I’ve always joked that Dad’s view of Africa was the desert and a lion and nothing else. It’s probably a bit harsh of a thought, I’m sure he knows other things about Africa, after all he knows who Robert Mugabe is. But after spending the last week with Chloe and me, I like to think he’s a little worldlier.
We eagerly awaited his arrival at the Zanzibar airport, knowing that with him he brought love, warmth, a fancy hotel with hot water, restaurants where the bread is complimentary and all sorts of luxuries we’ve not experienced for months! We gazed upon the rooftops of Stone Town from our private balcony at the former British Club, currently the Africa House Hotel and caught up on all of the news.
Zanzibar was a delightful stop for our three days and as we already knew the city pretty well, we were able to promote its finest points. We got lost in the back streets, explored the Persian baths, took a Vespa and zipped across the island, gazing at beautiful blue beaches and century old ruins.
We made a small day trip across to Changuu Island on a private boat we hired for the afternoon. The island was created as a prison, but like so many other African buildings, never used as one after it was built. It hosts a hotel inside the former goal and it is home to a large group of Giant Tortoise. I kept wondering if I jumped onto their backs if they would ping along like they do in Super Mario Brothers.
Our flight from Zanzibar to Dar Es Salaam lasted only 20 min. The speaker’s crackled to life and in the same announcement the pilot said: “Good Afternoon ladies and gentleman and welcome on board your ZanAir flight. We’ll be flying to an altitude of 3,000ft before making our descent into Dar Es Salaam. It’s been a pleasure flying with you and we do hope that you will fly with ZanAir next time”.
Dad being dad can’t go to a country and not go for a trip on a train. Actually trains trips are the reason he travels. If a country has no trains, he’ll simply not visit them. So Tanzania was going to provide an experience. We arrived at the station and he managed to talk his way into the cabin and chat with the driver. I was amazed when the train pulled out of the station smack bang on time although I wasn’t surprised that our compartment was double booked. Night had fell before we departed the train, but Kisaki Station was lit by the mired of candles on hawkers plates, lighting up their dinner delights and rushing along to eager buyers hanging from the train. Our safari 4x4 was waiting for us and zipped us to the Sable Mountain Lodge in-time for some good tucker and a comfortable bed.
The following two days were filled with tones of Zebras, Giraffes, Wildebeests and more bumpy roads than our bottoms cared for. Dad got all excited when we saw Elephants and Chloe got excited when we saw just about anything. I had my sights squarely on the rare Black Rhino, but I was disheartened when the ranger told me there weren’t many Rhinos about and that the Selous NP was the same size as Switzerland, so seeing one would be near on impossible.
Our time passed too quickly and before I knew it we were at the air strip heading for Dar es Salaam again. The captain of the plane was unsuccessfully chasing warthogs that were grazing on the runway. We all hopped onto the smallest plane any of us had ever caught, an 11 seated twin propeller that the in-flight magazine fraudulently clamed was “luxurious and quiet”. Our bags were thrown into the nose of the plane and dad’s bag thrown into the wing. The safari operator had to take over the job of shooing the warthogs and a group of impala that had just arrived, which he did by jumping into the 4x4 and running down the strip in front of the plane before it took off the dusty dirt runway. Some experiences you just have to come to Africa to experience.
Next Stop Dar es Salaam still, so until then “Hakuna Matata”
www.theafricahouse-zanzibar.com/
www.privateislands-zanzibar.com/changuu/
www.selouslodge.com/
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