Trip 2: Another day in paradise

21 September 2011

Today we went to Prison Island or Changuu Island. It’s a small island just north of Stone Town.  Originally owned by an Arab trader, a prison was built on the island for naughty slaves.  I think they should have imprisoned the slave traders, but I'll keep my opinions to myself. However, the prison never actually opened since the slave trade was abolished about the time it was completed. Instead it was utilized as a quarantine station and later a resort was built around the prison.

One thing that struck me as odd. There is a water shortage almost everywhere. We jump out of the boat, walk up to the poolside area and were told, "Fresh water to wash your feet." I’m sorry but why aren’t they using ocean water to rinse off the sand. Makes more sense to me then wasting potable water to wash a bunch of tourists’ feet. But, then again, I live here and see how it affects the community. Something to think about…

On the prison grounds.

Even though there is a fully functional resort, apparently it’s closed.  One of the books we have said it reopened in 2006. But, it really did seem closed. All of the walkways to the bandas were closed off and locked. There were a lot of renovations being done around the island, which leads me to believe that the resort will reopen at some point in the near future. There is a café in the prison and a restaurant more towards the pier.

Tortoises.

However, the reclusive feel of the island isn’t the main appeal – it’s a giant tortoise sanctuary. The tortoises were moved from Unjuga in 1996 by the Zanzibar government in order to protect them from poachers and other dangers. In 1955, there were approximately 200 tortoises and by 1996 there were only 7. Currently, I would guess there’s at least a hundred. The tortoises are descendants of four that were gifted to the Sultan of Zanzibar from the Seychelles governor. We were able to feed them and walk around in their area. Be careful how close your hand is to their mouth! They were crunching on their food pretty hard.  They were also a lot of fun to watch moving. It takes a lot of energy just for them to move a few feet.

Tasty. The food not the tortoise.

After we were out of tortoise food, we walked over to the babies. Around this point, we were bombarded by an Italian tour group. The guide was telling us that only Italians come in big groups like this and they always follow someone with a sign, umbrella, hat, etc. It made me laugh because it sounded like a stereotypical tour through Italy.

What a great feasting table.

After walking around the tortoise sanctuary, we headed further inland to see the prison and other buildings on the island. The prison is now a café, with shops, and nice bathrooms. Got a picture of a fantastic table. It’s the feasting table of Liam’s dreams. All so we can host an annual Viking party and serve turkey legs and mead with all the women dressed up as wenches. He really is a simple man: meat, mead, and boobies. His own perfect world.  I'll participate only because I like the idea of a gigantic dining room table for people to come over. Life's all about the size of the party!

It's a Liam fish!

Went snorkeling right off the coast of Changuu Island. It was a lot more cloudy than I would have expected but I was able to spot my favorite type of fish!  

Took the boat back to Stone Town and walked back to our hotel. Took a shower and spent some time trying to decide where to eat lunch. We headed down to Livingstone’s. It’s right on the beach in front of where the slow ferries load. These are the ferries that most local people take. In fact, a few weeks ago, one such ferry sank with approximately 600 people on board (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14869596). It’s common knowledge that the loading and unloading process is quite a spectacle. One, which, we willingly participated in watching.

Imagine. A beautiful, pristine beach. Clear blue water. Dhow boats sailing along. And three gigantic ferries docked with their open bows laying on the beach. One of which was a military transportation ferry that the waiter told us not to take any pictures of. Too bad, we had about 10 of them loading equipment onto it. Oops. Should have mentioned that a little sooner. Now, add about 20 people loading packages, refrigerators, cars, TVs, etc. and you have what I like to call organized chaos. And we have the pictures and videos to prove it.

Two of the three ferries on the beach.

After enjoying a three-hour lunch, we wandered back to our hotel. We had to finalize our travel plans to Pemba for the next day. At this point, we still didn’t have a hotel – just plane tickets. But, luckily we hit a gold mine. But that’s a story for another day.