Saturday, March 15, 2008

A Little Bit Like Heaven

Zanzibar.........
White beaches......Masai worriers......bright colors..........Live Music...........Rasta......fresh sea food.....sailboats.....Tropical climates.....monkeys........houses made of Coral.......peace
My adventures started in Zambia from Southern to Central Via BUS, than from Kapiri to Dar Selam by TRAIN. The Train took us through a visual Paradise. Seeing the local Villages and Farming Practices to Elephants, Zebra, Wart Hogs, Giraffes and all the "Gizela" like creatures who's names surpass my memory. The Two and a half day Train ride consisted mostly of sight seeing....mingling with the locals on board and card games that resulted in at least 3 injuries..... we arrived in Dar Selam late in the evening....which meant we needed to find a taxi and a place to stay Fast Fast. Traveling with packs...money and not knowing the local language could potentially cause a problem. Fortunately now living in a third world country for almost a year...I'm almost Pro at mitigation and humor when dealing with the "minority" complex in another country. We found a place to stay with the master negotiating skills i have acquired in no time. Unfortunately my misplacing of person property is still a problem and we left my Back Pack in the Taxi while i was dealing with logistics. I had faith that the man was compassionate and would return the bag sometime before we set off for the Island that following morning...and Lo and Behold i was right he returned that next morning...nothing taken and with a smile i thanked him with a hand shake and a cash donation for his troubles... this was day one in Tanzania........
We took a large Cruise boat to the Island that took about 4 hours and stayed at an affordable Indian Hostel that became our haven for the next eight or so days of dancing.....sweating.......swimming......eating.....buying of local arts......and pure relaxation. The music festival consisted of artists from around the Africa continent, from Afro Funk to Traditional. We played and traveled around the Island by day and Danced to the music by night...I traveled to the North to the South and by Far the most spectacular was the East near Paje. Where on one occation we ate lunch with some Masai Worrier boys that ended in us swimming in the Indian Sea and me having to Save one of them From Drowning! They may be tall and have unbelievable jumping abilities but the sea was like quick sand to these boys...... I'm a hero!
There is much more to my adventures than words can express........and time can allow.......
maybe one day I will be able to express what my experiences truly were like...until than bare with me my friends.....

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