Musings from Zanzibar
Personal Journal and Photographs, Day 5
Let’s take a moment to talk about birds. I’m no expert by any stretch of the imagination. About the only birds I can identify with any degree of confidence are pigeons, crows, and cardinals. Knowing their call? Forget about it. Okay, it’s probably true that I recognize more than I’m letting on, but the wildlife nature to Zanzibar is so foreign to me that I can even begin to speculate what they might be called.
The predominate species I’ve seen here looks akin to a raven, except it’s two-toned black and gray. But mostly I’d like to mention the sounds they make because they’re astoundingly effective at waking me up in the middle of the night. One sounds like — I shit you not — a ringing telephone. There will be six or seven “rings,” followed by a pause. Then it repeats ad nauseum. The other is harder to describe. It reminds me if, like, the birds were working out at the gym and counting repetitions in this really masculine avian sort of way.
Before it slips my mind, I wanted to note that last night we tried dinner at a neighboring lodge, the Dolphin Safari. We stopped by around 5:30 to ask if it would be possible since we weren’t guests there. The gateman, a native Tanzanian in the traditional garb from the Maasai tribe, didn’t really speak English so he fetched a girl who told us it wouldn’t be a problem.
We then went on a short walk, exploring an overgrown abandoned plot of land and unfinished building, watched another sunset since those never get old, then returned at 7:30 to a most excellent meal of seasoned rice and avocado, king fish with tomato sauce, potatoes, assorted veggies seasoned with Zanzibar spices. Delectable. I asked for bread to soak up every last drop. The fish was cooked to perfection, flaky and tender.
This morning after breakfast we returned to the village, this time to deliver some pencils and pens to a nursery that was positively overrun with children. They were very excited to see foreign faces, full of smiles, exclaiming Jambo! and coming up to me for unending high fives. Some approached with papers proudly displaying their work, a few spoke some words in English.
One class recited the English alphabet. When we tried to leave, some boys started leaping on me and latched onto my legs. It was a touching moment. They were all so sweet and cute. I admonished them in a playful tone: Go back to school! It’s important! I hope they all do well in life and achieve their dreams.
Spent more time poolside with Proust afterwards but I found it hard to concentrate. And Proust demands concentration. The WiFi had an elongated moment of functionality, so I put a few pictures on Facebook and Instagram, and listened to some tunes between dips and laps. Around 4 p.m., I returned to the room to shower and now sit here on the porch, writing in this journal that has served me well ever since Belgrade in 2014. The other day I passed the halfway mark. I wonder what other voyages and thoughts might fill the rest of these blank pages?
