We had a little bit of a rough start in Tanzania, our bus took way longer than we thought, so we were forced to stay overnight in Dar es Salaam. Dar es Salaam is a pretty scary city. After staying overnight in the city, we were able to get the ferry to our intended destination, Zanzibar.
Zanzibar is a fantastic island! We stayed in a hostel in stone town. Stone town was so cool. It was definitely touristy, but it was kind of nice for a change. Stone town is a big huge maze of narrow streets, with tons of neat little shops and restaurants.
One thing that Zanzibar is famous for are the carved doors. They were just beautiful.
The doors, narrow streets and women in their burkas make it a really interesting atmosphere.We met a really nice German girl on our way to the hostel, she was on a break from doing a medical internship in Rwanda! So, we decided to all head out together for some food. This is what we found...
There is a huge seafood bbq market type area near the waterfront. You just pick the things you want and they add it to a big fire in the centre of the courtyard. Yum! We may have gone a little crazy. I needed two plates to carry all my food. The worst part was.....I ate it all!! It was so good.
We took our massive amount of food and went to sit by the water. A great start to the Zanzibar vacation.
We decided to do a little snorkeling in Zanzibar, so we booked a tour which took us out to an island off of Zanzibar where you visit some giant tortoises then snorkel. The day didn't start of very promising, it was pouring rain. After a little bit of a rough boat ride we took shelter at the hotel on the island to wait it out.
Luckily, the storm cleared and we were able to visit the turtles. Before going, we weren't so interested in the turtles, but they turned out to be pretty fun to hang out with. Very good for photo ops too!
Look how cute this guy is. I love the greens around his mouth. What a messy lil kid (I know, not little or a kid, but still).
It actually became quite sunny and we were able to snorkel too. I don't think the snorkeling is anything like great barrier reef, but I was able to see most of the fish from finding nemo. That's something right?
Here is the view of the island on our way back...
That night, we went out with our new German friend (whose name I forget) to hear some traditional music.
The next day we needed to make our travel arrangements to leave the island. For a variety of reasons, we decided to scrap our overland travel plans and to just fly somewhere where we could hang for another week. We decided on Cape Town, South Africa. There is an airport in Zanzibar, so we didn't think it would be too complicated. I think we may have forgotten that this is Africa....nothing is easy! We thought we would quickly book a flight online and be off to the beach for the day. First off, Kenya Airways website kept crashing. Argh! So we called Kenya Airways, and after being put on hold forever, we got cut off because it was so expensive to call Kenya and we ran out of credit. Oh boy! Then we found out that there is a Kenya Airways office in stonetown....perfect. We got to the office at 11, to find out their hours were 9-12 that day... phew. Unfortunately the Kenya Airways employee wasn't in yet. Someone else had been waiting since 10! Do they know where he is? nope, but 'he's coming'. Then, while we were waiting, we overheard that they don't take visa at this office. DON'T TAKE VISA FOR BOOKING FLIGHTS!!! Who carries that kind of cash around with them!!??! So, we asked them if we could just use their landline to call kenya airways to book over the phone. We were told that 'they weren't authorized to do that' . What?!?!?! they Kenya Airways office can't call Kenya Airways??? After a VERY long morning, when the Kenya Airways guy finally showed up, he let us use his phone, only to find out that the reason the website kept crashing was because the flight we were trying to book was canceled. We were back to square one. Essentially we had to go back to the internet cafe were we started to book another flight. ARGH Zanzibar is great, but they definitely don't make it easy to leave!
So.. since we were no longer able to head out of town to the beaches like our original plan, we learnt a new phrase. 'Sundowners' are drinks you have on a patio watching the sunset. Not bad eh? We sat at this pub, sampled some Tanzanian beer and watched an impromtu soccer game on the beach infront of us. I think we may have had extended the meaning of 'sundowners' to include before and after sunset.....
We were finally able to get up to the north end of the island the next day. We took public transit to get up there, which is essentially a pick up truck outfitted with a roof on the back and seats all around the back that everyone piles into, and I mean PILES into. I got stuck in the corner and my feet were pretty much numb by the time I got there cause I was squished so much. Well worth it though....look at these pictures!!!
Not a bad place to spend the afternoon reading on the beach.
Fantastic seafood restaurants along the beach! Here I am rocking the windswept beach look, I think I could get used to this.
After a fantastic day at the beach, we went back to Zanzibar for more 'sundowners'. We were treated to a lightening show on the water that night. Perfect since it didn't even rain on us.
That's it for Tanzania, we flew from Dar es Salaam the next day. I have one last picture to share.... I saw this at the market..... they are cutting up a shark!! A whole shark, how could I resist a photo.
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