Zanzibar : Spice Island

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Nobody said it was rainy season!
Jumped off ferry and ran in the rain through the winding alleys of ancient Stone Town with our backpacks to our hotel. Hotel was ok and room had deliciously cool aircon. The sun came out so we wandered back through the labyrinth of streets and eventually found Mercury's Bar on the beachfront, which is named after Freddie Mercury who was born in Stone Town. The town is a World Heritage site but it's incredibly dilapidated and dirty - is that supposed to be it's charm?

Night Life
We had sundowners at Africa House which was the first Gentleman's Club on the island. A big bunch of local lads were playing footie on the grass below our balcony. Everytime the ball got kicked into the sea, some poor kid had to keep diving into the waves after it. Then our guide directed us to the Fish Market for some nosh. Rach found this terrifying (market phobia) but Jase loved it as everyone was selling lots of cheap, hot street food that they cook in front of you. There were lots of dodgy characters lurking about, trying to tempt naive tourists with offers of beers etc. but fortunately we managed to fend them off. We both needed the loo (nothing to do with the chilli sauce!) so our guide took us to the Old Fort which must have the worst loos in the world - it was a real Trainspotting moment. There were two stand up loos in the ladies (which Rach has become accustomed to) however they were so filthy. Debated peeing in the shower, but gave up in the end, it was too horrible.

We all said we fancied a nice local bar for an authentic experience, however, our guide must have misunderstood (probably because of the commission he gets at his regular haunts) and ferried us to a nightclub out of town. Initially it was quite scary because we were obviously the only non-locals in the place and it seemed really run down. It was a rooftop bar and there was a huge empty swimming pool in the middle, which Rach kept worrying a drunken Andy would fall into. In the end, it was a fun night, and a lot of the group got dancing away, although they couldn't compete with the crazy local guys who were really going for it to the hip hop music.

Slave Trade
Zanzibar is famous for it's key role in the slave trade, as the costal point where African slaves were sent away on ships. We visited the dungeons where the held the slaves in awful, cramped and claustrophic conditions, to weed out the weak. Then we visited the church which is built on the site of the slave Whipping Post. As it was Sunday morning we caught a service, and was quite haunting to listen to the unaccompanied singing of hymns.

Spice Tour
We travelled out to a Spice Plantation, which was very interesting. We got to sample lots of different spices, including ginger, peppercorns and chillis, which were very hot! Little boys followed us around, making rings, bracelets and bags from the grasses. Then we were entertained by a bloke called Butterfly who shimmied up the tallest coconut tree singing this "Jambo!" song and doing mad dances at the top. We also tried lots of the local fruits that they grow on the plantation, including Jack Fruit which is a kind of cross between a banana and pineapple in terms of taste. We finished the tour with lunch at a local family's house. The coconut curry was absolutely delish!

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Photos

Mercury's Bar
Jase having a beer by the beach in the bar named after Freddie, who was born on Zanzibar

Dhows on the beach
The traditional dhow used by local fisherman

Cocktails at sundown
Finally a cocktail in a coconut - we really are on holiday now!

Praying Mantis
Our first big insect, spotted on the Spice Tour

Comments

[Duncan]

looks good
GDay m8 looks like you are both haveing a good time.The photos look good i see the diet is still on hold.!!!!!!! all the best Duncan Joanne