Zanzibar 2
Trip Start
Jun 08, 2008
1
4
28
Trip End
Aug 15, 2008
Zanzibar,
Tanzania
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The electricity in Zanzibar has been out for about three weeks now. Actually I found out that it was out a few days before I came. By then it was too late to do anything about it. My understanding of what happened is that there was a power surge that fried the main cables between Zanzibar and the mainland. So the cables will have to be replaced, which, in Africa, takes months rather than hours or days. So the result is that most places are without electricity - except for those that can afford gasoline powered generators.
Hotels such as mine, for example, crank up their generators at about seven in the evening and turn them off at seven in the morning. The result is that during the heat of the day, there is no electricity to power cooling devices such as fans and air conditioners. At night it is cool enough to live without cooling devices, but electricity is necessary in order to power the lights. Anyway, I have learned to cope with not having electricity during the day and I do all of my battery charging at night.
What is more difficult, though, is that restaurants open only for brief times because they can't afford to run their generators all day when there might or might not be customers. So my eating schedule is strictly regimented to follow the brief opening times of the restaurants. Unfortunately, I'm usually hungry more often than they are open.
Today, as usual, I nearly got into arguments with people (these "papasi", or "ticks") who can't let me pass without offering me a taxi or a chance to buy something from their shops. Most of the time I ignore them but that gets them worked up. One guy told me "So, you come all the way here but you don't want to talk to the people." I didn't say anything, but what I should have said was "I don't mind talking to 'the people'. It's the ticks that I don't want to talk to." Another guy said "So, you must be dumb since you can't talk.", a clever play on the fact that in English, dumb can mean both unable to speak as well as stupid. He was looking for a reaction from me but I held my tongue. When will these people learn that most western tourists don't respond well to this sort of behavior? I don't buy things just because some poor guy needs money. If I did, then I would be one of those poor guys and I wouldn't have the money to get here. That's just the way the world works. If they want to sell me something, they have to offer something that I need. Food would be a good start. For example, there are oranges all around and they sell them by the piece. In Thailand, the people press them into freshly squeezed orange juice, which is a lot easier for a passerby to consume. Maybe I'll suggest that to them tomorrow.
On the subject of this comparison with Thailand (where I live, for those of you who didn't know): One thing that these two countries have in common is the general friendliness of the people. A big difference, though, is that while you almost never see a Thai NOT eating, you hardly ever see a Zanzibari eating! In Thailand, food is everywhere and people consume it everywhere and at all times. In Zanzibar, you really have to go looking for it - and even then it's not so easy to find. Obviously people must eat, but it doesn't seem to be as public as in Thailand.
During my walk around Stone Town this afternoon, I was wondering what it would look like inside of these ancient stone houses. In some countries, for example, they leave the façade as it is but the interior is done up nicely and is quite modern and comfortable. Just as I was thinking this, I got a greeting from a very plump, very black middle aged woman sitting in her home with the door wide open. I returned her greeting and kept walking, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. So I went back and asked her if I could take a look at the inside of her home. She proudly showed me the interior of her place - and now I know: It looked even worse than the exterior! It's amazing that people can live like that. On the other hand, I just got used to washing myself under the bathroom faucet, so like I said before, we humans seem to be able to adapt happily to whatever conditions we find ourselves in. But still, this was pretty bad. Kind of like living in a garage. A dark, damp garage. I wanted to take a picture but I didn't dare to ask if I could because I sensed that she would have known that I was taking the picture due to my shock at the poor condition of her home rather than at my amazement about how nice it was. So I just thanked her for the opportunity and went on my merry way.
But I couldn't help wondering: Why doesn't anybody fix anything up here? One could always blame it on a lack of money. But I don't think it's that simple. There seems to be a pervasive laziness and willingness to accept things as they are. This island has such enormous potential, but the locals can't seem to make anything of it. It's just not in their culture/nature to care about making things better. Now if things could get better while they sat around and watched them improving on their own, I suppose they might be willing to accept that. And even better would be if they could get paid to sit around watching things get better. But to actually get off their lazy butts and do a bit of work? Ha! Not here!
I later watched a foreign lady and her daughter being harassed by locals and the woman uttered a single phrase that got rid of the bothersome touts. So I asked the lady what she said that was so effective. "Nakaa hapa.", she replied, was the magic phrase. That is Swahili for "I live here." I'll have to try that one out tomorrow.
13 June
I have to admit that I am such a creature of habit: I wake up each morning at about six (usually starving) and go for a walk around town to pass the time until breakfast is served at my hotel at seven. During breakfast I chat with the new guests of the hotel. People rarely stay here for more than a day or two before heading off to the beaches. As beaches don't interest me, I just stay in town - and I'm the one constant at my hotel.
The hotel cook brings me my (yolkless) fried egg with two slices of white bread, which I promptly send back, indicating that I have my own tasty whole wheat bread, thank you very much. (This whole routine will fall apart in four days when she finally remembers not to bring the white bread but I ask for it anyway because my whole wheat bread has run out.)
As soon as I finish breakfast at 7:30 (still hungry), the big, black, crow like birds that have been hanging around while I was eating then pounce on the table to eat whatever I've left behind, which usually isn't much. (I just got a warning from the cook that the crows will also steal my eyeglasses - which I usually leave on the table while I am eating. From now on I'll wear them while I eat!)
When I leave my hotel, the guy at the reception offers (commission-generating) ways for me to spend my day. He doesn't like it one bit that I'm walking around without a local making money off of me. It just seems like such a waste to him. Anyway, walking is at least one thing that I'm still capable of doing on my own. And besides, if I were to walk with a guide, I'm sure he would want to walk me in the direction of shops belonging to his friends rather than to any place that might be of interest to me.
I then walk around until the internet cafe opens at nine, doing things from my "to do" list composed the previous evening. That's right: even when I'm on vacation I make up "to do" lists. It's my nature. Here, though, the items on my list are fairly uncomplicated. Things such as buy drinking water, buy soap, change money, send e-mails to Helmut and Tony, clip finger nails, etc.
At 9 I try to be the first one in the internet cafe so that I can choose my favorite computer one that actually works. At the internet shop I update my blog, check my e-mails and glance at my stock prices. (Damn - down again! Oh, well - maybe tomorrow will be better.)
From this time until about noon, I am free to wander through the back alleys of Stone Town, seeing if there is any stone that I've left unturned. Somehow the walk manages to be different every time.
By then it is lunch time, so I mosey on over to the Zanzibar Café for a Mexican Chicken Wrap with french fries and a salad. After that I do a bit more walking before heading back to the room for a nap out of the way of the afternoon sun. At around 5 p.m. I'll head over to the Africa House Hotel to watch the sun set, snapping a few pictures while waiting for the Amore Mio to open for dinner at around 7.
After dinner it's back to the room for a teeth brushing and shower (of sorts) before reading a bit and working on my blog. And finally, before going to sleep, I make up my "to do" list for the next day.
This all might seem like a pretty dull way to spend my days, and I suppose it would be except for one thing: I'm doing it on the exotic island of Zanzibar off the east coast of Africa! And even though the overall routine might look the same, it actually differs each day according to the different people I meet. So there's enough variety to keep it interesting, yet enough stability to prevent me from wandering around aimlessly.
On a different topic now, namely sounds. Every place has its sounds and their meanings. For example, in Zanzibar, the sound of a guy walking down the street jangling a handful of coins means that the peanut seller is approaching. It sounds very similar to the sound made in Bangkok by the conductors on the buses when they rapidly open and close their cylindrical ticket and coin holding containers. One is passing on the street below my hotel as I write this.
