Zanzibar ....

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Day 9 - Zanzibar - Stone Town - 7/8/09

Woke up today by the sound of rain drops on the tents. Great! Got up, got dressed and took the tents down in the rain. We were on the truck by 0630, headed for Dar Es Salaam, we were chased all day by a really dark cloud. Eventually after 9 hours of driving we reached Dar. Moses gave us 2 hours to wonder round Dar. I went off with Duncan and Cat; we simply decided to have a beer. We stumbled on The Kilimanjaro hotel so we went inside and had 2 beers. We got back to the truck and got our ferry tickets over to Zanzibar. It was chaos getting on, pushing, pulling, fighting to get on. A typically African affair, I guess you could say! Getting off was exactly the same as well the queue for immigration.

I was in a state of relief to get into the taxi headed for the Karibou Inn. We threw our stuff onto the bed and went to eat at the night market to eat some freshly caught produce. I had octopus, spicy lobster, shark and red snapper with freshly made bread! It was awesome! We finished the night with a few beers and the knowledge that tonight I would be sleeping in a bed with a pillow

Day 10 - Zanzibar - Stone Town - 8/8/09

Woke up this morning about 10 to take care of some admin stuff; sending postcards and writing email and messages. After that I started to wonder and explore Stone Town I started out by wondering though Forloni Park; where the night market had been the night before. It was beautiful, lush green grass and a view over looking the sea. Crossing the park I went inside the old fort, there was a little market inside. From here I went down to the very grandly named House Of Wonders, which was also in a very grand building, inside it contained the National Museum of Tanzania. Paying 800 shillings to go inside I was presented with lots of exhibition about the history of Zanzibar including a model of the first African ship to be constructed with no nails.

After this I made my way up to the site of the old slave market, saying “No thanks” to every kind of street hawker you can think off. These words may be to most used by the end of the trip. At least here in Zanzibar, they leave you only when you say no. Eventually, I found the slave market and paid for a tour guide to show me around; he showed me where the slaves were kept, how they where chained up and where they where sold. The tour took 45 minutes in total then I headed back into town, walking pass the market (which made my stomach feel very uneasy!). My search for a cash machine that accepted my card was proving fruitless; I'm sure that by now I have tried all of the cash machines in Stone Town with no luck! Starting to think that made there’s something wrong with my card and considering getting a new card sent home and flying home just to pick it up! The rest of the day was spent wondering around, just soaking up the atmosphere and walking down the little alleys and looking in shops.

Went back to the Karibou Inn, where I met Harry, my dorm mate and tent mate once we get back camping. We chattered then apparently I collapsed for a bit mid conversation. When I woke up we went out to the night market followed by a drink in the Africa House Hotel where they had a monkey loose on the bar.

Day 11 - Zanzibar - Nungwi - 9/8/09

We woke up fairly early and brought our bags down to reception. I was told of a Barclays Bank to try and get money from. I never found it but stumbled upon another ATM which I hadn’t tried and whoopee do, to my relief it worked. We got on the minibus bound for Nungwi; about an hour and half away. I just chilled out in the back and listened to my music. The journey took slightly longer as the police stopped us for no apparent reason a couple of time. We got to the resort and it deserves its name of Paradise. The resort overlooks the crystal clear waters and white sand, boats were bobbing up and down and some were anchored to the shore. Further down we could see boats actually being built. We walked down to the aquarium across the beach. It was really cool as the aquarium was actually a somewhere where they where looking after the sea turtles from extinction; they keep them there until they are older enough to be released into the wild. We walked back to the resort then relaxed on the beach as the high tides came in; at 5 o' clock we dived into the sports bar and watched the football; Manchester United vs Chelsea. The match ended 2-2 and went to penalties though we didn’t actually get to see them as there was a power cut! We ate on the beach at an all you can eat BBQ; to be honest I was largely disappointed as after my second course they ran out of food!

Day 12 - Zanzibar - Nungwi - 10/8/09

Got up and made my way over to the dive centre for 0900 and met up with everybody else. We jumped onboard the boat and the little motor attached powered us off. The spray from the ocean soaked us but was refreshing as it was so hot! Then every now and again we would get soaked by a big swell. We were told it would take an hour to get to the coral site where we were going to go snorkeling but two hours later we arrived! 1 hour African time obliviously!
I jumped in and stuck my head under the water; the coral was dead due to overfishing before they started to protect it but the fish life was awesome! Loads of fish ranging in colours; black and white strips and fishes in orange and purple! Truly amazing! I tried to reach out and touch them but they simply swam away into the distance, we jumped back into the boat and sped off to a deserted island with nobody to be seen for miles around. We ate, chilled, got burnt (I did anyway!) and headed off. Instead of using the motor, he let the sail down and we sailed back to the resort under the power of the wind. It was so nice, chilled and quite I fell asleep and was woken up when we arrived.

Everybody was waiting for me back at the resort for a friendly game of beach volleyball; which got largely competitive when we played some people that we met; we played until the sun set and then saw out the rest of the evening with food and beer knowing that tonight would be the last night with a bed, pillow and spent in Paradise!

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Photos

Me An d Duncan In Dar
Hilton Hotel Sharing A Drink