So I copied the Title from this email I sent out about my trip, but it is pretty amazing how again, in one little trip in 1 country, I went 5985m above sea level to 30m below (scuba diving)! My 3rd leg of my Tanzania journey, after Kili and safari's, was Zanzibar!!! Zanzibar is absolutely AMAZING!! I really really loved it! It was ruled by the Oman for many years, and thus has a very prominent Middle Eastern feel and Arabic style, AND is about 95% Muslim. Having said that, it is an interesting mix of Middle Eastern muslims, African muslims, and Indian muslims. So you can imagine how yummy the food is with all these mixes!
I had a bit of a whirlwind trip, but right when I got there, I explored Stone Town, which was really lovely. It is fairly historic (a World Heritage Sight), and with the history of slave trade and commercial trade it, the make-up of the city is cosmopolitan, but with the narrow, twisting streets, almost reminds me of Europe, but then has that Arabian laid back feel with people sitting around chit-chatting, but then it has some hustle and bustle that reminds me of India. Really interesting and I soaked it in as much as I good (as well as the fresh crisp sea air). Below are some pictures of life around Stone Town!
After that brief visit around Stone town, I briskly set off for Matemwe Beach Village, a sea town on the northeast side of the island (about an hour away). There I was met by the calming beach and village life. What I most liked about Zanzibar was how peaceful it is. Most beach places have high rise commercial hotels and just have a superficial feel about it. However, in Zanzibar it is fairly undeveloped and the hotels are mostly quaint really cute lodges, with looooooong white stretch of sand and beautiful crystal clear waters at it's doorstep. I especially loved the local beach life - fishing, picking up seaweed. So simple and so calming and relaxing :-)
View from outside my room :-)
Rainbow!! Always magical!
Picking up the seaweed for export for products such as skin creams, etc.
I found Nemo!! The scuba diving was amazing, really like the movie (my fave), Finding Nemo. Excellent visibility and in tact coral and lovely fish. Most exciting was we 1st saw dolphins on the boat, and then when we were under water, we heard the sound of them... which I've never heard while diving. And then... wah la! This whole group came and just swam right by us! Soooo amazing!!!! (wish I had an underwater camera!)
After a few days scuba diving and lounging around (finally, some relaxation!), I headed to the famous Spice Plantations. Needless to say, I wish I knew more about food and cooking because even the guide was amazed at my lack of knowledge for smells and plants. Oops! So I learned a few things and it was really great seeing where these store bought goods come from!
Heheh, this reminded me of Sri Lanka. You ask about coconut, and then next think you know, someone is climbing a tree, grabs one, skins it, and then you have fresh organic coconut and juice, nothing like it!
Here is the 'dala dala,' aka, the local transport!
The below is a bit out of order (gasp!), but the 1st few days when I came to Zanzibar, I spent in Dar Es Saleem. To be honest, I was a bit lazy because I knew the adventures that were ahead of me (aka, climbing Kili), buuut fortunately, a daughter of an acquaintance (okay, my hair dresser!) is from Tanzania. I contacted her to just get some info about Tanzania, not realizing the Tanzanian hospitality, and the next thing you know, Tia is not only picking up from the airport, but taking me to her home for an Iftar dinner, THEN inviting me to her uncle's Iftar the following evening THEN taking me around town! Sooooooooooooooooo super nice and she is brilliant fun person and I really enjoyed spending time with her. Thanks Tia!!!
Umm... food is important in many cultures, but this feast was too much for little 'ol me and like 3 other people! Banana is a huge staple food here and many of the dishes had banana and plantain flavors.
3+ years ago, I met Paschal (a nephrologist) in India - we were both at CMC, Vellore in India doing respective working and volunteering. He has a crazy interesting life story and I connected to him right away, especially that we share the same birthday (he's just 5 years older!). We had made plans to climb Kili together, but work and life got in his way, so I sadly went without him, but hopefully he will get to go! His family was SUPER cute, OMG, adorable kids, and there came yet another feast!!!
Welp, 3 weeks, 3 different activities, and 3 blogs!!! Phew!!!! Now I need a 3 month break, ha ha! I'm actually, da da dum, going to stay put for a bit! I spent a lot of $$ on travel this year (and also my vacation days!) and now I want to stay put and possibly explore the area around here some more!!
Soo.... stay tuned!
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