Travelling for me is kind of like learning how to drive a car. I remember that right after I got my driver’s licence, I would only drive with parents in the car. I would drive according to regulations and rarely exceeding speed limits. If I exceeded it, it was no more than 10-20 kilometers per hour. I wasn’t even thinking about driving outside of Warsaw. I lacked both the skills and bravery. In time, I was becoming more and more self confident, the passenger’s seat was empty more often than it wasn’t and the speedometer was showing bigger numbers. I was crossing lines in my head.
Travelling is a bit like that. At first, we “sightsee” our towns. Some people stop there. Then we get to know our countries – the sea, the mountains, the lakes, other cities, to eventually go on our first distant trip. I’m sure you know that thrill of emotion. Do you remember your first flight? Your first travel abroad? Your first beach, but not one of the Baltic sea? You immediately get the characteristic need to take pictures of everything that surrounds you. A lot of people feel the need to try new dishes, they get excited about what’s new. In time some people reach the moment we’ve reached too, and they want to go further, because Europe is not enough. They constantly need that adrenaline related to travel, they look for exoticism, they visit places further and further in the world.
Asia has been such exoticism for us for a long time. Asia, which we love not just for its food, people, beautiful and views we don’t have in Europe, but also for this strange, exciting feeling that was with us on each of our trips. Lately it’s been different… Asia is still just as appealing, but it’s getting closer to us. I wanted something new. I was incredibly excited about the invitation of Qatar Airways and Africaline to Zanzibar. I’ve already been to Maroko, Egypt, but we all know it’s not the same. Zanzibar is a self-governing part of Tanzania. It is made up of Zanzibar’s archipelago, which is two bigger islands, Zanzibar (I’ve been here!) and Pemba Island and a few smaller islands…
We’ve never been to “the Dark Continent”. I was on my way to Zanzibar and I asked myself a question: why??? The answer came to me pretty fast: because of diseases, because it’s too dangerous there, because it’s not a good idea to go there with a kid, because there are terrorists there, because it’s too extreme, because they don’t have any interesting dishes… because I was thinking stereotypically… just like a lot of people do when they think about what they haven’t tried or about what they know from what someone’s told them, which doesn’t always have to be true…
How was Zanzibar and should you open up to Africa? It was hot, exotic, different, facinating enough for me to say a few times that we need to go back there – all of us together. At first I was welcomed by African, sticky heat. I love this moment of exotic travels when it’s our winter. You get out of the plane and you are immediately hit by a heat wave…
You can feel that in South America and Asia. Here, I felt something different. I got my excitation with exoticism back. I was interested again, I wanted to take pictures of everything, I wanted to look at people, catch some moments, admire faces, emotions, colors. Suddenly I felt this strangely exciting need to take pictures of every earthenware hut, every child walking down the street, every Muslim wearing colorful clothes, every animal lazily lounging by the road. Suddenly I felt as if I was on a different planet, in a totally new place…
It suddenly turned out, that Africa, the one held in disrepute, is pretty friendly, extremely exotic, interesting and seems pretty safe. Suddenly I became ashamed of my previous thoughts and I started wondering why I did it so late, why now.
All of it, and all the beautiful beaches, countless water attractions and climatic Stone Town made me open up my heart and myself to Africa. I know Zanzibar is just a second best, that it’s a paradise for tourists looking for heavenly beaches and that some might say it’s not Africa. But if this is Africa’s second best, I want more!!!!
PS. You can read about Zanzibar on Pojechana’s blog – HERE and HERE.
*I saw Zanzibar at the invitation of Qatar Airways and Africaline travel agency, which specialises in exclusive and customized trips to Africa’s countries.
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