If you can believe it, we were on the fence about going on another safari. Obviously we both really wanted to, but… the Murchison Falls safari trip in Uganda put us over budget and the safari trips in Tanzania are significantly more expensive. We debated. And then I realized we couldn’t be an hour or two away from the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater and NOT go on safari… even if it meant returning home a couple of weeks early. Andrew agreed. Now, with our last minute decision, we had to wait for another couple to book the same safari so we could get the lowest price. (We definitely couldn’t afford a private safari for two- and we like people, so we wanted to go with others. You know, if they were cool…)
Luckily, a couple came through, we just had to wait one more day before we could go on safari. So, we joined a group from our hostel who were going out to explore the possibility of an International Festival. We weren’t really sure where it was. Or if it really was happening… But with two taxis full of people, we were on a mission.
We stopped at one school, where there clearly was nothing happening. The taxi drivers talked to the school guards and learned of another school further down the road. When we arrived at the second school, there were cars and balloons and people! The festival existed!
As we walked around the back of the school, we were suddenly transported. We weren’t in Africa. We could have been at any International School around the world. It felt like America, only with a more diverse crowd than would attend in my hometown. We honed in on the food booths. Andrew and I sampled vegetable samosas and chicken tikka… peanut butter cookies and margaritas… and even the Zanzibar mix.
“I’m sorry, what’s the dish called again?” I asked.
“Zanzibar mix.” The woman replied.
“What’s in it?” I asked.
“Zanzibar mix.” She replied. Okaaay… I was weary as I looked at the lime green mixture with bits of what I assumed was bread and crackling on top… I figured I’ve tried worse. And it ended up being surprisingly very good. I still have no idea what was in it though.
We didn’t stay too terribly long, and headed back into town to withdraw a ridiculous amount of bills (the equivalent of $6.00 for each bill) to pay for our safari. And then had movie night with all of the girls at the hostel. I had movie night with the girls… Andrew studied Spanish or something sans girls.
