Back in Nairobi after the WWOOFing in Odienya near Rongo near Kisii near Kisumu in Kenya (more on that later) I am wrapping up „my Africa“, in a way. And now that I’m happily back to a reliable electricity connection, I start by posting some pictures from Zanzibar. Those are still taking with my own camera, oh how I miss it! Beware of Nairobi matatus (the infamous minibuses)…

Now actually, before moving to the beautiful island that recently saw a catastrophic ferry sinking (wow Wikipedia!) some last impressions of the Kilimanjaro adventure. The first is looking out of the window of Berny’s and my hostel in Moshi with the mountain almost surreal up in the clouds.

The next a measure of the air pressure differnence, and it was still some 1000 meters below the peak that I closed the bottle… And another Kili sunset from a distance. Oh did it feel good to look up there after coming down!

Some other impressions of the city: First, the ubiquitous electricity generators, without which nothing much could happen in a country of constant power outages. And the most stylish car protection I have ever seen. Veritable street art.

And a snapshot of the general relaxation and relief after being down, and happiness of reunion with a good friend from home.

This of course a good start for further traveling. On to Zanzibar, finally! Still in the harbor area of the metropolis of Dar es Salaam, and already water with gorgeous shades of blue and green, and old-fashioned sailboats and paddle boats.

On the ferry (the „slow“ and cheaper one by the way, which seemed still nice and fast) we got a great performance from dolphins accompanying us for some time. And compare the looks with the „Spice Islander“ which recently sank.

We were greeted by the nice panoramic of the famous „Stone Town“ …

… and after a taxi ride of about one hour and spontaneously following the taxi driver’s recommendation to move to a different hotel than the one we had planned for: the beach. Low tide, but high spirits.

Back in stone town for a visit: Impressions between decay and lived life.

Of course with happy children, and impressive architectural features.

You never really now how much of the old stuff is memories, and how much is still in use.

A stunning sunset in the sea, actually quite peaceful despite being in a tourist hot-spot.

The Ramadan was strictly observed by the locals, even extending to most restaurants which didn’t offer lunch. After sunset we were allowed to feast on seafood (well, some of us) and the famous „Zanzibar Pizza“ from the stands. Oh, and finally fresh sugarcane juice again, improved with a splash of lemon and ginger! Still missing India half a year later…

This is the view from the hotel terrace and basically my inspiring „home office“ panorama for preparing the scholarship application for my planned Ph.D. back home in Freiburg. Good life! And a little impression of the backside of the beautiful beach, which bordered directly on a pretty run-down but lively town, where it seems every grown-up man was a taxi driver. Accordingly hard was it to get directions to take the cheaper and more adventurous matatu to stone town.

I was particularly impressed by this parallel display of silently persisting salesmanship and waste disposal — dig a shallow hole in the beach in brush in everything nasty washed ashore by the tide. How long until the stuff is brought out again and deposited at a different shore?

Of course, the moon mirrored in the sea — ahhh …

Some souvenirs for sale in the stone town, and a pile of tourist backpacks on the „fast“ (and obscenely expensive) ferry back to Dar.

It was a fast and fun ride, too. But only for lucky people like myself with no tendency to seasickness — the staff was running back and forth with more supplies of the black plastic bags and paper towels. Lastly, only loosely related but emblematic of the modern „Africa“: a few mud huts with very good mobile phone coverage.