By ChicaMod Editor
Taking the ferry can be a daunting experience. There seems to be a million people on its threshold, waiting, panting, pulsating. When they move, the air moves with them, swift, heavy, humid. When the ferry comes, some people begin to run and you fear for a stampede. You hold your breath and watch, and then remember that you should be moving along too.
It can feel claustrophobic; there are so many people cramped in one small place. If you're new on ferry travel, your heart jumps to your mouth when the motors stop turning. You suddenly think of ferry disasters; Mtongwe, and Zanzibar. The Zanzibar one wasn't even that long ago!
But then you see the calm faces around you, and the length of sea remaining to cross. You could probably swim across if anything happened. So you breathe out.
Getting off the ferry is just as dramatic as getting on it. The air shifts, a massive blanket that rolls off the ferry and onto the solid ground. The passengers are frantic. They have places to go, things to do. You're a holiday-maker and you can't understand what the hurry is about. Besides, there is a myth about coastal people and their laziness; about sitting under trees all day and waiting for mangoes to fall on their heads.
When they half-walk half-run out of the ferry, you almost want to stop the nearest man and ask him, "What happened? Why are people running? Was there an explosion?"
But the second time you take the ferry -on the journey back- you have a much more pleasant experience. Perhaps it's because you know what to expect this time. Or perhaps it's because it's evening, and ebony calm covers everything. The city lights are out; the waters glisten. You were among the first to get in this time, and you chose a riding location at your own luxury and convenience. You look at ships, at pearls in the water, at the approaching outdoor advertising in the north coast where bright figures move about a giant screen.
It's so beautiful you want to close your eyes in shame, or cover it in modesty. This woman -the sea- must not show its female parts to you. She must not offer you so much of her heart. And when the lights move about your eyes, you are shocked to find that it actually moved you to tears.
Photo Courtesy:www.panoramio.com
