Zanzibar

Zanzibar! How exotic can a place name sound?

A couple of hours on the ferry from Dar, and we were in Zanzibar. Stayed the first night in Stonetown, a maze of narrow streets. Old buildings with a very middle-eastern flavour, lots of arty shops and tourists.

Went to the sunset bar to - guess what? - watch the sunset, while listening to some excellent local music and watching the most energetic dancing I've ever seen. After that we went to a night market of food stalls where we sampled lots of local food, wandering from stall to stall. Had to try the famed 'Zanzibar Pizza' , which is like a very thin roti stuffed with beef and veggies and egg. Drank excellent spiced tea and spent some time chatting to the tea-seller's mate, and began, for the first time, to feel that I really am here. Much more like it!

The next morning went with a super guide to see some of the town's sights, including the dungeons of the old slave market where the mind boggled at the cruelty of what had happened there. Then we headed out of town for a tour of a spice plantation, which was interesting and quite entertaining. Children wove banana and coconut leaves into baskets, hats, frogs and bracelets with which they adorned us unsparingly. We met a flamboyantly entertaining coconut cutter who sang as he leapt up a tree. We tasted a number of different spiced teas and fresh fruits, before heading off to a delicious local lunch in the home of one of our guide's friends.



From there, a hot sticky minibus ride took us to Nungwe, a village at the Northern tip of the island. The sea is turquoise, the sand is white... We have a couple of days here to chill out before we head back to the mainland and are on the road again.