I realize I walk out of every trip saying "best trip ever" but it always feels that way. Yes, I may have complicated my knee injuries climbing that mountain, lost 15 pounds on the mountain and gained 10 back from all the boozing. But I also came back a tad bit wiser and with a renewed determination to see and experience more cultures around the world. Dubai was awesome and such a unique experience, this being my first time in the Middle East. I loved learning...

After a couple more Kilimanjaros, judging a bunch of not-so-attractive guys with hot chicks (we figured it out when they boarded first class), and acquiring a duty-free bottle of Konyagi for the road, for which I got a disapproving look from Dubai customs officials when they searched my carry-on during layover, we boarded a relatively uneventful plane ride to Dubai. Well, uneventful until we landed. We must've taxied for a good 15 minutes. We literally pulled...

Tired, cranky and with throbbing headaches, we decided to head to the nearest restaurant to regroup and grab a bite to eat. Our taxi driver dropped us off at Steers. Located in a food court, it was supposedly the best Western burger joint in town. But Burger King it was not. I'm a little horrified that this is what Tanzanians think American burgers should taste like. As a side note, it was at this food court that we saw the best dressed man I had seen all tri...

Our whole trip, we had relied on borrowing people's alarm clocks (Thanks Angela and Mike!) and our wonderful human alarm clocks (Thank you Marcuz, Fabian, Andrew and Mr. Bean!). This proved to be a problem on the last day when none of these awesome people ended up on the island with us. Luckily, we were woken up by the morning call to prayer at a nearby mosque. Bleary-eyed and confused, it took us a good ten minutes to figure out that we were about to miss our fe...

Post check-in at Princess Salme Inn, we headed to the main stretch of Stone Town to explore and, more importantly, to eat. Unfortunately, we hadn't realized that our trip would coincide with the beginning of Ramadan. Despite being a tourist hot spot, Zanzibar is first and foremost a dedicated Muslim community. This meant that, despite being willing to serve meals to mzungus during the day, most restaurants would honour their holy month by opening later than the...