Travel history slideshow

After more than 25 years of travel, here's a video montage of the highlights. 

Thanks for following along. More to come.
 

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60 Minutes story: Bhutan

 

https://youtu.be/7g_t1lzn-1A?si=qLrPmSAHfusy46jK

That’s a wrap - Bangladesh, Bhutan and Zanzibar

It's 500am and I am sitting in the Dubai airport awaiting the 14 hour flight to Boston.

Current situation aside, what a trip! Certainly ranks up there not only for the destinations but the circumstances.

I'll be thankful to be home to see some more familiar faces for the upcoming holidays and then off again in January!

Thanks for following along!

Bustling Bangladesh

Incredible Bhutan

Lazy Zanzibar

Day trip to Kendwa!


(Trouble in paradise? Perhaps? The Tunisian couple ate breakfast at separate ends of table!)

Gossip aside, today I am in Kendwa which if Nungwi is due north, Kendwa is W/NW and a a few minutes and shillings by moto taxi. 

Just next to the Makofi in Nungwi I can see a huge resort being built which will likely wipe out the beachfront area that the locals flock to each night.

Along the road, there a few more large and seemingly 'secure' resorts. 

Kendwa has a much larger beach and at the moment doesn't seem quite as susceptible to tides? Perhaps a few more regular tourists - not backpackers - and less hawkers. Not as many dhows either. I'm at the Kendwa Rocks resort. Lovely spot. 20,000 TSH which is like 8USD. And I just ordered a sashimi salad. It should be pretty fresh. Tuna, prawns, calamari and fish roe. (It was tasty.)

After a lazy afternoon eavesdropping on some interesting characters, I am now watching a beach soccer/football match from a barstool. The sunset is just around the corner but no matter. 

Touts and minor annoyances aside, it is quite a beautiful place. And it is not hard to visit. I am quite sure this is an upscale resort but the kids are playing soccer just beyond the seawall. It's all good but it's a strange dance.

Tomorrow night at this time, I'll be on my way to the airport. I'm still not sure the guys at the guest house understand that I booked the room an extra night so I can keep it until 500pm. 

Ive wound up just next to dinner last night at a very local restaurant that is very busy - always a good sign. The tables are right on the beach and there is a display of fresh fish. I chose the seafood casserole which is shrimp, calamari and fish in a coconut curry. Yum! (service is horrible)

There is a guy sitting from of me with a backwards Red Sox hat. But he is from Marseille, France. Turns out it was a gift.

There is a gelato stand for dessert and I am ready for bed. These long days doing nothing are exhausting!

(Just received word that Derek is being treated for an intestinal disorder that could be cholera. Luckily he is in Singapore where there is decent health care. Makes my sinus discomfort seem lame.)

Nungwi Beach



 Today I went to the beach. The end.

Okay, maybe there was a bit more.

The BBQ at the hotel was nice. A good selection of dishes and yummy desserts. I could have done without the fire show. I sat with a couple from way north Canada who were diving for a week here and then headed on a safari. And a 'couple' from Tunisia. She lived there and he was in Paris. It was all very nice and civil.

Great night of sleep even without a/c.

Breakfast is pretty typical and simple. Fruits, flat bread, omelet. Instant coffee with hot milk. More like cocoa.

(The power goes off frequently but just for a few seconds)

I decided to walk up the beach and explore. It really is gorgeous. Heading north there are a few more resorts. Not many tourists. Loads of small dhows/fishing boats with an upside down sail. The sea is very shallow and the small tide makes a huge difference. But it is sparkling blue and warm as bath water. Swaths is seaweed with some coral and ordinary shells.

Without too much trouble I found a nice resort with a restaurant and lounges for rent under some palm trees. $10USD. The advantage is escaping the 'beach boys' as they are called. Security keeps them in the beach. And you need shade or you will 'spontaneously self-combust'

It was paradise! A few Campari spritz (drink of the African trip) and tuna tartar and fish samosas and I was happy - along with a good nap. I noticed a lot of Italian being spoken. And a lack of personal space being respected. 20 lounges in a row and you grab both sides of me!

Headed back early to shower and head back out for sun down. Is it me or is that a reflection of Nantucket in the sky? 

I'm enjoying dinner at a busy Italian restaurant. It is an open deck overlooking the sea. I gave overordered two course - stuffed calamari and lobster spaghetti.

Tomorrow is my last full day. 

Fun fact: Mainland was called Tanji. Island was always Zanzibar - derived from Arabic ‘island of dark faces’. Combined into Tan-Za-nia   

(Momma Mia - Italian dinner - was a miss for me)

Final stop - Nungwi, Zanzibar

After I left Livingstons, I wandered up to the night market for the famous Zanzibar pizza. It isn't pizza at all but it was delicious. A thin crepe like crust, fried hard egg, tomato, onion and pepper, minced beef and then mayonnaise and a raw egg. All whipped together and then skillet fried on both sides. Not surprisingly, it was pretty darn good. That is the traditional recipe but there are all sorts of savory variations along with sweet. 

Oh and the currency, the Tanzanian Shilling is terribly devalued. My pizza was 5000 TZS or about 1.75 USD.

So it is my first sunset on the beach at Nungwi. After my final rooftop breakfast which I will miss terribly. I checked out and had enough time to visit the old slave market. Zanzibar was a major port for East African dlaves. The existing market was destroyed and a church was built on the site after slavery was abolished in the late 1800s. 

  The church is simple but there is a sad memorial in the garden behind it as well as a small exhibit outlining the slave trade and it end.

Then it was a hour and a half to Nungwi with my driver from the airport. Once out of Stone Town, the villages were mixed with a lot more green although the villages were a lot more tin structures.

The Makofi Guest House is really more of a high end hostel. The staff is charming and the private room with an en suite bath is very nice. No air con but the ceiling fan might be made by Boeing.

The beach is 1 minute away and there is a little restaurant where I had some prawn and mango salad. It was about 300pm when I made the beach which is lovely and more of a fine flour white sand. There are loads of little boats and locals to rent you a chair under an umbrella. Which is necessary or you might burst into flame. The water is almost air temperature and crystal clear. Sadly the hawkers and touts are out in full force and as the day progresses it gets more intense. The reviews of Nungwi was that it could be rowdy. But I assumed that was the tourists. Tomorrow is the holy day so maybe that is why everyone is here. It is an entertaining mix of sunset cruises blaring African music, probably fake Massii warriors, kids doing dance routines, ladies offering massage and even a drone. Oh and I suspect a few 90 day fiancées - older German guy with a lovely African girl that could be his daughter. And I overhead an African guy with a western girl who maybe wasn't buying his line.

  Anyway it is all good fun. Back at the hotel awaiting BBQ dinner which should be fun. It might be someone's birthday.

Hakuna Matata



Yes, I am the only person who has never seen the Lion King but Hakuna Matata is a thing and everyone here says it.