We began our spring break trip with a dreaded 9-hour bus
ride from Iringa to Dar es Salaam. We bought our tickets a few days early so
that we could pick our seats. We were the first passengers on the bus to buy
our tickets, so we all chose to sit next to a window, one behind the other. We
woke up very early on Friday morning so that we could finish packing, bring our
entire luggage to the CIEE office on campus, and then take the daladala to the
main bus stand. We had to be at the main bus stand at 8:30 since the bus was
scheduled to leave at 9. We got there on time, boarded the bus, and patiently
waited for the next 30 minutes for the bus to leave. The bus was really nice.
The only thing that sucked was that there was hardly any legroom. By the end of
the ride, my knees were killing me! About one hour into the ride, and then
again two hours later, we stopped to use the bathroom. I didn’t get off either
of these times because I figured that we were going to continue to stop every 2
hours or so for a bathroom break. However, I was very wrong. We didn’t stop again
until we got to Dar 6 hours later! Once we got to Dar, we bought our bus
tickets back to Iringa for the following Saturday and then we found a taxi to
take us to our hostel, the YMCA. Our taxi driver was kind enough to take us to
the ferry office as well so that we could purchase our ferry ticket to Zanzibar
and then Pemba for the following day. Afterwards, we finally arrived at the
YMCA.
A Night in Dar
I was really dreading going to Dar because of the experience
that we had in Dar our first week. Dar is a huge city, with about the
population of Los Angeles. It’s very crowded, and extremely hot and humid.
However, going to Dar after being in Tanzania for 2 months was a much better
experience. I didn’t feel as overwhelmed as I did the first week because I’m
now used to the culture. I actually enjoyed our night in Dar quite a bit. After
getting settled into our room, we took a bijaji to a Japanese restaurant called
Ashibe. We had some AMAZING sushi there. It was so nice to have really good
food that I haven’t had in a long time. On the way to Ashibe, we passed by a
frozen yogurt place called Smooch. I cannot even explain the amount of
excitement we had. Froyo is something that I definitely miss a lot and that I
never would’ve though to have found in Dar! We were so excited. After eating
dinner at Ashibe, we took another bijaji back to Smooch. I couldn’t really see
much of the inside when we drove by, but Smooch was just like any other froyo
shop in America! It was delicious, although very expensive! My froyo cost my
13,000 TSH, or about $8. It was very worth it though. I think we will be
stopping by there again on the way back! After eating our froyo, we decided to
try and catch a bijaji back to the YMCA. We walked quite a ways down to catch
one, and there weren’t any coming. So we started walking back towards Smooch
and we were able to catch one right past it. However, it turns out that we were
literally only 2 blocks away from the Y! We could’ve easily walked back and we
didn’t even know it. We definitely all got a laugh out of that one, and so did
our bijaji driver!
Dar es Salaam --> Pemba Island
On Saturday, we had to wake up at 5 to get ready and get to
the ferry dock on time. We had to be at the ferry dock at 6 to board. It was
still dark out when we got there, but by the time we got on the ferry, we were
able to watch the sunset. It was beautiful.
Our ferry ride from Dar to Zanzibar was not that bad. We
left Dar at around 7 and arrived on Zanzibar at 9. I slept for a little bit of
the ride, but for the most part I was awake and watching the top 100 Guinness
World Records show that was playing on the large TV. We made sure to sit on the
outside of the ferry just incase we crashed and had to get off quickly. The
ferry from Dar to Zanzibar is pretty safe, but the ferry from Zanzibar to Pemba
crashes quite a lot, killing hundreds of people each time, so we decided to sit
on the outside.
We arrived in Zanzibar around 9 and our next ferry was
scheduled to leave to Pemba at 930. When we got off the boat, we had to go
through immigration and fill out papers and we were starting to worry that we
were going to miss our ride. We got an immigration officer to take us through
the checkpoint and point us in the direction of where our next ferry would be leaving.
We got on the ferry around 9:25, happy that we made it in time. We took a seat
on the back deck and got settled in for what we thought would only be another 2
or maybe 3 hour ride. The ferry ended up not leaving until 10:30! By that time,
I was dying from the heat. It was so hot. I was able to grab 3 sambusas to eat
as well as a juice and the juice helped refresh me a little bit, but I was
still dying. Not long after, we decided to get up and try and move somewhere in
the shade. We found a spot that wasn’t covered, but was in the shade because of
where the sun was. However, not long after sitting there, the sun moved and we
were once again sitting directly in the sunlight. We had met a boy on the
ferry, who was about 18 and in secondary school, who told us that the ferry is
actually very long and we probably wouldn’t arrive on Pemba until 4. We were
expecting to arrive around 12, so this was definitely a shock to us. When we
couldn’t take sitting in the sun any longer, we moved again to a place this
time that was under the shade. The whole ride was very uncomfortable and
miserable. By the time we arrived in Pemba, I was so relieved not to mention we
were all starving! We thought we would get to eat pretty soon after arriving,
but it turns out that we had a 2-hour car ride to the resort. We were dying. So
then, we figured we would be able to eat right away at the resort, but we were
wrong again! They eat all the meals together at the resort, so we had another
hour and a half until dinnertime. Luckily, we were able to make it though.
Scuba Diving Day 1
I was very excited for our first day of scuba diving. We
woke up early, ate breakfast with everyone, and then moved into the classroom
for our first lessons. Although it’s a lot of information to take in, I was enjoying
it. Not long after, we learned how to set up all of our equipment and we headed
out to the swimming pool. Julia had mentioned before that after her first time
scuba diving, she didn’t think she would ever do it again because she didn’t
like it. She said it is a really weird feeling to be able to breathe under
water. I didn’t think anything of it because I figured it would be no different
than snorkeling, and I’m very comfortable in the water anyways. However, I was
very wrong. We got in the water, and when we went down for the first time I was
probably under for no more that 15 seconds before I popped up. You’re taught to
slow your breathing down when you dive. Inhaling for about 6 seconds, and
exhaling for another 6. When I went under that first time though, I felt like I
could not breathe so I started breathing really fast which caused my heart rate
to go up. Needless to say, I basically freaked out. I came up and started
thinking that there was no way I was going to be able to do it. Renee was also
up with me, so I didn’t feel too bad. Our instructor came up to make sure
everything was okay, and then suggested we all go down again. I was so nervous.
I started to freak out again and want to pop up, but then our instructor
started moving his hand in a motion to get us to breathe at the same pace with
him. This really helped me calm down because it got me breathing really slow
and deep. I think if he hadn’t done that, I might not have gotten okay with
diving. I was fine after that and actually really started to enjoy it. I
actually was a little sad when we ended our dive, but was definitely looking
forward to our dive in the ocean the next day.
Ocean Dive 1
The previous day, I was very excited for our ocean dive
since I had gotten comfortable diving. Julia is doing the Advanced Open Water
course, so she had her 2 dives in the morning, and Renee and I were scheduled
to have our dive in the afternoon. I was really excited all morning for our
dive, but once the time got closer I started getting a little nervous. After
lunch, we had a short lesson just basically on what we were going to do during
our dive. We then got suited up in our wetsuits and headed out to the boat. For
our first dive, we just went to a piece of coral that isn’t too far off shore.
When we arrived, we started to put on all our scuba gear and then sat on the
edge of the boat to prepare to roll off into the water. I started to get really
nervous and I could feel my heart beating fast. On the count of 3, we all
rolled off into the water. After grouping together, we deflated our BCD (Buoyancy
Control Device) and began to descend. However, I did get a little nervous again
so I popped up one time before finally making my descent. I just focused on my
breathing and calmed down very fast once I was able to see all the magnificent
fish. I was able to equalize my ears very easily, but Renee wasn’t. So I sat on
the bottom for a while with Isa, one of the workers at the resort, while Renee
and our instructor came down slowly so Renee could equalize her ears. We swam
around the large coral hill a few times during our dive. There were so many
fish! We saw a lot of fish like Gil in Finding Nemo. We even saw a clown fish
that was coming in and out of a sea anemone. I thought that was really cool. We
also were able to see a huge puferfish that was probably about 10 inches long.
I could only imagine how huge it would have been if it was puffed up! When our
dive was over, I was a little sad and was already looking forward to our dive
the next day.
Ocean Dive 2
On Tuesday, today, we had our second ocean dive. I thought
we would go to someplace new, but we went to the same place that we did our
first day. It actually ended up being pretty cool though because we saw
different things then the first day. Of course we saw a lot of the same fish,
like Gil and the clown fish, but we also saw some really cool different ones.
The coolest one in my opinion was the boxfish. It really looks like a box and
is quite interesting. We also saw a lot of large trumpet fish during that dive.
At one point, our instructor pointed to a small white and orange fish. I asked
him after the dive what kind of fish it was and he said he didn’t know what it
was called, but that it’s pretty rare to see and he has only seen it once
before. After looking in a book, I think it was called a Juvenile Lyretail
Hogfish. He also pointed to a lobster looking thing under a rock, which we
later learned was a Mantis Shrimp. It was very colorful and we were told that
those shrimp actually have 12 color receptors in their eyes, while humans only
have 4. Tomorrow, I think we will go somewhere different to dive and Julia will
be coming with us. I’m very excited for what tomorrow’s dive may have in store
for us!
Ocean Dive 3
Today we headed out for our next two ocean dives. For our
first dive, we went to Manta Point. I had read that it was very common to see manta
rays at this particular dive site, so I was really hoping we would see one.
However, we did not. This dive site was really cool though. There was a lot of
neat fish and the coral was really beautiful and well preserved. Overall, the
dive went really well. My mask did keep fogging up so that was a little
annoying, but other than that I am starting to feel much more comfortable in
the water and feel like I have my buoyancy pretty well practiced. Some of the
things we saw on this dive were a really large pink starfish, blue starfish, a
school of unicorn fish, some shrimp, a moray eel, butterfly fish, and angelfish.
Our dive instructor also saw a napoleon wrasse, but I wasn’t able to see it.
Ocean Dive 4
After a one-hour surface interval on the beach of a small
island, we headed out for our 4th ocean dive. We planned to dive
just outside Fundo gap. We started off a little bit outside the gap. When we
first entered the water, there was a little bit of a current, but it didn’t
seem to be too bad. Within the gap, there’s what’s called a wall. We dove along
the wall and as we progressed, the current got stronger! It actually got to be
a little scary at one point. I got caught in a current going up and it rushed
me up to the surface. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get back down! It felt
like I was just getting swept away from everyone and I did start to get a
little worried. I realized though that I was pretty close to the surface so I
knew I was okay. Eventually, when the current calmed down I was able to get
back down to where everyone else was. Other than the current, this dive was
probably the best one so far in my opinion. We saw a really beautiful Lion
Fish, 2 Titan Trigger Fish, butterfly fish, and even a sea turtle!
Ocean Dive 5
We originally were only supposed to have 5 dives included in
our certification course. Our instructor decided that we were going to actually
do 6 dives though because we still had a few exercises to practice such as the
emergency swimming ascent and rescuing an unconscious diver. So, we started off
the day by heading to what would be our first dive site. The water was SO
choppy and rough. I actually started to feel a little sick from it and I’m not
one to normally get seasick. When we finally arrived at the dive site, I think
I was a little nervous as well as a little sick feeling from the choppy water.
We suited up and hopped in the water. Being in the choppy water was even worse
than being on the boat in the choppy water. It was so rough and we were just
getting pounded. We began our descent, and I began to get really nervous and
suddenly had the urge not to dive. I’m not sure why. I think maybe it was a
combination of the choppy water, not feeling too well, and my experience of
getting a little separated from everyone on our last dive. I actually went back
up to the surface after descending almost all the way to try and catch my
breath. It’s hard to catch your breath underwater while breathing out of the
regulator. Eventually, I was able to descend all the way and was pretty much
fine. This dive site we went to was called the Aquarium, and the name pretty
much speaks for it self. There are SO many fish at this dive site it is just
amazing. We saw the normal fish that we always see along with some new things!
We did see more Lionfish like we saw yesterday, but today we saw a little baby
Lionfish! It was so cute. It was maybe only 2 inches big when normally a Lionfish
is probably around 12 inches. We also saw some smaller Trigger Fish on our dive
today and a small Moray Eel. We were just circling around the dive site around
a part where there was some coral spaced out as well as sandy areas. I was
looking around at everything, and I saw an octopus! It was out in the open and
just sitting there. I got everyone else’s attention and the octopus eventually
went back into its little hole. It was really neat to see though.
Ocean Dive 6
After another one-hour surface interval we went out for what
would be our 6th and final dive in Pemba. We planned for during this
dive to do our exercises. We began the dive by doing our emergency swimming
ascents. Once we all attempted that, we began to dive. We saw the normal fish
as always, but we also saw some huge Blue Fin Tuna during this dive. We didn’t
dive for long before we started doing our last exercise, bringing up an
unconscious diver from underneath the surface. I was a little bummed when we
started doing this because I knew this meant our dive was over. We didn’t
really get to see much during this dive and that was a little disappointing.
That’s okay though because our instructor was kind enough to give us an extra
dive for free just because he wanted us to have a chance to see the Aquarium.
Overall, I had a great time diving. It is something that is still a little
scary to me, but at the same time you get to see so many amazing things. I think
that with practice and with more dives, I will become more comfortable below
that water. I can’t wait to see what my future holds in store for me in terms
of scuba diving.
Pemba --> Dar
Since there were no ferries leaving today, we had to take
the plane back to Dar. We got a ride with the manager of Swahili Divers, Deon,
into town, and then we took a daladala from there to Chake Chake. When we got
to Chake Chake, we needed to take a cab to the airport. We were lucky enough to
find the owner of Swahili Divers who had driven us to the resort on the first
day and he gave us a lift to the airport. We were really early. Our flight was
supposed to leave at 4 and we arrived at the airport at around 1. We ate lunch
there and then just sat around waiting. We barely had to go through security
and we didn’t have to show picture IDs or anything. It seemed really
unofficial. Our plane didn’t even get to the airport until 5. We boarded the
plane right when it got there though and took off right away. It was the smallest
plane I’ve ever been on. It only had 12 passenger seats and a passenger was
even sitting in the copilot seat. It was actually a little scary! We landed in
Zanzibar just 30 minutes later. Way better than the 6-hour ferry ride we took
from Zanzibar to Pemba! We stopped in Zanzibar for about 10 minutes before
continuing on for another 20 minutes to Dar. It was definitely way more
convenient to take the plane that it was to take the ferry and it didn’t cost
too much extra. If you were to take it both ways, it would be a bit extra, but
just taking it one way wasn’t too bad. We arrived in Dar at around 6 and got a
taxi to the YMCA. We checked in and then headed out for dinner since we were
starving. We decided to try this pizza and ice-cream parlor called Snoopys. We
got milkshakes to start and they were the closest things we have had to
milkshakes yet. Normally when you order a milkshake, you literally get shaken
up milk, no ice cream. The pizza was really good as well. Afterwards, we walked
to Smooch again for some delicious frozen yogurt one last time before heading
back to Iringa. Right now, we are just sitting in the Y, getting ready to get
under our extremely small mosquito net that doesn’t even cover us. Tomorrow, we
wake up early to catch the bus back to Iringa!
We took the bus yesterday from Dar to Iringa. We left at 930 in the
morning and got to Iringa at 630 at night. The bus ride was going well at
first, and then I seemed to notice that my foot was extremely swollen. We got
off the bus about half way to go to the bathroom and I couldn’t even slide my flip-flop
on. I knew this wasn’t a good sign and that we would have to go to the hospital
when we got back to Iringa. When we first arrived back, we headed to Mama Iringa
for a goodbye dinner with everyone since it was Jenny’s last night with us.
Afterwards, we headed to the hospital because Renee also had a blister that had
become infected. The doctor just cleaned our wounds really well and then prescribed
us some antibiotics. We spent that night at the Lutheran Center, where we
stayed our first night in Iringa, so that we wouldn’t have to bring our
mattresses back to the dorm and put our mosquito nets back up and everything.
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