The ferry ride over is pretty painless even though weve been warned the 2hr journey can be anything but…stepping off onto the dock, and instantly Zanzibar is everything like its exotic name – A world away from anything weve come across in our travels this far.
Stonetown is a sensory overload of living a life as it always has been. Steeped in history, wandering round is a photographers delight and im hungry to snap away, and find myself constantly looking up to the little buildings above and the tales the walls could tell me should I be able to tune in to time gone past.
Our first afternoon we spend on a spice tour, before heading to a church that has been built on what was, a slave market. We sit for a while in the church listening to our guide, but im drawn away to the beautiful sweet sounds of some local mamas singing hymns within the walls. I don’t know what they are saying, but im sure these gentle tones I hear would soothe past and present spirits souls.
In the evening we head to the evening food markets, and are spoilt for choice with all the aromas wafting around our heads…I am approached by “Fisherman Frank”, who does the big sell on me, and gently coerced me to his “stand”. What I find out later when I return to the stand is that Fisherman Frank is a moonlighter who grabs anyone closest to what ever stand and takes a cut of the action…yes I buy from his “stall”, and yes the fish is GOOD! We head to the famous “Mercurys Bar” (in homage to Zanzibar’s most famous international celebrity) for a drink or two before retiring for the night – I HEART THE DOWA!
Next morning, we head out of Stonetown to the beautiful northern beaches, and luxury, not as we know it in the present overlanding trip. OMG, REAL BEDS – Princess ones at that, and in every room!! When I finish spinning around the room in giddy splendor, I head out to the beach to enjoy the hammocks, cocktails and white white sand everywhere! This is truely an amazing feeling of bliss. After a day of carefree beach living, the evening is taken up with a local cruise of sailing around the coast, and all you can drink…which of course eventuated to olympic style diving off the boat by pretty much everyone.
Some sore heads in the morning most of the group decide to either go snorkeling or diving the next afternoon, and after a shaky (freaked out) start from yours truly, I did eventually enjoy my time in the water (just after getting over the point of thinking I was going to drown). Our 3 days in Zanzibar go by in a flash, and before we know it, were back on the truck heading to the Serengeti and Arusha Snake Park!
WheresRu 