Zanzibar and Stonestown...

Ah Zanzibar. This amazing island, about 50 miles off the coast of Tanzania even just SOUNDS cool – and conjures up images of white sand beaches, spices, and sorts of exotic things.

And... that's mostly true.

I caught an early morning ferry – which while fast, continued my streak of having to watch really really bad movies. In this case, it was STEALTH – and if you had to choose between watching that and having a filling without drugs, I'd recommend the dentist. Bad, bad, bad film.

Right – but the good news is that the movie ended, and Zanzibar was just our windows. On arrival, we had to go through their own customs (they're a bit like Tanzania's Quebec – always threatening to break off to be their own country) and then brave another scrum of touts and taxi drivers.

Fortunately I had a hotel already lined up so I quickly started making my way around town. Now, Stonestown is called the Venice of Africa – I'm not really sure why since they don't have canals.

But, they do have windy twisty narrow streets – that will befuddle even the best nav sense.

So, spurning the need for a taxi to walk a 'mere' 500 meters, I waddled around town in my big backpack. And again. And again.

The locals started grinning as I walked past for the third time – asking with a smile if I was sure I didn't need help finding the hotel.

Nope – the stubborn male gene kicked in, and I was in for the long haul. Thankfully, the Clove Hotel was around the corner and I got situated no worries. This is a great hotel – simple, clean, with a sparkling personality and an amazing roof terrace for about $45.



So, naturally, I immediately headed up there for a cold beer (hey, it was just after 12:00, so I didn't feel toooo bad), and then met Jessica, who's a PhD student kinda sorta studying Swahili while her boyfriend is on tour.

We ended up checking out Mercury's – a famous harborside place that loves, loves, loves Queen (Freddie Mercury was actually born in Zanz of all places). So, fresh passion fruit juice and some fresh seafood stirfry, and we were chatting away, comparing travel notes.

The next day – we decided to take a chance on a “Spice Tour” that takes you out and about among the island's spice farms. Ever since the 15th century, this has been Zanzibar's claim to fame, so we took a chance on it.

… and had a great time.



It's funny when you travel – sometimes you just happen to find a very cool group of folks and 'click' with them. So it was on this tour – we ended meeting 4 UK/US med students, a girl who paints book-starved African schoolrooms with pictures, English/Swahili text and lesson plans, and 2 English guys who started a charity to build a school after a late night discussion fueled by one too many pints back in England.



As someone who was just travelling – I felt distinctly less useful!

The tour was interesting – we saw and tasted cloves, vanilla vines, nutmeg trees, plus a whole bunch of unique fruits that I can't remember the names of.

We were at our last farm when I decided to bring out the balloons animals for the local kids.

As you can see – I made a minor miscalculation. Initially, I saw two kids nearby, and figured “no sweat”. But as soon as the balloons were visible...







… I was swarmed.

We got them into a loose kind of order and I was tying as fast as I could – but the kids, they kept on coming and coming. Plus, we saw that some hid their first balloon in their house and ran back.





So, of course, when it came time to leave... it got a little chaotic. There was a near scrum over my last balloon for the girl I promised, and then we had to go.

It was a great experience, but it definitely highlighted that I need to be more careful on where I bring these out!

Right – enough of the balloons... a little delayed, we headed for lunch at the first farm, then down a winding 15 km road then narrow track, to arrive at our first beach.



I know – tough life ;)

We even got cold cokes on the beach, trekked in by a very friendly local guy who needed a bit of a course in capitalism. I mean... you have a group of Westerners that are hot, thirsty, and have a bit of cash. You've just hiked these in yourself – a not inconsiderable task. Your price for a soda?

$.50

Seriously – he needs to charge * gasp * at least 2X that... we'd pay in heartbeat.

We met up for drinks at a great bar called the Africa House for sunset...





… before heading to the local markets for dinner. On Kosi and Becky's recommendation, we all tried Zanzibar pizza.

Now – it doesn't look like much. It's not really even pizza but more like a unique version of African crepes. But, wow, that was one of the best meals we had – some batter, with chicken, onions, egg, Laughing Cow cheese, and chilis wrapped and fried inside.

Unbelievable, and only $1.50. So, naturally, we had to sample the dessert – bananas and chocolate sauce. Heck, that was so good – even I liked it, and I generally loathe all things banana-related.