Vacation Part 3 - Buses and Borders

There is definitely something much more comforting about flying across borders than busing; I realized this after spending countless hours on a buses in Southern Africa and crossing borders overland 3 times. The first bus taken was from Cape Town to Windhoek (the capital of Namibia), the company was called Intercape and don't get me wrong, the bus itself was really nice. It was the Intercape "Sleepliner" meaning that is was a double decker bus, with a toilet, seats that reclined 150 degrees and extra leg room.

The problem came when we arrived to cross the South Africa border into Namibia around 8pm...the whole ordeal took around 2 hours.We all got off the bus with our passports and headed to immigration to get the stamp of approval to leave the country, that was the easy part. Then we were told that if we had any hand luggage on the bus to remove it to be inspected. So the 50 odd people on the bus all lined up outside in the cold while the immigration police stood on their platform looking down at us while rummaging through our hand luggage (insert security check at airports here!). I found the whole process to be rather invasive, especially when the lady opened every single sipper in my purse, pulling out tampons in front of everyone and asking, "what is this?" ... As if she didn't know!

After everyone had their hand luggage inspected they proceeded to open the cargo, pulled out everyone's suitcases and bags and rummaged through those as well. The only thing that was "confiscated" was someone's swiss army knife but I have a feeling that the immigration inspector was fascinated by it and wanted to keep it for himself. After about an hour of this process, I think the inspectors were getting lazy. My bag was in the back of the cargo so by the time it came out for inspection the lady just opened it and  had a quick feel for anything sharp.

Finally we boarded the bus again and drove to the Namibia side of the border and waiting in line again to hand in our arrival cards and get our passports stamped. Finally around 10pm we were all officially allowed into the country and heading to the capital, Windhoek; arrival time 7:00am

There was one other long bus ride and 2 other border crossings involved in my journey and this was on my trip back to South Africa -- Johannesburg, as that was where my flight back to Dar was departing from. This bus, unfortunately, wasn't a "Sleepliner" bus but just your regular single decker, toilet included "Greyhound" type of bus. Still much better than what you would expect to travel on in Africa! The bus departed Namibia at 3:00pm, crossed the border into Botswana sometime early in the evening then crossed from Botswana to South Africa the next morning around 8:00am. These 2 border crossings put together didn't even amount to the trouble we had the first time. Both of these crossing were very smooth sailing, thankfully!

I ended covering a lot of ground in Southern Africa....

Vacation Part 2 - Cape Town

Again, I must reiterate how much I appreciate that my friends are scattered around the world! My friend Katie from U of O is currently doing a CIDA IYIP internship in Cape Town and she graciously offered a roof over my head. The last time Katie and I saw each other was when we travelled to the East Coast a few summers back so upon my arrival in Cape Town on Saturday August 13th, we spent the afternoon catching up then went into town for an amazing sushi dinner and cocktails. Even though it was a Saturday night and people were in party mode, I just couldn't get it together! I was so tired from the lack of sleep the night before and the full day of travelling. We called it an early night on Saturday, especially since we planned to wake up early on Sunday and hike up Table Mountain.

Sunday August 14th


Table Mountain:
The plan was always to hike up the mountain but then take the cable car down, however the gale force winds that day put a damper on the cable car as it was closed. The hike up was fine, a little tougher than I had imagined as it was pretty steep and the step between rocks is very big which makes it even harder for someone with short legs! After 2.5hrs we made it to the top, the view was spectacular but it was so cold that we couldn't stay for that long. We walked around to see the different views and stopped for a quick snack then headed back down. Although the hike down was quicker, I think it was far more painful not to mention the much needed concentration to not slip on a rock and injure myself! Needless to say, 3 days later my legs are still in rough shape.

City Tour Bus:
After table mountain I met Sabrina in town and we hopped on the "Hop on Bus" which is a big red double decker sightseeing bus. The bus went all around the city including Sea Point and Camps Bay areas which are really posh neighbourhoods with amazing condos. I am wondering how one affords to purchase a condo in this area and how I can be one of these people!

This bus tour took up the remainder of the day and I returned to Katie's house around 6pm and stumbled in the house, took a nice hot shower and then we ordered delivery Thai food for dinner -- who knew this service existed in Africa!

Monday August 15th


Robben Island:
I took the morning ferry to Robben Island which I found to be a very interesting tour. The island itself is fairly large so when you first arrive you are told to get onto a bus which turned out to be incredibly full. The tour guide was awesome though and very knowledgeable about the island. So the bus takes you around the island four about 1 hr and the guide tells you about who has live on the island during different periods of time ie: pre prison days, prison days and post prison days. He tells you about escapee's and those who attempted to escape but were unsuccessful. The bus tour ends and you are then given a jail tour by a previous inmate of Robben Island who was held on the island for 5 years between 1985 to 1990. He took showed us Nelson Mandela's prison cell and the court yard where Mandela had his "leisure" time. The tour finishes by walking down the same road from the prison cells to the harbour that all the inmates took when they were released or when the prison closed in 1991. This walk is infamously known as "The Long Walk to Freedom" which is the title to Mandela's autobiography (which I highly recommend reading!)

Peninsula Bus Tour/Wine Tasting:
After the ferry returned to the waterfront I caught the second route of the big red sightseeing tour. This time the tour was going around the peninsula and to a vineyard called Groot Constantia. I ended up arriving at the vineyard around 2:15pm and the next tour of the cellar didn't start until 3:00pm, because I wanted to attempt to catch the 3:30pm bus back to town the fabulous staff at Groot Constantia arranged for me to do the wine tasting portion of the tour first so that I could join the tour then sneak off to catch the bus around 3:20. Normally on the tour the guest only get to try 3 selected wines and when you just do the wine tasting itself you get to personally select 5 wines from the list of 12 to taste. However, because I was the only person in the wine tasting area at the time, the lady let me try all 12 wines! There were 5 white wines and 6 red plus a port dessert wine that was fermented with brandy and so sweet. My favourite was the Merlot but they were all delicious. So I tasted a decent portion of each 12 wines from 2:30 to 3:00 then went on the cellar tour. Needless to say I was kind of tipsy by this point! The cellar tour was interesting, so interesting in fact that I didn't want to sneak off early to catch the 3:30 bus so I finished the tour which ended around 3:40, drank some more Merlot on the terrace and caught the 4:20 bus back to town...in a very happy state! What an amazing way to spend an afternoon! Highly recommend.

Tuesday August 16th


Simon's Town and African Penguins:
Simon's Town is about an hour south of Cape Town on the train, a very beautiful train ride along the coast. The main reason for going to Simon's Town was to see the African Penguins at Boulder's Beach! Seeing penguins has always been on my bucket list of things to do before I die! The African Penguin is much smaller than the Antarctic Penguin that most people picture when you talk about penguins. Around this time of year it is nesting season so there weren't so many penguins on the beach, they were mostly in the forest covered area nesting their eggs. Nevertheless, they were still so cute! There is a boardwalk through the forest which I walked along and saw many of the penguins lying down on their egg. Apparently the mother and father take turns nesting while the other one goes to eat then switch. I did see a baby penguin, you can tell because it is all furry and cuddly looking. I got a good video shot of a few penguins waddling on the beach which I will post later.

Since Simon's Town is a big fishing community, I treated myself to a nice plate of fish and chips then wandered around the shops in town for a little while then caught the 3:20pm train to head back to the city.

Wednesday August 17th


High Tea at the Mount Nelson:
This was such a relaxing experience! I arrived at this very posh and expensive hotel for my reservation at 10:30am and ended up staying until 1pm. I had a nice table on the terrace and just stat and read my book, ate a lot of food and drank a lot of tea! The first pot I had was an Earl Gray Blue tea and the second pot I had was a mix of berries, both were so delicious. I would highly recommend experiencing high tea at the Mount Nelson, it is a beautiful place and if you have a few hours to kill, it is a great place to take time for yourself and just relax.

Green Point Stadium:
In the evening I met up with Katie, Kelly and Emily and we went for nachos and beer near the Green Point Soccer Stadium (one of the many sites of the 2010 Fifa World Cup). I was definitely craving nachos because that's definitely something that I cannot get in Zanzibar! After we ate we headed over to the stadium to catch the soccer game. The stadium is amazing, both inside and out and although it wasn't overly crowded for the game we saw, I could still picture the masses of people flooding into the gates last year for world cup games. For the small amount of people that were there when I went, there was a lot of noise being made and I can't even imagine how loud the soccer fans made Cape Town just one year ago...wish I was there. But, I was happy to see the stadium and watch a game there.

Thursday August 18th


Today I plan on doing my own walking tour of the city plus some shopping at the Mr. Price so I can get some new (cheap) clothes to take back to Zanzibar! We have a nice dinner planned for this evening then it is time to say goodbye as I will be leaving Friday morning for my 30 hr bus ride to Namibia! Sand dunes here I come!

Vacation Part 1 - The Unexpected

Vacation in Cape Town is really awesome! Although it got off to a rocky and bumpy start (literally) when I took the ferry from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam on Thursday afternoon. I have taken the ferry many times before but this time was especially bad as I was sitting on the lower level right in the front. This meant that I could feel every single motion the boat made which was rough and add to that the people who were throwing up all around me. Not pleasant!

I arrived in Dar and paid the same amount for a taxi to Mikocheni in Dar as I did for my ferry ride to the city! In Mikocheni I was just supposed to be meeting up with my travel buddy and our YCI country manager for dinner then we were heading off to the airport to wait for our 2:30am flight to Johannesburg. All of this did happen, except the unexpected also happened. When we arrived at the airport at 1:00am we were expecting to be able to check in straight away but the security was closed...got a good sign when your flight is supposed to leave in an hour and a half! I went to the information stand and the lady there put me in contact with someone over the phone who told me that the Dar to Johannesburg route on British Airways stopped running in early July. Thanks British Airways for relaying that information to us!

Clearly we had no idea of this and since no one was in touch with us from British Airways or Kulula we also weren't aware that British Airways had rebooked us on a South African Airways flight leaving Dar at 6:45am (the same morning). Unaware of this rebooking, we headed back to Mikocheni at 2am and spent the night in Dar only to wake up early the next morning and head into the city centre to sort out the whole situation. It actually worked out easier than what I had imagined. We went into a British Airways office and they arranged for us to be on the next South African Airways flight to Johannesburg at 6:45am the following morning. They also rescheduled our Joburg to Cape Town flight. Unfortunately, they did not bump us up to first class for our "troubles."

So, after all of this, we finally arrived in Cape Town only 1 day behind schedule! What have I been up to since Saturday afternoon? Well, I have been experiencing some culture shock here that's for sure! Cape Town is not the "Africa" that I am used to, in fact I have a new take on K'Naan's phrase T.I.A (This is Africa). My new phrase for Cape Town is T.I.N.A - "This is NOT Africa."

Coming out of the Cape Town Airport Sabrina called me out on being overly excited about big city buses like those at home and not daladala's as well as the "Xelerator" hand dryers in the washrooms...you know, the ones that actually dry your hands! Yes, simple things make me happy!

My days have been jam packed with amazing sightseeing which I will blog about tomorrow, hopefully with some pictures added to it. I have 2 days left in this amazing city and since I have already done most of the tourist things I think I will spend my 2 days shopping and exploring the city.

ZANGOC Member Organizations - Part 2

This is the second installment of ZANGOC member organizations. For each NGO I have provided a brief description of the vision, mission and main objectives as well as contact details for the main contact person (including the email address of the NGO). 

Please note, that in order to contact any of ZANGOC's member organizations you can also contact the appropriate ZANGOC office via email and they can send your inquiry to the requested NGO.

ZANGOC Head Office

Location: Mwanakwerekwe, Zanzibar (Unguja Island)

Executive Secretary: Mr. Mzee Ali Haji

Email: zangoc29@yahoo.com

Telephone: +255 242 230 195

ZANGOC Sub Office

Location: Wete, Zanzibar (Pemba Island)

Assistant Project Coordinator: Mr. HassanKassim Maalim

Email: pbazangoc@yahoo.com

Telephone: +255 778 182 389

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 CHAKUWAZA - Chama Cha Kubendeleze Washairi Zanzibar (Organization for Advancement of Artists in Zanzibar)

Location: Unguja

 

About CHAKUWAZA:

This is an artists group that uses poetry to educate on development, culture, Kiswahili Language, national and international campaigns, environmental issues, human rights and health issues such as HIV and AIDS and STIs.

Contact Details:

Main Contact: Ms. Ashuu Omar

Telephone: +255 777 855000

Email: chakuwaza@yahoo.com

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JUVINZA – Jumuiya ya Watengenezaji Vikoi na Uzalishaji wa Nguo (Handloom Cloth and Clothing Association)

Location: Unguja

Vision: To have committed members who effectively fight for poverty reduction in Zanzibar.

Mission: To strengthen its members in terms of production management and financial management, and to share technology, experiences, and resources. JUVINZA will collaborate with other organizations for lobbying and advocacy for SME policy and related issues.

Achievements:

• Maximized labour force for both women and men by encouraging creativity, new initiatives, and using locally-produced and available materials; 
• Increased production groups 
• Training conducted on proper use of looming machines
• Increased production groups (making kikoi and dying/painting them) 

Contact Details:

Main Contact: Mr. Said Alawi

Telephone: +255 777 4711911

Email: juvinza@yahoo.com

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Kwahani - Kwahani Quality Youth Group

Location: Unguja

Vision: To sensitize all children and youth to understand their roles before society so that they may have unanimous decisions in lobbying and advocacy on their rights and interests.
Mission: To make all Zanzibar children and youth stable and gain independence in their affairs so as to avoid effects around them.

Main Objectives:

1. To impart awareness about children and youth policies and to implement its content and other policies to their interest and nation at large 
2. To support education and knowledge for the specific groups of children and youth aged 7 to 35 who are affected by the following: HIV/AIDS, disabilities, drugs/alcohol, street children, children who drop out of school, MSM (Men who have Sex with Men) and CSWs (Commercial Sex Workers) 
3. To reduce the number of children and youth who are facing difficult challenges in their lives 
4. To impart vocational training to youth in order to have a better life 
5. To create projects that may help development and reduce poverty amongst youth, children and their families 
6. To create awareness to youth about the importance of self employment and avoid depending only on government employment

Contact Details:

Main Contact: Ali Abdul
Telephone: +255 778 434 367
Email: kwahani1998@yahoo.com

 
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NOAC – Northern Pemba Organization for AIDS Control

Location: Pemba

Vision: To make a society which understands that HIV is not a dangerous disease and to decrease the transmission the virus

Mission: To fight against HIV and Malaria in Pemba

Main Objectives:

• To make people aware of the HIV problem
• To mobilize society to understand the importance of assisting people who live with HIV
• To bring VCT services closer to rural village areas
• To strengthen the VCT center
• To create a youth friendly center
• To assist with project management and follow up. 

Contact Details:

Main Contact: Juma Shaaban

Telephone: +255 777 511 512 

Email: pbazangoc@yahoo.com  (attention: NOAC)

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ODEYJO - Organization for the Development and Education of Young Journalists

Location: Unguja

Vision: To provide information through mass media and to visit different government institutions and make discussion though TVZ, STZ and Zanzibar Leo.

Mission: To build capacity un experience journalists so as to perform well in their daily activities

Main Objectives:

• To promote members educational and economical as well as employment
• To provide seminars and workshop
• To collaborate with mass media so as to provide good information to the public 

Achievements:

• 2002 - 15 people are employed to different institutions
• 2003 - Educated people through radio, television and news papers
• Visited government institutions
• Developed training given to youth
• Newsletter written for mental hospital
• Wrote articles for various newspapers 

Contact Details:

Main Contact: Suleiman Almas Kirmali

Telephone: +255 754 873 369  or +255 777 805 827

Email: biubwas@yahoo.com 

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PEYVO - Pemba Youth Voice Organization

Location: Pemba

Vision: A healthy community and healthy society engaged in socio-economic development

Mission: To support youth in the reduction of HIV/AIDS and substance abuse. To promote adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) by awareness-raising, establishment of VCT, and supporting youth clubs on Pemba Island.

Main Objectives: 

• To provide education to youth on different diseases like infectious diseases
• To mobilize society to change their behaviour

Achievements: 

• Provided seminars to youth on HIV
• Provided seminars to youth on reproductive health
• Established youth societies

Contact Details:

Main Contact: Abdalla Omar Hassan

Telephone: +255 777 427 549

Email: aoli_f@yahoo.com or pbazangoc@yahoo.com  (ATTN: PEYVO)

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Tunduni - Umoja Wa Maendeleo Ya Shehia Ya Tunduni

Location: Unguja

Vision: To have development institutions and to reduce the number of uneducated and unemployed youth. Also, to have active professional people in Tunduni Shehia by 2015.

Mission: Bringing labour and manage development of Tunduni Shehia economically, socially health wise, culturally, educationally and environmentally

Main Objectives: 

• To manage pre education provision to children
• To manage educational development in general
• To manage rural development

Contact Details:

Main Contact: Mohammed Kassim Hassin

Telephone:  0777 470946

Email: tunduni@yahoo.com

ZANGOC Member Organizations Part 3 will follow soon