Zanzibar - Spice Islands,Turquoise Waters & Friendly Locals

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After a superb Ethiopian Meal at Addis in Dar in Dar es Salaam, we took the ferry the next day to Stone Town, Zanzibar. Stone Town has a interesting culture with a mix of Persian, Arabic, Indian and Bantu influences. To this day, one can see the influences in the exquisitely carved doors of most Zanzibari homes. Zanzibar was a city state until the 16th century with key trade links between Africa and Asia. After being a Portuguese colony briefly, it was ruled by the Omani Sultans until 1963. It then was joined with Tanganyika to form Tanzania. To this day, many locals consider themselves Zanzibaris and not Tanzanians.

Stone Town is a beautiful town on the south west coast of Zanzibar main island. The narrow, labyrinthe alleways reminded us of Morocco. Alison had her fill of fresh sea food in Stone town. We stayed at Baghani Guest House, which is well decorated with Zanzibari furnishings and has good ambience. We met couple of Zanzibaris, Eddie Jiddawi and Amjam. Both were very helpful in helping us navigate the Island and help with Accommodation. Thanks to Eddie and Amjam we had the opportunity to have some local delicacies like the halwa and coconut pastries and buy some good taarab music CDs. I wish both Eddie and Amjam all the best in their business ventures and do keep in touch.

After couple of days in Stone Town, we went to Nungwi village, a beach village on the northern end of the Island. We spent the next three days relaxing on the beautiful beach, getting massages, eating tropical fruits and fish. Alison did have a stomach upset for a day, but recovered fast to enjoy the warm turquoise waters. One evening, we went on a sunset sail and another day, I went diving to see many turtles and variety of fish.

We returned to Stonetown to head back to Tanzania Mainland. Before we left Zanzibar, we had an excellent meal at Monsoon - a local restaurant where food is served in traditional style on cushions on the floor and local musicians playing the Taarab music.

Our next destination is Malawi. We opted to take the famous Tazara train from Dar to Mbeya, near the malawi border. The train is supposed to depart at 9 am and takes 24 hours. The train was delayed by 3 hours starting from Dar. But, then this is Africa.. go with the flow.

Couple of hours into the train ride, the train goes through Selous national park. It was exciting to watch Giraffes, Zebra, Deer, Buffalo etc. through the train window. I was glad we took the train ride, but then things took a turn.

The train was stuck for 8 hours because a goods train was derailed ahead of us. Now, we were late by 11 hours and expected to reach by evening instead of the morning. Mid morning, we found out that there was a problem with the locomotive and track problem further ahead. That delayed the train by another 7 hours. But, once the train started it went through tunnels and bridges over valleys and was excellent scenery. We went to bed assuming we will get up early and be in Mbeya. Lo and behold, there was another delay for 4 hours and we finally landed in Mbeya 26 hours behind schedule ! That is it for Train rides in Africa for us..

But, we finally reached Malawi - sometimes referred to us as Scotland of Africa due to its lakes and green hills in the north.

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