Day 20 - Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania

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What a day! One of the best so far!

We arose really early at about 4am and had a pick breakfast before piling into 2 taxis (one car, 1 matatu) to go to the ferry port. It was a lot less scary than before and I even fell asleep! We crossed over the bay on the little ferry without having to get out of the cars and were then dropped at the terminal for the ferry to Zanzibar. I saw all sorts of things being taken to the island - 1000 chicks in 10 cardboard boxees all madly chirping away, a guy carring a full sized wardrobe on his back, a bed and some footstools. Soon we were on our way and I fell asleep. I woke about an hour later when it got a bit bouncy and tried to write my diary but I was too excited to concentrate! Soon we were nearing the port of Stone Town. It was baking hot and the sun was beaming down and the Indian ocean was blue on the brown sandy beaches. We met our guide on the island, Abdulla, and went to our hotel through a rabbit warren of little streets with houses looming over. The doors in Stone Town are beautiful - carved woomen frames with brass fittings, although most that had the doors open were in a sorry state inside. We arrived at our hotel and found our rooms. I had a huge double bed with a nice bathroom and TV and dressing table. There was a/c (such luxury) but I used the fan as it made the room nice and breezy. After changing into shorter trousers and I white shirt I went sightseeing (you have to cover your knees and shoulders and chest here because it is a very Muslim area).

I walked around on my own in the back streets trying to memorise the route to the hotel. It was so much fun and most people greeted you saying "Jambo". I was already in love with Zanzibar. I ended up popping out near the Palace and went to the House of Wonders National Musuem, which was interesting but not exactly full of "wonders". I then made my way into the shopping area in the little streets behind the old fort. I bought plenty of things, including a bright yellow and green scarf for myself. Having exhausted my supplies of money (and had my first conversation in K'Swahili) I made my way back to the hotel and put my purchases back in my room before I changes some money into Shillings. I love Stone Town with it's tiny streets and poeple sitting on walld or doorsteps wathing the world go by. The houses are big and grand but they are faded glamour. There is little rubbish and everyone bustles around greeting each other in the street, zipping down alleyways. I loved that one minute you were only getting glimpses of the sky and suddenly you were in a square or on the seafront. It was like a giant maze! I walked past some mosques with many pairs of sandles outside and saw them praying inside. It was mysterious and magical and Eastern and felt like something out of Arabian Nights - I loved it!

Back at the hotel we met Abdulla again and went to the private matatu to go for lunch and then on the spice tour. We drove right into the middle (or so it seemed) of Zanzibar which was so green and lush! We had some lunch in a native house, which was gorgeous pilau rice,octapus stew, spinach and green bananas. The pilau rice was the best I had ever had!

Then we started on our spice tour. There was so much that we saw and I think i have remembered everything:

Cardamom: grows under the canopies of other trees, off a large cactus like plat. Seeds are underneath the runners on the ground. Tastes like minty toothpaste.

Vanilla: grows on trees, green pods which are dried. Has to use a supportive tree to grow up as it has too think stalks.

Ginger: looks like palm, but grows on underground tubers. Good for sea sickness and male aphridisiac.

Cloves: growon big trees as green sprigs. Cloves are picked out of the end and then dried on big sheets in the sun, making them brown and scenting the air. Smells like Christmas!

Peppercorns: grow like sprigs also green off a plant that uses a tree for suport. Tried one - very peppery! After picking as green, they are rived and they turn black (black pepper). Drying and boiling when red gives red pepper. White pepper is a combination of these processes but i forget which. One of Zanzibar's biggest exports.

Cinnamon: grows as bark on the tree. When it is sloughed off it dries and curls into cinnamon sticks. Even fresh from the tree it smells so good.

Tumeric: grows as a tuber. Is brigh orange but doesn't really smell of anything. Dried and powdered to make curry powder.

Nutmeg: grows as stone in fruit. Has red mace over the nut. Supposedly a good female aphrodisiac. Zanzibar women make it into nutmeg alchohol.

Lempongrass: smells really lemony - used to flavour tea.

Coffee: grows as a red bean. Is peeled, dried, boiled an ground and is then used. Not as I'd expected at all - thought they'd be like broad beans in a pod.

Cocoa: huge nut like seeds on a tress. Wished I could have one - no chocolate for aaaaages!

Banana: grow off a palm like tree with purple flowers. One plant only produced 1 stem of banans, but maybe 50-100 on that one stem.

Breadfruit/Jackfruit: breadfruit if it grows off the truck, jackfruit if it grows on the branches. Can grow up to 25kg per fruit! Tastes like bananas and pineapple - very wierd texture.

Pineapple: grows from the base upwards to leaves. rIpe if leaves pull away easily.

Papaya: grow at the top of long stems, shaded by a few leaves. Loads all over Tanzania.

Coconut: grow right at the top of huge coconut palms. Lovely fresh milk and soft coconut flesh. Watched a guy climb 100ft up a coconut tree and hand from the palms!

Mango: grow on trees around the region. Larger ones are more juicy, smaller ones are stringy.

Starfruit-like-plant: very tart, shaped like a gherkin.

Lipstick bush: produced heart shape cases with red berries that can be crushed and used to form a red/orange paste lipstick.

Kapock trees: grows huge trucks (spiky when immature), produces seed cases covered in fluffy white kapock. Soft to the touch like lamb's wool.

Momosa: fern like fronds which close when stroked.

Ali T, our guide, was amazzing - his English accent was so funny. He was fasting at the time, so even in the hot weather he couldn't eat or drink anything.

After the tour we went back to the hotel (the Safari Lodge). I had a shower and a snooze and then dressed in my (only) dress and shawl and went to dinner at Murcury's. Freddie Murcury was born on Zanzibar and the restaurant was filled with memorabilia. I had a lovely chicken curry with pilau rice. We talked afterwards for ages (Ben, Becky, Richard and Ben and Stacy - new couple). We then walked back through the little streets and slept so well!

Sally
xxx

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