Tanzania - Zanzibar and East Coast

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After the hectic first month or so a bit of beach action was needed... so headed to Dar-Es-Salam to get the ferry to Zanzibar... we had heard a lot of good things about the place but were slightly concerned that it might be overrun with tourists... there were plenty of tourists there but in general it hadnt ruined the place and i would strongly recommend it as a good holiday destination, whether as a backpacker or a package holiday... and it is stupidly hot there!!

Spent the first few days mincing around stone town (Zanzibar City), getting lost in the narrow cobbled streets and exploring the spice markets. We tended to head to the fish market for dinner where you can take your pick from the fresh catches of the day, anything from octupus to baracuda, and get it barbequed there and then for a few dollars...





hired a vespa for the day and cruised to the North and East coasts to check out the beaches, for some reason they are pretty keen on their seaweed farming in these parts... not entirely sure what they do with it all!





The locals were very friendly and we went with a couple of guys to a club on the outskirts away from the overpriced tourist bars... had quite a surreal night playing pool with random people when a couple of Masai (tribal folk from the serengeti/masai mara area) walked in. They looked a bit out of place but when i was speaking to one he sounded all spiritual and spoke about his village in Arusha, until i asked if he liked zanzibar, to which he replied, in perfect English "yes it's verty beautiful here, but f@ck me it's expensive!"

Spent a few days in Nungwi on the North coast chilling on the beach, was really nice here and not too busy and we could wander into the local village for food to avoid the inflated restaurant prices... went to a full moon party in nearby kendwa beach but it wasn't exactly Koh Pha Nang (Thai full moon party isle) but was quite nice sitting on the beach getting drunk!





The weather was amazing, if anything could have done with some cloud to block the scorching sun... but we were lucky, the day we left it clouded over signalling the start of the 2 month long rainy season!

Next we made our way down the East coast on some very uncomfortable roads, stopping off in Kilwa Masoko, where we met some very freindly people and paid a local fisherman to take us across to the ruins of the old swahili kingdom.






Then down to Mtwara for a last bit of beach action before heading to Mozambique... or so we thought. After cramming into the back of a pickup to get to the border we were told that they no longer issue visas at the border! So crammed back on the pick-up to Mtwara, along with half the population of Tanzania it seems. Half the people on the pick up jumped off and hid round the corner while we passed a police checkpoint, then jumped right back on again! Arrived back in Mtwara where we had to break up a full on fist fight between prospective ticket salesmen and back on the long, bumpy road to Dar-Es-Salaam...

Headed to the Mozambique embassy first thing in the morning to find that they have "run out of stickers" which obviously went down like a sh1t sandwich with us! We 'politely' suggested that since they are supposed to be promoting their country and their only useful function is sorting visas and making sure they have enough fecking "stickers" they might want to do something about it!! Ended up calling the guy a jobsworth and a waste of space which made me feel better!

So we had to waste time in good old Dar-Es-Salaam, where it is impossible to find fresh fruit, a laundry that takes less than 3 days, or somewhere to get a drink (strong Muslim influence)! Still, at least i'm not at work!!

Looks like we´re heading to Malawi next!

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