April 7th – Superb Snorkelling in Mayotte

When you sail into the small island group of Mayotte, there is a fascination about suddenly arriving back in the European Union off the coast of East Africa. This tiny French territory faces severe problems with migration from the neighbouring Comoros Islands, which has resulted in a booming birth rate that the island’s infrastructure is struggling to keep up with, and a rise in crime and litter.

However, it remains a fairly sleepy place (especially on a Sunday), and it must be said that, on land, there aren’t a great deal of sights for the budding tourist to see. However, Mayotte’s main attractions aren’t on the land – they’re out in its sparkling lagoon (the biggest in the Indian Ocean), and in its superb coral reefs.

Because, the lack of industry and the lack of much tourism here has meant that these are some of the best snorkelling and diving conditions in the region – in fact, many of the people on my tour had done every other snorkelling tour on this World Cruise (in the Pacific Islands, the Great Barrier Reef, the Maldives and the Seychelles), and they all agreed that what we saw here today was the best of the lot.

As soon as you put your head under the water, you could see that the coral was in superb shape – it wasn’t desperately colourful in the harsh sunlight, but we could see plenty of blues and purples. However, it was in the sheer variety of shapes that it really stood out.

Of course, there were lots of tropical fish sporting all sorts of exotic patterns and colours, but the highlight was seeing a few turtles gliding alongside us like they were flying. We were given plenty of time to explore the huge bank of coral that lines the “Passe en S”, a curving pass that enters the lagoon tracing the line of a former river bed – there was so much to see that time passed without you noticing.

Having been to so many snorkel sights that are a bit of disappointment these days – too much dead and bleached coral, too many tourist boats jostling for position, too much pollution in water – it was great to explore somewhere that was pristine and in such good health.

If Mayotte can sort its social problems out, this place could be one of the next big things in tourism.

April 5th – Exotic Zanzibar

If Dar Es Salaam yesterday was the road less travelled, then Zanzibar is a place that is most definitely on the tourist trail. As you turned every corner of historic Stone Town, a self-appointed guide would latch himself onto you. Just as you shook him off, (by walking fast, pleading poverty, ignoring him, or repeatedly saying no – a combination of all these seemed to work best!) another one would come out of the woodwork.

But, even though almost every shop is selling tourist souvenirs, and so many of its historic buildings have been turned into boutique hotels, Zanzibar still has the feel of a “real” town – a visit to the teeming market, with its pungent fish and meat sections quickly confirms that. But, with its collection of typically Arabian architecture and carved wooden doors, Zanzibar still retains such an exotic atmosphere – one that often feels more Arabian than African. To me, this is how you’d imagine that towns like Muscat or Doha should feel, rather than the faux historic souks, or the skyscrapers and neat boulevards that are the reality of modern Gulf life.

We had a great time exploring the city’s grand set pieces (the Sultan’s Palace, the Arab Fort, its Cathedrals), but the chief joy of Stone Town is just wandering its narrow lanes at random and seeing what you come across next. It’s one exotic sight after another.

But, as you’re marvelling at what an impressive place this would have been in its late 19th century heyday, it was sobering to think that all this had been built on the back of the evil slave trade – paid for with money made from selling humans like animals in the town’s slave market. We visited the fascinating slave museum at the Anglican Cathedral (ironically built on the site of the old slave market), and learnt so much more about this horrifically dehumanising trade.

The heat was oppressive, so we went up to have a rest, a cooling beer, and a much needed curry at a roof top restaurant – there can’t be many more exotic locations than looking across at the rooftops, with minarets competing for airspace with church towers, dhows floating on the Indian Ocean, and looking across at the monumental House of Wonders next door (sadly shut for renovation).

You do wonder how long Zanzibar can maintain this balance between real life and turning into a 100% tourist attraction (Dubrovnik has the same struggle), but for now this remains a thoroughly fascinating and evocative place that’s a joy to explore. With its fusion of African, Arabian and Indian traditions, mixed in with incongruous European influences too, Zanzibar seems to be the embodiment of the word “exotic”.

April 3rd and 4th – Jambo Dar Es Salaam

You’d have to say that the chaotic port city of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania is hopelessly mis-named.

Its name might mean “Abode of Peace”, but this crazily busy and noisy city is anything but. However, from our experience over the last couple of days, the city’s not half as bad as its rather scary reputation suggests. Admittedly, there were plenty of times that we were glad that we were exploring with a guide, but I actually grew to quite like Dar, as I warmed to its rough and ready charms.

In a city that was only founded in the 1860s, and one that neither the Germans nor the British put a lot of money into, there’s not a lot of historic sights to see here. And, in a rapidly growing place that’s become the 9th fastest growing city in the world, not much of its heritage has been preserved in the city’s uncontrolled sprawl. However, that does make the few historic sights have an extra resonance.

So, we saw 19th century cathedrals that looked like they’d come straight from Bavaria, the Sultan of Zanzibar’s old harem, and a collection of art deco buildings with Indian flourishes that would have looked at home in Mumbai. Alongside all this, were the new skyscrapers that point to Tanzania’s recent economic growth, and outside of the centre are the sprawling slums that remind us that this city has a long way to go on its path towards development.

We saw lots of different sides to Dar, but the main impression is the sheer vibrancy of its non-stop street theatre - throughout, its people were friendly if a little reserved, and would always light up with a smile when greeted with a “Jambo” (hello in Swahili). Fortunately, we saw none of the street crime or air of malevolence that the guide books and foreign office advice warns you about.

One experience sums up our time here. We wanted to visit the Kariakou Market (a teeming place that most guide books tell you to avoid). The street market outside was about as busy a place as I’ve been, but even though we were the only western faces, no-one bothered us (or even paid us much attention). Our excellent guide asked the security at the market whether we could take pictures, and after a long conversation, we were taken up to an office where another long conversation took place. We were then ushered to another office where we were introduced to more bureaucrats who shook our hands vigorously but didn’t feel empowered to make this momentous decision.

This happened two more times, as we proceeded up the ladder of responsibility (how many administrators does one market need?), before we finally met the head honcho, as now 6 of us sat around his boardroom table as we at last were given permission to take a few shots. The good thing was that he detailed one of his Managers to show us around, and as the curious stallholders saw us being led round, it turned out that they were asking our guide if we were here to buy the market! If only they’d known that we were the lowest of low-rollers travelling with Silversea.

Our guide explained that this level of stifling bureaucracy was holding back so much creativity in the country – bright minds and entrepreneurs often eventually give up in this frustrating environment.

Anyway the food market in the basement was fascinating – it was oppressively airless and nearly lightless, as the sweating stallholders either dozed or tried to entice us to buy their exotic vegetables. Like the city as a whole, it was busy, dirty, and chaotic, but not quite intimidating.

Tanzania has so much energy – I just hope that its bureaucrats allow that energy to flourish, so that its wonderful people can drag themselves (and their city) out of poverty and towards prosperity.

P.S. If anyone needs an excellent guide for Dar get in touch

 

March 31st – Marvellous Mahé

Mahe is the largest and most developed of the Seychelles islands, but it still feels like a little slice of paradise.

In a place which has a fairly timeless atmosphere, one of the few places where you can detect signs of change is from the ship itself. Sticking out into the harbour, we could see the large new land reclamation developments (financed by the Gulf States and South African entrepreneurs) where foreigners are being tempted to buy holiday homes. And, high up on the hill overlooking Victoria, we could see a huge new Palace belonging to Sheikh Khalifa of the UAE.

But, apart from these new developments (which at least are a sign that foreign money is coming into Africa’s smallest and richest nation), this is a place where it seems like not much changes. The attractions are still its slow pace of life, its lush mountain scenery, and its fabulous beaches.

I joined a trip to the south of the island, to visit the “Jardin de Roi”, an old spice plantation set up by the French when they still ruled the island in the 18th century. Actually, the original plantation ended up being burnt down by an over-zealous soldier who thought (erroneously) that the British were attacking and would steal all the valuable spice plants. So, the plantation that we were visiting was actually set up in the 19th century, a couple of kms away from the site of the original one.

The plantation was full of different spice plants and trees producing cloves, pepper, nutmegs and cinnamon that once would have been close to worth their weight in gold. Obviously, the value of spices has plummeted over the centuries, but it was good to see where the contents of our spice cupboards would have originated.

Of course, this being the Seychelles, the Spice Garden was also home to a few Giant Tortoises - the height of their slow-motion activity was to lean their leathery old necks out to munch a few leaves offered by us generous tourists.

It was hardly a high octane tour, but it was to get even more chilled out when we were taken to the beautiful Anse Royale Beach, where I had a lovely swim in the bath-like waters before drying out on the beach. As it was a Sunday, there were plenty of locals enjoying this wonderful natural playground with us – what an amazing place this must be to live. Actually, a shopkeeper later told me, that this is a great place to visit for a week or even a month, but longer than that and it got boring – I wouldn’t mind getting bored here for a couple of months.

As if to prove that not much happens here, I headed into Victoria after our tour, and I confirm that the nation’s capital is pretty much comatose on a hot Sunday afternoon – everything shut and hardly anyone out on the streets. If you had a day off on an island full of amazing beaches – would you bother going into town to go shopping?

Seeing as our next port after the Seychelles is going to be the chaotic city of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania, this could well be the calm before the storm – and what a lovely piece of calm it was.

March 30th – Paradise in Praslin

Today we had the gentlest possible introduction to Africa in the form of the supremely peaceful island of Praslin in the Seychelles.

There are a number of reasons why the atmosphere couldn’t really be much more different from what we’re going to see in chaotic Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania on the mainland. Firstly, the Seychelles are 1,000 miles removed from mainland Africa – so remote that there are no problems of illegal migration. Secondly, the place is doing rather well (mainly from the tourist industry), with no extremes of poverty. Thirdly, the people are a comfortable mixture of races and colours that have all settled into the relaxed creole Seychelles culture.

Praslin itself has gorgeous beaches and an agreeably laid back atmosphere, but we took the ferry straight off the island, to neighbouring La Digue, where the pace of life gets even slower (if that were possible). There are no cars on the island, so everyone cycles around, or uses golf buggies – sadly, the romantic old ox-carts that used to be a feature of island life have recently been phased out (which I suppose is good news for the oxen).

There’s a real Caribbean feel to the island – with its colourful houses, African faces (also the descendants of slaves), beautiful beaches and chilled out atmosphere – although, this place seems a bit more organised and even more chilled than the Caribbean.

We were taken to a coconut plantation, where we learnt more about the humble coconut than we’d ever wanted to know, and we had an encounter with the Seychelles’ most famous residents – its lugubrious Giant Tortoises (the only things that move at a slower pace than island life).

But, as ever in the Seychelles, the star of the show was the beach – in this case, the unbelievably attractive Anse d’Argent – a stretch of powder white sand, bookended by huge rounded granite boulders. These granite rocks had been weathered into all sorts of weird and wonderful shapes that made them look like they came from a film set, rather than from nature. In fact, our guide told us that the beach was used as a film set on a couple of occasions – for the Tom Hanks film, “Cast Away”, and for one of the Emanuelle films (to me, it felt a bit more appropriate as a setting for a desert island rather than for a soft porn film).

So, after a bit of snorkelling, and a bit of luxuriating in this most idyllic of surroundings, it was time to catch the ferry back to the “bright lights” of Praslin. A stroll into town (Ste Anne) confirmed that this was anything but the bright lights of the big city, but it was another place with a really lovely atmosphere – friendly people and languid lifestyles.

Our day here confirmed my previous impression that I much prefer the Seychelles to the Maldives. I personally think it’s more visually beautiful, while the culture and people are much more welcoming, and the atmosphere much more of a “real” one (in that there’s no “Us and Them” feel).

What a great introduction to Africa!

March 27th – The Other “Other” Maldives

When Tracy told people back home that she was spending her birthday in the Maldives, they imagined that she would be on one of those picture-perfect desert islands, lying out on a white sand beach in 5-star luxury. But, the reality of the Maldives (at least for most of its population), is that they live in one of the most densely populated places in the world, on the over-crowded concrete jungle that is the main island, Male.

So, till now, my experience of the Maldives had been of the parallel universes of either claustrophobic Male or the unreal atmosphere of the desert islands. But, today, I got to see that there’s now more of a middle course for this conflicted nation – one that doesn’t just keep the tourists secluded on those hermetically sealed resort islands, separate from the devoutly Muslim local population.

Our trip took us to two islands where the locals and the tourists are actually allowed to mix – to Gulhi and Maafushi Islands. Here, we were able to see the laid-back lifestyles of the islanders who are able to actually enjoy a sense of space and access to the ocean that’s denied to the population of Male. Along its sandy streets with their scruffy sun-scorched buildings the atmosphere was sleepy and the people were friendly, if a little reserved.

On these quiet little islands, a few small scale guesthouses have been built, and a so-called “bikini beach” has been cordoned off, where the westerners in their skimpy swimsuits won’t offend the covered up locals. To me, it still feels like there’s a bit of an “us and them” atmosphere going on, but at least there is some interaction allowed.

To be honest, the Maldives aren’t my kind of place – even if the water is beautiful, lying out on bakingly hot beaches is not my idea of fun, and there’s not really anything else to do there other than that. Actually, I find that Male, with its urban dimension is much more interesting, but it was good to see a slightly different side of local life today, in the other “other” Maldives.