Zanzibar

We arrived in Zanzibar and found the list of entrance fees at the Visa Counter entertaining. Every country is listed at $50 except for the US which is $100 and Pakistan which is $200. Hmmmm… guess they don’t want too many Americans or Pakistanis running around. The next thing we noticed when Mr. Moody picked us up was that the government actually invested in paving the roads (what a novel idea!) and that Mr. Moody’s name was fitting for his demeanor. After an hour ride across the island we ended up at Breezes, a lovely resort on the Indian Ocean. We were thrilled to have a few days off and be near the water, which was a welcome retreat after the dust choked roads around Nairobi. The only thing we didn’t realize was that it was off-season in Zanzibar, meaning that it was deathly hot, which probably explained Mr. Moody’s mood.

We spent three days camped out under a shady thatched umbrella covered up in t-shirts, kikoys and hats while we watched Europeans cook themselves into shriveled pieces of overdone bacon. We spent the mornings walking on the beach looking at amazing shells, which are illegal to collect in Zanzibar. Somehow these walks resulted in me be attacked by sand fleas – lovely – and I looked like I had chicken pox from my ankles to knees. Not sure why they only attacked me.

The reef in front of Breezes was amazing and the tides were incredible. The outer reef was about a mile offshore and the tide would go out about mid-day and suck all the water out so that it was incredibly shallow all the way to the out reef. When the tide came in you would never know that it even existed. We got reef shoes and walking sticks and walked almost the entire way to the outer reef, picking our way through the corals to make sure we were walking on sand the whole way. We were greeted by many local fishermen who were searching for shellfish and other delicacies. We saw beautiful corals, starfish, sea anemones, tropical fish, and a coral snake. We’d like to go back and do some diving and kite-surfing next time.

We decided to take a spice tour since the island is known for its exotic spices. More than 75% of the world’s cloves are grown on Zanzibar. Two brothers took us through the spice plantation, which was really some local farmer’s backyard. I thought we were going to literally melt into the ground, and it smelled like old cow poop. The information about the spices was really interesting and I had never seen some of them growing in the wild before. Enormous vanilla beans grew together over massive lattice works under a canopy of trees. Cinnamon trees and bark, cardamom, ginger, jack fruits, lemon grass, and on and on. Eventually I looked at Tyler and started laughing. Somewhere along the way we had turned into manifestations of palm trees - - the brothers had made palm tree hats, rings, neckties, bags, bracelets, crowns, etc. and had bedecked us in these accoutrements along the way! We looked ridiculous! We bought a bar of lemongrass soap, said our goodbyes and headed for Stone Town.

When we arrived at our hotel we bumped into a couple who had been staying at Breezes and had lunch with them. His great-grandfather had been the first British Consul to Zanzibar and had accompanied Dr. Livingston on some of his expeditions. David Livingstone used Stone Town as his base when he was preparing for his last expedition.

Tyler and I took a walking tour of the ancient city, weaving in and out of the small alleyways and hidden doors. We visited the House of Wonders which was built by the Sultan for ceremonial purposes, the old Arab Fort, and the Anglican Cathedral, which was built on the site of the former slave market. Slaves were obtained from mainland Africa and traded with the Middle East. The architecture incorporates African, Persian, Indian, Arab, and European styles and the Arab doors are a particularly intricate. We also found out that Freddie Mercury was born in Stone Town – who knew! Stone Town is filled with surprises around every corner and behind every door there’s an interesting story.

We’ll definitely be going back.