Zanzibar

According to the Lonely Planet guide Zanzibar is a “crossroads of culture, a melting pot of influences where Africa, India and Arabia meet” and that is exactly what met us as we left the Zanzibar airport after the usual frenzy of visa filling and a panic moment when we were asked for our yellow fever certificates. We immediately noticed a stark contrast from the tidy, organized and industrious country we had left behind in Rwanda to a place where the women were all dressed in their full Muslim dress with their faces covered, rubbish littered every street corner and the buildings had a distinctly decaying appearance but what we did both notice were the aromatic smells that emanated from the houses and the distinctly spicy smell that came in through the taxi  window as we drove to our destination.

Based on recommendations from volunteers who had gone to Zanzibar the year before we arrived at our own little piece of heaven at Mahurubi Beach, a small complex of only 12 beach bungalows set beside the sea with a very inviting pool right at the beach front strategically positioned next to the beach bar. To our left along the coast we could see the outline of Stonetown, the capital, within walking distance and we chose not to look to the right where the oil tankers were coming into the next bay to fill up at the depot. A walk along the shore line took us into something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie where, while clambering over the rocks we disturbed so many cockroaches it still turns my stomach just thinking about it.

Zanzibar has always held an attraction for me because it has such an exotic sound to it and of course in the past it has been famous for trading in slaves, spices, gold, silver, ivory and wood. More recently it has become famous as the birth place of Freddy Mercury in 1946 ( can you believe its 20 years ago that he died!) and apart from a bar with the name “Mercury’s” ( which wasn’t even playing Queen music) there is no other acknowledgement of his existence.

By day two we had recovered from our overnight journey via Nairobi and were ready to set off with another two volunteers to do the “spice tour”. Although spices no longer dominate Zanzibar’s economy, plantations still dot the centre of the island where you learn what cloves, vanilla pods and other spices look and grow like in the wild and learn of all the medicinal uses for these herbs and spices as well as their flavors, we were then encouraged to taste some fruit that I had never even heard of before let alone seen and certainly some were nicer than others and then finally one of the plantation workers shimmied up a tree to bring down some fresh coconuts for us to drink. Our day was not over yet as our driver then took us further north to a place where there was a huge underground cavern which was used to hide slaves until they could be smuggled out onto boats which were waiting just off the shore line. It had a really creepy feel to it, with bats hanging on the roof and giant centipedes at our feet. I think it was that same night that we had a visit from a scorpion, which decided to make an appearance in the bathroom just as I was stepping out of the shower. Out of the two of us I am the one who is still here to tell the story!

That same night we were joined by another volunteer, Alice, who had flown in from South Africa, sadly without her luggage, which seems to be a fairly regular occurrence these days.

The next day we walked into Stone Town, it was rather grey and drizzly so seemed a good day to do a bit of exploring. The guide book refers to the old town as a maze of quaint shops, hidden amongst cobbled alleyways where it is easy to get lost, a host of bazaars, mosques, courtyards and surrounded on three sides by the sea. We headed first of all down to the harbour which was a grimy mix of touts and fishermen, fishing boats and dhows of all different sizes which were always overladen with too many people aboard, little wonder there have been so many tragic accidents and foreigners are now forbidden to take a dhow from the island over to the mainland of Dar es Salam. Keeping the sea on one side to keep our bearings we wandered around the labyrinthine corridors until we finally found the Zanzibar coffee shop, which allegedly sells the best coffee in Tanzania. The town has its own appeal in a shabby historical sort of way and contrasts hugely with the ugly tenement buildings that form the new town. While we were there we went to watch the sunset from Africa House a haven for tourists, it seemed quite strange to be somewhere where there were so many “muzungos”

That evening we ate in Stonetown in the gardens at the night market where all the fishermen set up their stalls and sell their daily catch, you go along and select what you want, it is then placed on a communal grill and cooked for you. The secret is not to go too early when you might be offered the left overs from the night before!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we were quite happy to lounge away the hours in the pool, soaking up the sunshine, which once it arrived was incredibly hot and not helped by the fact that the malaria tablets make you much more sensitive to the sunshine. Those of you who know me well will be impressed that I was putting on factor 25 and still feeling burnt, mind you we are pretty much on the equator, however I am now looking more like a Rwandan then a Muzungo!!!

The small and intimate nature of our villa complex meant it was easy to get to know our fellow guests so we spent a pleasant two days with Czechs, Dutch, Norwegians and South Africans and low and behold Santa even managed to come to our bungalow and left some Christmas crackers (the challenge we had set ourselves was to find enough toilet roll insides to be able to make crackers for everyone and my personal challenge, having decided to make shell necklaces for everyone, was trying to thread the tiny needle that came in my emergency sewing kit!!!) Our Christmas Eve dinner was somewhat marred by the fact that we had a dance troupe who came to entertain us and it was after 9.00pm before food was served by which time everything was burnt, however the Christmas Day buffet was so much better and enhanced by the most spectacular sunset, it was hard to concentrate on the Christmas carols which were playing in the background because there was so much camera clicking going on.

By Boxing Day we had been invited by our new South African friends to accompany them to the south end of the island where Jane took the opportunity to go and swim with the dolphins and Alice and I chose to avoid the tourist trap and just whiled away the time by the side of a pool looking out onto another spectacular Indian ocean beach where the tide was miles out.

Our final day together we took a taxi to the east coast of the island so that we could say we had explored most of the island, described in the guide as spectacular seas with powdery white beaches fringed with palm trees and sun baked villages, we drove through torrential rain as we drove through the rain forest to get to the other coast line and again the sea was far out beyond the lagoon but the whole area was so beautiful in its tranquility that we were happy to spend the day there just watching the sea slowly approach the shore line and eventually be able to bathe in the warm sea water.

It was with some reluctance that we had to pack up our things and say farewell to the staff who we had got to know so well and looked after us so willingly and I would love to hear from anyone else who has been presented with their final bill which includes a 15% discount for smiling so much, although I am willing to admit that I reckon the bar takings may have dropped considerably after we left!! All in all a truly wonderful experience and a place I could heartily recommend to anyone planning a trip to Zanzibar.