Zanzibar, Tanzania

Zanzibar


Friday evening we arrived in Dar Es Salaam. The outskirts was similar to West African towns - organised chaos, people and traffic and noise everywhere. Locals going about their daily business of trading. Its always exciting heading into a new place and having a birdseye view of what is going on.


Saturday morning we got a couple of taxis and a ferry to the main ferry port and caught the big ferry to Zanzibar. It takes a couple of hours so we sat downstairs and watched a couple of terrible old Crocodile movies, and then the Crocidile Hunter movie which was amusing!

We checked into a hotel and found cheap chicken and chips around the corner. Zanzibar is a mixture of British, Arab, African and Indian influences and this is reflected in the food and architecture. Later we all met at Africa House, a posh, restored colonial hotel where we watched the dhow on the water as the sunset. Also watched the FA Cup final which was a great game.



Next we went to the famous food nightmarkets. The atmosphere was great, by the sea, tourists mixing with the locals. All kinds of wonderful food including seafood. I got my Zanzibar pizza from the stalls where the local ladies were getting theres. Its more like Gozlome than a normal pizza. Very tasty. After an aborted attempt to get into the reggae bar (the owners couldnt agree among themselves how much we should pay to enter, and it got a bit heavy) we went with a couple of local guys to the secluded Garden Bar. They told us a bit about life on the island. They are muslim so don't drink.

On sunday, after breakfast in the hotel, most of us went on the Spice Tour. To be honest i wasnt too keen at $30 but the others were going so i was a sheep and signed up too. And good job i did as it was a great, fun day. First the guide took us around Stone Town which is world heritage listed. He showed us some historical buidlings and the history of Stone Town. Some of it 'has character', some of it is just a mess and fallen down. He took us through the markets and then on to the former slave market (the worlds last open slave market) which closed in 1873. There is now a church in its place. Then we went to Freddie Mercury's house (he was born in Zanzibar) which was just a very normal apartment building with a poster outside with pix and info about him.

Next we hopped into a minibus and headed north to the spice plantation. The guides took us on a walk through the plantation and showed us different plants and got us to rub them together and sniff and guess what each spice was. Some of the plants left like paint on our hands which we used to paint our faces and they made us bracelets and ties and watched from leaves. At the end they gave us various types of tea and fruit. For lunch they took us to one of the guys muslim home where his wife had prepared an excellent curry with pilau rice; We were stuffed by the end. Finally we were driven up to the northern beaches where we checked into beachside bungalows. The vibe up there is pretty similar to beaches in Thailand, although somehow not quite as 'cool'. White sands and crystal blue waters. Lying and splashing in the lowtide on monday morning was wonderful.



On Monday some guys went fishing and others went snorkelling but i stayed back and English Emma and I just went for a long walk along the beach and to the souvenir shops where they sell paintings and jewellery and sarongs. But couldnt find anything I wanted to buy. The restaurant where we hung out was actually built on the water so we were able to jump from there into the sea at hightide. We played beach volleyball with the local guys a few times which was great fun and i was quite good at it too. Once it was too dark to continue we dived into the ocean to get the sand off.



On Tuesday some of us came back to the mainland. Again this was two taxis and two ferries. Dar Es Salaam has a pretty bad reputation so you have to watch and hold onto your belongings very carefully. It helped that we came back with Gav the guide who speaks Swahili which is the native language of Tanzania and Kenya. Also, at the campsite there are more mozzies than i have seen anywhere else in Africa. Got bitten on the belly in the shower!



Wednesday I went for a late afternoon dip in the sea, and noticed some guys playing beach soccer so swam along the shore to them and asked for a game. They were all local guys and 3 of them were Masai (warriors) dressed in their traditional dress which i think included a sword. It was pretty strange playing soccer with the Masai but they certainly got stuck in. It was a pretty low quality game but great fun. Only the guy from Uganda could speak English. When they wanted me to pass the ball they just shouted "Mzungu", which is Swahili for White Man. That evening we watched the Lion King in preparation for the Safrai game drives……………………