Zanzibar Part 5: Kindness

If I happen to forget all of my memories and I can only have one to hold, I believe this would be the memory;

After walking all over Stone Town in the heat and crowds we are unsuccessful in finding an ATM with money. Between me and my travelling comrade we have 400 thousand shillings, translation: 350 dollars. The catch is, it has to last us 7 days. My friend is slightly stressed, fortunately I have inherited my fathers’ ability to remain calm in the face of adversity and I reassure my friend we will be fine, it was only adding to the adventure. We have to get to the other side of the island and we need to find a taxi. Hailing down a cab was easy; bartering a price we could actually afford was not so easy. The driver was perplexed as we sat exasperated on our packed bags and explained that we had very little money, and would truly appreciate him helping us out by lowering his price to our almost criminal offer. Thinking quick we offer him a cell phone as well, a cell phone and 30 dollars. He wanted to see the phone. We show him the cheapest model of a motorolla phone and he laughs. At this point he realized we were desperate and he settled for the cheap phone and 30 bucks in return for his 2 hour taxi drive into the remote village of Jambiani. He said that he hoped we would remember this act of kindness, he wasn’t mad or irritated, and he was helping out 2 foreigners because he could.

We started on our drive very relieved and grateful to be on our way to Jambiani. Our driver; Abraham was a lovely man, we learned about his life. He has a wife and two children. He was born and raised on the island. He wanted to know about us and our country. He was a kind person. Everything was going great, until the back tire went flat and we were once again outside in the heat. Abraham was more concerned that we were going to be annoyed than he was about the flat tire and jack that was too small to lift the vehicle. 5 minutes after we were waiting by the side of the road a large cargo truck-full of men drives by and sees the scene. The truck immediately pulls over; they all jump out and fix the van in one minute. Although there was work for one person, they all helped out. They all wanted to be of assistance. When the tire was changed they all jumped in the truck again and drove off. It was actually funny how quickly the problem was solved and the manner in which it unfolded, the world was showing me how generous people can be.

Back in the van. We remember we did not actually make a confirmation at the guesthouse we are travelling to, we only made a tentative reservation, the guy who ran the guesthouse (his name was Mr. Dude- I swear to you) said it would be cool for us to show up. Show up we did. Arriving in Jambiani our taxi driver helps us unload our bags; we all hug and exchange thanks and best wishes. Mr. Dude comes out looking worried; we figure he has no room for us. He explains that all of the rooms are full-but-he has done up his room for us to have for the week. He takes our bags down to his quarters and sure enough Dude has prepared his room for us. We just cannot believe his kindness, giving up his own room in his own guesthouse for us; he is going to stay down the beach at his friends place!!! And this is the best part- he tells us that he is only going to charge us half the price of a regular room! So the universe out did itself again demonstrating how perfect life can play out when you relinquish control and have faith.

The time spent at Dude’s guesthouse was beyond all fun I’ve ever had, we had beautiful meals and comfortable beds each night. At the end of my stay I really couldn’t have asked for anything else other than more time. Not only did everything work out perfectly, I still had about 50 dollars left over.

The kindness could not be contained in the bodies of Mr. Dude, Abraham, the men in the truck, and all of the people who were part of that day, the kindness overflowed and swept me away with its current. I am happy to be floating along in the river of kindness of that memory.