At Diani, we found a little “eco-lodge” place to stay for a couple of nights. Our room was up a ladder in a little basket house set on concrete stilts. Mosquito nets covered both the little twin beds and helped to catch the peanut shells spread all over the room by a mysterious visitor the second night. (Kris took a great picture of the little animal that is suspect in this case). The lodge had an open main area where all the visitors gathered to read, eat, and talk. We met some interesting characters there, and enjoyed the proximity to the beautiful beach about a five minutes’ walk away. There, we sat at on comfy chairs at Forty Thieves, the local – and rather cool – bar, ordered decent food and drinks, and watched skydivers land on the sand in front of us. We watched people take camel rides and even shopped, as locals will come and offer their wares repeatedly from a safe distance.
Two nights at the eco-lodge was enough for us, and we finally headed toward our last destination on another ten-hour bus ride. This ride, which we ended up taking without any food or water, led us to make the decision that we were flying home. Remember: when travelling in any third-world country, ALWAYS bring your own bottled water, a snack, and toilet tissue. There is no guarantee any of the above will be provided.
At last, we reached Dar es Salaam, a bit too late to catch the ferry to Zanzibar. We crashed in a little hotel and had a great dinner at a place called Chef’s Choice. They had the best fresh chapati, and we enjoyed some good - and spicy - chicken and beef, which had been scarce during our stay in Kenya. We also ended up sharing out table with an interesting Swedish lady who owned a store in Zanzibar. Both of us liked the fact that people aren’t afraid to ask if they can share a table when the restaurant is crowded.
The next morning we boarded a sleek modern ferry for the ride to Zanzibar, and finally, we arrived on the spice island. What a great place. The only regret we have is that we didn’t have enough time. We needed about four more days to explore the northern part of the island for scuba diving and the beaches. As it was though, we enjoyed a snorkeling trip and several days of winding through the narrow streets of Stone Town, the old part of Zanzibar. We stayed in an old church hostel – one of the last sites of the slave trade. The pulpit in the church behind the hostel stands exactly in the place where the shipping post stood. Our room had old tiled floors, high ceilings, and doors out onto a balcony where we could watch people passing in the street. Most of Stone Town is traversed on foot because the narrows streets prevent cars from passing through, so we walked every day. Women walk by in traditional Muslim and Indian dress, or in brightly colored fabrics called kangas. Most of Zanzibar is Muslim, so early in the morning and again in the evening we heard the eerie and beautiful call to prayer. Combined with a hint of incense and sea salt in the heavy air, we felt ourselves in a mysterious and foreign land, and we loved it!
Zanzibar has wonderful spiced tea, and they even spice the coffee. A tiny place near the hostel served local Swahili food, pastries and drinks, and was our favorite place for tea. There we ate a good-sized meal (and I had the tastiest bowl of coconut octopus soup!) for less than three dollars. It’s like they’re giving it away!
Since Zanzibar is a spice island, we went on a tour to see how spices are grown. It was cool to see a clove tree and lemongrass, and all the other spices in their natural state. Sometimes the entire tree smells like a familiar spice. The only mishap was when an evil plant stung me (and I’m writing this so that Kris can post another one of his favorite pictures here). It hurt like fire for about 20 minutes. The guides were like, “Hmmm … we’ve head of that, but never seen it. You must have soft skin.” Thanks, guys. They later rubber on another plant to make it feel better… ish.
Drink irresponsibly. Nice motto for people living in trees. Safety first.
Pretty cool, but lacking an A/C.
Nom, Nom, Nom.
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