AFRICA IS HOT

It's true Team...

The coast and Zanzibar are HOT and Humid and pretty frickin awesome!

After my day off from Traveling in Moshi, I headed here. In Moshi the

power went out around noon and was out until maybe 10pm. It flickered

on here and there. Some places had generators, but mostly that was it

for the power. They say it's rationing. They say sometimes its 30

minutes, sometimes it's more. They say "It's Africa!". :)

The bus ride was hot and sticky as we passed mountains on our way to

the coastal plain. We had to RUSH out of the bus and into a taxi in

order to get to the ferry in time. We ended up getting ripped off for

about $8 each, and I knew it was happening, I called them on it, but

we barely made the ferry in time, so I guess it was the "Don't get

stuck in Dar es Salaam" tax.

So here I am in Stone Town, Zanzibar. Home of a maze of city streets,

tiny alleyways, wonderfully illogical buildings, a fresh fish market

every night lit by lanterns, old palaces of the Sultan (they ruled

here for many hundreds of years), and the site of the last Legal Slave

Market in Africa. A site shut down in the 1870's by the works and

efforts of a Doctor Livingston, I Presume. I had no idea that that

famous line was about the man who rallied the Church and the English

government to shut down the slave trade. (though it continued

illegally for a many more years). There are old slave chambers under

the church... the ceilings are not even 5 feet tall. For such a dark

part of history it's amazing how casual most African's are about it.

As if it is just some fact in a book and not reality. I guess it's

been 130 years, so maybe that's why.

Ran into some friends I'd met earlier in the trip. Cheryl from the

Gorilla trek is here (and gone again already. Hope the RBR is going

well Cheryl!!!! :), Victoria and Peter from the Tanzanian Safari...

just saw them today. And it looks like we'll have a good crew to

actually go DANCING tonight at THE disco in Stone Town. (I asked

about Karaoke but no luck... dammit! :)\

tomorrow it's off to beautiful beaches, Moped exploring and eventually

scuba diving.

I've got 3 days and 4 nights left until the 40+ hours of travel to get

from paradise back to LA. Gotta make 'em count!

Hope you are all well.

Come to Africa. :)

Craigo