The Sweet Spice Of Zanzibar

[   by Stian   ]

We left Moshi early early in the morning and was heading for Zanzibar next in Tanzania. The ride from Moshi to our final destination of the day, Dar Es Salaam, was a very very long and tiring ride indeed. We had to get up at 4.am – so it was really cold when we woke up and we had to eat breakfast in the dark... ah well. On the way to Dar Es Salaam we could have been able to spot the top of Kilimanjaro, but it was too cloudy so we didn't see the top unfortunately. When we arrived Dar Es Salaam we got stuck in a massive traffic jam for quiet a while as well... and it did not help that TJ missed his turn so we had to drive a major detour as well to get to our campsite... ah well.

Dar Es Salaam

Dar Es Salaam is Tanzania's largest and richest city, and served as the country's capital from 1964 to 1996. Dodoma actually took over as official capital of the country already in 1974, but the move was not completed until 1996. Dar Es Salaam translates as «Abode for Peace» in Arabic. The population of the city is almost 4,4 millions – and it really feels like there are 4,4 million cars as well when you get stuck in a traffic jam here as well...

The Mikadi Beach Resort

The campsite we had for the night was really really nice and located right next to a beach. There was a really nice open restaurant area and a bar there as well. Unfortunately we arrived pretty late so it was already getting dark and we could not go swimming. There was a pool on the site though, and I think someone did make use of it. I was so happy to finally have WiFi connection again that I forgot about the pool and tried to update my facebook status instead. WiFi is though extremely slow in Africa so it really was a test of patience to deal with. We were lucky as none of us had to do kitchen duty though, as the staff at the resort made the dinner for us this day, which was a very nice lasagna. Usually I have not experienced Asia at least to be able to make any descent Italian food, but this lasagna was very good indeed:) The resort was so nice that it was too bad we could not have stayed longer really, but there were posters around the site which said: «Inside Camp Is Safe, Outside Camp Is NOT Safe» so we were not to leave the campsite, which I guess was pretty ok anyways, as it did not look very foreign friendly/safe area when we entered the area where the campsite is located.

Stone Town, Zanzibar

The next morning we headed for the famous island of Zanzibar and Zanzibar City, which is the largest city on the tropical island, with a population of around 206 000 inhabitants. This information is though from the 2002 census– I did not find an updated number. For the time being on the Zanzibar island we would be accommodated in hotels and resorts, hooray:) Our first hotel was located in the very charming Stone Town, which is the old town of Zanzibar City. Stone Town is the historical core of the city and because of its unique architecture and culture, it has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. The other part of the city, the new part, is called Ng'ambo, which is a much larger, modern area that developed around Stone Town after the Zanzibar Revolution, with office buildings and large apartment blocks. Ng'ambo literally translates to «the other side» actually.

Arriving Stone Town

It was a hot and beautiful day. The ride with the ferry from Dar Es Salaam to Zanzibar took about 2 hours, and when we got there we had to give up our passports to our guide Julian who brought them for inspection and after a short while we could enter the island. After a short ride we got to check into the Mazsons Hotel, located only in a short walking distance from the beach of Stone Town. The rooms were spacious and the bathroom probably the largest I have ever seen in a hotel room. Shortly after check-in most of us had lunch at the Livingstone Beach Restaurant, where I had a cheeseburger with fries. As we now found ourselves in a rural area we did not have the meals included anymore, so we had to purchase our own lunch and dinner. Thankfully we had breakfast included, as we got to eat from the breakfast buffet at the hotel. Unfortunately Mazsons Hotel offered the worst breakfast buffet I have ever experienced. There was absolutely NOTHING from the buffet that I wanted to eat, except for the white bread with jam – in other words, almost the same as we have had every other day during the trip. They actually served hot dishes, mostly with seafood, for breakfast – which really put me off as I really don't like seafood, or dinner-like meals for breakfast.

The Former Slave Market

The first day we did a walk around the center of Stone Town, heading towards the Anglican Cathedral of Christ Church which houses the Former Slave Market site of Zanzibar. This cathedral was built at the end of the 19th century for Edward Steere, third bishop of Zanzibar, in a large area in center of Stone Town that previously hosted the biggest slave market of Zanzibar; the place was deliberately chosen to celebrate the end of slavery, and the altar was in the exact spot where the main whipping post of the market used to be. A monument to the slaves, as well as a museum on the history of slavery, are besides the church. The monument to the slaves is actually made by Clara Sörnäs, a swede, and the project was also sponsored by different Swedish companies as well.  

We were given a short guided tour in the basement of the cathedral, which were used as cells where they kept the slaves. It was an extremely small room, and not even possible to stand upright inside. We were told that they used to put at least 30-40 men in the same room, and if they needed to go to the toilet they had to do their needs in the pit which divided the small room. In the early days the ocean water would flood through the room – and that was the way they got the pit cleaned. It was really a horrible story. It is really difficult to understand how anyone could support this kind of treatment of human beings. Then again – human kind have been known to be one of the most stupid and illogical species of all.. at least in my views.  

Sunset from the Africa House

As Stone Town offers many a picturesque opportunity, with it's influences from both Arabia, India, Persia and Europe throughout the city, the walk back to the hotel was a nice one and I got to take a few photos as well. Back at the hotel we just refreshed ourself a bit before we then moved on to Africa House, which is a nice bar located close to the hotel, by the beach. Here I just HAD to try a Funky Monkey Coctail (just the name is hilarious) which was made of Bacardi, coconut creme, pineapple juice and grenadine. It was even supposed to be served in a coconut shell, but they were out of coconuts... stupid bar. It still tasted really good though:) From the porch of the bar I got to take many photos as well, and I do have to say that we witnessed here in Zanzibar was really really really nice indeed.

Exploring the Street Food Market of Stone Town

As Africa House was a bit pricey coming to the food, we decided to go to the Forodhani Gardens, which is a small park in the main seawalk of Stone Town, right in front of the Old Fort, popular with tourists and locals as in the evenings it is filled up of stands serving local and Arabic food. There are several stands at this market with lots of offers, most of all seafood, but also chicken and vegetarian options. We realized that there really is a battle for the customers here as we were almost surrounded by «representatives» from different stands who wanted us to come and eat at their stand. As we had just arrived we preferred to walk around and check out the area first. Almost all of us ended up having chicken schwarma from this one particular stand Julian recommended us – and it was AMAZING. I don't think I have ever had such a tasty chicken schwarma before... so I got myself another one as well, as they were not too big in the first place.

We also got in touch with some locals at this market. Especially this one guy seemed very interested in chatting with the girls, but right next to him was a younger guy, who seemed very shy. I approached him and asked him how he was doing. He kinda immediately started to «blush» and became very flurried, and then laughed. It turned out that he was studying English, so he loved to get the opportunity to talk with me in English. Though because his «friend» was way better than him to speak English he usually chose not to say anything. He also told me that his «friend» had told him that since he doesn't speak well enough English he had no interest in chatting with him in English either... so I don't really know how much of a friend this guy really was. I did though really enjoy chatting with this handsome guy, who turned out to be around 20 years old. He obviously have a dream of getting to go to America one day and make it «big» there, as he had a speech by both Obama and Martin Luther King Jr on his phone which he repeatedly listens to, and also made me listen to. Actually he was so cute I could have eaten him up, as I loved his passion. Julian and TJ told us to watch out for these guys as they always want something from us – but we were standing there for more than an hour chatting and they did not ask for anything, so it was really nice. Unfortunately I did not get to meet any other people like this during our stay in Africa.

Spice Boy's Spice Tour

The next day we already had to check-out as we were heading for the small village of Nungwi, which is located on the northernmost tip of Zanzibar.  On our way though we made a stop at a spice plantation where we got a tour and was presented to the various spices which is offered on Zanzibar, which actually is known as «the spice island». Our local spice boy was a really cute guy who did not speak that well English, though he knew enough to get by. He was really into his job and did a great job presenting us with the spices. I did not chat with him to begin with, but then he asked me where I was from and when I said Norway, he lit up like a shining star and started telling me the names of all the spices in my native language, Norwegian. It turned out that he has a dream of coming to Norway, so he was interested in learning Norwegian, so he of course started with learning the names of the spices. Suddenly he became very interested in me and came over to me to chat several times more during the tour. He really seemed like a nice guy and I do hope that he will get to make his dreams come true one day.

Arriving Nungwi

Nungwi is a fishermen's village and a tourist attraction and host a very very nice beach, so when we finally reached the village of Nungwi we checked into this really nice resort called Amaan Bungalow Resort, which was located right next to a wonderful beach. The rooms we had was also very nice. I and Kenneth had been given a room with a double bed, while Ingrid, had been given a room with two single beds, despite her being on her own. We really did not make sense out of this so we chose to switch room. It did turn out though that Julian had thought I and Kenneth was a couple, as about 98% of everyone we have met during this year thought we were. It does not make sense though as we have never given that impression to anyone. It seems like most just take it for granted if two gay guys travel together they MUST be a couple, which it totally silly. I don't expect every boy and girl who are traveling together to be a couple either – it is possible to just being friends and still be able to travel together as well. Actually, I chose not to make my sexuality an issue during this trip at all, unless someone asked me straight out if I was gay or not. I really liked the way things were going, and as I have experienced earlier that people tend to change their attitude and personality towards me when they get to know this minor detail, then I chose not to tell. Though someone, like Julian, obviously just got it anyways. Probably more people did, but I only told two of my fellow travel companions about it (one of which actually did ask me straight out). If there were anyone else suspecting it, they did not ask me personally at least.

Relaxing + Village Walk in Nungwi

During our time in Nungwi we had the option of relaxing and doing nothing really, which was perfect to me. So the first day mostly playing around on the beach, swimming, throwing ball and getting a tan (=sunburn). The second day most of us chose to go for a walk in the village, which was a very strange experience. It was obvious that the locals were not to happy with tourists though. When we came to a small area where the men where playing the drums while lots of children were jumping and dancing around, while the rest of the grown ups were watching and having a good time, they stopped playing when they saw us – and the kids stopped dancing and just turned around and looked strangely at us. When we left they started playing right away again. Ah well, but at least we got to do a nice walk and take some nice photos in the village and along the beach on the way back to the resort.

Horrible Service

The service at the resort was though HORRIBLE. It really was bad! Most of us did not find the staff very friendly at all, and when we had lunch at the restaurant the staff was repeatedly coming to our table and wanted us to pay for the food while we were still eating. I actually got so annoyed with this that I told the staff to leave us alone and let us finish the meal and that they were really making it unpleasant for us. The food was not that impressive either – we did not really get what we ordered. Like Muneira got herself a burger with avocado, or what it was, at least it did not contain any avocado at all really – so we had to ask for avocado. The same happened with my pizza, which did not have any sundried tomatoes, which the menu said it would have, AND which was the reason why I ordered it... ah well.  

We wanted to do laundry as well during our time here, but they actually charged 2 US dollars per clothing item, which is horrendous. In Australia we paid 2 dollars for everything, as we only had to buy the powder and then wash ourselves, so we were shocked. Most of us refused so we chose to wash the clothes on our own, but the staff would not lend us a bucket to wash in, even though they had one – so we ended up having to wash our clothes in the shower of our room. The service was overall VERY BAD! So even though the resort was nice I would NOT recommend this place for anyone going to Nungwi.

Eating, drinking and Partying in Nungwi

The first evening we had a BBQ buffet at Mangi's Beach Restaurant, which was located close to our resort. This really nice buffet mostly offered seafood though, but as well chicken. I found it a bit expensive regarding us who do not eat seafood – which there were some of actually. We felt though that we HAD to take part in this bbq-buffet by our guides – and therefore had no option to order something else, which I did not like. So it was a bit expensive chicken meal for me, but at least it was good I did though make a comment that this was kind of unacceptable by our guides to force us to join in on. As I am living on a budget, I prefer to be able to choose something cheap. If I ONLY were to travel in Africa and not around the world, I would have had more money to deal with and then the cost would have not been a problem for me really.

We ended up spending the evening at the beach and having a few beers and playing volleyball, which was very nice indeed. I also got to try the Tanzanian spirit Konyagi, which I had purchased a bottle of at the supermarket. I mixed it with Fanta Black Currant and it was me and Lucas sharing it. Lucas got drunk and after this one evening I think he is about to vomit by only thinking of Konyagi. I did not find it that bad though really. It worked well for me mixed with Fanta black currant. Haha

The next evening we had dinner at the neighboring restaurant Nungwi Inn Restaurant, where I had a Zanzibar Red Curry Chicken, obviously a Zanzibarian (?) take on the Indian curry, but it was really really nice :) The service at this place was extremely slow though, but I do suspect there was only a couple of chefs cooking all the food for the 15 of us. So it was lucky for them that the food tasted nice then. Efficiency, we were to learn, is NOT the strongest side of Africa though. Things take LOTS of time usually.

The last full day on Zanzibar

For the last full day on Zanzibar we returned back to Stone Town. As we checked out of the resort in Nungwi, Partha told us that he had to leave us as his mother had become very sick back home. It was really sad to have to say goodbye to him at this moment already as he was a fun guy.

On our way out of the resort and passing the village there was an old woman throwing a stick after our bus, proving once more that we were not really welcome in the village. Ah well....

Exploring Stone Town....again:)

So back in Stone Town we had another beautiful to enjoy. First we checked into Mazsons Hotel once again and this time I and Kenneth got an even nicer room as well. As it was a really beautiful day I, Kenneth and Natasha went on for a walk in the city center once again. This time looking for WiFi as the WiFi at the hotel did not work properly. We did find connection after a while, and had a coffee-drink at the same time, which was nice. We then moved on and dropped by the Old Fort for a visit, then moving on through the narrow streets, exploring some of the shops, and the small galleries. It was a really nice walk as the people of Stone Town are not pushy at all. Unlike the people of Nungwi they seem very used to tourists so we felt we were treated with respect as well. As Natasha's parents originates from Sri Lanka, there were some local women who started talking with her and thought she was local as well – as many do have a Indian feature look on Zanzibar.

Buryani for lunch

We actually ended up having lunch at a very nice Indian restaurant, located on the rooftop of Maru Maru Hotel. The view from this rooftop was very nice as well. I had chicken buryani with naan bread on the side – which was nice, though a bit dry. The buryani was nothing compared to the home made buryani an Indian couchsurfer made while staying at my house back home in Norway though. Then again – to make a good buryani you have to really spend a long time cooking it. It's not made easily in 30 minutes unfortunately.

Ringworm infections vs begging dilemma.

Later we moved on to the market square, which during daytime was pretty empty, before being filled up with food stands in the evening. At this place we were unfortunate to meet a pushy beggar though, who was carrying a child infected with ringworms. I have no idea if this guy was the actual father of the child or not, but this is an obvious way of begging from people, so they are not to be trusted. Therefore I told him that I was not willing to give him anything, and I moved to another spot. I really don't like it when grown ups use children for personal use like this. I am pretty sure that the girl could probably get treatment easily in Zanzibar, as it's a very small community, and seems better equipped than most other areas of this part of Africa. Ringworms is also a very common disease particularly in this part of Africa as well. The guy was probably abstaining from getting his girl treatment, as she probably makes more money for him being sick than healthy. I know it's a cruel assumption, but some people do all in their power to play on other people's consciousness, which really is not nice.

The rest of the day we just relaxed. I spent some time on-line, and then I went back to the food market for food later in the evening, and then I had a good nights rest, which was very nice as we would be moving on with our trip across the African continent the very next morning.

Zanzibar was a nice experience indeed. The weather was great and the nature is beautiful , and the same goes for the old town itself. I have to admit that I do prefer Stone Town, as Nungwi was a bit hostile and the service at the resort was crap. People in Stone Town are nicer and have more respect for the tourists as well. I could definitely see myself returning to Zanzibar. It's definitely a place where one can spice up one's life for sure;)

Funny sidenotes: Freddy Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara, the lead singer of the British band Queen was actually born in Stone Town. Also the famous Scottish explorer, missionary and colonialist David Livingstone was a former resident of Stone Town as well.