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Zanzibar has no electricity. It’s dark, mon.
Posted by daveb on June 11th, 2008
We’re on the beautiful, tropical island of Zanzibar, a couple of hours off the coast of mainland Tanzania. The island has no [permanent] electricity right now. Apparently the single oil-cooled underwater cable recently leaked and burnt-out. It’s a highly specialised cable and will take months to replace — not even the renowned African ingenuity can save the day! Consequently, no-one on the island has reliable power.
So what does this mean to us and you?
For us, it principally means that everything is more expensive than it should be. To put the lights on, the hotels and restaurants are running generators for a few hours each evening, and thus burning expensive diesel (I certainly don’t need to remind you how expensive petrol is right now). These costs are being passed-on to the consumer (that’s us) and so most things are more expensive than they should be: My two international cost benchmarks, beer and internet, cost double here when compared with the mainland. The supermarkets (supermarkets? Yeah right!) have no food at all and so we have to eat at one of the two restaurants with generators.
For you, it explains why our blog posts have taken such a long time to surface; our blog comment and e-mail response will also be poor in the near-term.
Welcome to Africa, where nothing can be taken for granted and everything changes in a moment.
PS: The hotel’s generator just conked out and all of the desktop computers around me survived for about thirty seconds on the [link]uninterruptable power supply[link], but my laptop carries on regardless — yay for laptop batteries!
PPS: Not that I can publish this post at time of writing, as the internet service is down — presumably the service provider can’t generate enough power either. “Maybe tomorrow it will work”, is the present estimated time-to-fix…
PPPS: The diners in the restaurant opposite us are now trying to locate the morsels of food on their plates in complete darkness, without music, whilst the waiters are busy trying to find some candles… This is hilarious. And very dark too. (Notwithstanding my bright laptop screen which is now drawing a lot of attention — dimming the screen in an attempt to remain inconspicuous.)
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Comments
Comment from Sista
Time: June 12, 2008, 1:11 pm
Hiya kids,
Lovely to catch up with your news – Zanzibar sounds lovely, if a little ‘dark’.
I have just returned to the Thai mainland following 10 days on Koh Tao/ Turtle Island (not that I saw a single one). I am now officially a PADI Advanced Open Water diver!
Man, that night dive was terrifying though. Won’t be doing that again in a hurry/ rough sea.
I am writing this from Hua Hin, one of Thailand’s nicest beach cities and summer home to the Thai king. It’s a mere two pick-up trucks, one catamaran, one 3-hour train ride (only non Thai on the train too) and one old-man-on-a-rickshaw away from where I woke up at 5am this morning. Am staying in a lovely Lonely Planet recommended B&B – AND i HAVE HOT WATER FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 9 DAYS, YAY!
I did shed a tear leaving Koh Tao this morning, I must admit. 10 days on that island and it felt like home. I even made some Thai friends, especially the old ladies at Paradise Massage who helped me to wake up yesterday morning without any back pain for the first time in months! At 4 quid an hour, a good old snap-yer-back-into-shape rub-down has been my daily treat since I arrived.
I’m off to have a hot – that’s a HOT HOT shower and lie in the air-con coolness of my lovely room!
All my love xxx
Comment from daveb
Time: June 13, 2008, 4:16 pm
Hi Sista,
Oi! Get your own blog, mon! (Just kidding)
Nice to hear that you passed both your diving qualifications… and managed to escape without an ear infection from the bacteria in the water (unlike me).
I know what you mean about having hot water. Mind you, any sort of running water is kind of a bonus, nowadays!
Comment from Sista
Time: June 15, 2008, 6:05 am
Hello from Bangkok.
Nah – much more fun hijacking yours. And if you checked your email/ Facebook more often I wouldn’t be forced into sending you my news via your blog!
Sorry to hear about ear infection – nasty. Poor you. If It makes you feel less of a loser, I currently have two bandaged fingers on my left hand, plus assorted cuts and bruises on both feet, left leg (which also looks it has been in a fight) and torn ligaments in my right thumb. All thanks to a fight with a rock 30m underwater (which I lost), a high swell which sent me reeling into the boat ladder on the ascent and cut open my leg in several places and, err, an accidental move in a Thai massage parlour while turning from my back onto my front and aggrevating an old skiing injury from 10,000 years ago.
Am off to explore some temples and grin at some monks.
Wonderful to hear all your news. Write more soon.
xx
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