We've said goodbye to Zanzibar, but I hope it's not goodbye forever. Before leaving we went SCUBA diving off of the coast of Stone Town. There was a lot of colorful coral that was in great condition. We saw shrimp for the first time--boy do they look like bugs! We also saw a blue spotted ray, sea cucumbers, and lots of starfish. After the first dive we ate lunch on the boat. They cut up fresh pineapple, mango, and papaya, and we also had samosas, spring rolls, and chapati. Mmmm! We've been eating well! Then we did dive number two (no hour wait before swimming). The next day we left Zanzibar on the ferry while the water was awfully rough. It's a good thing they were prepared with a lot of seasickness bags. I was feeling pretty relieved that we wouldn't be taking any more ferries for a while.
So we took a bus to Lushoto in the Usambara Mountains to do a little hiking, and what do we get? Motion sickness bags for the winding bus ride! Luckily my stomach is much tougher in the car. The mountains are beautiful. For a good portion of the six hour bus ride there were flat plains to the right of the highway, and the mountain range a few hundred meters to the left. The change is very dramatic--no foothills at all. The mountains here have a lot of vegetation which include banana trees and coconut palms. We hiked for about seven hours on our second day in town.
The views were fantastic. We hiked down dirt roads, through backyards, farms, hotels, and a national park rainforest. We hired a guide named Simon at the tourism office, and he answered about a million questions for us throughout the day about his family, local farming practices, religion, Tanzania's education system, and a lot more. He said he didn't mind! For dinner we went to the local market and bought fresh veggies. An avocado goes for about 9 cents here. We make delicious guacamole!
Now we're in Arusha and trying to book a safari, but it's Sunday, so we're not having much luck. I'm missing Lushoto. We can't leave our hotel without men hounding us to go to one safari company or another. Back in Zanzibar all you have to do is say, "Hakuna matata," and they'll move on to the next person. Here it doesn't work so well. We figured out their system this morning when agreed to go with one to a safari office that's in our guidebook. The guy told us he is a porter for the company. When we got to the office it was closed, and he tried to take us to some other office. Why would he take us to another office when he works for the first one? Turns out that the different offices just pay whatever guy brings in the tourist, so they are usually trying to sell you a trip with whatever safari office you're closest to at the moment. The "porter" confirmed that's how the system works, and then said, "It's better than trying to rob you, right?" So it is!
I think we might go watch some Olympics now. USA! USA!
So we took a bus to Lushoto in the Usambara Mountains to do a little hiking, and what do we get? Motion sickness bags for the winding bus ride! Luckily my stomach is much tougher in the car. The mountains are beautiful. For a good portion of the six hour bus ride there were flat plains to the right of the highway, and the mountain range a few hundred meters to the left. The change is very dramatic--no foothills at all. The mountains here have a lot of vegetation which include banana trees and coconut palms. We hiked for about seven hours on our second day in town. 
The views were fantastic. We hiked down dirt roads, through backyards, farms, hotels, and a national park rainforest. We hired a guide named Simon at the tourism office, and he answered about a million questions for us throughout the day about his family, local farming practices, religion, Tanzania's education system, and a lot more. He said he didn't mind! For dinner we went to the local market and bought fresh veggies. An avocado goes for about 9 cents here. We make delicious guacamole!
Now we're in Arusha and trying to book a safari, but it's Sunday, so we're not having much luck. I'm missing Lushoto. We can't leave our hotel without men hounding us to go to one safari company or another. Back in Zanzibar all you have to do is say, "Hakuna matata," and they'll move on to the next person. Here it doesn't work so well. We figured out their system this morning when agreed to go with one to a safari office that's in our guidebook. The guy told us he is a porter for the company. When we got to the office it was closed, and he tried to take us to some other office. Why would he take us to another office when he works for the first one? Turns out that the different offices just pay whatever guy brings in the tourist, so they are usually trying to sell you a trip with whatever safari office you're closest to at the moment. The "porter" confirmed that's how the system works, and then said, "It's better than trying to rob you, right?" So it is!
I think we might go watch some Olympics now. USA! USA!
3 comments:
fine. i'm addicted to your blog. and i love you!! thanks for the postcard, it was so great to see your writing. made me miss you!
You DO make good guac! I'm back at work after a week of life skills training in Nelspruit. Jed's home sick today. It's raining for the first time in months, and it's wonderful. Battled wildfires at the farm on Saturday...we'll have to post some pictures. Glad to hear from you. I enjoyed the few pictures that made it onto Picasa. I miss you very much.
just got the package delivered, actually I had to go to the post office to pick it up. They wouldn't leave it at the house. WOW, it was better than diamonds....! I am so excited to create a few new dishes. THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I will bring jeff and gina their package toninght. Have Fun.
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