After a reasonably calm crossing we arrived on the island of Zanzibar in a torrential rain shower, that’s tropical Africa for you! We were bussed to the Karibu (Swahili for Welcome) Inn Hotel in the centre of Stone Town. We had only a few minutes to put our bags in the room and get downstairs ready for our Spice Tour; it is the “Spice Island“ after all! The first part of the spice tour was, well, different (for different see rubbish)! The second part of the tour was a visit to a fruit plantation was we saw among others, bananas, vanilla, [View Full Entry]

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Spent the morning in Dar Es Salaam waiting for the ferry & then sat at the back for a suprisingly smooth crossing with the occasional dolphin skipping over our trail. Grabbed dinner of lobster skewers & local chapatis at the fantastic night market in Stone Town & then watched the sunset into the sea from bar on the beach. Dessert was banana & chocolate Zanzibar pizza from the night market - highly recommended. [View Full Entry]

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Question: How many times does one need to go to Zanzibar? Well…… when you are invited along to attend the official opening of the luxurious Italian resort in Kendwa, the answer would be = at least three. The troublesome trio of Alex, Jessica and myself flew to Zanzibar a few hours before the inauguration to do some shopping in Stonetown. It was Jessica’s first time in Zanzibar but sadly, she only became very familiar with the shopping district of Stonetown (Kenyatta Road), where the touts sneak up and sing “Jambo, jambo bwana, haba [View Full Entry]

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WHAT? Hot water? Fresh pineapple juice? Lounging on the private white sand beach? Sailing on the Indian ocean in a laser? Walking barefoot? A pool right outside my hotel room window? Sun salutations on the beach in the morning? Lovely pasta at every meal? Sugary cookies for breakfast? Italian espresso? Yup, that’s right, all of the above and then some! Just got back from a fantastic, luxurious and relaxing weekend in Paradise (note the capital P) arranged by the wonderful and witty Alex. Roughly translated, Gemma del Est means “Jewel of the East.” It is an [View Full Entry]

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As I boarded the bus early in the morning in Nairobi I prepared myself for the scheduled 12 hour journey to Tanzania. Interesting sights along the way, but nothing to keep me awake for more than 20 minutes straight! Luckily I woke up in time for the border, for what should be a simple procedure of getting my visa. Should be! When I handed over the $50 U.S., the customs officer quickly smiled and stated he didn't have any change. I pointed out that I had seen the Kenyan in front of me receive his change. Amazing how the officer then [View Full Entry]

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Wow...I don't know how else to describe this town. Old, centuries old architecture, Islamic Arab influence ingrained with a mix of Indian and East African (Swahili) heritage, preserved on an island untouched by modernization yet preserved in its time. One could only imagine what bustling business occurred in this town centuries ago, for this sea faring island reeks of history from many cultures past and is infused in its present form. The Persians, Arabs, Portuguese, and Omanis have all touched this area. However, thanks to the Aga Khan trust for culture, the buildings and streets are bein [View Full Entry]

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Happy Easter! I have just returned to Dar es Salaam after a nice 5 day vacation in sunny, sandy, beautiful Zanzibar. As always, life in Africa is full of mini-adventures, and many amusing moments (at least in retrospect). Zanzibar is known as the fabled spice island and is accessible by either 1.5 hour ferry or 20 minute flight from Dar. Deciding to get some good photo ops, Sean (new traveling partner, roommate-to-be, patient listener of many rants...) and I took the ferry on Thursday morning. After leaving him to sleep off the remnants of a very productive night (I chose to [View Full Entry]

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So here I am in Zanzibar basking in the quiet of an internet cafe which is a contrast to the extremely noisy streets and alleys here. I got here on the ferry yesterday with my brother, my niece Heather, nephew Martin, and a house friend. My brother and the kids went snorkeling, but I decided to go on my own. I had big plans for Zanzibar, but it seems I got into town too late to catch any interesting tours and all my attempts to go sightseeing on my own haven't worked out. So maybe I'm supposed to be just relaxing [View Full Entry]

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Yes, we have now seen some cats! Lions, a cheetah and a serval so far, but the leopard is proving elusive. We saw most of our lions and the serval in the Ngorongoro Crater (Tanzania), the cheetah between there and the Serengeti and more lions in the Serengeti NP. The Ngorongoro Crater was amazing. It was a horrible day when we got up, raining, low clouds and we weren't expecting to be able to see much as driving up to the rim of the crater we couldnt see much further than the front of the landrover. As we went over the [View Full Entry]

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In the last "Stonetown" entry I almost didn't mention anything about the town itself. Stone town is regarded as Zanzibar's capital. The town was named after the coral stone buildings, largely built during the 19th century. The town is known for it's narrow alleyways, large carved wooden doors and covered balconies. The doors are part of the Swahili culture and were largely influenced by Arab and especially Indian motifs. The large brass studs on the doors became decoration after having served as spike covers to protect the inhabitants from elephant raids during the Indian wars. The town curren [View Full Entry]

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