Tyson: Zanzibar New Year

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For the last 4 days we've been living large in Zanzibar - the Tanzanian equivalent of the Caribbean. In a bout of deja-vu we were forgotten at the airport by our tour group and had to make a few phone calls before we were eventually picked up. When we made it to the hotel there was only one room remaining which had a twin bed. Yay...

After sorting out the room, we were free to explore Stone Town, which has remained relatively untouched since it's founding. The town is well named, as there isn't a wooden structure to be found - wood being used only for intricately carved doors to important buildings and landmarks. Another suitable name could have been 'Maze Town', as there isn't a rhyme or reason to the layout of the town - urban planning must have been a later invention. The brochure said the best way to experience Zanzibar was to get lost - I think it's just easier for them to say that than to map and name the streets.

We ate a quick lunch and set off to explore all the little shops in town - and I do mean all of them. After a whirlwind of haggling and commerce it was time to see the fabled Zanzibar sunset which we were told is best viewed from the second floor bar of the 'Africa House'. We got there a little early giving us time for a few drinks until it was finally show time. The sunset hurt my eyes and turned the bar into a sauna - I give it one and a half stars... With our seared retinas we then set out for dinner, choosing a nice 'local' restaurant instead of one of the bigger tourist destinations. There we decided to order the fisherman's feast - the most expensive item on the menu which consisted of two of everything in the ocean and I'm sure equivalent to half the food consumed on the island that day. It took a little less than two hours to prepare - I'm convinced they needed to go catch a few of the items - by which time I was so hungry I ate some of the more exotic dishes like octopus and lobster.

The following day we went for a boat ride out to 'Prison Island' which started as a prison for unruly slaves, then became a hospital for cholera victims and is now home to a gift shop and restaurant. Oh and about 100 giant tortoises too, in case ruins and a gift shop aren't your thing. During the snorkeling part of the tour, one of the snorkelers was stung by a sea-urchin and in the process of removing the barbs fainted a multitude of times. We thought this strange behavior and cut the tour short. Returning to the hotel we found we had been been given new accommodations just in time for New Years Eve - the presidential suite. This was definitely a situation that called for a giant party.... We fell asleep by 9:30. Before passing out though we decided to try one of the local attractions: an open air food market. It consisted of dozens of different tables preparing the Zanzibar equivalent of street meat. I was a little hesitant to try anything but Anne dove right in, ordering a skewer of prawns and another of barracuda.

After making full use of the presidential suite and surviving the street meat, we left for a spice tour and our final destination of the whole trip: a beach resort on the north coast of the island. The spice tour was very educational as I now know spices are not natively found in little packages in the grocery store and actually require a lot of effort to produce. I can also identify coconuts and pineapples with a certain level of confidence. After fully stocking our spice racks, we were whisked up to a beach resort with sandy white beaches and clear blue water that could be mistaken for any number of paradise locations around the world. Naturally I'm bored out of my mind and hiding in the air conditioned room.... Anne however is loving it and she's spent every minute of sunlight laying out on the beach.

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