Our trainee tour leader, Colin Walsh, who set off on the 11th of May 2013 on our Cape Town to Kenya (CTK41) tour, shares his seventh part of his adventure as he leaves the mainland of Dar es Salaam and heads to the tropical island of Zanzibar. Read more…
Day 31 – 34 – Zanzibar
The day started off with the rush to the ferry, which would take us to the island. This was an experience in itself, as we joined the thousands rushing to the city centre every day for work. We had to catch a short ferry across the river, so we took on the challenge – our tour leader Bombastic, making sure we didn’t lose sight of him in the masses. Pushing our way through the rushing crowds, we finally stepped onto the ferry – I’m trying to imagine doing this everyday just to get to work!
Image by: Michelle Lewis
Once across, Eddie – our man on the ground in Dar es Salaam – helped us into our bus, for the short ride to the Zanzibar Ferry terminal. After getting the paper work sorted at the main harbour, we sat back and enjoyed the leisurely 2 hour trip which took us along the coast northwards, passing countless islands on and various fishing boats trying to get their catch for the day. We arrived in Stone Town, already bestowed with that island feeling.
Image by: Michelle Lewis
Stone Town is mainly Muslim and as a sign of respect for the local culture & traditions, the girls did cover up slightly – this was expected but also appreciated by everyone, our hosts included. After settling into our home for the night, we were picked up for our Spice and Slave Trade tour through Stone Town.
Image by: Michelle Lewis
Leaving Stone Town, we headed north to the lush prolific land to our meeting point for our spice tour. Our awesome guides started our tour by sharing their enthusiasm about spices – they knew everything there was about the different spices from Cinnamon to cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla, cloves and ginger. Because we are so used to seeing the end product in our supermarkets, imagining where these spices come from is a foreign concept to us. The flower for the famous perfume ‘Channel No. 5’ even grows here on a tall tree. What a strange juxtaposition to have the ingredients for such an expensive, luxury product growing in the back yards of some of the poorest citizens in Africa. A handful of locally grown, seasonal fruit brought smiles to all of our faces and perfectly capped off the spice portion of the tour. Then it was time for a little history of how the island became popular, mainly as a result of the slave trade. Zanzibar was an important stopover point for slave and spice traders alike in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. Seeing the tiny cells the slaves were kept in, going through the day to day activities of a slave before they were bought and shipped off to the various countries across the globe, brought the reality of this home quite sharply.
Image by: Michelle Lewis
Heading back to Stone Town, our day was finished off with dinner at the local Foradani Gardens market – what an experience! Here local fisherman brings their daily catch to sell, either fresh or prepared in the traditional styles of the island. Everything looked and smelled so good and after bartering (and laughing) with a few of the multitude of vendors, we enjoyed some of the best, freshest seafood there is to be had. They also make a fresh sugar cane juice here by squeezing the juice out of a sugar cane stick through a roller. As the sugar cane stick is passed through the roller numerous times, the juice flows out and into a bucket and it then gets passed through a sieve into your glass. Add a little lemon, lime or some ginger and you have one of the most amazing, refreshing drinks, made right in front of your eyes!
Image by: Colin Walsh
The following morning we were off to the north of the island and our base near Nungwi: Sunset Beach Bungalows. The bit of added luxury provided by our hotel rooms in Stone Town and our bungalows here as was a welcome change. There are so many activities to keep you busy from snorkelling and scuba diving to kite boarding and fishing with the locals – but the temptation is to just stroll along or lay on the beach enjoying the views and weather whilst getting a massage or manicures from one of the local ladies, they will even indulge you in some Henna body art if you like.
Image by: Michelle Lewis
On the first afternoon we all decided to visit the turtle rescue centre to swim and feed the turtles. This, just like the cheetah and lion experiences wehad in the southern parts of Africa, was an amazing opportunity to see and learn about these animals in a safe and controlled environment. The sanctuary is a small in-land rock pool, which gets flooded during high tide through crevices in the rock, creating a natural in-land aquarium where the Green Turtles and various fish live. These turtles have accidentally been caught in the fishing nets of the locals who then bring to this sanctuary, and are normally released after 3-5 years. Most of the turtles were the size of a large dinner plate but the oldest turtle, which was 29 years old, was bigger than a coffee table! So far Zanzibar had lived up to expectations, and it would keep on being superb throughout our time there.
Image by: Colin Walsh
A few of the passengers used the final two days to do some snorkelling or boat based scuba diving, visiting some of the smaller islands. Cruising from one dive spot to the other they witnessing the many colourful tropical fish and turtles that reside in these warm, turquoise waters. On one of the days the guides caught a Tuna fish, while the guests were snorkelling, which was then barbecued and enjoyed on a secluded island beach. They all enjoyed it extremely and would recommend it to anyone looking to see the local wildlife in the ocean.
Image by: Michelle Lewis
Our last day on the magical island of Zanzibar came way too quickly and we all reluctantly prepared to catch the ferry back to Dar es Salaam. We took a quick walk into Stone Town to visit the Mercury house: Freddie Mercury’s residence while he was growing up and on his subsequent visits to the island. It was nice to see the humble beginnings of one the world’s greatest front men – how he spent his days on the island as a just another local, part of this community. The trip back on the ferry was a little more ‘exciting’ than the trip to the island as we bobbed up and down with the swell. Luckily no-one felt sick, and it was actually quite enjoyable, kind of like a gentle roller-coaster. We arrived at our Dar es Salaam campsite with enough time for a leisurely swim in the ocean a few games of pool, a couple of beverages and dinner before tucking ourselves in our sleeping bags for an early night.
Image by: Michelle Lewis
Stay tuned over the next few weeks to discover what he gets up to with the group as they head north to Arusha, Tanzania to Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.
Written by Colin Walsh