"Jambo, Jambo"

We arrived at 4am in Stone Town on the Island of Zanzibar after an epic series of flights through Zambia, Ethiopia and mainland Tanzania.

We agreed that since we had been ‘on the go’ for weeks, that we needed some time to relax and recharge before safari mania resumed.

We arranged 2 days in Stone Town before we headed to the beaches on the east cost. Stone Town -  the old town of Zanzibar City - was famous as a major spice and slave trading  in the 19^th century. The heart of Stone Town mostly consists of a maze of narrow alleys lined by houses, shops, bazaars, and mosques. We delighted in spending a few lazy days wandering around shopping, eating delicious curries and sampling the local Swahili food, including lots of seafood!

"Jambo"means 'hello' in Swahili and we were warmly greeted by the locals every two minutes with 'Jambo, jambo'.

Beautiful wooden doors everywhere!

The bustling alleys were chaotically exciting - walkers, bikes and motorbikes/scooters flew through the alleys, somehow always managing to miss colliding!

Mike getting a much needed haircut. Best of the trip by far!

Although the spice trade isn’t as active as it once was, the island is trading on its history and organises tours to ‘spice plantations’. Although very commercial with large tour groups, we learnt quite a bit about how spices are grown and used.

Fresh turmeric

Cloves

Fresh nutmeg & mace (the red plasticky covering)

For chocolate lovers - cocao!

Star Fruit

Lychees - perfect for my next martini! 

Fresh coconut flesh and water!

The colouring used for cooking tandoori

 

We enjoyed some freshly pressed sugar-cane juice in the evenings while wandering through Forodhani Gardens and seeing the local fare of charcoal bbq'd fish, shrimp, lobster & of course the "Zanzibar Pizzas"

Next, off to Paje on the east coast. Turquoise waters and tanning for Megan, kite-boarding for Mike!