I arrived in Tanzania with low expectations. Eh, it’s just dusty Africa, I thought, but it turned out to be so very far from the truth over the next month. At the Dar Es Salaam International Airport, instead of forming a line, the passengers merged into a bustling blob of tired, sticky people jockeying for position. This was the reality of Africa for me, and it was extremely different from the Western World.
When I hopped off the airport in Zanzibar, the night was cool. I could see the water glistening in the moonlight. We were driven into Stone Town to an Air Bnb on the water which was a rickety-looking structure situated upon a raft made of sticks and logs floating in the ocean. We slowly putted along on a water taxi to the Air BnB. As we approached, we saw a sign that said: Dreamer’s Island. I think we all liked that. We slept there for only one night, but I had a really hard time adjusting to the climate there. It was so hot and sticky and all I wanted was an air-conditioned room. Although it was strange and uncomfortable, the next day was quite nice because when I awoke, the view was absolutely perfect with the boats bobbing in the waves and the palm trees on the shore.
Luckily, later that day, we switched to a small resort in Jambiani. The pool was the deepest blue I have ever seen. It blew my expectations out of the water. Even better, the rooms were air-conditioned and it was only 100m from the beach, which was soft with water the most alien color of neon turquoise. We spent our week there relaxing, mango juice in hand, and treating ourselves to calamari. I finally summoned the courage to wake up before 6:00 AM one morning to photograph the Golden Hour and Sunrise. I dragged Mom along with me and we watched the local women harvesting seaweed while the tide was low. I snapped some awesome shots, one of which has been my most liked photo on Instagram to date (with 178 likes).
On Christmas Eve we left for Stone Town once again. This time we stayed in the very top apartment in the center of the city. I got my own room on the top floor with a beautiful view, my own canopy bed, and a breeze. Unfortunately, the lady’s kitten was in the adolescent phase, which caused it to act crazy and jump on us. I hated that cat.
I think the happiest moment that I had in Zanzibar was listening to the choir sing on Christmas Eve. As an American, it is such an important holiday to me. It means generosity, good food, and a reason to party, but even more importantly, family. From the roof deck, we had a wonderful view of an old cathedral just down the street. It was beautifully carved and it made me miss Western Europe. We were about to go and join the celebration, but Dad decided we had better not, because a bomb had supposedly gone off at last year’s Christmas celebration. Although that was unfortunate, we all had sweet dreams that night.