Our trip to Zanzibar (Unguja in Kiswahili) began at 6:30 Friday morning when our bus arrived to pick us up for the two hour (rush hour traffic) drive to the city center to get our Azam ferry to Zanzibar. We arrived a little early and so had time to run to the nearest bank/ATM and stock up on Tanzania Shillings. There was some free food and drink in the waiting area but we passed; instead we bought more roasted cashews. The trip took about two hours and the boat moves at quite a clip making for the bumpy ride, especially on the way back we are told. Inside we were greeted with a version of MTV and then a movie. We had nice views of Dar on the way out and then mostly only ocean. Things became more interesting once we came in view of land again – the island of Zanzibar.
There were a couple hundred people traveling with us and of course lots of baggage, if not boxes of goods - no doubt for sale. Our fellow travelers were a combination of Tanzanians and tourists, though these days many tourists fly straight to Zanzibar from other high end Tanzanian sites and skip Dar altogether. Sitting right across the aisle from me was a family of five Maasai in their purple, red and blue shukas, arm and leg bangles, elaborate earrings and white plastic or tire sandals. I so wanted to take a picture, but couldn’t without asking and was too embarrassed to ask. Most of the Maasai we see are tall and skinny and stand very straight. The boys and men carry sticks and often have knives – and cell phones - dangling from belts around their waists. One of them today had a Michael Jackson belt and a Liverpool wristband. As we disembarked, in the throng of many, I did manage to surreptitiously snap a picture.
There were a couple hundred people traveling with us and of course lots of baggage, if not boxes of goods - no doubt for sale. Our fellow travelers were a combination of Tanzanians and tourists, though these days many tourists fly straight to Zanzibar from other high end Tanzanian sites and skip Dar altogether. Sitting right across the aisle from me was a family of five Maasai in their purple, red and blue shukas, arm and leg bangles, elaborate earrings and white plastic or tire sandals. I so wanted to take a picture, but couldn’t without asking and was too embarrassed to ask. Most of the Maasai we see are tall and skinny and stand very straight. The boys and men carry sticks and often have knives – and cell phones - dangling from belts around their waists. One of them today had a Michael Jackson belt and a Liverpool wristband. As we disembarked, in the throng of many, I did manage to surreptitiously snap a picture.
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