Jambo

Hello all,

We arrived safe in Tanzania yesterday and got the ferry over to Zanzibar this morning. It's hard to describe how tired we are after the 4.30am start this morning, 8 hour flight to Doha, 1 hour transfer and the 5 and a half hour flight from Doha to Dar Es Salaam. We slept very little on the plane because Qatar airline was fantastic and provided around 1000 entertainment options, FREE alcohol (as much as we wanted throughout the flight), films, music, games and TV options as well as regular meals which were really tasty but kept waking us up. I didn’t sleep at all last night either, strange insect and animal noises all night and mosque prayers in the morning as our first accommodation in Dar Es Salaam (the capital) was a wooden hut on the beach with two beds and mosquito nets, nothing else but a man with a rifle for security. I woke up this morning and despite deet and nets - 8 mosquito bites.

Our tour seems really disorganized which is hardly a huge surprise in Africa. They still haven’t taken our local payment (which is becoming a bit of a security issue) and there’s been no formal introduction at all. Every time we try to ask our tour guide what's going on he nods and runs away. Our tour group is huge, 23 people, mostly 20-30s and from first impressions they all seem much more experienced travelers than us. They've already been on the road from higher up in Africa, subsequently they're all settled into groups and know each other well. ATM, with our tour group we feel a bit like the new kids at school, but I’m sure that’ll change as we get to know people.

We left them today as we'd booked independent accommodation in Zanzibar, just on the outskirts of Stone Town. It is paradise here - the Island is so incredibly beautiful. The locals have stopped Frank in the street and said ‘‘welcome to Zanzibar, we hope it feels like home’’. The staff at our hotel ‘Imani Beach Villa’ have made us feel like family, making every effort to welcome us. When we arrived they put fresh flowers in our room, had drinks waiting for us and the manager and owners, their two dogs Milly and Lolly and a cat that loves Frank greeted us at the gate. There’s only 7 rooms here so you’re really cared for, each room is individual with its own antiques and beautifully authentic Zanzibar décor and 4 poster bed. The food is all freshly caught seafood (proper meaty seafood) and they have 3 chefs that make food all day - breakfast is available all day too! The hotel has its own private white beach which we share with the handful of other guests, as well as a few scattered sun beds and 2 hammocks (Kia and Anneliese know how happy that makes me). The owners have also constructed a wooden tree house to watch the sunset on the beach from. Incredible.

Testament to the hospitality of the staff here, I’m using Simon’s internet while he goes with Frank to watch the Liverpool match down the road. Tomorrow we’re doing one of Zanzibar’s famous spice tours in the morning and visiting a local market, hopefully we’ll be doing a dolphin excursion later in the week and seeing some more of Zanzibar’s beautiful beaches and properly exploring Stone Town.

Right at this moment there’s a huge wooden hut disco happening next door and I can hear the dulcet tones of Elton John and Bob Marley floating through the air.

Goodbye for now, we’ll upload photos as soon as we get a chance,

Em xxx

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