Kande Beach to Zanzibar

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We spent the day driving out of Malawi and into Tanzania, stopping in a small town on the way. Some of the scenery on our drive was absolutely breathtaking, looking out over Lake Malawi.
We were to have a themed evening whereby we would buy fancy-dress for someone else in the group - names were picked out of a hat. We visited a clothes market where we had 30 minutes to buy our clothes. That evening, an enormous fruit punch was made in a cooler box and our outfits were presented. I contemplated putting a picture of my outfit up here, but what can I say - there just wasn't room! (it was a white dress with blue frills...!)
We spent the following day driving to Dar Es Salaam. We took a ferry across from Dar Es Salaam to arrive at our campsite in the evening. The campsite was situated on the beach and we were able to get small shacks looking out over the Indian Ocean. The bar had the worst pool table I had ever seen. Apart from being sandy and having the worst felt imaginable - it wasn't even close to flat! Oh well, TIA (This Is Africa)!
The next day we caught the ferry over to Zanzibar, a small island off the coast of Tanzania. The ferry was more like a plane - air con, reclining chairs and a movie! When we arrived on Zanzibar, we dropped our things off at our hotel(!) and moseyed about the town for a while. We ate in a restaurant called Mercury's for both lunch and dinner - it had a great atmosphere and overlooked the sea. The restaurant is named after Freddy Mercury (of Queen fame) who was born on Zanzibar.
The next day we went on a spice tour which took us through some of the touristy parts of Stone Town (the largest town in Zanzibar), before visiting a spice plantation. We were shown how the plants were organically grown in a very natural and unorganised way (no fields - everything was handpicked from the clutter of different plants). We got to taste some herbal teas and fruits from the plantation including the best pineapple EVER.
We arrived at our hotel on the North beach in the afternoon and were spoilt by the best sleeping conditions of the trip (aircon, light, power, warm shower en suite...!)
We spent the next day chilling out on the beach after a long lie-in (9am!) The sands white, the water clear and the weather warm and sunny - a very relaxing place to be and much needed after so much travelling and go go go all the while. After a couple of swims, some walking into the local village (including getting rather lost) and some downtime in the hotel room, we ate at a restaurant by the sea with traditional dance and good food. We played poker in the evening.
Snorkling had been planned for the following day, but due to poor weather (choppy cold winds) it was cancelled. Unfortunately, showers of rain rather spoilt the morning, but I did get a head massage which improved things somewhat. I had a great milkshake (twice) and walked back into the village for some bits and bobs. I spent some time swimming again in the warm sea and after another game of poker with our cocktail sticks and matches, we ate at another seaside restaurant. The view over the ocean is stunning every time. That evening I watched Vanilla Sky which I'd not seen before and absolutely loved.
We drove early in the morning from the Northern beaches back down to Stone Town to catch our ferry where I now write from. This evening we stay at the same campsite in Dar Es Salaam.

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