Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Zanzibarrrrrrrrrrrr!

After staying up into the wee hours of the morning watching a World Cup game in person at Soccer City in Johannesburg, Chris and I woke up at an ungodly hour the next morning to catch a flight to Zanzibar. Zanzibar had been high on our list of places to see in Africa, and we’d heard nothing but positive reviews from other travelers since arriving in Africa. Zanzibar definitely lived up to our expectations.

Before becoming a semi-autonomous state within Tanzania, the island was controlled by the Sultan of Oman and was used as a trading outpost for spices and goods traveling between Africa and the Middle East. As a result, the island has its own unique fusion of Arab, Swahili and African cultures. The island’s largest city, Stone Town, is a rambling maze of narrow passageways wedged between 500-year-old buildings. It’s pretty spectacular.

Chris and I spent a couple of days wandering through Stone Town, enjoying delicious local fare at the night market and just soaking up the ambiance. Chris also started his PADI open water course here (after the failed attempt to coordinate with the dive centers in Ile Ste. Marie, Madagascar, this was the next place on our itinerary where Chris could do the course). I did some snorkeling on the reefs 1-2 km offshore from Stone Town, and I have to say that, aside from being attacked by a jellyfish (OUCH!), I had a great time and was pleasantly surprised by the condition of the reefs and the diversity of tropical fish so close to an urban settlement.

We also did a spice plantation tour just outside of Stone Town. Zanzibar is famous for exporting spices all over the world, and it was really interesting to visit a community-run spice plantation and learn about how spices go from plants to those little jars of powder that you buy in the supermarket. One of my favorite parts of the tour was trying to guess each spice by smelling each plant’s leaves. I got almost all of them right and was pretty pleased with myselfJ.

After several days in Stone Town, we moved up the coast to a quite beachside getaway called Matemwe. There, we stayed in a simple, low-key bungalow, and Chris finished his PADI course. I also did a couple of dives, and Chris and I had the chance to dive together at the Mnemba Atoll, which was beautiful. I have to say that Chris took to diving about as quickly as he took to skiing (which is to say, like a total natural who was born with a tank on his back).

After Matemwe, we continued farther up the coast to the northernmost tip of the island, called Kendwa beach. We’d heard better reports on Matemwe than Kendwa, though I have to say that we both preferred Kendwa. The beach was BEAUTIFUL, we could go snorkeling right off the beach in front of our hotel, and the place had a livelier backpacker atmosphere. We enjoyed couple of days in Kendwa until our cash ran out (the only ATMs in Zanzibar are in Stone Town), and we had to go back to Stone Town.

Zanzibar was also our introduction to Tanzania. Unlike the other places we’d visited on this trip, Tanzania is WAY more touristic, and this comes with some benefits and drawbacks. The benefits include meeting lots of cool travelers and enjoying a well developed travel infrastructure that makes it easy to get around. One of the major drawbacks is that a lot of people are trying to make a buck off travelers, so you have to be on your guard against scammers and con artists. I think that we were both a little taken aback by the aggressive touts in the street trying to sell you something:

Tout (approaching me randomly on the street): Where are you going? Need a hotel room?

Me: No. I’ve already got a place to stay, thanks.

Tout: How about some local handicrafts?

Me: I already bought some, thank you.

Tout: Hmmmm…what about bus ticket?

Me: Nope, we’re staying here.

Tout: Want to change money?

Me: Not with you.

Seriously, these guys are desperate to sell you ANYTHING, and there were occasions when I had little flashbacks to Vietnam, where I felt like I was a walking around with a dollar sign painted on my back. I guess that’s just part of traveling to a place that’s on the gringo trail, and I have to say that it was a small price to pay for spending time in an amazing location like Zanzibar.

-Julia



From 07-03-10 Zanzibar Web

Smile, you're in Zanzibar



From 07-03-10 Zanzibar Web

Stone Town's narrow winding streets



From 07-03-10 Zanzibar Web

Food vendors at the night market



From 07-03-10 Zanzibar Web

A Zanzibari boy checks out the tall Mzungu



From 07-03-10 Zanzibar Web

Guessing spices



From 07-03-10 Zanzibar Web

Matmwe beach



From 07-03-10 Zanzibar Web

Chris is PADI certified!




From 07-03-10 Zanzibar Web

Kendwa beach



From 07-03-10 Zanzibar Web

Soooo happy to be in Zanzibar!



From 07-03-10 Zanzibar Web

The sun sets on Kendwa beach

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

World Cup!

After three weeks in Madagascar, we flew to Johannesburg hoping to experience the World Cup excitement for a few of days before continuing on to East Africa. Before Chris and I departed on this journey, we sat down together and made a list of the things that we wanted to see and do in Africa. One could easily spend endless amounts of time and money exploring this continent, but we don’t have either of those, so we had to prioritize. (That and I like any excuse to make a list.)

For Chris, one of the highest priorities was making it to at least one World Cup game. I must admit that I wasn’t 100% on-board at first. I knew that traveling in South Africa during World Cup would be chaotic and expensive, and I didn’t know if the experience would live up to our expectations. Let me tell you that while I was right on the first account (we paid an absurd amount of money to stay in an overcrowded hostel, as everyone was charging special “World Cup” rates), I was definitely wrong on the second. We had an absolutely fantastic time, and I’m so happy that we made the effort to spend some time in South Africa during the World Cup.

The tournament generated a really festive atmosphere, and our backpacker hostel was packed with students and young professionals from all over the world. I definitely had a couple of tri-lingual conversations (which were lots of fun, but a stark reminder that my Italian is SUPER rusty).

When we weren’t watching soccer games, we spent some time touring around Jo-burg. The city gets a bad rap, but I have to say that it wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it would be. We went to the Apartheid Museum, which was incredible. We also went on a brewery tour and then to dinner at the Sophiatown jazz lounge. We also connected with some South African friends who live in Jo’burg, and it was great to get the local perspective on life in this sprawling African metropolis. In any event, we made it out alive and – dare I say – even ENJOYED our time in the city of gold.

We scored some after-market tickets to the quarter final Ghana-Uruguay game at Soccer City stadium. The game itself was a phenomenal experience. I felt like all of South Africa was cheering for Ghana (the single African team remaining in the tournament at that point). There was so much energy and excitement in the stadium. I can’t totally put the experience into words, but it was amazing…something I’ll never forget.

-Julia







From 06-29-10 JHB and WC web

Driving in Central Jo'burg





From 06-29-10 JHB and WC web

Enjoying the festive atmosphere at our hostel





From 06-29-10 JHB and WC web

This was posted to the fridge at our hostel





From 06-29-10 JHB and WC web

Outside the Apartheid museum





From 06-29-10 JHB and WC web

Soccer City





From 06-29-10 JHB and WC web

Catching up with our friends Melanie and Melody at the game





From 06-29-10 JHB and WC web

World Cup 2010!

Monday, July 5, 2010

Air Madagascar brings people together…

After 8 relaxing days in Ile Aux Nattes, we continued on to Diego Suarez in the very far North of Madagascar. We had a little airline drama while traveling to Diego Suarez (the airlines seem to be against us on this trip). Air Mada had oversold the flight from Ile Ste. Marie to Tana by 50%, and had to bring in another plane from Tana, to accommodate all of the passengers. This delayed our departure by several hours, meaning that we missed our connecting flight and got stuck in Tana for an extra day. At first we were a little upset by this mishap, but Air Mada put us up in a decent hotel (with internet!) for the night, and we ended up befriending the other 3 travelers who were also en route to Diego Suarez and fell victim to air Mada’s scheduling incompetency. We met Benjamin, Katia and Chris #2, and spent the next week touring around Diego Suarez with our new group of backpacker compatriots.

Diego was quite different from central and Eastern Madagascar. The climate was much drier, which meant that the flora and fauna was nothing like what we had seen in the rain forests of the East coast. We also had the opportunity to do several day-tours around Diego Suarez which allowed us to really explore the region and to see a lot of Madagascar’s infamous one-of-a-kind plants and animals (more lemurs!!!).

Some of the highlights included:

Hiking along the windswept 3 bays, where we saw hundreds of baobab trees and hidden coves of crystal clear water.

The Sacred Lake where we got up close and personal with some wild crocodiles (don’t worry dad, we were at a safe distance).

The Tsingy Rouge where we saw crazy iron-infused pinnacle rock formations, a mini grand canyon and tons of chameleons.

Our boat trip to the Emerald Sea where we snorkeled in turquoise waters and enjoyed lunch on a secluded little island (cooked by our French hippy boat captain).

L’Ankarana National park, where Chris and I hiked through limestone Tsingy rock formations and spotted 4 different kinds of lemur in one afternoon.

Diego was also where Chris and I arrived at our wits end in terms of frustration over our inability to communicate with people. Fortunately our friend Benjamin is a native French speaker and is also fluent in English, so he helped us out immeasurably. Traveling with a French-speaker also gave us a window into how much we were actually missing in Madagascar. It’s amazing how much more you can learn about a country when you can communicate with the locals.

All in all, Diego Suarez was a fantastic conclusion to three amazing weeks in Madagascar.

-Julia

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

Diego Suarez Town

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

These old cars were all over the place in Diego

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

Our traveling companions: Benjamin, Katia and Chris #2

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

400 year old Baobab

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

Hiking the 3-bays

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

A beautiful cove that we found during our 3-bay hike

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

Taxi-Brousse

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

I think this one was my favorite chameleon

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

A croc at the Sacred Lake

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

More chameleons than you can shake a stick at!

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

Tsingy Rouge

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

En route to the Emerald Sea

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

The Emerald Sea

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

Walking back from a snorkel in the turquoise water

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

Crazy tsingy rock formations at L'Ankarana National Park

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

A Milne-Edwards nocturnal lemur!

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

More Baobab trees

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

Lemurs

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

Hiking through the Tsingy

From 06-22-10 Diego Suarez web

Chris stands next to the "white man" tree (named after the peeling bark)...fortunately we’ve been good about using lots of sunscreen and haven experienced any nasty burns

Friday, July 2, 2010

An island paradise in Madagascar

After our extreme chicken bus adventure getting from the capital to the East coast, we were really ready to relax at the beach. We headed from Tamatave to Ile Ste Marie (Saint Marie island), and from Ste Marie, we took a boat to the tiny neighboring island of Ile aux Nattes.

Let me tell you, if you are looking for relaxation, this is your place. The island is tiny, and doesn’t have any roads or cars. We stayed in a tiny bungalow by the sea, and while it was rustic (bucket showers and no electricity at night), it was incredibly beautiful and relaxing.

Initially, one of our main motives for coming to this island was to go diving. Chris has been looking for a place to do his PADI dive course, and I wanted to do a few dives in Madagascar…but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be. A combination of the language barrier and dive-shop drama (we had a little run-in with a particularly cantankerous French dive instructor) made us change our minds. We also tried to arrange a snorkel-boat trip through the hotel, but after several unsuccessful attempts to coordinate with the hotel staff, we were finally told that it is culturally taboo/bad luck to make organized snorkel trips on Tuesdays and Thursdays…at which point we gave up trying to organize activities, and decided to just relax and enjoy exploring the island on our own.

Even with diving out of the question, we still had a fantastic time. We filled our days with snorkeling off the dock, swimming, kayaking and wandering around the island. Naturally, there was also a lot of book and hammock time too. J

Ile aux Natte was also the first place in Madagascar where we saw more than a scant handful of fellow travelers. We met two awesome sisters from South Africa, Melody and Melanie. When Melanie came to the rescue with her language skills and translated a French menu for us, narrowly saving Chris from ordering a heaping plate of rabbit giblets (no, I’m not kidding, he almost ordered that on accident), I knew we’d hit it off. We spent a couple of days exploring the island with them, and it was great to hear their tips about living in South Africa.

We ended up staying on Ile aux Nattes for a week. After all of the hustle and bustle of packing up our apartment in San Francisco, moving across the world, surviving the taxi brousses of Madagascar, we were ready for a break, and this little piece of paradise provided us with an opportunity to relax, unwind and shift gears.

-Julia



From 06-13-10 St. Marie web

Paradise found!



From 06-13-10 St. Marie web

Working on my tan :-)



From 06-13-10 St. Marie web

We had a few tropical storms, but at least it was warm rain!



From 06-13-10 St. Marie web

I thought this little critter living under the floor boards of our bathroom was a tarantula...and I totally freaked out. Turns out it was just our resident bungalow crab.





From 06-13-10 St. Marie web

Checking out the St. Marie town market with Melanie and Melody



From 06-13-10 St. Marie web

Chris enjoys a pizza



From 06-13-10 St. Marie web

And it wouldn't be Madagascar without the lemurs!



From 06-13-10 St. Marie web

Beautiful beaches of Ile Aux Nattes