Zanzibar!!

Indian Ocean in the morning

    Early morning, and I mean early, we left for Zanzibar even more tired than we thought possible. The boarding process was fast and before we knew it we were crossing the Indian Ocean. The sun raising was an absolutely beautiful scene. With the Dao boats sailing in view, it was reminiscent of something I would see in an anime (please excuse the geek out). 

View of Zanzibar from our hotel balcony. Photo; courtesy of Ali Anger.

Zanzibar as our ferry docked

The two hour boat ride took its time and I as well as many of the group dozed off mid trip. As we arrived we saw a few of the fifty isles that make up Zanzibar just before Unguja came into view. The boat docked and after a short time of waiting for our information to be processed we waltzed into Stone town a combination of Old and new (the city is literally split into an old and new district). Our hotel was seconds away from the dock and located in the old potion of Stone town. We stayed at a three star hotel, which was very accommodating as well as luxurious, called Zanzibar Grand Palace. After settling to our gorgeous rooms we were sent away by our professors to tour the city while that caught up on some rest.  The quaint design of our side of town was absolutely entrapping, I was in love. While touring the city we saw many of the famous doors of Stone town, said to directly reflect the owner’s wealth and position during Arabic control. The tour also took us through the local markets, a few historic areas, and the best place for to watch the sunset in Zanzibar: Africa House Hotel.

The rest of the day was spent in the museums of Zanzibar we learned of the Arabic and Muslim influence and rule. One particular museum “The house of Wonder” I enjoyed the most it featured economy, biology, and an extensive history selection. The house of wonder this particular day housed an extra wonder. It was while touring the museum I met the internationally established Zanzibarian designer Farouque Abdela known for his disputed work with Princess Diana, as well as his work with Maya Angelou, the first lady of Tanzania and many Actors and actresses. We met and made a plan to meet at a later date for an interview, putting the close on a productive and quite auspicious day.

At the end of the tour and the day we were exhausted the few hours we had of down time were literally spent “down” we needed to catch up on some rest. We enjoyed dinner that night on the rooftop of our hotel. There we had an amazing view of the town to match the amazing cuisine served.

Wednesday the group and I traveled to the spice tour. The farm growing the spices had an extremely large variety of plants from spices and perfumes to fruits. We were shown many varieties and were given explanations of uses and side effects of many plants. At the end of the tour the farmers allowed us to taste many of the indigenous fruits growing in the farm. My particular favorite was the African Grape fruit. However, my pleasure was ruined by the infamous Durian Fruit A.K.A the stink fruit. The smell was absolutely abysmal yet everyone I had talked to about it told me it tasted heavenly…it was a trap. After tasting the fruit I was nauseous for the next two days. Tasting of the durian fruit concluded the tour, especially for me and we returned to Stone town after purchasing spices. And this was only the morning.

Variety of spices for sale after our spice tour. Courtesy of Ali Anger

Snorkling!!! Courtesy of Ali A.

Our afternoon was spent snorkeling in the Indian Ocean. It was my first time and I was very excited for the experience. After taking a ferry out to the reef we jumped in without hesitation. Unfortunately due to my lack of experience the first fifteen minutes I spent drowning… drowning really well. But after adjusting to the gear, seeing the reef and fish was quite nice.

Dinner during Zanzibar black out Courtesy of Ali Anger :)

That evening we were preparing to walk the town in search of a nice restaurant when the power turned went out. The streets were pitch black, after some speculation, we opted for adventure. Chris and I gathered some flashlights and we made our way down the street until coming upon a small park with many vendors hosting fresh caught seafood such as lobster, muscles, and fish. The variety was ridiculous we took our time reviewing the food and took to bartering with the locals for dinner. Afterwards we enjoyed drinks with a local in the labyrinth alley streets of Zanzibar.

Our third and final day in Zanzibar we went to the beach. I figure I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves for this period of the trip.

Bruce, Brooke, and I building our sand castle

After a long day at the beach we returned home to shower and prepare for dinner. Chris and I had a dinner date with his mother, aunt, and some family friends, while the rest of the group enjoyed dinner back at the hotel. This evening we went out to commemorate the end of our trip to Zanzibar…We won’t discuss the matters of this particular night…

The following morning was…difficult. Chris and I had to get up early with the rest of the group to switch our Ferry tickets to a later time. We both had made plans for the morning. I had my interview with Farouque and Chris had plans with his aunt and mother.

After my interview with Farouque Abdela I met with Chris, his mother and Aunt for some lunch. They then walked us to the harbor and we left Zanzibar…But after experiencing Zanzibar I will most definitely return.