A few summers ago, I flew to Tanzania to visit a friend stationed in Arusha to get experience for her social work degree. This is the second of two posts about this adventure.
Bethany and I left Moshi to head toward Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar Island. One of her social worker friends back in Arusha had arranged for his friend Alex to meet us at the bus stop and help us around the largest city in Tanzania. For this, we were much appreciative; Arusha and Dar es Salaam were like night and day. Arusha was smaller, had a cooler climate and was Christian in culture, while Dar was giant, very hot and was a largely Islamic city, presenting a culture that neither of us had experienced before. While we were welcomed into the city, there were rules, and we were – I felt – much more accepted with a male presence.
We spent the day with Alex as he guided us through his city, from his university to government buildings (and a United Nations building guarded by a guy with a rifle) to a shop where I could buy a scarf to cover my bare shoulders without getting ripped off. (My shirt, I realized within minutes of arriving into the city, was not modest enough.) Exhausted after a day of walking, Bethany and I made our way back to the hotel room he’d reserved for us, excited to have a shower (and disappointed that it didn’t have hot water). Our itinerary for the next day was Zanzibar Island.
Zanzibar Island is known its spices, which are grown on Zanzibar and its surrounding islands. It’s also known for Stone Town, its main city with labyrinth-like passageways between 200 year-old coral stone buildings. We wandered through the city for quite some time, but I failed to get a photograph of the view. My best shot, above, taken from a return trip from an island jaunt. As far as spices go, while I bought a few chintzy gift packs to give away back home, I did not take any photos.
