AMEN!

Now I would vote for him! 

A pocket of wonder.

Zanzibar, An archipelago off the coast of Tanzania. Although being part of the country of Tanzania, Zanzibar is self automated. The capital is Stone Town, A historic city where the African, Arabic and Indian cultures blend seamlessly and coalesce into a fascinating and enigmatic community.

A rustic place, they call it Stone Town for  reason, the rock, earth and stone rise out of the dust into strong hold buildings. With an architectural mix of stone and wood, ornate doors, panelled shutters and wooden balconies over hanging the white walled stone buildings decorate the city.

Once a slave trading city, 60 000 slaves were said to of been imprisoned and sold through Stone Town's ports. The city now deals in spice, Rich in spice trade and farming, it also has an equal amount of bazaars and bustling markets to sell the colourful produce.

The modern art of south and central africa like its landscape tends to be rich in colour, full of bold silhouette imagery, featuring its people and animals.
Around the corner from a favourite coffee house (Zanzibar Coffee) was the art shop of this man. 

 With skills learnt from his uncle and developed over the years he fervently continued to slap on colour, move it and shape it into the colourful Masai image you see below. He allowed me to take his photo as he painted, fluidly shaping the layers of paint with what seems like ease and without hesitation as he continued to converse with me at the same time.

Stone Town is a maze of close knit buildings and small stone paved alleyway streets that calls for mostly pedestrian traffic within the centre of the city. The buildings create streets that criss cross, zig zag, some only 2 metres long that can hardly take on two lane traffic. To the untrained visitor it really is a maze , you can't see further than 80 metres at a time, everything tends to look the same and you find yourself walking into a dead-end or right where you started. Nothing is straight forward here, there is no direct route, you will have to take turn after turn, it feels like you're leading yourself back to the mainland and go down unfamiliar streets that you're pretty sure you didn't take before but you'll be where you needed in 10 minutes or less.

One day trying to find ourselves back to our hotel, we kept finding ourselves lost. After three failed attempts to lead our selves out of confusion and 30 minutes of getting further away from where we wanted to asked these two boys for some help. Thank fully they obliged, and on his bike led us back to where we wanted to go.  

And it seems as simple as that we were back. 

Stone Town is also known for its doorways, grand, eclectic and beautifully crafted entry ways, inspired from Indian and Arabic influences they adorn many of the buildings of Stone Town, adding to the beauty and cultural identity of Stone Town.

Much of the city and its activity seems to happen behind its walls and doors, where the real Stone Town seems to be. Either escaping the heat or prying eyes. There is an ominous ever present energy present, adding to the cultural mystique. You are met with any Jambo's, Hello's and welcomes as you walk the city, although the eyes continue to watch you until you have passed well out of sight. Outsiders are not easily accepted into the inner sanctum of life here, adding to what makes the energy here, that lingering sense of the unknown. 

It is a beautiful city of rich architecture and culture, I wish I could have taken more photos, but the people of Stone Town are exceptionally sensitive about their photos taken of them. So always be weary and ask before taking a photo. 

About an hours drive away from Stone Town towards to the north of the island is a more coastal retreat along the beaches. 

Pristine white sands meet azure waters once again, yet its a sight you never really tire of. No matter where or how many times its seen. The days heat up like a desert on fire, I even had heat stroke one day and I'm Aussie - Phew* Hot stuff. Thankfully the bar sheltered from the heat, playing African Reggae beats serves up ice cold juices, smoothies, cocktails and beers. 

Jumping off the roofs of boats into the water below. 

Our daily visitor, always high and always entertaining.

I always enjoy a coastal towns, and here is no exception. Making the most of their circumstances, is a sea-faring community. A selection of wooden vehicles float across the waters, the dugout canoes of fishermen and the sailboats of sailors and merchants. Taking to the waters, one of the most exciting moments is watching the sails raise and the winds fill them, pushing us along the water in the view of the setting sun. 

A Compelling Truth

The raucous men have the wisest words, because they took on life like it was death or war.
Making recent internet fame, in a minute Jim Carey sums up, quite eloquently, that attaining our aspirations and dreams, like our lives, is a personal journey. And in the bigger picture it's our part to find our place in it and make the most of it.

Zimbabwe

And here are some of those breathtaking landscapes I speak of. 

One of my favourite places is in the Matapos National Park, at World's View. 

Worlds View otherwise known as the summit of Malindidzimu, the 'hill of the spirits'. 

Overlooking the valley below, perched on top are a collection of rock formations the Matapos National Park is known for. 

Large towering boulders, that seem to defy logic. You would assume with any earth shake, gust of wind or storm that passed the area, the boulders would roll like mere marbles down the hill side. And yet there they stand seemingly movable only by the hands of a giant. 

We clamber upon the rocks, its our own adult playground. Watched the sun set over the horizon, listening to the life and times of Mr. Rhodes - Founder of the De Beers diamond company, founder of Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. 

An incredible story of a man, who established Matapos as Zimbabwe's oldest National Park and his final resting place. Admittedly the story was long and I may have stopped paying attention about five minutes in. 

But only because the surrounds were breath-takingly distracting.

Visiting Matapos was one of the greatest days throughout my visit to Africa. 

Beginning with the man that helped make it so, Ian. 

Tall, at least 3 of me, with a charming South African voice that made his stories so compelling, you felt you could listen to him for days. He is a wealth of knowledge with an incredible knack for story telling. Students would do well if he was a teacher. 

And the greatest lesson from that day. 

The rhinos. As we tracked these impressive animals in the wild Ian told us of their plight. The original unicorn, once lived in large numbers, old family diaries describing them in the thousands roaming the lands, you could not miss them, although now such sightings are a rare instance. Since then the rhino has been hunted down to mere double digits, and not of a high amount. Ian speaks passionately and with zeal about rhino conservation, his life dedicated to their survival. At one point nearly coming to tears as he talks of a rhino he grew up with, Ian spoke of this rhino like a best friend, tragically the story took a turn for the worst as he like most was hunted.

Up to 25 poachers are caught a month, rangers with the duty to kill on sight. As many poachers themselves are armed with weapons, its become a game of warfare. 

The rhino is poached for its horn, like all ivory it is seen as a mantle piece, sought out by collectors that decorate their homes. But an emerging demand from asia has seen an exponential rise in poaching numbers. 

Superstitous myth says the consumption of the rhino horn increases penis size and fertility. 

The black market sells these horns for up to US$75,000. 

While those risking their lives, the poverty stricken African farmer with nothing to loose receives 1% of the retail price. 

Horns literally ripped from innocent rhinos for "traditional medicinal purposes" or stupid superstition. 

Leaving behind the rhino family to their grazing we turned our attention to the people who once inhabited the land. 

Climbing what felt like literally a vertical climb into a cave perfect for time travelling with Ian into a millennia ago. 

The bushmen painted theses images with a paint that ate into the rock face to last hundreds of years later to this day. 

Ian told us stories of their nomadic lives, connected with the land and living as one with nature.

Listening to his stories was like listening to tales around a campfire of fairytales at bedtime. 

Zimbabwe is a beautiful country, One of its unmissable sights is Victoria Falls, The worlds largest waterfall. 

And you can see why, even from kilometres away you can see the mists rising out of the cavernous ravine. Easily mistaken for smoke, in the silence of the night you continue to hear the water rushing over the edge and realise even at night it never stops, it cannot be stopped. Watching the thousands of gallons run over the edge of the cliffs, It is one of the most powerful things to witness in life and one of the most humbling. Never ending water rushing and falling, as you stand in its presence water is falls and rises in clouds of mist to fall again like rain all around you. Even on the driest days it feels like a storm is passing when ever near the falls. 

Victoria falls becomes the Zambezi river, populated by hippos and crocodiles, one of the best places to watch bungee jumpers and swingers leap over river is the bar at the bend. 

Some photos of the people met along the way in Zimbabwe.