Jared and Dianne

Arusha was close to Moshi so without any planning we walked to the short distance bus station. We found a bus in no time and 2 hours later we arrived in dusty Arusha. Although close in proximity the two towns are world apart in atmosphere. Because Arusha is the base of most Tanzanian safari operators a lot of foreign cash passes through it and everyone wants a piece. It was partly due to this that we chose a campsite a few k from town.

We had a preference to get out of Arusha ASAP so we looked feverously for a tour leaving the next day. We had the dilemma that we wanted a customized trip. Unlike the standard circuit safaris we wanted to be dropped off at the western end of the Serengeti so that we were close to Rwanda. To our surprise we were informed that this was an uncommon request. I was skeptical though when the next guy that walked through the door asked for exactly the same thing. We teamed up with this guy, Robert, in order to get a better deal. We went to most major operators in town and just when we were about to give up and bypass the parks altogether we got an offer for $112.50 per day all inclusive which allowed for our itinerary. It was too hard to come to Tanzania and not go to the Northern Parks so we accepted.

Tired off touts and dusty streets we escaped to our campsite. That night the rain came down heavy. From inside the tent it sounded like someone was pouring 44-gallon drums of water over us. The next morning we gave our tent the tick of approval, as we didn’t take on a single drop. Other campers weren’t so lucky.

We were picked up by the tour operator and taken to the office where we paid the remainder of our fees. There we were reunited with Robert and also introduced to Miguel from America. Despite being in the car by 7 we didn’t leave Arusha until nearly midday.

The first destination was Lake Manyara. It’s only a couple hours from Arusha and a it's a small park so half a day was ample. Before starting the safari we stopped in at the campsite to drop off the luggage and have lunch. The location was perfect. Perched atop a steep hill it overlooked the national park providing a stunning vista. Lunch was also excellent and no one could remember the last time they'd eaten this well.

It wasn't long before we were inside the park instead of looking down on it. The terrain was actually a little bit similar to that of Selous. We hadn't been inside the park for more than a few minutes and had already seen several primate species. On our way to the hippo pool we saw numerous elephants and giraffes only metres from the car. The ever present hippos were wallowing in the lake whilst buffaloes and a handful of wildebeest were eating grass on the flood plains. The driver thought he saw a cheetah but it was far from the car so we couldn't be sure. For the remainder of the drive we didn't see any new animals but we saw some impressively sized tuskers on the resident elephants and even more giraffes as well as some perculiar species of birds.

Dinner was a hearty meal with generous sized servings. It had been a fantastic day and considering that Lake Manyara is called the warm up park we tried to imagine what we would see in Ngorogoro.

Di and I got up early and were ready by the time we had arranged the night before, but we were the only ones. While we were waiting for the others to get ready a taxi rocked up, we had a new recruit, a Japanese guy named Kei.

The drive to Ngorogoro was short but the wait for the entrance fees was long. In hindsight I think the guide was stalling. As with the previous day we dropped off our gear at the campsite and drove down into the caldera. It was something like 10 o'clock when we reached the crater floor.

Considering the descriptions we had heard the place seemed void of life. There were a few antelopes and a scattering of ostriches but not much else at first. Not that we expected lions on every turn but on other safari days there was always an abundance of antelope. Dave, our driver, stopped the car and snatched up the binoculars. He handed them over and pointed to the horizon, "rhinoceros". We passed them around so we could all get a close look but even with the magnification it looked like nothing more than a blob with horns. I was happy to have seen it but I hoped that we would get closer later in the day. There were more hippos in the lake who's waters looked almost pink from the flamingos that stood in it to feast on the algae.

We drove for a few more minutes and spotted a line up of cars, we knew there must have been a big cat in the grass near by. When we drove up we saw a lion, it was moving very slowly towards a pack of wildebeest but due to the heat it was pretty apathetic about the whole thing. We vowed to return later to check on her progress. We continued on our way and stopped to scope out two distant figures laying against a rock. With the assistance of Dave's binoculars we could see two cheetahs as clear as day. After marveling at their spotted coats and sleek bodies we drove to the lunch spot.

A bit like the jolly swagman we ate under the shade of a tree on the edge of a billabong. We were only metres from hippos in the water and I made sure I knew exactly where the car was. In fact most of the time I stayed in the car watching the courageous little birds which flew inside to make an attempt on my sandwich.

After lunch we were returning to see if the rhino was closer to the road when Dave saw another car that was bogged. The rhino was closer but by the time we stopped it had walked away. Although we didn't want to we knew we needed to help the other car. Dave, to the disbelief of all the passengers, drove straight up behind the bogged car and nearly got us stuck. We barely won the battle of mud vs. machine and parked back on solid ground.

The second assault was undertaken on foot. We trudged through knee deep mud for about 100m. The driver of the other 4WD had driven straight into a huge hole and his passengers looked none too happy. They had one maxtrack knock off and about 8 able bodies to try and get it out. It took 20 long minutes of pushing and pulling to get them free. By the end we were covered in mud, none more than Kei who nearly face planted straight into the hole as the car drove out. Robert and Miguel were a bit pissed off that the other passengers barely managed a thank you but it hadn't even entered my thoughts. I was just frustrated that the day was coming to an end and we had spent a good slab of the afternoon liberating a clearly incompetent driver.

With haste we drove back to check on the lion. It was not much closer to it's prey than when we left it. To finish off we made a long loop back to the exit gates via the cheetahs. We arrived at the gates at 6:10pm, 10 minutes after the closing time. The guard was clearly looking for a bribe in return for our release but we were not forthcoming. To his disappointment instead of getting worked up we started joking around. In time he produced his keys with a friendly flash of teeth and let us out.

The dinner portions were a bit small that night and I noted that the car that brought Kei had brought no food, better get used to being hungry. The water had been hot but due to the number of people who had beaten us back to camp I took what was probably the coldest shower of my life. Whilst the others went to bed I stayed up with Robert swapping swigs of a local drink called Konyagi. When it came time for bed I couldn't believe the number of zebras wandering around the tents. I tried to take some photos but the flash made them panic, undoubtedly waking up fellow campers.

In the morning Robert woke up complaining about a terrible sleep. He said the ferocity with which the zebras ripped the grass and their incessant farting had kept him up all night. When we were packing up the tents we found out why. Inexplicably there were mounds of zebra crap all around Roberts tent and even some on it whilst there were only a scatterings around the rest of the area.

We didn't expect to see much of interest in the morning so the roof of the car was closed. We were wrong however as we saw a cheetah only 5 minutes after leaving the campsite. Then there were the elephants, gazelles and giraffes. Signs suggested it was going to be a good day.

As we passed from the Ngorogoro Reserve to the Serengeti National Park the environment changed rapidly. Whilst Ngorogoro was green and hilly Serengeti was flat savanna. It was no where near as pretty but it did make the animals easy to see. In contrast to reports from cars leaving the Serengeti there was plenty of wildlife including hyenas, antelope, wildebeest and buffalo.

As is common in Tanzania the gates to the park were actually set well inside the boundaries so it was late morning when we finally reached them. Dave told us that we could hang around or go for a walk to the top of the nearby hill. We chose the latter but the howling winds sent us back down pretty quickly. We were given a dodgey lunch and when we asked to get going Dave told us due to time restrictions in the park we had to wait a bit longer. A bit longer wound up being about two hours. The quality of the expedition was going down hill.

When we did finally get going it was like we had crossed an invisible line. The animals dried up. We barely saw a single animal for over an hour. Although when we did they were two new mammals for our viewing pleasure. Topis and Hartebeests, two larger varieties of antelopes. As per usual we drove straight for the campsite. Robert was surprised that it was unfenced. I thought his concern was a little over the top. None of the other campsites had been fenced and despite the fact that we were in the middle of the Serengeti surely the animals would stay away from a bustling campsite.

In the afternoon we took a game drive. We saw a few cars parked beside a tree and drove over to investigate. Laying in the branches was a leopard and a dead impala which had been wedged firmly between a fork in the branches to stop it falling. The leopard showed signs of exhaustion and barely raised its head. It was by far the most striking animal we had seen.

When we drank our fill we moved on through the ghost park. It was eerily deserted. We had been lucky enough to arrive at the time of the wildebeest migration but been unlucky enough that the migration north was late. After traversing vacant roads for a while I spotted a dik-dik. Its distinguishing feature is its stature. Standing at around 20cm it is the smallest antelope in the world. Despite being far from the big 5 I had been very keen on seeing one. We also saw the familiar herds of buffaloes although these were in unprecedented numbers. I had to wonder how these bovine creatures could survive in such a dry climate when they numbered in the hundreds.

There was another period of nothing, followed by a false cheetah sighting. A comment from Robert made me take the time to survey our surroundings in detail. The trees were striped bare from the migration south but the grass, although brown and dry was plentiful. The rains were late so the billabongs and creeks were mostly empty. The ground was mostly flat and open but occasionally there were rocky outcrops which stood like sentries over the plains.

We were starting to lose hope of seeing any more carnivores when David doubled back to see what another car was looking at. In the grass lay two lionesses. Even though they were only 10 metres from the car it took me minutes to see them. I would be fodder to predators if I lived in the wild. Occasionally they got up and moved around which offered us a chance to ooh and aah at their size. Once they had settled back down they were almost lost from view. It was getting late and we did one sweep past the hippo pool on the way to camp. We were only a hundred metres from base when David started looking for a lion. We drove the road twice before I finally saw it. It lay under a tree only 1 metre from the road but more alarmingly only 100m from our camp. Suddenly Roberts fear of being eaten welled inside me. We drove back to camp and we set up our tent with as many others between us and the lion. Whilst the number of animals seen had been low for the day I couldn't complain, after all the leopard was probably the highlight of the safari.

For all the days preceding day 4 we had gotten away late with no apology from the crew. We were not unhappy though because that's the African way. However on day 4 Dave got up early, hurried us along at breakfast and we were off around 7. Then we drove at excessively high speeds past what was probably the densest wildlife we had seen. Our fears were confirmed. They planned to drop us off and double back across the park and be out before noon, hence paying for only 1 days park fees. So we were unceremoniously booted from the car by 9, handed the worst lunch to date (the sandwich had only margarine in it and consisted of three half pieces of stale bread) and left in a small town. We had payed $112 US per day and were justifiably pissed off. Despite our own treatment I felt worse for Miguel who still had 3 days to go. If the quality of the safari kept following the current gradient things weren't looking good.

We caught a bus to Mwanza where Robert shouted us a cab into the town centre. Upon approach Mwanza was very beautiful. Its a sprawling city, built up on a group of hills which line the shore's of lake Victoria. The houses are engulfed by trees and hundreds of impressively sized boulders which dot the entire region. Except for the boulders it reminded me a lot of Mount Dandenong in Victoria. The town centre is not so appealing. The streets are dusty and the stream that runs through it putrid.

When Di and I set out to determine if a day in Mwanza was warranted our answer was spoon fed to us. Whilst trying to orientate ourselves Di noted than someone had brushed unnecessarily against her bag. Minutes later when we were walking down the street I detected that there were people following us. I don't know why but it just felt strange. So we stopped and put our backs to a wall which was set a few metres from the street. Our taggers stopped just a bit further on. Then Di noticed the guy who had brushed past her earlier was standing across the street. The clincher came when one of them came up to straighten a sign that stood right next to us, real subtle! We put our day packs on our front and fastened a small zip on Di's bag where they had attempted to get in. We turned back for a restaurant we had seen earlier to grab a drink and reassess everything. On the way a group of a dozen or so locals closed in on us. We could see them coming from miles away. I grabbed two of them and threw them to the side. I ran at another and he and his colleagues put their hands up. Di caught the hand of the smallest one inside her pocket. There was less than a dollar in there but on principle he couldn't have it. I shook my hand threateningly at the man we assumed earlier to be the leader, he acknowledged me and we walked away. Clearly they operated on the sly and physical violence was avoided at all costs.

A little shaken we continued for the restaurant and relaxed over a cold drink. We tried to orientate ourselves but there wasn't enough English around to find out where we were exactly. When we ventured back into the streets we saw the police station. We went in and asked for some assistance in locating a specific bus ticket office. The man in charge offered us one of his younger associates to walk us to the door. On the street I saw the head honcho of the thieves double back quick smart. He probably thought we were looking for him. The bus company had no buses running but at least we were on the map now and could find our own way around. In the end we we found a cluster of ticket offices but no one had any buses leaving to the Rwandan border on the Sunday. Instead of sticking around in Mwanza we decided to try a more indirect route to Rusumu and bought two tickets to Nyankanazi. From there we were in the hands of fate.

We weren't sure what the money situation was like in Rwanda so we decided to withdraw plenty of money to get us through. The machine was broken when we got there but after a 30 minute wait someone came to fix it. To my surprise the ATMs are running windows. I didn't make me feel very safe. Then due to the delay the rest of our plan fell apart. It was late and the forexes were closed. Add to that the fact that we were carrying a substantial amount of money through a town were we had already been the victims of an attempted mugging. With all this in mind we stashed the money back in the hotel.

The oppressive heat called for a quenching beer. We found a local bar and settled down. The eager manager came over and started talking to us. During the process Robert walked by and we called him over for a few beverages. When we told him about the attempted mugging the manager pricked up his ears. He wanted to know if we could identify the men. He then went on to explain how due to a consistent lack of evidence the same guys were continually getting away with theft. Due to frustration the locals had turned to vigilantly punishments like severe beatings. Desperate not to get involved in something so serious I tried to change the subject but Robert pointed out the flaws of vigilantly justice to the manager, not that it would change anything.

After 2 or 3 stouts our stomaches were grumbling. So we went out for dinner. We had a few more beers and some pizza. That night we said our final farewell to Robert as we trundled off to bed.

We boarded the bus to Moshi at 5:30am and were pleasantly surprised when we departed on time. We were even more impressed with the quality of the bus. When we bought the tickets we had opted for the cheapest ticket which meant no toilet and no a/c but besides this the bus was just like home; comfy seats and plenty of leg space. The road was also good and we were in Moshi before we knew it.

We didn’t really have much planned for Moshi so after finding a hotel we just wandered the streets to check out the town. It was a very pleasant feeling city, everything ran at a snails pace and the people were friendly. That night we got a call from the German couple we had met in Zanzibar. They asked if we would like to come out and join them for dinner at the hospital residences. We gratefully accepted and caught a dulla dulla to KCMC. When we arrived the power was out so we were introduced to their numerous house mates by candlelight.

After briefly glancing over their photos from Zanzibar we were off again to another house. We were being hosted by a couple of American guys who had impressively cooked for around 15 people without any power. Just as we sat down to eat the lights sparked to life. The food was delicious and I was kept amused all night by funny anecdotes from around the world, at times I was in stitches. I could have stayed all night but I was getting a little bit pissy and it was getting late. Alex, one of our hosts, called us a taxi and the Germans walked us to the gate.

Due to my slightly intoxicated state I fell asleep as soon as we got back but I awoke even more suddenly. From somewhere outside our window came the most blood-curdling scream I have ever heard. I looked over at Di; she had heard it too. Then came the sound of running and glass breaking, followed by the same scream. I was peering through the curtains but the wall just outside the window blocked my view. The owner of the scream had started banging on the gate and some hotel staff had answered it. The distress in her voice as she called out “polisi, polisi” was unmistakable. It took them ten minutes to even begin calming her. Whatever had happened I would hazard a guess that she had just escaped death or rape by the narrowest of margins. Somewhere down the track after the voices had faded we fell asleep again.

When we woke I could still hear the scream ringing in my ears. In fact it was never far from my mind all day. I tried to find out from the reception staff if she was ok but they knew nothing about it.

At one point in time we had considered climbing Mt Kilimanjaro but we were still wearing the side affects of the high altitude in Ethiopia. Instead we opted to just visit the park gates. We chose some gates that were reasonably close to town but infrequently used. We caught the right dulla dulla to the wrong spot. We got off 10km too early and found ourselves at a junction with a very minor road. All we really wanted to do was get a good view of Kili so we followed the random road towards the mountain. It passed straight through dense banana plantations and was void of any buildings except for two out of place hair salons. We passed only a few locals and two white people on the walk. I can quote them as saying “what a strange sight”, because it really was. At the end of the road we came to a small village where the local primary school kids ran to the road to greet us. After saying hello we looked for a clearing, we found it but Kili was so covered in cloud we saw virtually nothing, in fact the view from Moshi was significantly better. There was a well signposted rest house 4km from where we were so we made tracks for it. When we got there we offered a seat or a room but they had no food or drink. The grounds were beautiful but the place was deserted. We turned back for the main road stopping at a local bar for some ice-cold softies. The rest of the day back in Moshi was spent relaxing in the laid back atmosphere of the town.

In typical fashion the 4WD met us half an hour after the agreed time. When it did show up an unknown passenger needed to do some shopping before we left. As it turned out we needed to change our US for some newer bills so it wasn't really a problem.

The drive south started on a road under construction but once we passed the workmen we cruised along. Around an hour later we stopped for lunch. According to the map in the L.P. we were almost halfway. I was starting to get false hopes but I was brought crashing back down to earth when we hit the dirt and saw the signs.

Overall the trip was still pretty quick thanks to the 4WD. Our destination was Hippo Camp and we arrived mid afternoon. We dropped our bags off and were almost immediately directed into a boat. Without wasting time we cast off. The driver traced the edges of the river pointing out all sorts of birds along the way. Whilst birds are not really my thing I was particularly taken by the bee eaters. They're a brightly coloured bird with long slender tails which wave along behind them as they fly. We were also shown several species of monkeys, many of which had captivatingly playful babies amongst them. Above all though the hippos stole the show. We got so close to some large pods of them that I was waiting for the boat to be torn apart from below. Thankfully the captain kept a careful eye on any would be aggressors. I had hoped that we might see some large mammals drinking from the river but I was told that I would need to wait for tomorrow.

That night the hippos grunted and carried on until the wee hours. It was so loud and close that Laura, the other tourist on the trip, said that she couldn't sleep. With or without sleep I was wide awake with excitement in the morning. I was going on a real safari. As Tanzanians are very opposed to the idea of getting up early we didn't really get away until the sun had fully surfaced.

We had a long wait at the park gates but I was kept occupied by the antelopes in the distance. When bureaucracy time was over we were underway. Within 100m we had stopped to observe some large groups of impala. I was still not ready to go when we pulled away but I was soon to find out they were a dime a dozen. I am not sure how I didn't see it but the next time we stopped we were less than 10m from a giraffe. When I eventually let my eyes wander from the beautiful yet gangley looking individual I realised there were even more of them. Each watching us as intently as we were watching them. They are such a unique animal that it's impossible not to marvel. Their camouflage is mesmerising and their figure is like nothing else. With the promise of more giraffes we were torn away. Thankfully our driver knew where to go because there were so many roads I would have got lost. As we navigated the well worn tracks we saw many birds which our driver identified and gave us a background on. I spotted a bovine animal in the distance and pointed it out, apparently it was a wildebeest. I was wondering why we weren't going to check it out when we pulled over, our guide had found something even better; a lioness. She was sitting under the shade of a tree to escape the already beating sun. Clearly unphased by our presence she just sat and panted. As we were about to leave she put on a show, eating the grass near her head. Not exactly the action-packed take down I had hoped for but we did see a lion catch its food. After watching the lion feed it was our turn, we drove about a k from the lion and to my surprise the driver got out. Nervously we followed his lead. We ate outside the vehicle but I was ever vigilant and never too far from the car. After all I could almost see where the lion was. After lunch we came to a sparsely treed area where a huge pack of up to 30 wild dogs were congregated. Whilst not exactly leaping around they were more active than the lion. Several of the dogs made tracks from one tree to another, greeted the dogs there and continued on to another group. It was almost emotional for me to see such a large group of this seriously endangered animal. They had been the top of my list of things to see in Tanzania and Di's faced beamed back at me to show she knew just how I felt.

Things were going well. The only other things we really wanted to see for the day were elephants and leopards. The driver took us to a forest where the leopards are almost guaranteed to be and on the way we spotted some fighting giraffes and a herd of elephants in the distance, although binoculars were required to make out their features. We were slightly disappointed when we couldn't see any leopards but you can't have it all. We were around 100km from camp and we had to start heading back. The tempo was increased and I figured that the safari was all but over. We watched the ever present antelopes and giraffes whizz by on our way back to the gate. When we were only a few kilometers from the park entrance we stopped to take some photos of a large vulture perched atop a dead tree. When we drove around to get a better angle (you don't have to stay on the roads in Selous) the driver spotted a mammal behind some bushes; another lion. Forgetting about the vulture we drove around to get a better glimpse of it, just as we had a clear view we saw some lion cubs scamper off through the grass in the distance. One lion had turned into four, it was a whole pride. There was even a dead wildebeest to prove that they were real. The lions were all within 10m of the car. One of them was a little distressed at our presence and approached the vehicle. The driver backed off and I thought he was concerned about our safety but he explained that if we gave them a little distance the cubs would return. Sure enough after spending 15 minutes in the company of wild lions the cubs sheepishly returned. Clearly in a playful mood the cubs clambered all over the grown adults and greeted each one in turn. In all we watched 4 lionesses and 6 cubs playing around under the shade of the tree. It was more than you could dream of, especially because there was not another car in sight. We were running out of time as the park was nearing closure and the sky was darkening. Just 500m from the park gate a lone elephant stood as if placed there just to top everything off.

We returned to Hippo Camp and watched the sun go down from the manicured lawns which fronted straight onto the mighty Rufiji river. We cooked student food for dinner and had a cooling shower. Bedtime was nice and early because the next morning was too.

We arose before the sun because we needed to be at the gate as the sun came up. We were going on a walking safari and we knew it was going to be hot. We parked the car at the park gates and our driver went to find the armed ranger; he was in the shower, even after we had stopped by yesterday to remind him what time he would be there.

There are no specific walking paths so it was up to the rangers discretion where we walked. For the first part he led us along the grass airstrip that ran alongside the road. There were many giraffes and Impala grazing its pastures. It was particularly interesting to see how differently they perceived our presence compared to when we were inside the vehicle. They keep a constant eye on our group and kept no less than a 50m gap between us. I had been skeptical about the walking safari but the start was good. However afterwards things got a little boring, the animals were very few and far away. I was kept interested by the footprints on the ground, stopping every now and then to ask "what made this". At least I didn't need to ask about the elephant's. The girls were starting to complain about the heat so we returned having spent at most 2 hours in the park.

We were driven back to camp to have breakfast and pack up. Everything was packed into the car and we drove back to Dar. We stayed in the same hotel yet again. Before bed we booked our tickets to Arusha for the following day.

When I first woke we had already docked in Dar. The people were funneling out the door but I was tired and decided to go back to sleep anyway. I am not sure how long passed but some staff came and woke us again. This time we did get up and we found the ferry deserted. The sun had just breached the sky, so by the security of daylight we returned to our old roost.

There were a few museums in Dar I felt obliged to scope out but we were too lethargic. So all that was left to do was organise our Selous trip. At first this meant getting a bus ticket and organising a transfer at the other side. Someone overheard us planning and suggested that we could get on a cheap organised tour. Skeptical, I agreed to meet with a tour guide at our hotel. Originally he wanted $170 each per day but by midday we had him down to $90 on the condition that we supplied our own tent and food. With this price negotiated we confirmed a three day itinerary.

The afternoon was an afternoon that will fade into history. Primarily we armed ourselves with USD and checked our budget. Happy that we were on track despite the unexpected airfares we shouted ourselves a nice lunch and I updated the blog. All in all a forgettable day.

We were still not ready to start setting the alarm again so we woke a little late. We enjoyed another benefit of Tanzania, a free, simple breakfast and checked out. We wanted a cheap ticket to Zanzibar so we chose to take the slow ferry. At $20 US per person it was half the rate of the fast ferry but still ten times what locals paid. The ferry was not leaving for a couple of hours so we delusionally tried to organise our tickets south before we boarded. We didn't even make it to the bus station before turning back.

The ushers directed us to the VIP room when we embarked onto the ship but we had no intentions of spending the next four hours inside so we made our way to the top deck. The rocking motion of the boat became nauseating towards the halfway point so Di and I fell asleep on the floor. Probably not a hygienic option but it did pass the time.

We were prepared for the tout onslaught we encountered when we passed through the gates and they were actually quite easy to shrug off. Although Di started talking to a guy as we turned our backs on the terminal. I am not convinced he wasn't a tout but Di thought he was just a helpful local. Either way he was getting off the ferry himself and said he could show us a cheap room. The guest house he took us to was nice and reasonably cheap. it included a fridge which was very tempting as I had a strong desire to make jelly but we passed it up. He led us to a second place which was a bit dingy but at 20000 it was a good option. The manager was a fat man who could rarely be bothered taking his ass from the seat but he was uber friendly and treated us well.

The hotel was in stone town; the old part of Zanzibar town, a completely entrancing place and UNESCO protected. It is a mess of narrow alleyways and three or more storied buildings, each with a story to tell I'm sure. Di and I had no idea where we were and our map was useless. We found our way to the main road and walked around for a bit looking for food. The street vendors weren't out yet so we reimmersed ourselves into the Stone Town maze. We wandered for a bit and found the more touristy street food area. They were just setting up and we grabbed a snack, vouching to return later for a full meal.

When we returned the alley had completely changed, it was bustling with stalls; mostly selling seafood but a few sold brochettes and a local take on the pizza. The Indian influence of old was seen in the tandoori seasonings and naan, the Arabic was also visible in the falafel and grills and the western in the chips, this was a true melting pot of cultures. Swahili through food.

Again the warnings had been to stay from the streets at night but as Di said: "we are not going to lock ourselves in the room all night" and everything seemed quite safe. Despite having walked the same roads previously we still managed to get a little lost.

The next day was spent just wandering around stone town. Exploring every nook and cranny and at Di's request going into every arts and crafts store. We had expensive drinks from hotel balconies and browsed the paperbacks on the second hand book stands. We returned to the street vendors for dinner to make up for the horrible breakfast of the morning. Most breakfast and snack food in Tanzania is preprepared and sits in open cabinets we tried it for breakfast, never again.

As our third day in Zanzibar dawned the sun beat us up. By the time we were moving the streets were alive with energetic kids running a muck. We made our way to the dala dala station and found the bus to Bweju. Our bags were thrown on the roof and we took a seat on one of the benches which lined three sides of the tray. The driver did laps of the market despite the fact that conditions were already reaching cramped status. The outer part of Zanzibar Town was clearly a lot poorer than stone town. The streets were filthy and many houses in disarray, how easy it is for tourists to avoid the reality of the real world, even in Africa.

The road to Paje was sealed the whole way so despite the numerous stops en route we made good time. We even managed to spot a few red colobus monkeys when we passed through the national park. We jumped out at the Paje intersection and without trying to orientate ourselves we pointed our feet to the beach. We passed through the final row of palm trees and were near blinded by the sun. Well rather the reflection of the sun from the bleached white sand. We had both broken our glasses in our day packs over the past week and I would have accepted a cane if it had been passed to me. As our eyes adjusted we looked around through squinted eyes. The place looked dead. There were many mansion type establishments around and even a few restaurants but not a soul to be seen and we could have spotted a local from a mile away against this backdrop. We strayed from the beach until we found a guy maintaining the grounds of what we hoped was accommodation. He explained that all of the buildings in the area were privately owned. He dropped what he was doing and pointed us towards some cheap accommodation. With nearly 20kg each we trudged along the soft sand praying for a sign that read seven seas. A man met us on the beach he had been forewarned of our presence and had come to greet us. When we arrived we realised that we were the only ones there.

The climate was hot & humid so a swim topped the list of things to do. The man who greeted us earlier warned that enenimies were a problem at the moment and we had to wear shoes. The tide was a way out and we passed up on a swim until it came in. I was lost, we were likely to be here for a few days and I had nothing to do. I've never been a beach sitter, maybe because the sun burns my pastey white skin too easily or just because I find it boring. If I couldn't swim or surf then I didn't know what to do. We made contact with a guy who organised dolphin trips and commenced plans for an expedition the following day, we had a swim but the beach was so shallow that had to wade out 100m before our feet left the seabed, the water was too hot and the seaweed bountiful, I think I am just so picky after being indulged with Australian beaches my whole life. We returned to dry sand and I surprised myself at how easily I slipped into the reading, drinking, eating and nothing else mode. This is just what we did for the rest of the day.

The next morning we were fed by the manager before being picked up for the dolphin trip. The launching point was an hour away so we used the time to acquaint ourselves with the German couple we were paired up with. There names were Linda and Florian. They were working as interns in Arusha and had taken a week off. Di and I laughed at their constant playful bickering the whole way to the boat. As the boat took off I adjusted the snorkel gear we had been given earlier and noticed my rapid heartbeat. I thought it was excitement but I think I was also a little nervous, who knew a fully grown man could be concerned about dolphins. We got bad news on the journey out. A returning boat had seen only one dolphin the whole time. In advance we consoled each other with typical comments like "well they are wild animals" etc. We got to what was not so obviously the spot for dolphins and the motor reduced to an idle. After a short period the driver spotted a couple and we moved to intercept their path. The driver told us to jump but as soon as we hit the water the dolphins dived. Other budding dolphin swimmers started to appear from no where and by the time we were back in the boat we were surrounded. The dolphins resurfaced not much later and I jumped out way too early. The same sequence of events occurred another 1 or 2 times and we were belatedly starting to feel bad for the dolphins. It appeared that they didn't want to swim with us. So we used a less aggressive tact. Instead of using the boat to track them we followed their shadowy outlines from in the water until they resurfaced. It was tiring but rewarding. This times when the they came up for air they swam circles around us and called audibly. Of course the pack of boats soon arrived and they dove again. For the next hour we were always the first group to greet these amazing creatures and they started hanging around for longer and longer. Despite the dolphins becoming relaxed around us there were just too many groups in the water and we chose to go for a snorkel. The coral was mostly dead and the fish were not super impressive so before 30 minutes had passed we were back in the boat and nearing shore.

Lunch was provided with the package so we chowed down on a decent lunch and sat around chatting for a while. After our tummies had settled we spread ourselves across the abundance of seas in the mini-van and were driven back to Bwejuu. We dropped the Germans off first and they had been raving about their hotel so we took the opportunity to check it out while we were there. The place was fittingly called Robinson's. Linda and Florian's room was a charming open fronted, luxury style tree house. We vowed to catch up later and the mini van dropped us back to the 7 seas. We tried a swim again but the water was far too hot as previously discovered so we had to settle for beers and books, doing it tough. That night we took pity on our hotel owner who had obviously been a little desperate for some turn over and ordered our dinner through him, the portions were a bit meager but it was worth it to see his business stay afloat for another day.

The next morning Linda and Florian messaged us to see if we wanted lunch. We were unsure of the ferry times so we made it an early appointment. We gave the water one last try and it was beautiful. The morning tide brought with it the cool waters of the night and we enjoyed a long swim.

We had checked out earlier so all we had to do was saddle up and ship out. In similar fashion to our arrival we struggled along the beach, overburdened with our bulging packs. We met the Germans half way and had lunch. The meal, unsurprisingly, took nearly 2 hours to be served. Fortunately we had discovered the existence of a night ferry back to Dar. It was the perfect option for us as it saved on a nights accommodation and gave us the rest of the day in Zanzibar.

With nothing more holding us in Bwejuu or Paje we walked to the main road. Within minutes we had flagged down a dulla dulla. The air rushing through the tray of the vehicle brought a refreshing change from the humid conditions. In fact by the end of the drive the humidity had reached 100%, it was raining cats and dogs. Di and I wondered if the wet season had started.

The rain stopped almost as quickly as it had started but the streets were still left channeling the water for hours. Unhappy with the idea of lugging our bags for the remainder of the afternoon we went straight to our old hotel. The friendly manager was still there and after we had told him we didn't want a room, without even asking he offered that we could leave our bags in his office.

We parted the sea of touts between us and the ferry ticket offices and made our way inside the Flying Horse Establishment. We picked up two overnight tickets and got away from the dock as soon as possible. We wasted the remaining sunlight hours through aimless wandering. When night struck we were already waiting for the vendors to arrive. We had some farewell Zanzibar pizzas and I tried lobster for the first time, very overrated. The town was under a blanket of darkness thanks to the thick clouds overhead and the plaguing blackouts. Yet with the confidence of a local we wound through the streets directly to the Pearl Guest House. We thanked the owner and collected our bags. On our way to the pier we passed through the more authentic local street food haven and I suddenly wished I had come here at least once.

We boarded the ship with plenty of time to spare. We were shown to our mattresses and the the t.v. was turned on. The show was a dodgey Swahili soapy so we ignored its muted presence. Some Masai businessmen started up a conversation which lasted until we bid them goodnight.