Our last 9 days
Trip Start
Sep 22, 2009
1
11
Trip End
Oct 27, 2009
Zanzibar, Zanzibar Archipelago, Tanzania
Sunday, October 18, 2009
We left our luxurious hotel in Dar es Salaam 10 days ago and caught our ferry to the beautiful island of Zanzibar. When we arrived in stonetown an hour later several men were trying to sell us their taxi and tour guide services. We went with a man who took us to the jambo guest house, it was the guest house I stayed in 6 years ago when I was last in Zanzibar. Cody and I did some exploring of stonetown, went to the seafood market in the evening, used the internet, and found ourselves a ride to Paje beach on the other side of the island for 6 nights. We arrived the next day in the morning to a beautiful beach with white sands and crystal clear and aqua blue waters. For the next 6 days we ate fresh seafood, swam in the indian ocean, and played in the sand. Cody got burned again, but dont tell him I told you. We also found a wholesale liquor store outside of our hotel, so we bought some beer to take home, Tanzania's local gin, and a bottle of Amarula cream for myself.
Not much to say other then Paje beach really is paradise, actually any beach on the island is pretty fantastic. After 6 nights we packed our bags and left for stonetown, it poured at the beach that day so it was a good day for us to leave. We got back to stonetown and had 2 more nights to go, so we booked a small tour to prison island, where we got to pet and feed big tortoises and go snorkelling in the indian ocean. We met a felllow traveller named Bobby from Bulgaria who is travelling for 3 months. We got back to stonetown pretty early, did some shopping om both days, lots of haggling, turned out to be pretty fun!
We also went to the only open slave market left in the world. It is under the stairs of a cathedral, Cody and I walked down into the darkness to find cement slabs and chains where the slaves were kept in horrible conditions, alot of them dying of starvation and suffocation; very sad and eerie. there is also a monument outdoors, sculpted in memory of the slaves that is very eerie, it stays with you, the energy is very heavy.
We spent our last night at the seafood market people watching, I ate fresh fruit and Cody had a great big plate of fresh seafood! We walked through the winding narrow streets of stonetown to get back to our guesthouse.
Zanzibar is a beautiful island full of mystery and beauty. When most of the world was still living in the dark ages Zanzibar was trading with Arabs, and Asians, even the portuguese! People have been living in Zanzibar for 20,000 years!!! Freddy Mercury was born in Zanzibar too!! The antique shops there are teeming with so many items from the past, If they could speak, I'm sure they would have a story to tell! The design of the more luxurious hotels and old buildings are gorgeous! A mix of afro-arab design. The doors in Zanzibar are probabably the most famous, they are massive, heavy wooden doors carved with ornate designs, so gorgeous!
Cody and I woke up this morning at 5:45am to catch our early morning ferry back to Dar.
We said our goodbyes to Zanzibar, and made it just in time for an amazing breakfast at our fancy hotel. We had bacon stuffed french toast with edam cheese and maple syrup. We thought it would be fitting seeing as it was our last day here and we are returning to Canada. We also had fresh squeezed watermelon juice, brie, nutella and toast, baby bel cheese, apple streudel, fresh fruit, and cereal. Yes I am full.
We are spending our last day in air conditioning, full electricity, hot showers, a beautiful view (although almost everywhere in Africa there is a beautiful view) a cajun restaurant, and high speed internet!! High speed internet in Africa!!! Love it!! We leave for the airport tonight at 10pm, our flight leaves at 12:45am for Amsterdam, we hang out in Amsterdam for 5 hours (go to the casino for a bit) Do a little shopping, and then fly home to Toronto. We will miss Africa, but are very excited to come home to see our family and friends, share stories and pictures and celebrate Halloween!!! We Love Halloween!!! Alot to look forward to when we come back home. We have great lives, we are very lucky. Well I think thats all for now. I think I'll go for a swim in our fresh water pool! As much as I love the se and the ocean, I really dont like salt water. Yeeeuck!!!
Asante Sana for reading!!
