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After my bus trials and tribulations I spent four days resting up in Kampala, doing errands (Western toiletries!), going to the movies with the friendly Canadian couple that I met in Arusha, and generally chilling out on the lovely grounds of the Red Chili Guest House (where I also ran into several overland tour groups that I had met multiple times in Southern and Eastern Africa). Finally I felt ready to head out and I took another somewhat harrowing bus ride down south to Kabale (for 7 ½ hours the driver sped along and wove at high speeds in and out of massive, Mini-Cooper-sized pot holes). This trip was taken with a young English couple, and we then shared an over-priced taxi to beautiful Lake Bunyoni (even after stern negotiations one cannot avoid the Mzungu prices in Africa).

Third World Travel at above-First-World Prices
[Note that the politically correct term is Developing World and Third World terminology is obsolete Cold War rhetoric]
Africa is much more expensive than I expected, even after researching prices and speaking with others who had been here before. Part of this expense is due to the flaccid weakness of the US Dollar (thanks, George W.) and the large dependence that most Southern and Eastern African countries place on the historically solid US currency; many locals and businesses prefer dollars over their own currencies which may have astronomical inflation rates. Zimbabwe is the current red-headed economic stepchild with recent inflation measured at over 1,000,000 % (your $10,000 cash bundle from last year is worth $1 this year, plus the notes themselves have expiration dates that prevent them from holding any value beyond 3 months). In addition to a devalued dollar, many African opportunists play a fun game I liked to call Screw-The-Tourist where they set their prices in US Dollars, which are nearly impossible to get in Africa (when possible one incurs a hefty 8-15% exchange rate gouging), they adjust those dollar prices based on how far the dollar devalues relative their home currency, and then when you move to pay in the local currency they bump the exchange rate an additional 10-20% in their favor; it’s all just one big, fun, shell-game of getting fleeced at every end.

After 2 full days of travel (3 mini buses, 1 taxi, 1 half bus and 1 eleven-hour long distance bus) I made it from Nkhata Bay, Milawi to Dar Es Salaam on the Tanzania Coast. On the ‘luxury’ long distance bus (no isle seating and with a bathroom) to Dar I reacquainted myself with a lovely Australian couple who I had met the first night in Nkhata bay the week before. Arriving at night in one of the more sketchy cities of Africa we quickly hopped into a cab to be taken to a hostel. The next morning after breakfast I said goodbye (they were off to Ethiopia) and walked to the bank on my way to the wharf where I boarded the fast ferry for Zanzibar (for the exorbitant rate of $35 for the 90 minute trip). In Zanzibar I managed to extricate myself from the hounding taxi touts and walked with all my bags (about 70 lbs or 31 kg).

[June 13 update: To be continued in the next 24 hours with info on Stonetown and Mungwi beach and the long-term power outage.]

Many travellers that I had met on this trip spoke of the amazing paradise beaches of Playa Del Carmen and Isla Mujeres, and in Belize. After being unimpressed with the beaches of Belize I had hoped that Playa Del Carmen would be the relaxing Mexican beach paradise that I had been looking for and which was hopefully still relatively unspoiled by throngs of tourists. But alas, while PDC was massively more relaxed than Cancun it still was too touristy for my tastes. PDC is still an amazing destination by most people standards, but it still was missing the laid back attitude and cultural charm that makes certain places extra special for me (such as Ko Pi-Pi, Thailand).

With only 3 days left to my trip I had high hopes I would find such a place in Isla Mujeres and on the same day I visited my last Mayan ruins at Edzna near Campeche I took a marathon 9 hour trip (2 buses) to Cancun in order to try to make it to that island. I got there later than planned and was under the false impression (as I later discovered) that I had missed the last ferry to Isla Mujeres (it turns out they run until past midnight). So I had to stay an extra night in my dreaded Cancun and on top of that the single rooms of all the cheaper hotels seemed to be booked so I got stuck in a miserably unventilated dorm room of the hostile (it was literally 88 degrees throughout the night). Fortunately I met a fun group of Irish kids and had several Sol beers to prepare me for what I knew would be a less than comfortable night. With a pretty poor nights sleep (due to temp and the all night disco next door) I headed out for bluer waters, so to speak. After an easy bus ride and ferry with an Aussie gal I met at breakfast, we split and I ended up at the coveted hostile on Isla Mujeres around 11AM.

After Tikal in Guatemala I was eager to return to some new experiences and ready to move on the Belize which I had not been to before. My first night was spent in the quaint British colonial town of San Ignacio, near the Western border with Guatemala. There I met a group of undergraduate and graduate archaeologists who were doing a dig in one of the smaller nearby sites. I had a very fun night with them going to a somewhat remote pub that was filled only with locals and discussing the intricate tedium of an archaeological dig which I knew I would never have the patience nor interest for. The next day I hopped a local bus to Belize City, on the East coast, but had to stay in that dingy / shady town because I missed the last ferry to Caye (pronounced ‘Key’) Caulker.

After 4 days in Coron I was ready for some beach time so on Thursday (10/6/05) I flew to Borocay Island , in the Vasayas (Central Eastern Islands), via Manila (the transportation in Philippines is still pretty rudimentary and even relatively short boat rides of 120-160 Km (60-80 miles) can take 24 hours or more and pretty much all flight originate on one end in Manila or Cebu and do not go airport to airport and island to island. Borocay is probably the most well visited site for Western Tourists, but also one of the most beautiful. Since now is still low season the beach is not overly crowded and the guest house rooms are still pretty cheap ($18 a night for a fairly modern room w/ air-con, bath and hot water shower). The sunsets here are spectacular and the pace is certainly that of Island Time the world over, with a perpetually relaxed and chilled atmosphere and a fairly boisterous night life.

5. Go Home

4. Piss away all your money in record time in dirty conditions, with tons of tourists and no beaches in sight; I like to think the unofficial slogan for Tahiti should be, “Third World Living at First World Prices.”

3. Go to Moorea, a much smaller, fantastically beautiful island with killer beaches at just 7 miles off the Tahiti coast. [See Top 10 list, below]

2. Go to Huanine, an even smaller, extremely remote island 30 miles from Tahiti. I’ll have to go there some time. [This option requires a plane ticket on an island hopper or at least a week extra to take the 4 hour ferries each way.]

New Zealand is the most beautiful country! It really has every type of amazing terrain - tropical rainforrests, jungle mountains, volcanic / geothermal mountains and activity, amazing glacial fiords, crystal clear fresh water streams/rivers/lakes,?glaciers, green plains/forrests/hills and amazing islands and waterways/sounds. The outdoor activities are surpassed by none. It clearly has the most amazing hikes from anywhere between 1 and 12 days! Of course the people are amazingly friendly and enjoy a good time, which makes it even that more the better. And none of that even includes the crazy adrenaline junky activities (I’ve already done 3 bungy jumps, 2 jet boats, river boarding, black water caving/rafting, and a rocket ride - more on those to come). I still have 2 weeks here and am sure I will have even more amazing times!