An ode to Freddie Mercury

We have arrived in Tanzania!!! Four days ago we took a 14 hour long bus ride down from Nairobi to Dar Es Salaam. The muslim influence was immediately apparent once we crossed the border. Men walk around wearing rectangle hats and women walk around covered from head to foot. Even the environment was different from Kenya. Where much of Kenya is dry and sun-scorched, Tanzania is extremely lush with many palm trees and big bushes. Unfortunately, we didn't arrive in Dar Es Salaam until 9pm, when the sun had already set, so we didn't get to get dinner or explore the city at all. Luckily, we made a friend on the journey who helped us find a reputable taxi and who called us to make sure we had actually made it to the Jambo Inn. Both of us were wary of staying in another big city like Nairobi, so the next morning we booked a ticket on the Sea Star II - a boat that takes 1.5 hours to go from Dar es Salaam to Stone Town (also known as Zanzibar Town), Zanzibar.

Our first views of the island were amazing!! White sand beaches with weather-worn stone buildings looking out onto a vivid green ocean. We had to go through another round of immigration once we arrived on the island and then we began our search for the Pyramid Hotel. Much of Stone Town is filled with alleyways too small for cars, so we just had to set out with all of our belongings to search for the place. A random man from the docks followed us the whole way. An event that completely freaked us out and we tried to duck into different alleyways at every turn in an attempt to lose him. We arrived at the Pyramid Hotel running high on adrenaline and ready to punch that leech in the face (don't worry, we were just frazzled). Later we found out that those guys get a commission from the hotels if the person they bring books a room. We thought the guy would want money for being our "guide."

The Pyramid Hotel is an extremely good deal for the price we paid. Its decked out in full arabic fashion and every room is completely different. The woman at the front desk let us see every available room before we got to choose where we wanted to stay. For the rest of the day we explored the town, met a random man from Ethiopia, and bought a Tanzania soccer jersey for Neal. There is a small restaurant near our hotel, right on the beach, called Mercury's Restaurant that has now become our favorite food place. Named after Freddie Mercury (he was born on this island), the restaurant serves... dun dun dun dun.... PIZZA :)... After a month of sukuma, beans, and ugali, our mouths were practically watering at the sight of the menu options.

The next day we woke up early and hoped on a matatu type van for a spice tour. Our guide took us to a farm that had nutmeg, cardamon, ginger, vanilla, cocoa, green pepper, and a dozen other spices. He let us have samples of each spice, and some little boys followed us making baskets for our spices out of palm leaves. We also got to try radumun (sp?), a spiky red fruit. And jackfruit, grapefruit, and durian. Whew those durian and jackfruit smell. After the tour, we were taken to this beautiful beach - a place I would imagine Thailand to look like. We swam there for an hour and then explored an old slave cave carved out of coral. That night we ate at Mercury's Cafe and watched local boys play soccer on the beach.

This morning we woke up early again and took a boat ride out to Prison Island. Our boat driver picked a red starfish out of the water and let us hold and pet it. Then we got to see the second biggest turtles in the world at the sanctuary they have there on the island. Apparently, the turtles were imported from the Seychelles back when sultans from Oman still ruled over Zanzibar. One of them was about half my height, and about as long as me. They were massive. They were also extremely extremely old. The huge one was 15o years old, and another one with a decaying shell was 185. That means it was around 40 during the Civil War. After, we got to go snorkeling in the water, then we walked around the beach picking up shells. It was an awesome day trip and we headed back to Stone Town a shade darker and extremely happy.

Tomorrow we are off to the east side of the island.

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Part of trip: Kenya/Tanzania

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