Mar 18 - Zanzibar

We arrived on the island of Zanzibar (in the Indian ocean about 2 hours by boat from Dar) and decided to spend a couple of nights in Stone Town, a primarily Muslim village with a labyrinth of very narrow alley ways and streets. We would wander through these alleys for hours, getting lost and disoriented but we always managed to end up at the exact same place no matter what turn or street we took. The buildings in Stone Town are beautiful, many of them vacant or completely run down which gives the town its character.

 

 

 

 

 

There is a local fish market at the waterfront where fishermen set up stalls displaying their catch from the day. We visited a few stalls selling anything from samosas and banana pizza to whole squid and lobster. We chose what we wanted to eat from a couple of stalls and the fishermen would prepare and serve it t us as we sat along the water watching the local kids playing in the water.

 

 We made our way to the northern tip of the island for some beach time and much needed R&R. The northern tip of Zanzibar has some of the best beaches in the country with only a few hotels rather than a strip of resorts like we expected. Zanzibar is all about just chilling out which is exactly what we did. We lay around on the beach eating coconut lobster curry and sipping delicious beers and freshly squeezed mango juice while listening to reggae and watching the world cup of cricket. The vendors on the beach were so polite that when we turned them down, they would apologize for disturbing us…a great change from the vultures in Dar.

We had a beautiful little bungalow a few yards from the beach which we shared with a lizard and a few beetles as well as some type of bug that would snore all night. 

 

 

 

Our little escape to the beach is over and the adventure continues, next stop…Ethiopia.