a tour of Paje

One of our last days in Africa was spent in Paje, Zanzibar. We would often walk around the villages that we were staying to see how life was outside of our hotel room. I found it fascinating how many people travel to Zanzibar and don't truly get an idea of what life in Africa is like. All of the expensive resorts are surrounded by high concrete walls separating the resort from the people, trash, and animals of the village. The resorts were all inclusive with beautiful pools, spas, bars, restaurants, and shops. People staying there are catered to and have every outing arranged through the office. They fly directly to Zanzibar and ride in a personal taxi to their resort. They stay for one week getting massages and pedicures and then are back to their homes. ANYWAY, we liked to walk around the villages, say a few words that locals may understand, take pictures, and observe life like we will never see it again. Here is a village through our eyes:

The kids were the cutest things alive. They were soooo very excited to get their pictures taken and then they giggled and laughed and LOVED to see it played back on the back of your camera. Keith and I both took tons of photos of them just so they could see themselves. To think about how many of them rarely see what they look like...no mirrors, no cameras. We literally made their day. They played in the streets with anything: old water bottles, empty gas cans, tires, old tools, knives, broken cardboard boxes. This guy below was hilarious! He wanted his picture taken quite badly and then when Keith was taking it, he started doing this karate/kickboxing/dancing routine that was complete with sound effects. He made probably 5 videos with us and was the happiest kid ever to watch them. Keith and I loved it...possibly more than he did.



We also met a man in this village that asked how long we'd been in the area so we told him that we had been in Africa for 6 weeks and only had a few days left. He looked at me, then at Keith, then at me again and said, "you're WHITE!" In case I didn't realize that. Sadly, I thought I had a pretty good tan going on. He dashed that thought. He couldn't get over the fact that we (more specifically I since Keith is darker complected than I am) had been in Africa that long and weren't dark. I'm unsure if he is confused on the thought of races/genetics or what. He almost acted like he was under the assumption that he was dark because he lived close to the equator and was in the sun all the time...in all actuality, he's just black.