Africa No.7 - Go west / Tanzania

Go to Zanzibar. That’s how I encouraged myself to leave Rwanda and to move forward to a country which lied boundlessly towards the Indian Ocean.

(Nungwi beach, Zanzibar)

Zanzibar is the little island and yet the once-upon-a-time prosperous country located some 30 miles away from the shore of Dar es Salam, the main city(the capital is Dodoma though). The mixture of Arabian and African culture flourished in this island when the merchants from Arabia Persia and India arrived this island and did trading with monsoon wind. From the history this island went through, it has a capital city ‘Stone Town’ with its spicy smell from daily markets and the exotic sound of Azaan from mosques.

What this island boosts is not just the culture but the beach and ocean.

People said that the ocean surrounding Zanzibar had its color of emerald green, and I was suspicious at first. Then I arrived there and noticed that it was so true. The surface of the Indian Ocean there was so emerald.

(Jambiani beach, Zanzibar)

I spent two weeks in Zanzibar, from the northern Nungwi beach to the southeast beach of Jambiani, absent-minded facing this extremely clear ocean. I did nothing but sitting at the white sandy beach and reading, sometimes doing snorkeling and having supper filled with seafood and local beer. Things to come into my view, from the surface of the ocean to the local kids running about, were all crystal clear. Once they ran into the water they melted within. Seemed like the soft things came together to charm each other.

Not a single shadow has been projected on the ocean, but I saw some shadow from underneath the water. They were small silver fish swimming around. This place was completely, a paradise island.

(Stone Town, Zanzibar)

One afternoon when I was dissolved completely under the scorching sun, it just occurred to my mind that I had to escape from here soon, moreover, as soon as possible. Probably it was a dream not really the rational mind which just told me to do so. Or a fictional book which had the surrealism stories. It was for sure anyway that I felt that I got stuck in this so-called heaven which was as hazardous as Eden. This kind of story was so likely to appear on the fairy tales and I was scared sensing the danger. And I ran away for my life as an ordinary traveler.

(Mnemba island, Zanzibar)

Dar es Salam was a big uninteresting city which was dangerous at night. As there were not many things to do, I went out west for the town of Moshi, located at the bottom of Kilimanjaro mountain. Go west Yuko, I thought to myself.

(Dar es Salam)

From beach to a mountain foot, via a big city. My trip came as a roller-coaster. I still left my mind in the middle of the paradise island of Zanzibar. There was only pleasure there in Zanzibar, and there was only endurance in here in Moshi. It started to rain every morning in the town of Moshi and I got caught the whole day in a tiny dorm. The lines of the mountain ridge, the Kilimanjaro, were invisible. I tried to seek for the mountain looking up every morning, every afternoon, every night, but in vain.

  

I went out for Kilimanjaro coffee instead. The café, named ‘Union Café’ was famous for its coffee brand since 1939, and the taste there was for sure delicious. For two days I have spent the whole afternoon there doing reading and writing. After a while I got back to the hostel, noticing the sky was going to be blue. I went up to the rooftop, ordering a bottle of Kilimanjaro beer. Then the dull heavy clouds suddenly started to clear up, showing the edge of the mountain. The Kilimanjaro Mountain was right there in front of my eyes, being accompanied by ranks of cloud troops, far beyond the town of Moshi.

I kept silent at the rooftop, watching over this gigantic mountain until the sunset. It was the beautiful moment and with its beauty I missed the normal life conversely. Things I saw recently have been too ravishing. As ravishing as some dream. I was afraid.

(Kilimanjaro, Moshi)

I went back to Dar es Salam, got a ticket of Tazara railway and got on to move westward to Malawi. This train trip went on 2 nights up until Mbeya, the border town. This was the train Tanzania and Zambia made with cooperation of China a few decades ago, and the conductor told us, me and my friend travelers who are Chinese, about the stories of this huge project.

Daytime from the train window after daydreams and naps was filled with green mountains and little lakes, local Tanzanians at times. Nighttime from the train window before the real dreams was filled with visible fireflies skipping about. Things that came in my sight were still gorgeous like fantasy.

(Tazara Railway)

In the train I hoped I was living not in a world of fantasy, but in a real world containing both pretty things and ugly things. Go west Yuko, I told to myself. Go west to see something more ordinary. Though I don’t think the world appears normal for those who desire the normal, even though it is normal for them as well.

(Tazara Railway)