Zanzibar

It’s a week since we returned from the ‘Island of Spices’, so now it just seems like a dream, but a very pleasant one! Beth (my colleague and friend) and I travelled up to Dar es Salaam for a meeting related to our work, and then popped over to Zanzibar with a couple of others. Our flight was delayed an hour because of poor weather conditions, but when we finally got up in the air, we were back down again before we knew it – it’s a short 20minute flight.
We spent our first day wandering round the narrow streets and alleyways of Stone Town, admiring the carefully crafted door frames and investigating the little shops full of paintings, materials, wood carvings etc.

We visited the Anglican Cathedral on the site of the former slave market, where you can visit a tiny room where up to fifty slaves were kept at a time, awaiting auction, with just a tiny window for air, and no food. Many died of starvation or suffocation. Our second day was taken up with a spice tour – I had no idea that turmeric was a root or what nutmeg looks like – it was a fascinating exploration of how different spices are grown.

<--Nutmeg Turmeric-->

Our next couple of days were spent on the opposite side of the island in a nice hotel, right by the ocean. It was wonderful to swim, snorkel (except for getting stung by lots of little jellyfish), relax with a book, soak up the sun and stroll along the beach under the stars. It was also a great time for food - delicious sea food at every turn, everything from shark to octopus.

Sadly my last meal on the island was rather wasted: Beth and I returned by ferry, like a big speedboat we hit those waves, and up and down we went, and out went my meal over the side!