Overland Tour 12-15 of 35

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We took the ATC vehicle to a ferry that was pretty much a floating bridge and had a hot 20 minute ride across a bay. Then we took a bus to another ferry which would bring us to Zanzibar where we took another bus to get to our hostel. All in all it took about 4 hours but we arrived with time to put our bags down before starting a spice tour. Oh man! This tour was right up my alley. I enjoyed the heck out of it. I went on a similar tour in Grenada and this one seemed a little more comprehensive. They had sooooo many different kinds of spices. And we got to try them all straight from the plant!!! Our guide for the tour was hilarious too. He had some sort of nervous tick which made the end of his sentences switch into a british accent and kind of trail off. Then he would repeat the last part louder and in a more pronounced british accent. So weird! but he was smiling more than everyone so we all had a good jol about it. We also got to see and smell some perfumes the community made (which included Chanel number 0) and taste a few different mixes of tea. My favorite was lemongrass with vanilla. So refreshing and rich but light at the same time. YUUUUUM!!!! We also had a city walking tour where we saw a few markets and an old fort, etc. That night after enjoying some lobster masala on a stick at the local night market I simply watched while the boys drank beers at the Mercury house. Whats that you ask? Well…Freddy Mercury was born and lived in Stone Town, Zanzibar til he was 8. That means there are at least 3 places of business bearing his namesake even though, if I remember correctly, he didn’t even return to the island after he became famous. Lolol…anything for a buck! Twas a good day though and the next 2 we spent in the northern part of the island in an area with the name of Nungwe. We stayed at a hostel run by an Italian lady who didn’t speak English and her worker who barely spoke English! We also bargained for the room. Hahaha. She said it was high season so the prices changed in December but we were the only ones there so the hand was in our favor. There was a huge party somewhere on the island Friday night and we had a guy showing us the way. He started to show us the road but was called back by the owner lady and left us definitely not sober on some road without lights cutting across the island….We rocked up to a super fancy hotel to ask directions only to find the guard asleep so we turned around to head home when 3 other guys were heading in our original direction and said we could join forces. We made it to the party and stayed til the music was done. It took us about an hour 15 to get there but it was low tide at 4am when we left so it was only about 45 min walk back along the beach weaving in and out of resorts. Saturday we swam in the ocean and enjoyed marching through some more bush on the lookout for something cool. We found another fancy resort and had a coffee and a swim in their pool until we decided it was time to leave. (read: we snuck in, bought a drink, swam, then got kicked out….hehehe) The cheapest room they had to offer was a mere $485 a night. Jeeeeez…..We had a nice meal that was super cheap and tasty and then a few drinks while trying to decide where to go. The Dutch boys passed out early and the ozzy and I turned in as well. The next day was pretty much just getting back to camp in Dar as the next day was the longest drive of the trip…again!

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