The Spice Islands Zanzibar

We decided late last evening that we would take a short trip to Zanzibar, the islands known as the African Spice Islands that are located right off the coast of Tanzania. We took the earliest possible ferry at 7am, which meant that we left Tom and Mariam’s home at 5am in the morning. Traffic in Dar is really bad between 6 and 9 am because there are limited roads and 4 million people with cars who need to get to twit destinations.

We arrived at the ferry just in time to buy our ticket and board for the trip to Zanzibar. From Dar to Zanzibar it took approximately one and a half hours on the ferry an the entire journey was enjoyable. The waves were huge and has the ferry went up and down everyone started laughing due to the “butterfly in the stomach” feeling you get when you are on a roller coaster. Hearing people laughing and having a good time made me smile and laugh even more, people are so happy here.

We arrived in Zanzibar at 8:30am, just in time to catch one of the island spice tours that were leaving at 9:00am. Luckily we called the right tour guide, and he came and collected us from the ferry. I did a spice tour in India and it was absolutely a blast, so I thought it would be nice to do one in Africa and with Andrew this time! They showed us cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, clove, as well as many other tropical spices and fruit. Thy gave us spice samples along the way and let us try all the local fruits.

At the end of the tour they let us try local Zanzibari food made from the spices at the spice farm. They served us spiced pilau, chapati, vegetable curry, and chapati. While the food was good, I have to admit that it was a bit interesting… The curry had an interesting sour taste and the Chinese vegetables had some hard parts that you had to spit out as you ate. Let me just say that the lunch part of the spice tour was definitely better in India…

After the spice tour our guide took us to a cave that was used to house thousands of slaves during the slave grade between Eastern Africa and the Arabic countries in the Middle East. For years Zanzibar has been the trading point between and the Middle East, and it still is today. The cave had huge, very deep, dark, and damp. Water leaked from the ceilings because the ocean is so close to the cave. Within the cave were two tunnels, one that led to the village, and one that led to the sea. These tunnels were used to move slaves to and from the ships without allowing them to cause commotion on the islands. As I stood in the cave and imagined over 1000 people sleeping and hundred together I couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of how horrible these people were treated. Our guide informed us that people from all across Eastern Africa, especially the Congo were taken from their villages to be traded on the slave market in Zanzibar.

To ensure that we ended our day on a bright note, we stopped by a beautiful beach for an hour or so on our way back to Stone Town. The sand in Zanzibar is pure white and there many beautiful sea shells just lining the coasts. We spent our hour swimming in the Indian Ocean and gathering seashells. Our experience was beautiful.

After the beach we headed back to Stonetown, arriving at around 3:30. Stonetown is a beautiful old city on Zanzibar that was built by the Arabs many years ago. We checked into a nice guesthouse with a garden terrace on the roof called the Flamingo Hotel. After we cleaned up a little bit and unpacked our wet beach gear, we set out to explore Stonetown.

Walking around Stonetown, talking with the locals, and trying the local foods reminded us of our experiences on our honeymoon. Stonetown was beautiful, peaceful, and delicious (as Andrew and I tried every street food available.)

(Below: Andrews Post)

We had another early start today as we left to catch the ferry to Zanzibar. We’d heard a lot of things about Zanzibar, both good and bad and so we were unsure what to expect. We arrived early in the morning and purchased our tickets. We said goodbye to Tom and Mariam and boarded the ferry over. Our first planned activity was a spice your, where they take you to a local spice farm, teach you about the spices and how they are grown/used.

Even though I enjoy cooking I’ve never been the one to handle the spices (Kylie tends to have that role). The spice your was pretty cool, we wandered through dense trees between various plants as we were taught what the spices were, how to recognize them, etc. Kylie was the star student as she could name most of the spices on the tour.

After the spice your we were taken to a local beach to swim which was a nice relaxing part of the day.

Thoroughly rested, Kylie and I decided to visit the local market in Darayani (spice market). We wandered wonderfully scented streets with all sorts of vendors selling raw spices, spice mixes, and various herbs. We had a ton of fun with our planned activities, but the best part for me was wandering the city in the evening. The streets of Zanzibar are made of beautiful cobblestone and the buildings rise high above you with clay shingles as roofs. It’s quite a picturesque place and Kylie and I hope to return here soon.