Zzzzzanzibar!
on A Serendipitous Journey (Kenya), 01/Nov/2009 08:07, 34 days ago
September 25– October 3, 2009On Friday September 25th we hopped on a plane and made our way to truly one of the loveliest destinations one could ever imagine…Zanzibar.We spent the first day inStone Town,a world heritage site, walking through the narrow streets, popping in and out of the tourist shops which were filled with cute dresses, jewelry, spices, essential oils and Tanzanite. (Tanzanite looks like an amethyst but is priced like diamonds!) We stayed at a quaint hotel called theDhow Palaceright in the middle of Stone Town. In my dad’s words “it looked like something right out of the movie Casa Blanca” (I haven’t seen it:-), with 25+ feet ceilings, high 4-poster beds made of dark wood (they were so high you literally had to step on a stool to climb up on them), and beautiful antique furniture…. Not to mention the bestspiced coffee in their breakfast buffet!On our second day, we hoped in a van and made our way up the eastern coast from Stonetown to Nungwi. En route, we stopped at Big Body Spice Farm to experience the famous Zanzibar Spice Farm tours. (Spice exports and tourism are Zanzibar’s two biggest economic drivers.) To be honest, I didn’t think that this part of the trip was going to be a lot of fun, but it ended up being a highlight of the trip. Big Body Spice Farm is a community development project whereby the community has come together to produce and sell various spices, essential oils and fruits – they have opened a demonstration farm whereby samples of all of their spices are within a few acres of the farm. Our guide, self-proclaimed “Spice boy” kept us entertained for two hours with jokes and stories, as we were increasingly adorned with parafanalia including sunglasses made of pineapple tops; purses, hats and ties from banana tree leaves, and lipstick from lipstick plant. We learned that cinnamon sticks are actually made from the bark of cinnamon trees; that nutmeg and ginger both have aphrodisiac affects; and watched sampled perfumes of ylang ylang, cinnamon and lemongrass. Near the end of the tour a young boy climbed a coconut tree which must have been at least 4 stories high singing and dancing throughout the climb.After the Spice Farm tour, we continued up the east coast to Nungwi and checked in to our luxury ocean front suite at the gorgeousLangi Langihotel. Sele, the owner, greeted us at the reception and kept us spoiled and entertained for the next several days with his Swahili cooking, stories and jokes. (My favourite was his analogy of how the still waters of the ocean can be deceiving as you never really know what’s going on underneath (referring to strong currents) and compared this to women!:-) The beaches in Nungwi are pristine, with soft white sands contrasting the bright turquoise ocean, where the water was just cool enough to be refreshing without chilling. Our time in Nungwi involved mostly swimmingin the ocean, reading books, enjoying delicious Swahili cuisine and just relaxing. No world of a lie, our busiest day in Nungwi involved going to a nearby café for a cappuccino and having to be on the beach at 4 pm for a 2 hour snorkeling and sunset cruise. The sunsets were the most beautiful I have ever seen and every day we looked forward to watching the bright red sun descend on the horizon, shadowed by the outlines of dhows. … it was so humbling ,reminding us just how small we are and how much more is out there.After 5 nights at the Langi Langi, we reluctantly returned to Stone Town and took a boat trip to see the famous tortoises on Prison Island. If you arrive by 10 am, you have the chance to feed these beautiful 100+ year old creatures their breakfast of leafy greens. It was really fun watching their long necks extend and their giant bodies move forward trying to get their meals and, although it was by nature no means a fast paced tour, it was a once in a lifetime experience.One of our last evenings in town, we entertained ourselves at the beach front restaurant Livingstones where in addition to the beautiful ocean view, you can watch cars try to speed down the sandy beach trying in vain to line up their tires to the ferry boat ramps and often getting stuck and almost sliding off track and into the ocean. It was truly hilarious and happens almost on a daily basis! As Canadians used to slipping and sliding through the snow ice in our vehicles we found it so funny that a simple track of chains down the beach to help them get some traction could have solved all the problems, but that wouldn’t have made it nearly as entertaining for all of the spectators.Zanzibar was a truly perfect ending to an unforgettable trip.