We came, we dala dala'd, we conquered.

This will be the last post for my blog; I am currently sitting on the plane, flying over the Atlantic Ocean back home! Chels left on her safari on Friday, so my last week in Zanzibar was Karie and Mylene week. We had most of our days planned out beforehand so we would get everything we wanted done. I also had a bed to myself for almost a week!!! It was actually really weird at first, who would have thought, but I warmed up quickly to being able to roll around as I pleased, it had to be done even though I’m  a pretty  motionless sleeper.

SATURDAY

Saturday was going to be our resort day. A while back Zanzibar Beach Resort was suggested to us to go for a day and relax at the pool; Chels and I had also come here once with for drinks with Preston, Mary and her boyfriend. The resort is just a few kilometers outside of town so we decide to treat ourselves and take a cab. When we get there we see a sign that says that pool is closed for treatment but from the outside we can see the beach and figured we could go there if the pool wasn’t any good. That was an understatement…the pool was GREEN, lime green. And there wasn’t even access to the beach, after having spent 9000TSH of our very tight budget, we were not very happy. We asked the reception if there was another place close by we could go for a pool, they suggested Mtoni Marine and it would be reachable by dala dala so we walk back to the main road. Unsure of which direction to take the dala dala, we asked the police officers a road block, only to be told that we’re on the wrong street and would have to take the dala dala back to the market and take another dala dala  in order to get to Mtoni Marine. We took the dala dala back to town and stayed there; it was too hot and we were too annoyed at that point to continue with the rest of the day. Instead we went shopping for some last minute souvenirs and took a drink on the beach.

SUNDAY

Mylene called Mtoni Marine in the morning to make sure their pool was functioning and to ask the cost of using it for the day. We were both a little shocked when they said it was $20…that was wayy out of our budget. But since yesterday was such a fail, we decided to go anyways. We took the 10 min dala dala ride to the resort; having asked the bus assistant to tell us when we were supposed to get off, but of course he doesn’t and we miss the place and have to walk backwards. When we get there they tell us $10 out of the $20 goes towards food at the resort and $10 was for actually spending the day, but we couldn’t just pay the $10 to use the pool. Having been prepared to fork over $20 (I know it doesn’t sound like a lot at home, but in Zanzibar it really is a good amount of money…our meals have never reached this price) we agreed with it. And we were so happy we came! The resort is gorgeous; the pool was fairly big with lounge chairs on the side and the view of the ocean just a little beyond the pool. The staff were extremely friendly and the food was delicious. We spent a really relaxing day there; worth the $20!

Gorgeous view.

 Walkway out into the ocean.

 It would have been so much nicer to sit here if the rocks weren't so painful to sit on...

Looking out into the ocean while hanging by the pool, it's kind of perfect.

MONDAY

Mylene brought with her the Lonely Planet  travel guide to Tanzania, which turned out to be very resourceful telling us about all the restaurants, beaches and how to get to places. In the book there was a list of 4 top beaches in Zanzibar to visit and the only one left on the list we hadn’t gone to was Pongwe. The book said we would have to take a dala dala to another bus “station” and transfer dala dalas and it would take another hour once on the second bus. Ann Marie had also told us in advance that Santa Maria would be a good resort and a had a nice beach so it was good to have a destination in mind.

Off we went to the dala dala station at the market, we easily found the first dala dala we would need to take. Once again...we failed to get off at the right stop and had to walk 10 min backwards to get back to the second station to catch the Pongwe dala dala. We saw one as we were walking back so we had just missed it. But what we didn’t realize was how uncommon this route was…we stood at the station for almost an hour and was 5 minutes from giving up and going home when another Pongwe dala dala arrived. Not to our surprise, it was a traditional truck dala dala and not a bus. After an hour of holding on for dear life and hoping we don’t die we arrived at Santa Maria. The resort was completely deserted except for one couple. We ordered lunch and we to lie down on lounge chairs on the beach. The beach was fairly nice and the tide was really low when we first got there. But it did rise by the time we left. Because it was so empty, it was quiet and a good place for relaxing without the loud noises and busy-ness of town. The only part that sucked was that we didn’t get there until around 1:30 because of the long wait for the dala dala and would have to leave around 3:30 since the last bus back to town was at 4; including time for lunch we only really spent an hour on the beach. We were lucky though cause we literally just caught the dala dala as it was passing us on the main road…had we missed it, it would have been an expensive cab ride home. And now we can check off all the beaches and say we’ve seen the most beautiful beaches in Zanzibar!

 Hammock.

 I tried to get really close to the bird, I love exotic birds.

Mylene being followed by a dog who we thought belonged to the resort; later we were told they had no idea whose dog it was.

 Tide when we first got there.

Tide an hour later...so amazed by how quickly it rises.

TUESDAY

We were supposed to go diving today…but Mylene woke up with some stomach issues so we had to cancel the dive. Our dive was scheduled for 730am meaning we were getting up just past 5am to catch the 6am dala dala (the first one) to Nungwi. I knew the dive center wouldn’t be opened at 5:30am, but we needed to contact them to let them know we wouldn’t we showing up. I called the first company number, then emailed them, and finally called the second number on the website. Someone picked up at the second number and sounded like he was most definitely sleeping still. I told him that we had a dive scheduled at 730 and one of us was sick so we wouldn’t be able to make it and I just wanted to let them know, and his response was “is there any reason you’re calling me at 5am?”. What the hell…I am only calling out of politeness, I could have easily just not showed up. At 7:30am though, David, the guy I had been speaking to previously called and confirmed we weren’t going and was really nice about it. We rescheduled the dive for Thursday so Mylene would have two days to recover.

WEDNESDAY

We had scheduled today to go biking in the morning with Abdi to the Mtoni Palace Ruins and the Maruhubi Palace Ruins. But since Mylene wasn’t feeling well the day before we thought biking in the heat would be a bad idea; instead we took the short dala dala ride to the ruins. Abdi had a tour so he couldn’t come with us. We asked to be dropped off at Maruhubi Ruins, but the guy thought we were going to the resort and not the ruins so we passed it…so we asked to be dropped at Mtoni Palace ruins which is further down and we would walk backwards between the two.

Mtoni Palace Ruins is known to be the birthplace of Princess Salme. There were no guides or entrance fee so we walked around ourselves taking pictures and reading the random signs posted about the place. All the information cards were excerpts from her book that I bought after the Palace Museum tour and I didn’t want to read too much cause I would read it all in the book. Nonetheless, you could tell this place used to be very grand and beautiful. It was a massive area, with rooms connecting to rooms and Persian baths within the palace. A lot of the children of the Sultan grew up at the palace, riding horses and living the life. 

 Donkey.

 Outside the ruins.

 Some sort of bath.

 Some other bath that is much nicer, we couldn't go in there was a locked door.

 Pretty arches.

 View from one of the windows.

So many giant rooms.

After the short visit, leaving not knowing much more than when we came, we walked 15min to the Maruhubi Palace Ruins. There was a 3000TSH entrance fee and a guide at this one, which was nice cause we got a lot of details about the ruins which we wouldn’t have known otherwise (I tried googling the place after and there’s barely any info about it). So this palace was specifically built by one of the sultans (one of Princess Salme’s brothers) to be his harem; in it he had 99 concubines who lived there and his 1 legal wife, making a total of 100 women all located in one place for this one sultan. This sultan himself didn’t live at the palace though, he lived in Stone Town and only came to this palace on the weekend. But while he was there for the two days, the 9 concubines would have to swim in 3 pools built in the garden; 33 in each pool. The sultan would call up 4-6 of the women each day he was there and have sex with them…our guide told us he was “a very strong man”, haha slightly awkward but slightly funny. All the while, his wife is also there swimming in her own private hot and cold baths and getting massages while her husband does his scandalous things. Apparently it was looked down upon by the rest of the family that he had so many concubines because according to tradition he was only supposed to have 1 legal wife and 3 other wives maximum, but that didn’t stop him. If the concubines were to get pregnant, they would be removed from the palace and replaced by a new concubine. I don’t know if I should think this man was disgusting or to think he was a genius for having thought this out so thoroughly. Also, each concubine had her own washroom aka a hole in the floor), but the washrooms were designed so that when the tide was high the sea water would flood underneath the toilets and when the tide when down it would take away all the waste with it; I’m starting to lean towards this man being a genious. I just couldn’t/still can’t get over the fact that he built a whole palace (which was really nice in its days) so he could basically have sex with 100 different women…that’s absurd. Hey Aman/Victor, I guess when you get the money, you really do get the…

 Original columns.

 1 of 3 pools for the concubines.

 Bench made out of stone.

 Where the legal wife hangs out.

 Concubine washroom.

Hall of bathrooms.

 Aqueduct line to bring in fresh water.

I leave the Maruhubi Ruins slightly overwhelmed with information and Mylene wants to go see the Livingstone House, which is where David Livingstone (basically the guy that stopped slavery in Zanzibar) lived before his last trip away. According to Mylene, the book said the house was less of a distance from Maruhubi than Mtoni and Maruhubi, which was only a 15 min walk, so I agree to walk there so she could take a picture and tick it off her book. Let’s just say it was NOT a 15 min walk…it was also insanely hot out; I was already sweating profusely from being at the ruins and having little wind. I don’t even know how long we walked before we actually found the house…but at one point I had straight up told Mylene that I wasn’t walking anymore. Every time we decide to try to catch the dala dala there was none and when we stop to do something else 2-3 pass us, so what is left to do but keep walking and try to catch one as we walk and before we know it were almost back in town. We had walked 4km in the disgusting heat and humidity after leaving Maruhubi, but we had been walking since we got off the dala dala at Mtoni Ruins…totalling a 2 hour walking time period. I was not a happy camper, and Mylene could definitely tell. I felt bad later for being so bitchy and apologized, but I was tired, sweating my balls off, out of water and hungry. I think we ended up sweating just as much as if we had biked.

THURSDAY

DIVING DAY! As was the same plan as before, we left got to the market just before 6am to catch the first dala dala to Nungwi. It was still pitch black outside and pretty empty. But we got on the dala dala and was on our way. The last time we went to Nungwi we had a more bus like dala dala and it only took us an hour to get there, but this time our only option was the truck dala dala. The driver was going at a good speed, but then decides to turn around and go back towards the market so he can pick up his friend, and then stop for 30 min to wait for other passengers and then stop to pick up every damn person along the way. We ended up being on the dala dala for almost 2 hours. TWO HOURS. We didn’t get into Nungwi until 7:50 and got a call from the dive center asking where we were, we couldn’t even call before cause the dala dala is so noisy. We told them we just got to town and would be there soon, but the place was a 15 min walk from where we got dropped off and after another 10 min we get another call telling us we would have to reschedule cause we were very late. NO EFFING WAY…did I just travel 2 hours at 6am on a shitty bus to be told I wasn’t going to dive. When we got there though they were super nice and the reason we would have had to reschedule was cause at 9am the boat was going out for the dive with like 8 other people and we would have made everyone late. But we made it.

We were given our wetsuits and flippers and given a brief overview of the tank and vest we would have on our backs. Then we had to put the tanks on and go in the water to learn breathing techniques; as we're getting these our guide asks so which one of you called me at 5am the other day? Well that was awkward to have to admit, but he was really nice about it after. Oh my god was that tank heavy! I never really thought about how much the tank would weigh so it came as a huge shock when he put it on me. I was hunched over cause it was so heavy and our guide said to stand up straight, I thought it was pushing the one me to properly buckle it to by back. I couldn’t barely walk with the tank on…it must have weighed at least 40lbs, there were definitely times I thought I would topple over while walking with that thing on, especially on the boat when it’s not still. We went over breathing and clearing water out of our breathing pieces and then we were ready for our first dive!

We took a speed boat with 2 massive motors, it was pretty awesome cause all the other boats we’ve been on were wooden and had one dinky little motor. This was so powerful and were going so fast. At one point we passed by one of the wooden boats and I felt bad cause we made so many waves they were rocking like crazy. After 35min we arrive at Mnemba Island, which is supposed to be the best dive spot in Zanzibar. Our guide gives us instructions and teaches us how to jump into the water; you literally take a step with one foot and drop into the water…I felt like Scuba Steve from Big Daddy when we were all suited up.

I didn’t really know what to expect, it was our first time diving. Our first dive I had a lot of difficulties descending into the water because of the pressure change; my ears were in so much pain… I thought my head was going to explode. After maybe 20 min I finally got down to the bottom of the ocean floor. Mylene was a pro, she got there really easily and had no issues with pressure change. It was unreal to be diving in the middle of the marine life. As corny as it sounds, it actually felt like being one with the ocean. There were so so sooo many fish, we must have seen over 40 different types and they were all so colourful and pretty. It was amazing because they don’t swim away from you like when you snorkel, they just accept you and continue on with what they’re doing. At points we were literally swimming with the fish alongside us. We were told that we might not be able to take in the scenery as much cause we would struggle with breathing, but Mylene and I were both lucky and breathed fine.

 Motor boat leaving waves.

 Excited.

 With our scuba guide.

 Getting my flippers on, too happy.

We're ready!

Our second dive was easier on the ears for me. After our first dive, our instructor told me that I wasn’t re-equalizing properly and I had to squeeze my nose more and blow through harder so my ears popped. When we came up from the first dive and I took my mask off, Mylene looked like she was going to have a heart attack cause my nose was bleeding from the pressure. Haha she’s funny, I just washed my face off and was okay.  Our guide said it’s because I have smaller inner tubes and when I re-equalize the pressure that might have caused it to bleed, I have no idea though but I am still alive and okay. I got down to the ocean floor fairly easily the second time around and Mylene and I hung out down there just watching the fish swim around us waiting for the third guy on our trip to come down. We were doing really good for the first half of the trip; re-equalize properly and all following the guide individually while taking in the amazingness of what we were doing. But Mylene and I kept sinking to the ocean floor and not being able to swim properly, while in my head all I can think is that I’m killing the coral because I keep hitting them as I sink to the bottom. Our guide took off our weight belts and it helped a lot; but then I couldn’t seem to stay at the bottom! I kept floating higher and higher no matter what I did…in the end I had to hold the guides hand for the rest of the trip haha. A little embarrassing, but at least I got to enjoy the rest of the dive without worrying I would float to the surface and have to go all the way down again.

 Signifying I'm okay.

 Re-equalizing pressure.

 Get out of my way Mylene.

 Wheeee!

 Mnemba Island.

Definition of white sand and turquoise waters; breathtaking.

We reached 12 meters below the surface with each dive lasting around 50min. It was definitely worth the money we paid to do it and I’m so glad we didn’t snorkel instead, I don’t know when I might get another chance to dive in such a beautiful place. And the experience on its own was worth, It’s not like anything I have done before. It’s unfortunate because I don’t know the names of the types of fish was saw so I can’t explain everything we got to see, but we saw a really cool fish that had like fans, a whole school of fish (there must have been hundreds of them) swimming in a circle, two eel like fish, tons of tropical fish, so many nemos (clownfish) and the fish in Finding Nemo that lived in the aquarium in the dentist’s office. They were all so beautiful and I would definitely, definitely want to go diving again. The company we went with, Spanish Dancer Divers, which Vickie and Sandy went with too, were awesome. They were very professional and friendly and made our dive even better.

After our dive, we came back to the beach and spend an hour swimming and tanning. Nungwi was GORGEOUS today. The tide was higher than when we were last there and the water was crazy blue, we didn’t want to leave. It was the perfect last day in Zanzibar, I couldn’t have asked for more. Mylene and I had quite the week!

 Nungwi Beach.

 Spanish Dancer Divers.

 I wanna go back.

 Mylene: "It's so dark, I can't see you"...I think I'm just that dark.

 Paradise.

Sign before and leaving, except no one actually goes by it.

THE END.

So this marks the end of my two month journey. I can’t really believe how quickly the two months have gone by and that we really lived in Africa for such a long period of time. It’ll probably hit me in a week or two when I look back and realize how much we had actually done in that time because right now it still feels so surreal. It’s definitely an experience that I won’t forget, we were so lucky to have gotten this opportunity and to have soaked in the culture and beauty of this island and I am very thankful for that. I can honestly say that I have learned a lot on this trip, not only in regards to school and being an OT, but also life lessons and myself. Travelling really does open one’s mind and provides so many learning moments. I feel like I’m coming home with great appreciation for what I have and new perspectives on the person I am.

It seems like so long ago when we were just starting to plan this trip and now it’s already over. I am very excited to come home and see everyone and be back in the comfort  of home that really can’t be replaced. I feel like we’ve experience almost everything in Zanzibar and it’s time to return. We are probably going to freeze since there’s a 50 degree weather difference between Zanzibar and home. Can’t say I’m ready to face reality and go back to school, but at least it’s our last school term and we’re that much closer to being finished our Master’s!

It’s been an unbelievable trip, with time where I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through, and I’m glad I could have shared everything with those of you that read this blog. Thanks for caring, you’re awesome! I would recommend Zanzibar as a travel spot if you ever get the chance.

I guess it’s back to real life then.

Time flies by.

I have been the biggest slacker for this blog…and it would be way too long of a post if I go through every day for the last two weeks so here are the highlights of our adventures.

PT Clinic:

On one of the Mondays, Mylene and I went to work in the PT clinic downstairs instead of the OT to have the chance to work with an adult population. Mylene got there at 8, arriving to zero PTs in the clinic and a line of patients. She was told to start treating despite the fact that she is NOT a PT and we’ve never interacted with these patients before. I arrive at 8:30 and was told to go help Mylene because she was alone downstairs. When I got there, she told me she refused to see any patients alone (good for her!) and eventually the Japanese PT arrived and she shadowed him. We saw a man with a fracture in his right femur but was complaining about left hip pain. We look at his x-rays to see that the head of his right femur was once fractured but has now fused with again in a inaccurate position…no wonder he’s complaining of pain. It’s crazy that after 2 months, no one had caught onto this…

Then the head of the PT department comes in and tells us he’s going to give us our own patients, even though we said about 5 times that we were just observing. So off we go to see a patient who had a right arm fracture. Who knew that thinking of pure exercises to do, we really do think like OTs and can only focus on meaningful activity. Plus it was hard to find things to do when we didn’t know what type of equipment was available. Either ways, we got through the patient fine and she seemed content without therapy session when she left.

Kangas:
Kangas are worn by most women here in Zanzibar. They are colourful pieces of fabric with a certain layout and each contain a proverb in Swahili written on the fabric. Kangas can be used for everything, from clothing to baby carriers to wrapping gifts to table clothes. We started off buying just one each…and it’s kind of spiraled out of control. After that one, we kept seeing new designs we liked and now I have 4 kangas…3 of which I don’t know what I’m going to do with them. We bought our first two at tourist rates ~8000TSH, but then Mary brought us to a wholesale place where we bought them for 3750TSH…half the price! It was so cheap, we had to buy more.

 First kanga I bought

Second kanga

Not my picture, just to show how it's worn here

Mental Hospital:

Instead of going into the community (again) we went to visit the mental hospital. It’s not on the same grounds as the actual hospital, but is about a 10 minute drive away. Our supervisor drove us there, introduced us to some of the staff and then left. Of course she left, it’s what always happens. We were brought in to sit in the middle of a room where about 12 med students + psychiatrist and mental health nurse sat in a big U-shape. We were told that each patient was going to be brought in to be questioned to see if they know where they are and to redetermine the state they were in. The patients were standing outside looking into the room through barred windows and a locked door; they were treated as if they were prisoners. Most of the patients were brought in by family members due to drug addictions. It was difficult to know what was happening because people were speaking in Swahili. There were 52 men and 14 women; the women are kept in a separate area and when we asked what most of the reasons for the women being in the mental hospital were…he responded “frustration”. I’m not a mental health expert..but I wouldn’t think that frustration would be the reason they were there. There is no OT onsite and most of the patients sit around with little to do during the day. The conditions were not ideal, bare minimums, not too different from the actual wards itself. It’s sad because we aren’t as phased as we used to be by the conditions, and have even come to expect it.

 Room we were in, the windows in the center are where all the patients stood outside.

 Inside the nicer ward of the mental hospital, the female ward was much dirtier.

Buildings of the wards

Mangoes:

I have eaten more mangoes here in the last two months than in my life. Fresh mangoes, mango juice, mango smoothies, mango everything. But I refuse to eat another mango while I am here.. The last time I ate a mango, I had ate the two sides already and was enjoying the middle part (it was a very sweet mango) and I bit into the seed slightly, when I looked at the mango I saw there were little bits of brown so I thought it was just what the inside of the mango seed looked like. I finished eating the mango and because I was curious to know what the inside of the seed would look like I stuck my knife in and pried open the seed. I scooped up some brown soil looking pieces with my knife and was in the middle of telling Mylene how it was cool and I didn’t think that’s what it looked like inside the seed when BUGS CRAWLED OUT OF THE SEED. MULTIPLE BUGS. I may have had a slight heart attack and gagged a couple times. There were bugs living in my mango. Needless to say, I have swore off eating mangoes for the rest of my trip. But I will continue to drink mango juice.

One of the many bugs crawling out of my mango.

Valentine’s Day:
We had a nice dinner out at a restaurant called House of Spices. It somewhat overlooked Stone Town and the service was good. We had pasta dishes that were all really good and at the end we were given heart shaped spice soaps. It was cute.

 Display of spices at the restaurant

 Complimentary appetizers.

Pasta.

Free soap, so cute.

Palace Museum/Princess Salme:
The Palace Museum is the house where the Sultan of Zanzibar and his family used to live. It had a lot of rooms where business was taken care of, but also personal rooms where the family resided. The most interesting room for me was Princess Salme’s room. She was an Arabian princess who taught herself how to read and write in English and eventually left to Germany to marry a German man. Her story seems interesting and maybe I was more intrigued only because she was a princess, haha. At the end of the tour the man at the museum tried to sell us books and I got conned into buying the princess’ memoirs. I was looking at it before at the bookstore, hope it turns out to be an interesting read.

Outside the museum.

 Princess' bed.

 Shoes part of an outfit.

 Head dressing.

 Water cabinet on wheels to bring to the Sultan when he was sick.

 Giant bed in the "new bedroom" that's under repair.

Sauti za Busara Music Festival + Swahili Fashion Week:

Busara is a huge music festival that happens every year in Zanzibar. It features artists from all around Africa and took places this year from Feb 14-Feb 17. At first we weren’t sure if we would go cause as a non-resident it was 150,000TSH for a weekend pass, almost $100USD. But we were able to get a letter from the hospital (which cost us 5000TSH each) that showed proof that we were volunteers and would represent our resident card. We ended up getting a weekend pass at resident price (40,000 TSH) and we went for about an hour each day since we had other stuff we were doing that weekend. It was cool to see live music and to hear the different styles of African music. It definitely was a big change from the music festivals from this summer haha, much more chill and sitting to enjoy the music than raging, but jealous of everyone going to see Swedish House Mafia this weekend (Jo, I’m excited to hear about your first experience)!!

On Friday, Adam and Ann-Marie’s mom got us free tickets to the Swahili Fashion Week – Zanzibar. It took place at Mbweni Ruins at night. We were told to be there for 7 sharp because the gates were going to be closed, but of course everything here runs on African time…meaning the fashions how actually started just before 9. I’ve never been to a real fashion show, so it was cool to see the clothes especially because most of the clothes had some part that was made from different materials common in Africa like kangas, kitengas, etc. Some of the clothes were very wearable too; one of the designers has a store in Stone Town that we’ve gone into, it’s a bit pricey though. It was nice to have gotten to go for free!

Pre-festival "parade", which was just one float.

Dance group performing on the road.

Resident pass and fashion show ticket.

S.O.S Village orphan's performance

 Music + acrobatics

 Chels and I at the festival.

Fashion Show.

The Rock:

This restaurant is a big tourist attraction. It’s located a little further than Paje and is a restaurant built on a rock (hence the name) in the middle of the Indian Ocean. I thought it would be wayyy into the ocean cause it said when tide is low you can walk there but when tide if high you can swim or take a boat, but it was maybe 40 feet away from shore. We stayed at the Salem’s house the night before since Ann-Marie was coming with us and it was more convenient to leave from their house. The tide was really low when we got to the restaurant so we were able to walk right up to the rock. The restaurant is very small, maybe 10 tables with a nice little patio. The view is gorgeous as it’s right in the ocean; the food was mediocre and pretty pricey for Zanzibar, although it was about the same as restaurants at home. Most of the options were seafood, Chels, Ann Marie and I all got a crab sauce pasta and Mylene got fried calamari and shrimp. The sauce for the pasta was good, but I totally got the crappy end of the stick when it came to the actual portion of crab I got. I only got half of a crab claw while Ann Marie and Chels both got 6 whole claws in their pasta…it definitely wasn’t worth it’s price. But it was something we had to go see in order to say we did it.

 When we first got there; low tide, grey skies.

 The restaurant.

 Pretty patio and view.

When we were leaving; tide rising and blue skies.

Public vs Private Orphanages:

We wanted to visit an orphanage here to see what it was like and potentially volunteer for an afternoon. Abdi called the orphanage for us and brought us there. The condition of the public orphanage took us for a shock…for good. The building was very well kept, with large open concept sitting rooms and gardens for the children to play in. Each room slept 4 children in 2 bunk beds with a large cubbie for each child to put their belongings in. Nothing looked broken or unsafe, there were even large flat screen tv’s in the sitting rooms and a nursing room for when the children got sick. All the children went to government schools nearby; we were so impressed with everything. Currently, the children range from 1.5-18 years old. Many of the children are brought in because they come from single-parent homes where it is financially unable to raise the children. Family members are still allowed to visit the children whenever they want. At one point they asked what orphanages were like at home…it shamed us to say that we had no idea because we had never been to one or given it any thought. Mylene and I have a week left in Zanzibar as vacation since we’ve finished our placement, so we wanted to volunteer a couple mornings next week at the orphanage. We got an email from the orphanage and emailed the person the next day but we still haven’t gotten a response back. The orphanage has only been in existence for ~10 years, before this building the children lived in a building in Stone Town by Forodhani Park. Adbi took us there after and the conditions were awful, the area was locked but we looked through the gates. The rooms looked like prisons and the area wasn’t very big, Abdi said the living conditions were not good, there were cockroaches everywhere. The new building was built by the last president’s wife. Apparently they wanted to move the children away from the Town because it allowed them easy access to alcohol, drugs and partying. 

After, Abdi said we could try to see the private orphanage but he wasn’t sure if they would let us in. The orphanage was more than happy to give us a tour of the area. It was very obvious that it was privately owned. The lot was huge, with 11 houses that house 10 children in each. On top of that, on the grounds are schools for children until the end of secondary school. The private orphanage was founded by a German man; it continues to receive funding from many sponsors from around the world as well as from locals who send their children to the private school on the grounds of the orphanage; Abdi said the school is one of the best on the island. The orphanage is called S.O.S village and has many orphanage in the world. They have two programs; a home care one where the children stay in the houses at the orphanage where there is a “mom” that runs that house, along with the other children who are considered to be siblings, like a real family. The children must be under the age of 6 when they are brought in so they grow up with the other children and cook and clean and go to school and do homework. At 16, the children are send to a youth center where they are continued to be supported. It was really cool to visit the houses, the one we went into the family was in the middle of cooking some delicious peanuts in the kitchen. They have a dining area where the children also do homework every night with the mother, a sitting area and an upstairs where the children sleep. It’s such a unique idea to re-create a family setting for the children. The birth family also get to visit the children whenever they want so they don’t lose contact. The second program ran by S.O.S. is within the homes of children at risk; they don’t remove the children from their families but provide support and education to help the families stay together and offer a healthier environment for the children to grow up in.

Zanzibar, your orphanages have definitely left a positive impression on us.

 The public orphanage.

 Sitting room.

 Small classroom in the orphanage for children too young for school.

 Cubbies for clothes.

 Bedroom.

 Nursing room.

 Private orphanage; we weren't allowed pictures inside.

 The old orphanage in Stone Town.

Looks like a jail, right? Thank God they moved the children.

Community Outreach:

FINALLY…Finally we went out into the community for work. Our very last week of placement and we actually went. We went to the South of Zanzibar, I’m not really sure where, to a small clinic and held therapy in open area. Amina said there are usually more kids, but we only saw three clients today. It wasn’t much different from being at the hospital, except we all worked together on the children and Amina took the lead which meant we actually got to observe her doing therapy. The children were adorable and all very cooperative. It would have been nice if we had been given more chances to do community visits. I would have also liked to do an in-home visit here, but the one we were supposed to do…well, I’m not sure what happened to it. It was never mentioned again after the last failed attempt to go.

Where we held therapy.

She liked taking pictures of herself.

 Using the corner as a support when sitting.

 Giving Amina a kiss.

 SO CUTE.

 He also liked pictures.

Peace Museum:

The coolest part was that we saw the infamous Zanzibar Leopard, which is rumoured to be extinct now as it hasn’t been seen for years. But the museum had a stuffed one on display along will a lot of other stuffed animals. It was kind of weird seeing a whole display of stuffed birds laying on their backs.

 Zanzibar leopard.

 Some weird 6 legged animal...I don't really know.

 Display of stuffed birds, kind of morbid. 

 Giant vertebrae of some animal, it was like the size of my torso.

 Skeleton of a dodo bird.

Second building of museum.

 Pretty ceiling windows.

 Princess Salme's clothes.

Zanzibar Bucketlist:

Mylene and I have been trying to plan our last week here, only to come to realize that we’ve basically done everything possible to do on the island that’s unique. We’ve done all the tours offered on the island and seen almost all the historical sites; we’ve also eaten at most of the restaurants in Stone town mentioned in her lonely planet book. Since it was Chels’ last week before she leaves for her safari (she left today), we tried to go to all the restaurants we still had to eat at. Mylene and I have planned out the rest of our week to the most that we can, things to look forward to reading about: Pongwe beach, scuba diving, biking (yes, I am going to bike) to see all the ruins and maybe a local soccer game. We wanted to go to Chumbe Island, which is a nature reserve for corals and forests, for a day of snorkelling and beach. Chels and Ann Marie went last Saturday, but we wanted to go this Saturday since we needed things to do during our last week. Too bad though cause the island only allows 14 guests at a time (including guests staying at the resort on the island) for ecological purposes and it’s now fully booked until Mar2, the day after we leave. They said the snorkeling was really good and we were really disappointed that we couldn’t go…but scuba diving for the first time will definitely be a good replacement!

Zanzibar ginger ale, better than Canada Dry.

 "Bull's milk milkshake"

 Lazuli: Spicy fishcakes, spicy was a bad idea.

 Silk Route special of the day.

 Third time at Amore Mio: hazelnut and coffee gelato

 Buni Cafe: banana filled crepes with chocolate syrup

The worst white wine I've ever tasted.

Third OT placement…CHECK:

We’ve officially completed our third placement for school, one step closer to that Master’s degree! Today was our last day of placement, we went in just to pick up our evaluations and say by to our supervisor. We brought over chocolate from home and wrapped it up in a scarf we bought here and wrote her a card. She’s said a couple of times that she would miss us after we left and she would be all alone again; hell, I wouldn’t want to be the only therapist seeing 25 kids a day either. We took some time to go around the hospital taking pictures where we were allowed. We took a picture with Amina and the administrative assistant and said our goodbyes. It’s crazy to think that we’ve been here for 8 weeks already, oh how fast the time flies. I don’t know if it’ll ever fully hit me that I lived in Africa for 9 weeks.
Here's a glimpse into our working life in Zanzibar...

 Pool at the OT/PT department that broke 3 years ago and never got fixed, what a waste.

 Our view from the OT department...can't really complain.

 OT treatment room.

 Mnazi Mmoja hospital.

 PT clinic.

For stretching the head and neck contraption in PT.

 People waiting to bring food for their family in the hospital.

 Half the people waiting to see a doctor.

 Stroke ward.

Stroke ward take 2; orthopedics ward was in a worse condition but they wouldn't let us take a picture.

 Specifically labelled "Patient's toilet", a hole in the ground. 

Us in white coats.

With our supervisor (in the middle) and admin assistant, all smiles.

One last week in Zanzibar and then it’s back home, hopefully to no snow. It’s been extremely hot and humid here this week, we will more than likely get sick when we get home, it’ll be like a 40-50 degree change. I keep getting waves of excitement to go home but also waves of sadness that I have to leave this paradise island and return to real life and school. No more fresh fruit juices and white, sandy beaches? That’s going to take some adjusting to…better soak it all up before it’s too late, see you in a week Canada!