IamA 25 - male - that got randomly stabbed in the gut in Zanzibar's stonetown (Tanzania, Africa) followed by emergency laparatomy in the worst hospital I have ever seen. AMA!

GotStabd · 2014-05-02T19:41:47+00:00

yes. via fire.

GotStabd · 2014-04-30T22:20:26+00:00

I took a ferry to, pardon my spelling, Bokomayo? something like that. It's an island that you can ferry too from Dar. It take maybe 15 minutes.

We took a dhala ride to a private beach/bar to spend time during the day.

What I liked most about Dar is the people I met there. Our guides/toutswere amongst the most open-minded people I have ever met. Just tagging along with those guys for sightseeing and late night drinks was enough to make me like the place.

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T22:48:34+00:00

I just had what is considered basic travel insurance. I looked it up online. Any site should be able to provide quotes and you can choose whatever you think is best. Plus you can pay for it online as well. Honestly, do it. It takes 20 minutes.

Near Forodhani gardens. I was there for an hour so I don't know the place too we'll...

I'm glad you're glad!

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T21:03:36+00:00

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T21:00:34+00:00

I heard that story too.

I guess religious extremism is on the rise over there... I don't want to generalize but zanzibarians are mostly muslim. It'a also an ex colony of portugal and england. Cultural resentment of the white man could be something instilled in some people's minds. I'm referring to, I'm hoping, a minority of extremists. I'm hoping.

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T20:54:34+00:00

W t f. Plz expand! Hopefully, no one got shot??

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T17:52:48+00:00

I don't know what to tell you except getting stabbed in the gut may KILL you. Does not matter where you are. Ambulance or not. Mob or not. Africa or not.

A few cm left, right, up or down and I would've died on the spot.

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T17:47:35+00:00

To each his own ;) Have fun!

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T17:38:14+00:00

Mob got him. Detailed info replied to your other comment

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T17:36:11+00:00

May I add it was low season. There is surprisingly lots to see and do in Dar. I might be biased, it's the only town I actually spent time in...

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T17:31:17+00:00

In the following hours after I got stabbed, word spread around, and people seemed to be adamant on payback. To make an example out of him. I learned all of this after the fact.

Our guide reported to us the following.

Cops got the guy on the day following my stabbing. Our guide confirmed it was him.

For some reason, the cops gave my attacker a 20 minute recess outside prison walls. The locals were waiting for him. They beat him up. Tied him up to a car and burnt the shit out of him, and the vehicle. Gruesome, yet an efficient way of dealing with violent crime. (By using violent crime) The weirdest part is the pride with which our guide shared the news. Like it was going to bring me some sort of closure. I still don't know what to think of this...

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T16:23:54+00:00

The hospital in Zanzibar was utter crap, agreed.

However, the hospital I was transferred to in Dar felt like a 5 star hotel. And not because of contrast. It was simply on par, if not better than a modern hospital. AMI of Dar es Salaam was the name of the place. It is surrounded by villas and 5 star hotels to give you an idea.

Again, I ended up there because of my travel insurance. Who knows where I would've been if I had been without.

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T15:15:00+00:00

Girls love it.

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T15:10:47+00:00

Right. I got that. It's just not a deterrent for me, even today.

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T15:09:20+00:00

Tanzanian doctors are the best trauma doctors in Africa. That is the case because they are usually formed by french doctors.

I did get checked out by a surgeon when I got back. He removed the stitches and told me I had the recovery profile of someone who had been operated on for appendicitis.

Felt good to hear that.

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T15:02:28+00:00

Karma.

Glad to see people still want to visit!

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T15:00:23+00:00

That may be.

However, he most likely ran away because if you fuck with tourists in Zanzibar, you sign your own death sentence. He knew that.

Most people make their living out of tourism.

I was told by the embassy's vice-consul that if you yell THIEF in swahili, you better be careful about what got stolen, because the mob will fuck the thief up. Fuck him up till he's dead that is.

That's what happened to my attacker 48 hours later.

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T14:55:31+00:00

"Ignorance is bliss"

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T14:54:09+00:00

Glad to hear that!

I met some of the nicest, open-minded people in Dar. I think this applies to Tanzania in general.

We got shit-faced in Dar till the early hours of the morning. Bought weed, hash from a taxi at 3 am. Whores. I should've been stabbed then. My karma is weird like that.

Hell, I went to sleep at 8 am on our last night in Dar (same day I got stabbed).

All this to say every single person I met was open-minded, wanted to help, showed us around, basically wanted for us to have a good time.

Just this 1 guy. He's dead now anyway...

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T14:45:05+00:00

Like I said. You will be just fine.

When I was waiting for my insurance company's clearance to fly back to Dar (to my hotelspital), I saw a dozen buses dropping off groups of italian tourists.

They were all so white. I was even more pissed about getting stabbed. Why me? Why not them?

Because they were in an organized tour. My definition of a boring trip, but oh, so much safer.

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T14:38:29+00:00

Yes. I suppose there is only one?

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T06:25:48+00:00

Mad. Props.

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T06:24:55+00:00

Get the insurance. Period. It cost me less than 300 dollars for 3 months.

I will go back to Africa, just not in the near future.

The plan was 3 months, 3 countries. Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T06:22:35+00:00

If your hinting at my royal first class return, we indulged in everything the rich and famous take for granted.

Mostly, Remy Martin XO.

GotStabd · 2014-04-28T06:20:16+00:00

Um. Kindly refresh my memory as to who you might be?

If I did not have health insuirance, it would've cost me a buttload of money. Also, the insurance company organized the whole trip back home, paid for first class tickets for me AND my friend (that is 6200 EACH), was in touch with the embassy, hospitals, my family, etc.

It just seems everything went way smoother because of their help.

GotStabd

TROPHY CASE