At the beginning of the month, we decided to take a bus from Dar es Salaam to Moshi. It was a dusty, 10 hour adventure. At the end of that bus ride we thought it would be a nice idea to fly back to Dar ;) However, we did want to [at least] see Zanzibar, the island archipelago just off the coast of Tanzania (still Tanzania!). So, in the end, we bought a flight from Kilimanjaro airport to Zanzibar. The plan was to stay in Zanzibar Friday-Sunday, then return to Dar by ferry on Sunday, and fly out of Dar late Sunday night. Most people spend about a week or 2 in Zanzibar for holidays, because it’s a nice beach destination. We, however, just wanted to see Stone Town (the centre of Zanzibar town) and maybe sit by the Indian Ocean for a few hours. Ofcourse our flight out of Kilimanjaro was delayed by an hour, and ofcourse there was no mention of an apology for the tardiness or any information whatsoever about when the plane would arrive- ‘pole pole!’ At one point (an hour late) someone just showed up at the desk and started to collect boarding passes. It’s been a month in Africa now, and I have to admit, this whole thing is starting to irritate me. I am not a patient person as it is, so my tolerance for ‘pole pole’ is starting to run out a little bit….
We made it into Zanzibar at 820pm, and took a cab to the hostel. Immediately on the drive from the airport, you could tell Zanzibar was very different from the rest of Tanzania. The homes were much bigger, much richer; there was more of a nightlife; the Islamic/Arabic influence was everywhere; and the place just looked more touristy. The hostel we stayed at, Zanzibar Lodge, is one of the oldest hostels in the Stone Town area (Stone Town is basically Zanzibar Town, considered the old section of the town). It is basically amidst an apartment complex in the heart of Stone Town, right next to the Dajarani Market (a popular attraction). The streets of Stone Town are narrow, small and curvy, so it is impossible for cars to get through. The cabby knew exactly where to bring us so that really helped. We were very hungry so we asked the hostel guy to recommend places to eat. He took us to a local spot about 5 mins away, kind of a cash & carry spot. The food was MUCH better than anything we had had so far here! It was sort of an African/Arabic/Indian mix of foods & spices—lots of veggies in different curries, plantain, fish, yams, mchichu (?spinach type of dish) etc. It wasn’t the best food I’ve ever had, but it was a BIG improvement from rice + meat at the canteen in Machame! The place was packed with young Tanzanians, and we sat at a big table with a bunch of other people. The guy to my left said hello and was continuously singing & humming Michael Jackson tunes while he ate. The guy across from me was trying to teach me Swahili words and every once in a while would start speaking French to Tom & I, hoping we knew some since we were Canadian. We met some cool people! After a hearty nice meal we headed back to the hostel and called it a night.
I liked our room. There was a massive king size bed with a large mosquito net hanging over the entire bed. No need to mess with or fix any mosquito nets like in Machame! And the whole set up almost reminded me of a harem/princess kind of bed where you’re in your own little palace --although the net obviously serves a certain purpose! :P I realize I sound weird, but it was cool! Now the bathroom, this will sound even weirder! So you walk into the bathroom and initially you are confused: the toilet is in front of you; to the left side of the toilet is a faucet about a foot above the ground; right above this faucet, about a foot in front of the toilet & at a standing height, is the shower head; to the right of the toilet is a mirror on the wall, but no sink! The shower area is not separated from the toilet area :P So basically (pardon my French) ‘shit, shower, shave’ has a whole new meaning in Zanzibar! :P The whole process was hilarious ! But my favourite part (literally) was the ‘foot faucet’ (as I called the low laying faucet) because I would wash my feet after every walk on the town. It was perfect because your feet would always get dirty and it was just so convenient! :P The shower was nice and high and the hot water worked, so that was also an improvement from the Machame guesthouse! Definitely a memorable bathroom though…
The next day (Saturday) we walked to the ferry port and bought our tickets for the next day to Dar. As we left the ticket office it started raining and would not stop! We got a bit soaked and decided to wait it out by having lunch at a café near our hostel –some octopus curry please ;) It cleared up and we jumped into a dalla dalla (minibus) to head up the coast about 30 mins to bububu beach/fuji beach- the closest beach to Zanzibar town. The best beaches on the island are in the north and west, but we didn’t have enough time to check those out. We got to Fuji beach within 25 mins and hung out there for a few hours. Tom was able to engage in one of his favourite activities, ….swimming! He was overly excited because it was his first dip in the Indian Ocean! Mine too! The beach was secluded and it was obvious that most tourists head up the coast to beach it out, not this close to Zanzibar Town. The sun was really strong, and we definitely felt quite tired from the beaching later. The tide also came in at one point and got our clothes and bags wet, but at least nothing important inside the bags! We took the dalla dalla back to Zanzibar and took a quick shower before going for a walk through the winding streets. We wanted to check out Forodhani gardens for the sunset, where lots of people hang out and there are lots of street vendors selling everything from chicken curry shish-kebabs to fried plantains. We had a bite to eat on a rooftop terrace overlooking the water…..it was nice, calm & warm J
We headed through the winding streets (getting lost a few times along the way) and decided to call it an early night….back to Dar tomorrow! Zanzibar definitely has a nice feel to it….exotic island life :P
