Jamboclub Stone Town

... conversations with the help of a Swahili dictionary and 5 words of broken English by our hosts. Common language or not, our hostess made sure we got to the local restaurant across the road ok, where we ordered Chipsi - Kuku, chicken and chips, and had our first swig of Tanzanian beer in somebody's living room, eh bar. The next day we set of to find the city centre but got side tracked when we were told that the thrice-weekly train to Dar es Salaam was passing today and were whisked ...

... turns out she thinks she's pregnant, second time and wants an abortion. No such thing as legal one so back street one. Umm, whilst Maria and Helen would sometimes giggle at my concern and sassy Malaika I assume understood little of what I said, I offered to MAIL a pregnancy test to her as soon as I got back to Amsterdam so she could actually know asap.<br><br>15 minutes later there was a shared "ooooooooooooh, you mean the stick!" which is apparently available. I came out ...

... in the afternoons we have been learning all sorts of things. We went on a spice tour on weds. and we have been learning about the intense history of Zanzibar throughout. We had the chance to meet a really cool old man named John D'silva who is working on restoration in Stone Town and is also a really good watercolor artist. He is super quirky and full of knowledge. He is one of those people who you just want to follow around all day and soak up all of their knowledge. <br>We are here ...

... were raving queens, girlier than the girliest of girls, many homelier than the homeliest of girls. They reminded me of American movie clichés of gay men &#8211; the Art Dealer, the Hairdresser, The Wedding Planner: they were fussy, *****y, flamboyant, flirty, sensitive, attention-seeking, childish, fashion-conscious, feline. I was fascinated and had to make a real effort not to stare. Then I remembered: Freddy Mercury was from Zanzibar.<br><br>Located just ...

... always happy to cash in on the tourist dollar, there is always somewhere to get food. <br><br>The island spice tour was interesting, if a bit long and exhausting (after a 4am awakening) and I know know how all the different island spices are grown and prepared. Some lemongrass and ginger tea to end the tour was warmly welcomed.<br><br>The past 2 nights have been spent on the northern part of the island on the beach. My sore throat, (gained most likely from my immune system ...

... Langi. We were served fresh calamari and I have to say that I ate heartily.<br><br>It has been a great few days in Zanzibar and I am so glad that I came. Tomorrow I head back to Dar Es Salaam and will be en route to the landlocked country of Malawi. I am not sure what to expect there, but my hopes are high. I will be bidding farewell to Swahili, but it is no big deal because everyone here speaks English anyways. <br><br>Bye for now, keep reading and take care...

... s 30% taxes from the operation they don't complain! Back to the Bungalows for lunch then after which a few of us went snorkelling at the nearby pier. I had recced this with Rich yesterday and everyone loved seeing the huge schools of silverfish, Barracuda, pipe fish and starfish. We even got a play on a nearby pontoon in. After a shower off we were back in dinner mode and a walk on the beach after finished us off for the day.

... breakfast we saw that there was a boat getting ready for a day trip. We asked the fellow if he was doing a snorkeling trip that day...which he was and asked if he had room for us...which he did. He wanted us to pay $25/person but we knew that usual cost for a snorkeling trip with lunch and gear was only $20, so we didn't have much trouble to get it to $20/person. ...although when we were getting on the boat the guy tried to stick us with $5 charge for ...

... for a little explore and found a cool aqarium where they have a huge asorstment of tropical fish and green sea turtles. they have 15 in total and we got to feed them and get right up close to them so you can pet them. it was truly amazing as the whole time i was diving in thailand me and Sammi had wanted to see these magestic creatures and here they were! altough not quite wild. They were in a sea water lagoon ...

... much more modern than the earlier one and was a catamaran - a bit like the Bermuda ferries. Our crossing took about 90 minutes and was pretty calm. We arrived in Stone Town the capital of Zanzibar and had the rest of the day to explore and shop. Alex and I headed out and bought some pictures and then headed to one of the old colonial hotels for sunset drinks on the balcony with the rest of the group. Once the sun had set Sammy and Jules offered to ...