The one with the paradise island</strong>

1 January 2020 (day 29)

Happy 2020 everyone and welcome back to the roaring 20s! We have a nice late start today, leaving at 11am, and Nash has made epic Nashcakes for breakfast again as it’s a special occasion.

The plan for the day is to drive to Marangu which is very near the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. The drive takes a few hours and we arrive at Marangu Hotel mid afternoon. For the first time in a while, we have down time during the day and we spend it doing a whole lot of nothing. We do however have a Savannah cider, which we order and have opened before realising they’re 8,500 TSH each, around $3.70, which is extortionate compared with the typical price of $0.65-0.80 for a bottle of beer elsewhere in Tanzania and similar in Uganda and Kenya.

Two big yellow trucks are better than one after all - Maringu, Tanzania

Nothing much else happens other than that in the early evening we walk back to the bar to see Mount Kilimanjaro as the clouds clear. During the day, the mountain is completely obscured by cloud but first and last thing it’s not and the campsite affords good views of the snow covered peak.

2 January 2020 (day 30)

We have a free day today with absolutely no plans at all, and it’s just glorious! The weather is perfect all day and for the first time in a while we manage to do washing and have it dry within just a few hours (as opposed to it taking a couple of days because of rains or late arrivals at campsites leaving insufficient dry times).

Mid-morning we walk over to the bar area to see Mount Kilimanjaro again and the views are even better than the night before. We then spend most of the day in the bar or beautiful grounds writing this blog (we got VERY behind for a while there) and chatting to others from the group. There had been an option to go to see a local Chagga village, some caves and a waterfall but we decide we’ll do that when we come back to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro instead (which is firmly on our to-do list).

The view of Mount Kilimanjaro from our campsite in Maringu, Tanzania

Other than that, there’s nothing of note to report on the day.

3 January 2020 (day 31)

I backtrack on all previous posts when I say we’re up early. Those were all relative lie-ins. Today we get up at 3.30am to drive 10hrs to our next destination, Bagamoyo, which is basically just an overnight stop en route to Dar es Salaam and the ferry to Zanzibar. We leave the campsite at 5am, stop at 1:35pm for a local buffet lunch of rice, beans, greens and a few other things, and arrive at Firefly Bagamoyo campsite just before 4pm.

The landscape over the day’s drive changes dramatically, although it’s worth noting that both Sara and I snooze through much of it. We start out in mountainous terrain (Kilimanjaro and all), and it changes into beautiful green landscape populated first with banana trees and later palm trees with green coconuts ripening high above our heads as we pass.

One of the things we both love about Africa, and Tanzania in particular, is how friendly the local children (and adults) are and how delighted they are to see us as we pass in our big yellow truck. Every town and village we pass, children shout to get our attention and wave enthusiastically at us with big grins. Some run down to the road to get closer to us as we drive past, others stay a little further back with other children or groups of (typically) women, but the delight at seeing us is almost universal. Today is no exception, and dozens upon dozens of children plus many men and women wave happily at us over the course of the day. It never fails to make us smile.

The campsite is just off the beach, but when we head down the tide is very low and far out and there is a strong odour of rotten fish so we decide against a dip in the ocean. It’s extremely hot and humid but the place is great, with a pool, hammocks, lounging chairs, and a laid back bohemian vibe. We have a Cuba Libre by the pool and do a little life admin (i.e. we write this blog entry!) before having a shower to freshen up. However, as noted above, it’s extremely hot and humid, so within minutes of showering we’re both sticky again from the heat. I guess at least we’re now a sweeter smelling sticky than before and that’s something.

Blogging by the pool in Bagamoyo, Tanzania

The heat and humidity continues overnight and nobody sleeps well. Many in our group go without their rain covers and leave the tent windows and doors rolled up to let what little breeze there is ventilate their tents. We, however, go the rain-averse route and keep our tent watertight, which is a terrible decision in hindsight. We therefore spend the night in an airless humid sauna of a tent and wake poorly rested.

4 January 2020 (day 32)

It’s Zanzibar day! We set off at 6am to drive to Dar es Salaam, the coastal city from which we’ll get the ferry to Zanzibar! Steve and Nash have allowed 3hrs for the drive in advance of our ferry at 9:30am, but we make good time and encounter much less traffic than anticipated so arrive at the port at 7:45am.

We wave goodbye to Steve and Pluto (the truck) as they don’t come to Zanzibar with us and go to wait for the boat. Various people pick up water and cokes and the like outside the port, and one man tries to charge Emily 5,000 TSH (about $2.30) for a soft drink but then sells exactly the same to a local for 1,000 TSH. Muzungu price hikes! Emily challenges and successfully pays the same as the local.

The ferry is lovely and our economy seats are in an air conditioned cabin where they show the CGI version of The Jungle Book. Sara and I however sleep through the entire journey. The travel sickness pills we took in anticipation of a choppy ride turn out to be strong!

The crossing is uneventful and we’re pleased to find our luggage has also made it safely across. Nash introduces us to Isaac, our local Zanzibar guide, who then walks way too fast through a burrow of alleys to our bus, failing entirely to take any account of the pace of his group. Miraculously the whole group makes it to the bus and, with our luggage aboard, we walk back into Stone Town for a quick lunch of calamari and chips for me and underwhelming biryani for Sara, before it’s back to the buses and on to our hotel.

We’re staying in Kendwa in the north of the island for three nights and the drive there takes around an hour, taking in villages, banana plantations and palm trees, and spice farm after spice farm. Sara and I both miss all of this however due to the very strong travel sickness pills I mentioned earlier putting us both back to sleep as soon as the vehicle starts moving.

We arrive groggily at Sunset Bungalows in Kendwa and are allocated to our rooms. Sara and I (and presumably this is true of all rooms) have a lovely spacious room with air conditioning, a fridge, en suite, tables and chairs, and a private balcony overlooking what might generously be described as garden (and might otherwise be described as the side of a building and a path with a few plants). It’s absolute luxury and we’re slightly giddy at the idea of this for three nights. No tents, no camping, no sweltering heat, and no early wake ups!

We head down to the beach and oh my goodness this place! I heard before coming that Zanzibar is one of the places travel companies use in their photos of paradise islands to entice punters to buy their holidays and I can absolutely see why. It’s no exaggeration to say this is the most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen or can really even conceive of. White sands, turquoise ocean, palm trees all around with hammocks strung between them for general use … it’s glorious. I immediately decide never to leave and tell Sara who agrees with me that it’s an excellent idea. We’ll figure out the money thing later!

We do a little paddling in the Indian Ocean and find that the water is wonderfully warm, and we order some cocktails from the beach bar attached to our hotel, which are wonderfully cool. I can’t state enough how wonderful this place is!

The walk from our bungalow to the beach in Kendwa, Zanzibar, Tanzania

Early evening, Sara, Nash and I head to Kendwa Rocks, the hotel next door, for some sushi. The service is abysmal and it takes over an hour for the food and one beer to arrive. Sushi, for crying out loud! And they bring us the wrong tempura - mixed instead of vegetable - and eventually agree not to charge us for it. From this though we learn that some countries treat everything as tempura-able when we find chicken in amongst the battered food (this is what first alerts us to the fact it’s not vegetable)!

Enjoying a lovely afternoon with a book in Zanzibar

The food’s only okay - it’s nice for different but we’ve had enough good sushi in our time for this not really to hit the mark for us. The most surprising thing though is that there’s no salmon at all anywhere on the menu. It makes sense - where are you going to get salmon from on a tropical island - and it’s been replaced with tuna throughout as that’s much more accessible locally, but the lack of salmon is noticeable for me in the meal.

Sunset at Sunset Bungalows in Kendwa, Zanzibar

We wander back along the beach in the half light, silhouettes of palm trees set against the darkening sky, the sound of gently lapping waves, and warm sand between our toes. We decide to have an early night given the early starts and limited sleep (plus the fact we’re still a little hazy from those travel sickness pills!) and roll back to our lovely cool room for a very restful night’s sleep.

5 January 2020 (day 33)

The TL;DR of today is sat on the beach, read our books, swam in the ocean, and drank cocktails.

The fractionally longer version involves a breakfast of omlettes made fresh in front of us, tropical fruits, and mango and watermelon juice followed by a morning of sunbaking, swimming and reading on the beach. Around lunchtime, we buy some sarongs and loose beach shirt type things from a vendor who walks past, which we immediately proudly wear. And in the afternoon there’s much of the same, only this time with cocktails!

Most of our group have gone out on a sundowner booze cruise and we enjoy the relative peace and quiet with fewer people around. By the time we’re heading down for dinner, the cruise is back and where a few people are clearly merry, Mike has gone a fair bit past that. We’ve timed our arrival at dinner pretty poorly as everyone else has already ordered, but nonetheless our food actually arrives pretty quickly all things considered, and Sara is a big fan of her BBQ chicken pizza. I’ve committed to eating only seafood in Zanzibar and my seafood pasta is nice although lacking a little in the spice the menu assured me would form part of the ingredients.

We make a quick escape after dinner to avoid the tipsy people and associated dramas and spend a little time reading in our wonderfully cool room before bed.

6 January 2020 (day 34)

Today is very much like yesterday, only with more time reading in our room as the heat is a bit too much and it’s also quite humid.

In the evening, we have a group meal on the beach as it’s our last night in Kendwa. A long table has been set up, and the sun sets shortly after we arrive. Sara and I order the King Seafood Platter between us as it has lobster, tiger prawns, calamari, octopus, kingfish, and some other bits and bobs. We eat by candlelight a few metres from the shoreline, with yet more palm tree silhouettes and lapping waves, and it’s a wonderful way to finish our time in Kendwa.

7 January 2020 (day 35)

It’s a sad morning, both because we say goodbye to Kendwa, but also because Mandy and Abebe are leaving today to head home to Minneapolis. We’re really sad to see them go but given Sara has a lot of family in Minnesota, we’ll hopefully be able to see them when we go to visit the aunts and uncles sometime in the future.

A final photo on Zanzibar with Mandy and Abebe

We reluctantly hand our keys back to reception and pack our bags back into the vehicles before heading off. Having not taken any travel pills today, we see more of the island on this trip on our way south again.

We stop around 45mins later for a spice tour on one of the farms. Our guide tells us we can call him Mr Spice and that the farm is community owned. He then takes us around to show us where various fruits and spices come from and how local people use them in their diet and for medicinal purposes. Whenever we stop, Mr Spice’s wingman, James, takes whatever fruit or spice we’re being shown and cuts a piece off for us to see, smell, and in some instances taste.

Over the tour we’re shown:

the tree from which curry leaves come;
custard apple and star fruit trees;
lemongrass which the locals call “mmm chai chai”, i.e. “mmm that smells good ... tea tea” (it’s the first time either of us has seen the grass part of lemongrass rather than the root that’s used in Thai cooking)
vanilla pod on the vine, and we find out that vanilla is the second most expensive spice in the world after saffron (Mr Spice tells us locals put vanilla pods in their sugar to make vanilla sugar, which is something my Gran also used to do!);
banana (there are 17 types of banana in Tanzania alone!);
red henna used for henna tattoos;
jackfruit which can grow up to 20kg;
black and white pepper (we’re each given a young branch to chew on and its deliciously spicy! Locals apparently use these to brush their teeth);
grapefruit / pomelo; nutmeg; cinnamon where the bark is the cinnamon and the roots smell like Vick’s vaporub and are used to make breathing aids for when people have a cold;
ylang ylang trees which have yellow blossoms used in the cosmetic industry, including in Chanel No 5;
cloves which used to be a cash crop in Zanzibar, and Mr Spice tells us that it’s known as a “cheating spice” as it’s smoked along with marijuana to mask the drug’s smell;
cardamom, another cheating spice as it masks the smell of alcohol on the breath;
ginger;
cassava / tapioca; and
turmeric (which I ate and turned my mouth very yellow!).

Banana trees on the spice farm in Zanzibar

Jen and the turmeric tongue at the spice farm in Zanzibar

Partway through we’re given a smell-through of various perfumes the local women have made from the plants. There’s a Christmas mix (no idea why it’s a Christmas mix - it doesn’t smell Christmassy to us at all); a six flower mix; ylang-ylang; and various others. There are also soaps and medicinal ointments, including one from the cinnamon roots to help with colds and coughs. We buy three little perfume bottles as the money goes to support the local women involved in the cooperative, and it’s only 20,000 TSH (less than $9) for all three. Bargain!

Jen studiously sampling the scents on the smell-through

Proudly wearing our handmade grass adornments at the end of the spice tour on Zanzibar

After the tour, we’re sat down to taste some of the fruits they grow on the farm. We’re given pink grapefruit, green orange (who knew that’s a thing!), tiny banana, jackfruit, pineapple, and watermelon, all of which are probably the best specimens that I’ve ever tasted. Trust me when I say Nom!

It’s then back into the buses and off to a local woman’s house for lunch. The house is surprisingly spacious and modern with a flat screen tv and various sofas in the living room. We file in and find our meal of beef rice, potato curry, chapatis and salad set out for us on plates the floor in what I assume is the dining room (there’s no furniture), and watermelon is brought out later for dessert. The meal is simple but really delicious.

After lunch we head to Stone Town and check into our hotel, Safari Lodge. While some people go to Prison Island to do some snorkelling and see the giant tortoise that lives there, Sara and I decide against it for now and add it to the Things To Do When We Return To Zanzibar list as we’ve both been feeling a bit under the weather. Instead we relax in our room for a bit and then decide that ice cream is an excellent idea so take a wander into town in search of gelato. We walk along the seafront enjoying the sunshine and bustle and get some cool, tasty ice cream and soda at Mama Mia.

Just around the corner is Freddie Mercury House, which as the name suggests is where Freddie Mercury lived in Zanzibar. There’s a Freddie Mercury museum attached but we don’t go in, choosing instead just to take some photos outside like most of the other tourists.

Sara outside Freddie Mercury House in Stone Town, Zanzibar

Heading back to the hotel, we find ourselves on the main tourist drag with some shops selling African made art and carvings and others selling Chinese imports pretending to be African made (there are no “made in China” markings like at home but the uniformity and ubiquity of some of the items from shop to shop, even country to country, make it pretty obvious).

We stumble across a shop where the owner takes old window frames from the island’s buildings and uses the wood to make carved signs. There are various messages on the signs in Swahili, including “pole pole” (slowly slowly), “jambo” (hello), and “muzungu” (white person), and we buy two of them, one saying “karibu” (welcome) and the other “hakuna matata” (which, as any fan of the Lion King knows, means no worries).

The artist and his window frame artwork in Stone Town, Zanzibar

We drop our new purchases at the hotel and head out to meet the group for some sundowner drinks at Mercury Bar before dinner at the night market nearby. The market has a lot of stalls but mostly selling one of three things: shwarma (kebab), Zanzibar pizza, and meat / fish skewers. After scouting out every stall, we settle on trying some shwarma and a Zanzibar pizza. Zanzibar pizza is nothing like Italian / western pizza: you take a thin pancake, add some toppings (either sweet or savoury), fold the pancake edges over, and then fry it on both sides. We go for the avocado, mushroom, cheese, vegetable pizza and it’s pretty good. For the shawarma we go to the same stall everyone else in our group did figuring it must be good to have attracted everyone to it, and it’s also pretty good. Neither of us as has a huge appetite tonight so we have one final wander around a few of the stalls before going back to the hotel for an early night.

Sunset from the Mercury Bar in Stone Town, Zanzibar