Day 23 Zanzibar to Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania)

21.01.2012

Jules writes:

We woke up to the sound of bikes outside our window. We had arranged the previous evening to hire two Vespa’s for the morning. So by 7:30 we were on the scooters and trying not to crash into the walls of the narrow streets.

We soon got the hang of it and headed out to join the traffic in the streets. We headed out of town, down towards the southern beaches. The island itself is quite big, and and took us about an 1 hr 20 min to get the the beach of Paje. Along the way we passed small subsistence farms, the likes of which can be found all the way through Africa, goats running along the edge of the streets, waving children and a surprising number of road blocks. We have not been stopped by the police once since we left, and on Zanzibar we were stopped twice. They seemed more curious than anything else, and quickly allowed us on our way.

By the time we arrived at the beach, we only had about 15 minutes before we needed to head back. IT is slow going on those scooters, and to the group I hear is going to try and do Cape to Cairo, on scooters, I wish you all the best, but think you are mad. The beach was stunning, the classic white sands stretching in either direction, disappearing into the turquoise waters. It was low tide, and the sand is very flat, so the sea itself was about 700 m from the beach, so we had to content ourselves with walking through the pools left behind, and inspecting the seaweed farms that are laid out all along the beach. Reluctantly, we headed back to the bikes, leaving behind yet another place that will have to be revisited in the future.

We arrived back with just enough time to catch our ferry, as it churned its way through the waters towards the mainland, one cannot help but watch the town fade into the haze and distance, trying to catch one last glimpse of the port, or the sultans palace. A really great stop-over.

When we got back, we drove around to get some oil for the bikes, and then settled down to do some maintenance, and change the oil and air filters. This occupied the rest of our afternoon, and although we managed to to all the changes that we needed to, there are still some issues that persist, such as the fuse in my headlight circuit blowing all the time, for no discernable reason, and some issues with attaching the bash-plate to the crash-bars. However, these are relatively minor issues, and we will sort them out in Kenya.

We finished off the evening with some delicious food and cold drinks (and cold showers. AGAIN! I think Tanzanians are hot-water atheists – they don’t believe in hot water)