Saturday, 22 September 2012

TANZANIA . TROPICAL ISLAND FROLICKING


Mood status: Bogan beach babe
Location: White sandy beaches of Zanzibar, Tanzania

THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY! We have finally landed in Zanzibar after 2 long days of driving, half a day out on the sea, and 3 weeks of anticipation. Zanzibar, for those who haven’t heard of it, is a tropical island famous for its flawlessly white beaches and the slave trade that took place here hundreds of years ago. I’m happy to report that for the first time in 20 days, we actually get to sleep in a bed.





Exploring Stonetown on our first day here entailed a historical tour through the narrow winding streets of the beautiful city, and then onto a spice tour to learn and sample the renown Tanzanian condiments. The tour guy, aka Spice Boy, had transformed us into creatures of the forest by the time we were ready to leave.




Cocktails were downed on the rooftop of an amazing bar that night, as were a few puffs of candy-flavoured tobacco from a shisha. It was a peaceful night with the best kind of small talk and reflection, and I had much welcomed time to really “smell the flowers”.

I took a look at myself. In my right hand: a beer. My left hand: a shisha pipe and a hideously large henna tattoo*. My bottom half: the world’s most comfortable McHammer pants made by the locals. My hair: a messy bun. My face: zero makeup. Everything that wasn’t me was exactly what I was at that very moment, and it was so liberating. 

Photo strategically cropped.

I can’t say much about what I’ve done since although 2 days have passed. The first day I literally sat at the beach bar for about 15 hours, enjoying the company of others, drinking cocktails and dominating people at games of pool (fail safe way to get free drinks). Every now and then I’d take a dip in the crystal clear water. And then I did the same the next day.


I’ve eaten so much the past 3 weeks which is completely the opposite of what I thought I would be doing here in Africa. Without a doubt, I’ll be coming back a whole lot bigger and a whole lot blacker.. booyah!


*Once you start you can’t stop. Had a lady add to my already massive tribal-looking tattoo today with some more delicate strokes. I wonder how this is going to go down when I go for interviews when I return!

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