Day 34 - 37 - Z A N Z I B A R

Day 34 – 37 (Acacia day 31 – 34) – Zanzibar
We got up early – again… - to head through Dar to get to Zanzibar. We had to get a taxi to the ferry and then walk for a bit to the other ferry that would take us to Zanzibar. Once we were there, our escort (our driver – they are not allowed to guide us but he came along to make sure everything was cool) had an issue getting our ferry passes. Apparently they decided that our ferry tickets should cost an extra $10 each… cash… anyone smell a shakedown? We after much arguing and haranguing, our escort sorted it out and we had to run to catch our ferry. Hey, at least we made it. The ferry out to Zanzibar takes about 2 hours, so it was time for a nice little nap.

Once we got to Zanzibar, it was a bit of a melee to get through customs. Even though Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, you have to pass customs and immigration to get on and off the islands. Our escort helped us get through but not without question. Since it is illegal for him to guide us, there was an undercover cop asking us and him what group we were in, who our guide was and other questions. Apparently he was trying to trick us into calling our driver our guide so he could arrest him or at least get a bribe. Oh well.

We made it through customs without incident and started off through Stonetown towards our hostel. One of the girls decided to make her own way around Zanzibar so we bade her farewell and the four of us (2 girls, me and the driver) went to find our accommodation. Zanzibar, or more particularly Stonetown, is a very conservative community. Our group had been advised that it was best for girls to wear ankle length skirts and full cut (not tank top) t-shirts. There were plenty of tourists who wore their skimpy beach clothes in town and it was obvious that many of the locals, especially the oder generation, took this as an affront and were not happy with it… But our group was fine so we checked in, dropped our bags and got a coffee. We decided to go on the spice tour. This would take us around Stonetown and then out to a spice plantation for the afternoon.

We met our local guide and headed out on the tour. We walked through the old fort and he talked about some of the history of the island and its pivotal involvement in the slave and spice trades. We eventually made our way over to the Cathedral and the old slave markets. The Cathedral was built in the middle of the old market after slavery’s abolishment (with one of the original whipping posts at the altar), as a memorial to the slaves. We went down into the old slave holding cells, where they would cram scores of slaves without water or food to test their strength right before they were taken to the market.

After a rather heavy beginning to the tour, we then went through the market streets and where we made tons of “friends”. You can buy all sorts of things in the markets, but it is more or less the same tat from one shop to the next. There must be a warehouse somewhere where these guys just buy all of their stock from… We had lunch at a little local place and then got our car out to the spice plantation.

On the way to the spice plantation we stopped at the ruins of the Maruhubi Palace. It belonged Bargash Bin Said, to one of the Arab Sultans of Zanzibar, back around 1880. It was pretty run down but slowly (very slowly) being refurbished. Among its courtyards and rooms, were about a dozen suites (sitting room, bedroom, and toilet) for his wives…

Anyway we eventually made it to the plantation but by then the rain had caught up with us. We tried to wait it out for a bit, figuring it was typical tropical rain storm and would only last a few minutes… It lasted a bit longer but it wasn’t too bad. We toured the plantation – which really just looks like a bit of forest with some trees and bushes placed here and there, willy-nilly. They had pineapples, bananas, ginger, cloves (the islands once produced 90% of the word’s cloves), cumin, avocados, Arabica coffee, vanilla, nutmeg, turmeric, pepper (green, then dried and ground for black pepper), chili, coconut, masala, and probably some others I can’t remember. As e walked around the guide would occasionally make things out of the leaves or other parts of the plants – including some sunglasses. As we walked around, they showed u how the plants grew, what they looked like and we got to taste them… I had a stain on my hands for days from the turmeric and the pepper was hot! – even green. Then we got to the end and they served us some fresh avocado and pineapple as well as various teas made from the spices on site. Apparently ginger tea is a natural ummm “supplement”. The guides liked joking with me about that (even giving me extra ginger tea…) since I was with two girls.

After the tour we went back to Stonetown, it was about 45 minutes or so away and caught up with Tony (driver/escort). There was some down time to revisit the market shops, change money and relax. We decided to have a sunset beer (nothing special, just a beer you have while watching the sunset) at Mercury’s.

Mercury’s is a bar named after Freddie Mercury that sits near the port and is a popular destination. Its named after Freddie because he was from Zanzibar. Really, not making it up. He was actually born Farrokh Bulsara and his parents were both Persian. Still don’t believe me – google it. Anyway we sat there and had a few beers, watched the sunset and the local fishermen and boys pull some boats out of the water. It seemed like it took them ages to get it beached, using only some logs under the boat and ropes to pull it. They would give a little chant and cheer and then strain – as the boat appeared to move mere inches…

Eventually we got hungry and headed to the food market. There is a small area that at night turns into a huge outdoor barbeque. There are loads of vendors selling various foods, most of if grilled or fried seafood and some Indian styled dishes. But there were also beer vendors, ice cream, sugarcane drinks, popcorn, pizza and various others. I eventually had some shark and tuna skewers and chips. It was really cool and fun. Then it was back to Mercury’s for another drink.

The next day we caught a private bus to our haven for the next 3 days and 2 nights – Kendwa Beach. Kendwa is on the north end of the island and is awesome It takes an hour plus to get to and is really only populated by three resorts. We stayed at the one in the middle – Sunset Bungalows. It was nice enough and had the liveliest bar, even though the food next door was a bit better.

As soon as we dropped our bags, we hit the beach. The beach was amazing, beautiful white sand, clear water and plenty of sun. There were tons of beach boys, selling tourist tat, offering snorkeling trips and generally pestering you to buy things, but they weren’t really that bad. I basically spent the next couple of days sitting in the sun, sitting in a hammock, swimming and playing volleyball. I met people from Croatia, Denmark and all over. Including an extended American family who had all climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro as a family and then gotten stuck by the Icelandic ash cloud… felt real sorry for them.

At night the bars at each resort kicked off. They were a lot of fun, full of tourists, locals and general good times. Tony DJed a bit and was embarrassingly better than the DJ the bar had hired. But unfortunately, I had a bit too much sun and was wrecked, so I took it easy the first night. The second night the bar had arranged for some acrobats / dancers to do a brief bit and then the party started up all over again.

Unfortunately we did finally have to leave Kendwa. It was an awesome beach and a nice break from living on the truck. We braved the crowds in the town again and fought through immigration. I had a nap on the return ferry, although the water was rough and there were some who didn’t fare so well. We did a brief bit of shopping then a taxi to the next ferry across the river and then a taxi back to the campsite… Finally back to Rufunsa and our whole crew. Our vacation is over, life can return to normal.