Zanzibar

After a month and a half of delays, most of our group finally made it the the island of Zanzibar are our last hurrah in Tanzania. We caught a ferry in Dar and a little less than 2 hours later we were on the island of Unguja, the largest island in the region of Zanzibar.

The first day we went on a spice tour at a plantation about 20 minutes north of Stone Town. We got to see clove trees, pepper vines, ginger roots and lots of spices and fruits. It was definitely fun to tour though we got caught in a downpour and slipped and slided in the mud quite a bit during part of it.

Cinnamon. A cinnamon stick is the dried bark of the tree.

In the evening we walked around Stone Town a bit and then went out to eat at Forodhani Gardens. Usually it is a big street food fair but they are doing construction to revamp the water front so the street food was set up on a side street. Skewers of every seafood imaginable along with the usual Tanzanian chips, beef skewers and such. We bought what was called 'Zanzibari pizza' which was amazing. It was a simply dough that had onion, tomato, soft cheese and an egg inside and then fried. Amazing. We then bought a dessert made the same way with bananas and chocolate inside. Also delicous.

The vendors setting up for a night of amazing food

The next day part of the group went to a beach town north to spend a night and Stacey, Wendy and I went to the waterfront to negotiate a boat to take us to Changuu (Prison) Island. After a lot of negotiation we got down from about 35,000 to about 25,000 which worked. The island was really fun. There was a tortoise sanctuary there so we had fun being up close and personal with them. We then relaxed on the beach (me in the shade) and swam a bit in the ocean. We rode back on the incrediably blue-green water and after getting all the sand off in our hotel, went back to wander Stone Town a bit. We had dinner after some shopping then went back to the street vendors for another banana dessert.

Our final day we woke up early and I walked a bit around. I also got Arabica coffee off the street which tasted amazing - and, Starbuck addicts cry, cost me 50 shillings. That's right, about 4 cents. Not bad at all. After breakfast at our hotel we wandered town again for a long time, going to a market, getting ourselves lost (somewhat purposefully) on all the narrow, winding streets and then having lunch practically on the beach with an incrediably view of the ocean. Stone Town has dozens of impressive buildings built by the sultans who ruled for most of its recent history and I loved it.

It is interesting to be here since it is so touristy and we are obviously tourists for a few days but the Swahili I know has definitely been helpful, as has the fact that we are residents. I loved the feel of the town a lot, but I was aggrevated by a lot of the tourists wearing not-so-modest clothes in this Muslim city and expecting people to cater to them only. I like not being a regular tourist, that is for sure.
Fish market

Traditional dhow fishing boat.

But now the trip/study abroad experience/adventure/my living in Tanzania is at its close. As I right this, I have just a little over 24 hours until I get on that plane and leave. It is hard to beleive and I am not sure I am ready to go back to the States, though I know I will enjoy the Christmas season, especially because Seattle is supposed to get snow next week. I will post again, a reflective piece that I wrote for my academic journal probably but this chapter of my life is soon to come to a close. It has been an amazing journey.