Jumbo!
We are now in Africa and enjoying this remarkable place; grant it, we haven't gotten off the tourist trail yet, but that will be later in Tanzania! In the mean time we are going to appreciate some of the most famous places this continent offers!
You may wonder why I haven't titled this post - Tanzania, well, Tanzania indeed owns Zanzibar, but historically speaking, Zanzibar has been its own entity, albeit owned by many different empires, mainly and most recent before Tanzania, the Omani! The Arabian architecture is evident as you stroll through Stone Town - Zanzibar's capital. Another group of people who have settled in Zanzibar are Indians and we were sure happy to see them as we arrived and read the menus of Zanzibar. Whilst most of the Indians in Zanzibar are very well off, the restaurants have really picked up their cuisine and provided us delicious spicy food. In the past the main route to Zanzibar was by boat from India and many spices were traded here, some of which you can still smell in the markets and see in Zanzibar's cuisine.
Speaking of India, I would have to say it was the last place in our travels we have seen such amazing clothing the women wear. Whilst also very conservative in dress they wear these stunning garbs when swimming. The colors are an amazing array of the rainbow and left me staring, not in culture shock, but in true interest.
Electrifying, well, that's not a good way to describe Zanzibar during the moment due to its shortage of the sparky utility. Power cuts are a daily occurrence and it's not uncommon for the electricity to drop 10 times/night! In fact, in December, "coincidentally" before the elections, the Tanzania to Zanzibar power cable was severed and Zanzibar was without electricity for three months!
Our path - Dar es Salaam > Stone Town > Nungwe
Friday - Slave Market: Not the most beautiful start to a day, but I'll tell you more soon. We landed in Dar es Salaam around 0630 and made a bee line trip to the port and headed to Zanzibar. I am never one to skip the main city, but I hear in Africa things are different. From what I saw of Dar, I wasn't excited, but who knows, maybe if we gave it a chance, possibly on the way back. Once in Stone Town, Zanzibar, we didn't realize it was the high season and stupidly didn't book accommodation. Nothing too tragic, but it took a while to find a place, whilst dodging the many touts. Eventually we were settled in a room with a stunning view and started our exploration of this labyrinth town. The most impressive site of our trip was the Slave Market where the abolition of slavery was delayed until the 1870's, making this location the last known slave market. Seeing the tiny quarters where so many people were held was gut wrenching. We later went to Mercury's for drinks and dinner - named after Zanzibar's most famous person - Freddy Mercury! After we stumbled upon a night market which was a seafood paradise! We had just eaten, but still found room for a grilled calamari and a crab claw the size of Marina's hand ($6)!
Saturday - dalla dallas: After a taxi "issue", we caught the local bus from Stone Town to the northern most point of Zanzibar, called Nungwe. The ride was a very cool and authentic experience. We sat next to a local businessman who spoke excellent English telling us about his time in Wales, during which we had live chickens two seats from us. Once in Nungwe we found a nice hotel and made our way to the beach. The turquoise waters reminded me of our recent trip with the family to Aruba. The rest of the day was all about relaxing on the beach, having a few drinks and a delicious seafood dinner that evening.
Sunday - Diving the Indian Ocean: Zanzibar is well known as an excellent place for diving so we figured we would try our luck. Before we even entered the water we saw multiple dorsal fins only 50 meters away showing a good sign of marine life. No not sharks again, these were curious dolphins checking out the dive boats. The dives were stunning, and we saw a huge variety of fish, a turtle, giant groupers, blue lion fish, and spectacular fields of coral. We used the rest of the day once back on land to repeat the previous days lazy behavior, sun, drinks, and seafood!
Monday - Rock Lobster & Barracuda: Well, I can't really report on what we did today as it wasn't much. We were at the beach early and soaked in lots of sun. Besides my Russian lesson and Marina's completing a few chapters of English we didn't do anything productive. This was our last day of rest before we take on the continent. For dinner tonight we had a fabulous meal - Rock Lobster and Barracuda - all for the price of a Burger King meal for one in Oslo!
So what's next - tomorrow we are heading for Moshi and the task of climbing the biggest mountain and also volcano, in Africa - KILIMANJARO!
Until next time,
Kwa Heri,
Dan and Marina
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