I once knew someone from Zanzibar (no, not Freddie Mercury although he was born there too!) and
when I heard of the island, I immediately thought of exoticness. Of magical
dreams. Old-world charm. Then Tony Bourdain featured Stone Town as one of his
Parts Unknown and I knew then that one day I just have to set my foot there. I
had been planning to turn it into a reality this Chinese New Year but didn’t do
much research as I couldn’t decide what else I should cover during the trip.
Should I try to make a trip to Kenya too? Should I join a safari? Should I
board the Tazara and visit Zambia too? It didn’t help that The Amazing Race 27 featured
the wildly beautiful Victoria Falls. So, yes, I kept changing my mind. No, perhaps I won’t
visit Kenya this time. Then, hey, I’ve gotta go to that waterfall!
Maybe I should go to Zambia instead. Oh wait, what about safari? Then I
discovered the astronomical cost of joining a safari especially if you’re a
solo traveller (an indication here) and decided I couldn’t possibly stretch my budget to fit that. Then
in December, I read about Malawi and thought, heck, why not Malawi instead?
Of course when I finally made up my
mind and searched for my flight options, ticket prices had skyrocketed. And it
looked like the plan would remain on the back burner until the next Chinese New
Year hols until thankfully Qatar Airways had a global offer in mid-January.
Alhamdulillah. Even then, I had to fly out on 1 February and flew back on 8
February because the fares would have been higher had I departed on either 30
or 31 January. I’d be flying fastjet from Dar Es Salaam to Lilongwe, the
capital of Malawi, and the flights only run on Mondays and Fridays so I decided
I’d fly into Malawi on Friday and out on Monday. It’d be a short weekend in
Malawi but I’m used to cramming my travel schedule.
Sunday, 31 January 2016
I headed to the airport tonight as my flight was
at 02:40. I had checked in online and just needed to drop off my bag. I cleared
the autogate and security immediately after. Only one aerotrain was working as
the other was under maintenance. Most of the duty-free shops had closed for the
day except for Ferragamo.
Monday, 1 February 2016
I boarded the plane and tried to get some kip. I
must have managed a total of half an hour in total. We landed in Doha at 05:30
and I was glad to note that the security transfer process was a lot more
organised and smooth than it was when I was there on Christmas Eve. I had to
walk to Terminal E for the gate to Dar El Salaam. Daylight was breaking then. I
noted my fellow passengers: some looked Arabic, some African, very few
Caucasians and a smattering of Asians including moi. We had to board a shuttle
bus to the plane. We took off on time and this time, I managed to doze off a
few times.
We landed at Dar Es Salaam International Airport
six hours later and again had to board a bus to the terminal building. The
minute I walked in, I felt like I was stepping into the 1970s and a few
officers who were there gestured us to fill up the immigration forms first. Another officer
had a quick check before we were waved to proceed to clear immigration.
Malaysians don’t need visa to enter Tanzania so I was a bit surprised when the
immigration officer asked about my visa. I told him I didn’t need one and he
seemed satisfied. Maybe he was just testing me. They do have a
sophisticated-looking finger-and-thumb prints machine though. You need to place all
four fingers of your right hand first, wait a bit, place the four fingers of
your left hand, wait another bit and place both thumbs together. Oh and you
also have to look into a camera.
Once done, I stepped into the baggage claim area.
Again, it was like stepping into the 1970s. My bag came out not long after and
I emerged into the hot humid blaze of the Dar afternoon. I spotted a Tourist
Information Centre housed in a shack and made my way there. I was accosted by
taxi drivers all offering me their service and I refused them all politely.
There were two Swahili men in the Tourist Information Centre and the man who
explained things to me was a serious stern person. I tried to crack some jokes
but could not penetrate through his gruff expression. He showed me some maps of
Dar, Zanzibar and also of Tanzania then proceeded to tell me about a safari I
could join ‘quite near’ to Dar. Quite near turned out to be about four hours
away and it would cost me a whopping USD650 for a 2D 1N package seeing I was
travelling all by myself. I could join a group and it would cost me slightly
less. Gulp. I didn’t tell him that I wasn’t planning on a safari at all. Most
people associate going to Africa as going to a safari but to me, there’s much
more to Africa than safari. Safari doesn’t define Africa. Sure, it would be
lovely and fantastic if I could join one but I had time and cost constraints
and my main priority was Stone Town, Zanzibar.
Baggage claim area
I then told him I wanted to check out a hotel I’d
booked earlier to gauge its distance to the airport. He told me it wasn’t safe
and I looked at him bewildered and asked if it wasn’t safe in the day. I told
him the hotel was near F&Q Hotel (well, I wasn’t too sure really and that
was why I wanted to check it out) but when he heard F&Q Hotel, he pointed me to a
building in the distance and said that was F&Q Hotel and that in that case,
it was OK to venture there. So I pulled my bag and walked out of the terminal
and out of the airport grounds. I crossed the main road, Julius K. Nyerere Road
(it leads all the way to downtown), and took Njia Panda Road. Well, it was more of a track than a road, more like a dusty uneven dirt road and
I was quite shocked to be honest for it was a mere five minutes’ walk away from
the international airport. I followed the road, aware of eyes following my
progress until I came upon Transit Motel Airport. I stopped to enquire and was
told that a single room costs USD40. I walked on to F&Q Motel (a smaller
one-storey sister of the larger multi-storey F&Q Hotel) and was told a
single room cost USD20. I had booked a dormitory bed, yes, a dormitory bed, at
Trinity Airport Hotel and the bed would cost me USD30. I walked on but still
didn’t come closer to Trinity Airport Hotel seven minutes later. I decided to
turn back. F&Q Motel didn’t have any wifi (‘There’s wifi at the F&Q
Hotel but not here,’ I was told) so I went to ask at Transit Airport Motel. The
girl at the counter told me that the hotel I was looking for was far and that I
would have to take a motorbike cab or bajaj to get to it. I asked if there was
wifi and if I could access it if so. She told me they had wifi and kindly gave
me the password. So I accessed wifi and cancelled my booking at Trinity Airport
Hotel.
I then thanked the girl and headed back to the
airport. I had spotted a mosque called Airport Mosque by the road and decided
to stop there to perform prayers. When I reached it, I saw that there were only
men in the mosque and they all took off their footwear outside at the gate
before entering the mosque compound. Err. I then decided to return to the airport to
perform prayers. I know in some countries and some cultures, women are not
allowed to enter mosques (they don’t even have a partition or a small area for
women to pray in). Heck, when I was backpacking in Amsterdam, I was told there
are mosques only for Turks where non-Turks aren’t allowed in, and there are
mosques only for Algerians or Moroccans and others aren’t allowed in even
though the others are Muslims.
I
reached the airport and was again approached by cabbies eager to take me to the
city or beyond. I asked one of them where the prayer room was and he told me
there was none. He said I could perform prayers anywhere and then suggested I do
so at an area that had low foot traffic. So I headed to the washroom
(pleasantly surprised to see it was nice and clean and odour-free as I’d read
it being the opposite) to perform ablutions. I changed USD40 and received
TZS80,000. You get a slightly favourable rate if you change bigger amounts like
USD50 or more but I didn’t want to change much as I read that some places accept
USD.
Back at the airport. Notice the car sticker there
I
didn’t have to wait long after prayers to check-in for my flight to Zanzibar. After
checking in, I proceeded to the boarding gate and was pleasantly surprised
again to find there was wifi coverage there.
Domestic terminal
We
boarded late but the flight took only 15 minutes. Zanzibar has its own
immigration so we all had to fill in landing forms although I didn’t have to
get my passport stamped again. I had found out that Zanzibar Lodge
provided complimentary pick-up just prior to the flight and was happy and
relieved to find the driver was already waiting when I exited the building. Alhamdulillah.
We
drove about 5 km before reaching Stone Town. The driver stopped at CRDB Bank at
New Mkunazini Road where another bloke was waiting. This other bloke then led
me to the lodge where I would spend the next three nights. I then paid for my
room (in USD at USD35 at night. I didn’t think this was cheap but then again, I’d
read that accommodation in Stone Town doesn’t come cheap. I could find cheaper
places but I read those places are near the fish market and not only is the smell
strong in that area but apparently one place has bed bugs etc. So, no thanks).
I
was knackered by then so after washing up and performing prayers, I hit the
sack.
My room for the next three nights
To
be continued
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