A Zanzibari trip for Tanzania Gappers

COUNTRY: Tanzania
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Building, renovation & construction
WRITTEN BY: Sybilla Galvin

Jambo Rafikis!

The past few weeks have been an absolute high for the whole group. Last Friday morning we embarked on our long journey to Zanzibar. The day began at 4:45am to get a taxi to the bus station. The bus trip to Dar took a mere 8 hours, which we followed up with yet another taxi ride and a quick 1-hour ferry trip. From the moment we arrived in Zanzibar we were in love. We finally got to have some of the things we had been really craving since leaving home including bacon, burgers and mojitos alike. We stayed one night in Stone Town then retreated north to Nungui beach where our bungalow was situated right on the water. We had plenty of time to relax in the sun, haggle for beautiful Masai paintings and have cocktails on rooftop bars as the sun set right before us.

On Monday 8 of us chose to go scuba diving. Before reaching our first dive site the captain of the boat spotted a pod of dolphins and everyone on board jumped in with fins and masks to swim around with them! It truly was a magnificent site to see them at an arms length in the wild. We dived with turtles, octopi, stingrays and huge variety of fish, not to mention the colourful coral. Rozi, Lauren, Rory and myself were the only ones who stayed on for a second dive, of which we loved every minute. For Sarah's birthday we returned to Stone Town in the evening to go to our favourite restaurant. The next day was extremely sad as we said goodbye to the Zanzibar sun and boarded our 12-person plane back to Tanga (with Rory in the co-pilot seat).

On Thursday we farewelled our beloved Paryz and on Friday Eliphas returned with 3 new additions to the group- Matt from Newcastle, Calvin from Canada and Elise from Holland. Our group is constantly changing but it's amazing how at home we all still manage to feel with everyone staying here. Friday (being Lauren's birthday) was a very different day from our norm. Instead of working on our mud house we spent the morning at the mamas' house cooking chapatti and vichetti (delicious little doughnut type things), and the afternoon weaving reads- used for bags, mats, hats and the like with the mammas and curious villagers. For Lauren, we organised to have a dance crew from a nearby village come and entertain us for the evening. Their performance varied from traditional Tanzanian dances, to hip-hop and an unusual Halloween style act at the end (too bizarre to explain…)

Work on the mud house is coming to a close for all of us planning to climb Kilimanjaro this Tuesday (eek!). The six staying behind will- fingers crossed- finish the house while we are on hiking, then meet us in Moshi before heading to Kenya for our last leg of the trip. As I am writing this it is starting to sink in that my stay here in Camp Tanzania is coming to a quick end. I am going to miss the local people and this place an unbelievable amount.

Next time you hear from us we will have conquered the tallest freestanding mountain in the world! Wish us luck!

Kwaheri!

Xo Sybilla