I am in the last leg of my trip… I cannot believe it’s been 5 weeks already.

The past week was the exercise part of the trip. I spent a few days in the Usambara mountains, which are popular for hiking and bicycling. I did both and had a lot of fun. If you ask my legs, maybe they’ll answer in a different way 😉

There was one place that I really fell in love with. This was Irente View Point. It is a point in the mountains that overlooks the Tanzanian planes. It is almost like being on the rim of the the Grand Canyon (Where I was about 2 months ago, that’s why I can say this 😉 ) but without being able to see the other side. The day I went I stayed until sunset and it was incredible how the view changed every other minute. The light changed, the clouds shifted, the rain was coming in and out…. just beautiful.

I also went mountain biking one day. A few Kilometers up and a few Kilometers down… I can tell you that I like the Km’s going down better 😉

I arrived in the island of Zanzibar yesterday and what a contrast it is from the rest of the country. From the people to the architecture to the food… everything looks and feels a bit different. It makes sense since it has a different (colonial) history than the inland territory.
Stone Town, which is the main town in the island has a very unique character to it. All the streets are really narrow (sometimes just a couple of meters wide) and there are scooters going up and down all the time, so you have to be alert just in case you get one flying down…

Zanzibar has a large Muslim population; and this is very noticeable specially on peoples dressing habits. You can see the men wearing the long robes and the hat (haven’t asked what its called yet) and a lot of women are dressed in black with their faces all covered (except the eyes).

It is easy to get lost in this little maze, but fun at the same time. I’ve been just wondering around and meeting people… it’s been a nice change of pace.
Because it is low season here there are not so many tourists, so some of the souvenir shops are a bit desperate to get you in… but what’s new here!!

I’m going up to the north of the island tomorrow to hit the beaches…. I’m really looking forward to it.