Day 29 Nairobi to Cape Town
Dar Es Salaam to Zanzibar
We woke at 4am, got ready, grabbed our bags for the 4 day trip in Zanzibar and loaded into the transfer vehicle which would take us to the ferry terminal in downtown Dar Es Salaam. Firstly though we had to catch the "well used" vehicle ferry across the channel which even at 0500 in the morning was crammed with vehicles and the morning commuters all fighting for a place on the ferry, there were even armed police keeping the madness at a manageable level. We took the short 7 minute ride across (which saves doing the 32km loop around the outskirts of Dar Es Salaam) and after a 10 minute drive around town we arrived at the Azam Fast Ferry Terminal which we would catch for the 1 hour, 45 minute trip to Zanzibar. We sent our luggage through the X-ray machine and walked through the metal detector into the waiting area to board the "Kilimanjaro IV" Ferry. Surprisingly the ferry managed to only be 3 minutes late and as we accelerated away from "Dar" we had a nap.
We arrived into Stone Town Terminal, Zanzibar at 0845, showed our Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificates & cleared Immigration ( even though Zanzibar is part of Tanzania it has its own government, even president!) next was the craziness of Customs which required us to push to the front of what was supposed to be a line but resembled a mass group of chaos instead, when you got to the customs official they had a quick look in your bags then drew a number in chalk on all your bags then you had to push your way back out of everyone into another queue where one person checked all your bags for the chalk mark before letting you proceed out of the terminal into a mob of taxi drivers who all surge at you to use their transport and even after saying "No" persist to the point of you having your back against a wall and asking everyone to "Go Away!".
After meeting up with everyone once again in "Mercurys"(Named after "Freddie Mercury" who was born and grew up on Zanzibar) we met "Danny" who would be our "Gareth" for Zanzibar as Gareth didn't have a permit to work as a guide on Zanzibar. We left the Terminal and made the short trip into Old Stone Town to the Local Market where we went around seeing Meat and Fish being butchered, Fruits and Vegetables being bargained for and or course the famous spices of Zanzibar with their lingering aromas which fill the air.
We left town and drove 20 minutes to the government owned Spice Farms where we were introduced to all the local and some foreign spice varieties found on Zanzibar and the outlying islands, we got to taste most of them including ginger, vanilla, clove, pepper, cardamom, lemongrass & turmeric to name a few. We also got to try a variety of the local fruits including jackfruit, pomelo, grapefruit, oranges & star fruit .We left the Farm and moved on for lunch at "Danny's" house where we were all treated to his neighbour's amazing cooking and the charisma of his 5 year old daughter who shook all of our hands as we sat down to eat. We had Pilau Pilaf (Rice, Potato & Cumin), a Beef dish which was coated in unknown spice and fried which tasted incredible!, a Vegetable Curry and lastly Spinach & Onion, finished with local Bananas, Watermelon & Pineapple. It all tasted fantastic and recipes will be added shortly :)
We left "Danny's" house and drove an hour to our accommodation at the northern tip of Zanzibar. We arrived at "Nungwi Inn" (pronounced Nung-wee) around 1600 and quickly settled into our room then headed out on to the beach to soak up the sun and have a G&T. As the sun started to drop for yet another brilliant day we walked along the coast absorbing the local feel of the place as we passed resorts, restaurants & of course the locals selling their wears, everything from snorkeling trips, diving, sunset cruises, island tours, spice tours, even a witch doctor selling "Hashish".
We met up with everyone for dinner to celebrate "Diana's" 30th Birthday where we shared a plate of local seafood consisting of Octopus, Squid, Kingfish, King Prawns & Slaw Salad before calling it a night in preparation of doing very little tomorrow.