Vacation!

Shortly after I arrived in Rwanda, my dear college friend Nadine began talking about coming to visit me.  I, of course, was excited about the idea of seeing her and showing her Rwanda.  As time went by and we talked about when she would come we found that the only time that worked between our two schedules was the second week in April.  Unfortunately that’s about the worst time to visit Rwanda as it’s the beginning of the Genocide Memorial.  There is a national period of mourning that begins in April and continues until July when the genocide officially came to an end, but that first week is the most intense with daily meetings and memorials that are considered mandatory for all Rwandans.  I was hesitant to have Nadine come at this time because I didn’t want her only impression of Rwanda and maybe even Africa to have such a somber and negative tone to it.  

I had been planning to visit Zanzibar in April anyway so it seemed like a perfect place for Nadine and I to meet and enjoy a vacation on the beach.  Zanzibar is a small island just off the coast of Tanzania that was a major trading port and as a result still maintains Africa, Indian and Arabic influences.  I met Nadine at the airport in Dar Es Salaam where we spent the night.  Dar is significantly bigger than Kigali and more developed but lacks anything really worth seeing so we immediately left the next morning and took the 2 hour ferry to Zanzibar.  We spent two nights in Stone Town which is known for its winding, narrow streets, night market where you can buy exotic seafood that is cooked right in front of you, and lots of shopping. Zanzibar is known as the “spice island” and was at one point the largest exporter of cloves in the world.   While in Stone Town we took a spice tour to a spice plantation.  There we saw how many common spices are grown including vanilla, cloves, nutmeg, and several others but my favorite was the cinnamon tree. 

It was nice to see Stone Town but we were both happy to get to the beach.  Our first stop was a coastal village in the Southwest of the island called Kizimkazi.  We booked two nights at our hotel and would have stayed longer but it was closing down for a month and a half for the slow season.  As a result, the hotel was really quiet; I think there were only 6 of us staying there.  It was a beautiful place that was nice with modern amenities but still had an authentic feel to it; example, the outdoor shower.  During the day we sat by the pool which we had all to ourselves or ate lunch in the open air dining room, while watching the women from the village go meet the fisherman and take their catch in to be sold at the market. 

This area of the island is known to be the home to many dolphins so we had the opportunity to go out and swim with them.  When I signed up for it I really didn’t know what it was going to involve so I kept my expectations low and I decided I would be happy just to see some dolphins from the boat.  So Nadine and I got up early and went out on the boat, it was just her and I, a driver and 2 guides.  We rode for about an hour then we spotted the dolphins so they told us to get ready with our snorkel gear and sit on the edge of the boat.  When the driver positioned the boat just right and they would yell at us to jump in.  So with the boat still moving, and Nadine and I with our goggles and flippers on, very ungracefully, flopped ourselves over the side of the boat into the middle of the ocean.  Once in our guides yelled at us to “look, look” so we would look down and could see the dolphins swimming below us.  When they swam away we got back into the boat and repeated the process.  It was all a little bit ridiculous but still pretty cool. 

After Kizimkazi we went up to the North of the island to the village of Nungwi which is generally more touristy.  Even though there were more people it was still really quiet because of the slow season.   Nungwi is known for its beaches as it’s the only place on the island where you can swim during low and high tide.  On the other parts of the island the tide can go out about half a mile.  While in Nungwi we took a day trip to go snorkeling near another island.  We had a perfect day and the water was so clear and a beautiful, bright turquoise blue; it was gorgeous  I was really excited to snorkel, I had done it once in St. Maarten but it was pretty pathetic but this time it was great.  There was lots of beautiful coral and interesting fish to look at.  After snorkeling we had lunch on the beach and then had a nice boat ride back.  The rest of our time in Nungwi was spent relaxing, reading, eating, talking, and swimming.  Then the time came for Nadine to leave so I dropped her off at the airport and we said goodbye.  I can’t even begin to express how wonderful Nadine’s visit was and I grateful I am to her for coming.  I love all my friends here in Peace Corp dearly, but there was something so comforting about being around someone who has known me for years and really knows me, it was just so easy.  I was also really proud of Nadine, I know there were a lot of people back home that were worried about her and couldn’t believe she was going all the way to Africa, but she came prepared and handled everything really, and she never got sick!  A hugely successful trip!  

So after Nadine left I still had 3 days in Zanzibar.  I took a taxi to the East and met two Peace Corps friends who were also on the island.  We stayed in an awesome, rustic bed and breakfast.  Here we were the only one’s staying which was great because I didn’t have to fight any for the hammock but also a little creepy especially at night since I had my own room and there wasn’t any electricity.  It was so nice and relaxing though!  While there I spent most of my time reading but we did also get to go out on a short snorkeling trip which was fun especially because we went out just the 3 of us in a small, traditional sailboat.  Before we left the island we spent another night in Stone Town, did some last minute shopping and then headed back home. 

Zanzibar was a perfect combination of good friends, good food, natural beauty, relaxation, culture and a little bit of luxury (at least by my current standards).  A great vacation.

I tried to load pictures but my internet is just too slow, I’ll try again next time I’m in Kigali.  In the meantime you can watch the video Nadine’s husband Rob put together.  He sent Nadine with a small video camera complete with waterproof case to capture our trip.  He did a great job!  Here’s the link: http://youtu.be/JrYPptMlU7Y

Fortunately for me, my vacation wasn’t quite over when I got back to Rwanda.  As some may know, Rwanda is known for the mountain gorillas that live in the volcanoes on the border of Rwanda and Uganda in Volcanoes National Park.  Visitors to the park have the opportunity to hike up one of the volcanoes and visit the gorillas that live there.  As a foreign resident, we get a discount but the price is about to go up significantly, so some fellow PCV’s and I decided to take advantage now and go to see them.  We arrived early on the morning at Volcanoes National Park and met our guide.  We learned we would be visiting a family of about 13 that included 2 silverbacks and a couple babies too.  We hiked for about an hour when we came upon them in a thick bamboo forest.  Our guide informed us that the gorillas love bamboo shoots because it’s sort of like alcohol is to us and it actually makes them a little drunk.  Thankfully they aren’t angry drunks though.  Visitors are allowed one hour to spend with the gorillas.  We watched them as they ate or slept and as the young ones swung and played in the trees.   Our presence there never really seemed to faze them and they just continued in their regular business.  Because we were in such a thick forest we were able to get really close otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to see them at all, so often I was standing less than 5 feet away from them.  It was awesome to hang out with these fascinating animals out in the wild.  It was something I would have never done had I not lived in Rwanda so I’m happy I had the opportunity.  Again, I’ll try to post some pictures soon.

Now I’m 3 weeks into the second term.  It’s always a bit of an adjustment back into real life after vacation but things are going well.  I have some projects I’m working on, but this blog is already exceptionally long so I’ll write about all that next time. 

All my love,

Annie