are older then the buildings in which they live. Many also have metal spikes protruding from the doors, additions borrowed from India that were once used to prevent elephants from breaking down the buildings.

            Like Moshi, Stone Town also has a very lively outdoor market, but with a complete different set of staple foods. Zanzibar, once the spice capital of the world, offers an enormous variety of spices to the public. The fish market is also a sight to see, and a smell to experience. Like the fish section of Wegman’s on steroids, I had never seen so many types of fish on display. I will admit that the smell was a little strong for me so I couldn’t stay in the market too long.

            With pristine white sands and turquoise water, the beaches on the Northern coast were incredible. Like pictures on the Discovery Channel, the scenery included small wooden Dhows (the name given to Zanzibari boats) dotted the horizon as they fished for local fare. After lunch, five of us decided to trust a local entrepreneur and went snorkeling out on the nearby reef. Although it wasn’t the most colorful, we were still able to see a good amount of wildlife. I have taken a lot of pictures from this beach day and I’ll try to make an album on picasa soon.

            Leaving Zanzibar on possibly the worst 9 hour bus ride of my life, I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t continue my tourism and see all of the other incredible sights Tanzania has to offer. I would really like to see the inner region of the country, as that is where the majority of the population lives and I would really be able to see the livelihoods of these warm and welcoming people. I guess that’s another reason to come back.