Zanzibar

Zanzibar - June 21-25

We arrived on the ferry to Zanzibar with nerves and excitement. I was greatly looking forward to seeing the souk-like labyrinth of Stone Town and getting a few days to relax on the world famous white sand beaches. Tom chatted with a local reporter for much of the ferry ride over, so we had some good inside info on what to do.

A tall thin local guy followed us for a lot of the way to the hotel because he figured we'd get lost, ask for directions and then we'd have to tip. But my watch compass and reasonably good Rough Guide map showed us that by turning left at "The Big Tree" (actually a place on the map), we'd find it just down the way.

We were greeted pleasantly by the manager - a headscarf-clad woman with sharp eyes that softened when she gave out her occasional smile. The dominant feature of the rooms were "box nets" over the beds to keep away the mosquitoes and make each night feel like you were climbing into a crib.

The rest of Stone Town is crumbling, however. We did have some excellent, cheap food and greatly enjoyed the market, House of Wonders, and former slave market, but we had constant concern that the old, dilapidated buildings had seen their last summer and were going to topple all around us.

We spent our second day on a Spice Tour, which took us to a plantation of sorts and a beautiful, secluded beach. The spice tour really focused on the local fruit, which was outstanding, and walked us through several small villages where local kids ran up and held our hands. As usual, they were mostly just friendly and pleasant, but a few clever ones had made rings and bracelets out of thick grass and were trying to get us to buy them.

We then drove to the East coast of Zanzibar and arrived at our own "bungalow" camp in Paje. The place we settled on wasn't actually bungalows, but we bargained for a good price and were happy to have all the amenities we wanted - except for hot water, which became pretty common until we got out of East Africa.

For us, Paje was the closest thing to paradise. The beach was beautiful with perfect white sand that extended as far as the eye could see. The water was an aqua marine and the light color lasted far out into the ocean - owing to the knee deep depth that went out several hundred meters. This is terrific if you want to stay fairly close to your towel, but don't want to be crowded - just walk out a bit further and you can get your own personal space for relaxing and cooling down.

Despite the natural beauty and warm sun, some of Zanzibar didn't feel quite right. Seeing young Masai tribesmen on the beach was at first fascinating, but after they approach you for the 50th time attempting to sell their bracelets, necklaces, and occasionally hash, they lose their appeal. I have to say, however, that watching them pick up four Scandinavian girls was quite a sight. They seemed to be together for the whole three days after that. Apparently, it's not uncommon for white girls to come down and find themselves an 'African boyfriend' for their trip. You can read about one famous example in the book The White Masai, by Corinne Hofmann.

Something else I struggled to understand was why, despite all of Tanzania & Zanzibar's natural gifts, were the people so devastatingly poor. On a broad scale, it is much more significant than anything I've ever come across. How could a place that won it's independence from it's British & Arab occupiers in 1961 still look like it came out of images from America in 1861?

From what I can tell, the answer lies in a combination of factors. First, the population started from a collection of extremely rural and uneducated tribes. This meant there was no strong city-center location for educated people to gather and develop the economic/political structure. In fact, there was no educated people AT ALL - my "Rough Guide to Tanzania" tells me that at the time there were just "12 doctors and 120 university graduates" in the country. I can't think of another instance where there was such a shocking lack of education in a country, even amongst the elite class.

They were easily swept away first by the "blame the foreigners" mentality, especially on Zanzibar where in one night in 1964 twelve thousand Arabs and Indians were killed by rioting locals. After that, the ideals of socialism and a collectivist concept called "Ujamaa" brought many people out of rural living and together into somewhat planned towns, but the forced lifestyle was poorly implemented and the typically free and independent people didn't adjust well - leaving the economy in absolute shambles.

Many years of strife and violence has gradually given way to a more democratic coalition approach on Tanzania. It appears to be making some progress, but I've never seen a place that seems so raw. Opportunity appears to be around the corner, but it makes me nervous when the World Health Organization has one of the most prominent buildings in Dar Es Salaam.

Tanzania needs absolutely everything a place could need in terms of development, but its strongest selling point is still very strong - it is a tourist jackpot. The magnificent beaches of Zanzibar combined with probably the best safari location in the world make it one of those rare places that can offer everything in one neat package. I did my first scuba dive off the Zanzibari coast and it took my breath away. Add in a climb of Kilimanjaro, which climbers don't need oxygen or more than basic experience to do it, despite being Africa's highest mountain, and in a 3 week holiday you can tick off several items from your bucket list.

This in itself should breed stability and growth as Western people come to accept they'll have to travel a bit further to find places that haven't already been trampled by the boots of a billion tourists. Plus, assuming long-haul flights remain reasonably priced, the air travel to Tanzania continues to improve.

Finally, I honestly think things in Stone Town may be beyond repair. But I'm optimistic about people's ability to improve their lives, and even if it's not the same center of trading between East Africa and the Middle East/India it was 200 years ago, I think it will eventually grow into a new and wonderful place to see. If the WHO can help them clear out the malaria, there will be absolutely no reason not to.