Now, Zanzibar has made a pact with the tourism devil, and this has brought prosperity at a cultural cost. Package tourists fill the beach resorts, and I see hoards of western college types, with boobs bursting out of tank tops, cracks showing, and who are loud and foul. What must the deeply Islamic Zanzibaris think? And neither of these groups of tourists are particularly friendly.
To compare with Lamu up in Kenya, here you flop on the beach and swim in the divine Indian Ocean. In Lamu, which is smaller and more intimate, you stay and write a book.
Tourists are swarming about and rooms are tight. Because I've spent little during the last month and I face a few weeks of hard travel ahead, I splurge on my last day. For the same price as a Travelodge in San Francisco, I end up in the presidential suite in a former palace. There's no reason to go out the door.
This is just one of my rooms.
Before I leave the country in a few days, I must comment on the extraordinary kindness of the Tanzanians. A case in point, the immigration officer back on the border between Burundi and Tanzania sent me an e-mail a week later, saying: "hi! madam it's me Dickson Mwanyasi an immigration officer at manyovu land boarder,i would like to extend ma warm greetings!where are you now?have you already departed to zanzibar? have a nice tour enjoy a lot, happy"
Can you imagine that happening in Europe or the US?
Can you imagine that happening in Europe or the US?
What a heavenly room! And you said it was just one of your rooms? the whole suite must have been fantastic.
ReplyDeleteMay I say to you Ramadan Mubarak in all sincerity, and how is it for you?
ReplyDeleteI read your post, Thanks for sharing useful information....
ReplyDeleteZanzibar & Lamu beach Tours
Kenya Family Tour