Happy new year from zanzibar

We've had so many adventures since stone town that if I described them all you'd still be reading the blog next Christmas.
So here's a picture diary of what we've been up to since the last post

Stonetown, sun and sweat

So, here I am, sat on the open top terrace, it's 9.30 at night, and only now have I stopped perspiring! Welcome to Zanzibar, the island of spice, sun and buckets of sweat. Zanzibar is a complete contrast to Rwanda, gone are the lush rolling hills, the meandering clay paths, here are the tightly woven allies of stone town. Narrow tributaries of lanes that coil into one another like one big labyrinth. The architecture is amazing, stone town is a hotch potch of ex- colonial and Arab palaces, all crumbling facades and rusty verandas. The tall buildings tower over the winding streets just like in Verona or Venice, leaning in on the day trippers. On our first few days on this tropical island we've lost our selves in the mazes of allies, visited the horrific slave market (no longer in use, I hasten to add!) and haggled our way through the cloth and food market. Fearlessly (or naively, as you may put it) we took a daladala out of town in search of some cooling ocean spray. What is a daladala? A strange hybrid between an open sided mini bus and an extended rickshaw, driven by a man on a mission and conducted by a man sat on the roof!!! So, we've done as the locals travelling on the delightful daladala, we've cast off (most of our) clothes and dived in to the tropical turquoise waters of this enchanting island. We've also been on the most vomit infusing, stomach churning boat ride of all time to Chumba island, the consequences of which could put Alton towers out of business. But perhaps the effect of that adventure is just a little too graphic for a family friendly blog... We are off to stone town's lively esplanade now, about to barter for our tea amongst the throngs of locals spilling onto the sidewalk in a jumble of prawns, pancakes and obscure looking pizzas. Tomorrow we leave the sights and smells of stone town and head to the soothing waters of the west coast, where we will spend more nights on our African adventure.

Christmas Day

So how did you spend Christmas day?  Did you wake bleary eyed, sleepily drawing back the curtains on a white washed landscape?  Did you huddle round the tree in your snug new Christmas pyjamas swapping presents and the stories attached to them?  Did you wrap up warm for the annual Christmas day walk as the turkey roasted in the oven?  All these traditions sound a million miles away from our Christmas day!

We started the day by sleepily stumbling down the gardens of Home St Jean, our little oasis at the beautiful Lake Kiev.  The sun was already high in the sky, glistening off the still waters as we quietly equipped ourselves for a morning swim.  Still drowsy with sleep we splashed into the cool waters, then bam!  Excitement, Christmas began.  We giggled and splashed, ducked and dived, celebrating our alternative Christmas morning.

Now wide awake we raced up the hill ready to open gifts and exchange stockings, all under the safety of a mosquito net!  We ate a la fresco, feasting on fresh fruit salad and crepes before setting off around the bay to a sandstone beach, the perfect place to spend our day.

Perched under the cooling canopy of parasols we pulled crackers, sang cheesy Christmas songs and thought contentedly about the ways our families would be spending their day, something tells me there’s be no long, luxurious afternoon outdoor swim on the Atherton’s or Jessop’s agenda…

Once the heat of the day subsided a little we ambled back to Home St Jean, red nosed and jolly, although probably not quite in the way you were (sun kissed skin and Rwanda’s stock trade lager Primus).  So we may have missed the snow, we may not have tuned into the Queen’s speech at 3.  The sitcoms and triple billing of Coronation St may have passed us by and John may have been wistfully imagining Turkey with all the trimmings but our Christmas in Rwanda was a delightful day full of merriment and joy.

Oh before I sign off let me just try to tell you about Lake Kiev.  It’s a stomach churning, vomit inducing bus journey to paradise.  The lake is bigger the all the locks in Scotland stuck together with cellotape.  Mountains climb up around it like geometric triangles of emerald green cultivated fields and burnt orange clay of the ground.  Wooden boats like once abandoned gondolas glide across the water, casting their nets out in search of sardines.  It’s like a little bit of Eden on earth, the vegetation is lush and fertile, the water stretches beyond the boundaries of your eye line.  And best of all?  It’s the perfect swimming temperature, the biggest pool in the world, and all to yourself!

Golden Monkeys!

If you go down to the woods today you’re in for a big surprise! If you go down to the wood today you’d better go in disguise… actually, you’re in for lots of little surprises, and it’s not the woods, it’s the bamboo filled barriers on Parc de Volcano, but you get the idea.

On 20th we went in search of golden monkeys.  Carefully we trekked through the damp undergrowth, treading over bamboo leaves and buffalo poo.  We swept over hanging branches from tangling our hair and cautiously creeping further into the dense wooden area.  And then, quite suddenly there was a rustle in the leaves overhead, we looked up expectantly.  Was it a cruel teasing breeze tricking our expectations?  Was it a crimson bellied bird, a sapphire feathered kingfisher?  Oh no, we may have gone in search of the golden monkey, but the monkey had found us!

High in the bamboo branches say a little bundle of brown fur, its beady black eyes peering down upon us as we stared up in amazement.  Then, almost mockingly the monkey crawled down the branch, coming closer and closer and, just as cameras were cautiously drawn from bags it sprang away, as quickly as it came.

But before camera shutters were closed there came another rustling overhead a ‘click, click, click’ sound surrounded us and suddenly we were encircled by beautiful golden monkeys.  They swung from tree trunk to tree trunk, they stopped and stared from the overhanging braches, they sat, happily chewing on the bamboo shoots as we ogled at their animated bodies above.

We may have been up at 6am, we may have spent the night shivering into our sheets but the sight of the golden monkeys opened our bleary eyes and welcomed an exciting shared experience between man and monkey! 

Arrived!

After 3 flights, 1 mad airport dash, 6 dubious looking  plane meals, 1 taxi journey, and 17 hours travelling, we finally arrived in Rwanda.  Ok, so we may have lost all our baggage, apparently it’s just the norm, but we had the clothes we stood up in literally.  Indeed, we felt like the lowly neighbours arriving from foreign lands. 

Our first day was spent in a tangle of noise, unaccustomed heat, Fanta induced highs and sleep deprived lows.  No bags, low spirits, but soon lifted by cheery smiles and waving children.

On our second day we explored Tricia’s home town Gitarama; visiting the organised chaos of the market.  With sewing machines; row upon on row of clitter clattering away.  Stalls adorned with sumptuous fabrics more colours than you’d find in Mr Benn’s tailor shop.  Alleys of trainers, sandles, converse, lace ups, all strung up and squeezed into the narrow walk ways of Gitamara’s jam packed market. There’s fruit stalls featuring avocados the size of cannon balls, fists of bananas like chubby gorilla fingers.  All tropical fruits spilling out of baskets and already ripening in the morning sun.

After an entertaining lunch including a fruit salad that turned out to be a plate of chips (obviously!) we winded our way through back streets led by the encouraging shouts of local children.  Guided by giggles we stumbled upon the most ingenious clay creations since the Ancient Greek potters took to the wheel.  The local kids had carved cameras out of clay and glass so authentic looking that they gave Nikon a run for their money!

So here’s a picture of the resourceful Rwandans taking a picture of me (perfect sense!).

The reason for this adventure was to seek out a school in Tricia's sector.  Unfortunately for us it was school holidays (hence the camera making) but fortunately as we are such celebrities the kids were all about us and so we played some games including "heads, shoulders, knees and toes" (will upload the video once we get home).

And finally this would be a John and Cat holiday without a bit of Co-op spotting...

First blog

Hi and welcome to Cat and John's Blog of our trip to Africa!

The first bit of our trip will be travelling via: Amsterdam and Nairobi to Kigali and then finally to Gitarama where Tricia (my mum) lives. So to kick it all off here is a map to show the journey (as if we had walked!)


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