Zanzibar; palm trees, spices and Stone Town

Jambo, jambo again.
This one's about Zanzibar. We arrived from Arusha after a short flight of a little over an hour. It's a very small airport, even though it's signposted as 'International'. We knew we were someplace entirely different to the mainland when we were descending down on to the island. We could see palm trees everywhere, it looked a lot less congested than say Nairobi, the architecture was different too, lots of mosques. We arrived after sunset at the Zanzibar Beach Resort, which looked fantastic under lights. There weren't many porters around, and were met by the Hotel Manager, which was very unusual. Why? Well, the Ramadan fast was broken for the day, so much of the staff were gone, probably at home, eating and drinking for the first time in the day since pre-dawn, so a long day without food or drink. We befriended a wonderful fellow called Jamu, tall, thin, with a big smile and a cheeky nature [quite unusual in Tanzania]. He took our big bags to our rooms, in the upper level of one of many freestanding 'villas', dotted along the front edge of a lawn with trees, a winding white-bordered path between us and the edge of the hotel property. The sea was maybe 100 meters away, We were tired and hungry, but we had a great little joke and chat with Jamu, and knew pretty much right from the start that we connected with him. We found out later on that Jamu is the head poolman, who was conscripted into being a porter because the staff just weren't there! Once into our room, refreshed and eager, we enjoyed dinner at the restaurant, but you could tell immediately that we were spoilt for welcomes and smiles in our time in Kenya. Noone was rude or unwelcoming, it was just in a quiet way, little eye contact. We decided we would just keep smiling and try out our swahili, and hope that we may get some spark back from the food and drinks waiters and housekeeping staff. For example, we'd have fun stepping over or around freshly mopped stonework, with happy "jambo, jambo" and make a joke out of it, rather than trudging through their work, and housekeepers were amused by this, probably thinking we were nuts. Anyway, that's our style.
The following morning, a beautiful day [but warming up] down to breakfast, catching Jamu's eye and we had a bit of fun with him. He's taken by us and offered to take us around Stone Town with him the following day, his day off, as we had the day free. Wow, how wonderful we thought, but we were worried he was taking time out of his precious time for us, but he insisted.
Anyway, after breakfast we went on a tour of a spice farm. Zanzibar was made famous by its spices, which is why it was called the Spice island. It's also had a hugely chequered past with many different civilisations conquering and occupying the island, thereby adding their own cultural spice mix to the place over many hundreds of years. It was also a hub in the slave trade, where slaves were sent to this island, and sold. The drive from the hotel took us through the real Zanzibar, lots of shops and houses off the road, but what was saddening for us was the huge amount of littler, mainly in the form of plastic bags and bottles, the scourge literally infecting this island. [We noticed heaps of littler just dumped all over the place in Kenya too, not in National Parks though]. As we went higher up the insanely high hill [tallest point in Zanzibar is a lofty 200m] we noticed bigger and bigger houses, many of whom appeared to be abandoned [trees and shrubs growing in the shells of the buildings] or incomplete -- housing boom went bust, or people ran out of money or credit?
The farm we visited was a family-run operation. Our guide walked us through the hilly place, the soil rich, the vegetation lush. We were expecting everything to be neatly laid out in rows, but it was quite haphazard to our untrained eyes: tall trees shading shrubs and other plants, all for a reason. Mango and other tall trees shading ginger, tumeric, and other plants. We had smell tests of crushed leaves to see how keen our noses were: peppercorn, vanilla, cloves [the king of spices], cinnamon [the queen of spices, naturally most important], curry leaves, tumeric [amazing yellow juice that stained your fingers quite readily], ginger, lemongrass, cardamon, also fruits such as banana, pineapple, custard apple, jack fruit and star fruit. And lots more. It was fantastic to learn of the medicinal and food uses, Pier's mouth was watering with every description of meals that could be prepared, yummmmmm! We were followed by a few young boys who were chatting to us, weaving things from banana leaves as we walked. Eventually our tour ended, and we sat down under a shelter to try out some teas -- lemongrass, masalla, ginger -- as well probably the juiciest pineapple and bananas we've ever tasted. Sheryl loved the custard apple and jack fruit especially; for Pier, the masalla tea was his favourite, even though he's a coffee man [might even be tempted to try chai latte one of these days!]. We then had the opportunity to buy some spices and soaps -- hope we can get them through Customs on our return.
We had lunch back at the Resort, met up with Jamu, and we accepted his offer of accompanying us tomorrow: 9am at the Resort gates, for 3 hours. Following lunch our minibus took us to Stone Town. There we visited a church under which were cells where slaves were held, prior to being sold. Needless to say it was quite a sobering situation, our imaginations running wild, thinking how it would've felt for those unfortunate people, stolen from their homelands, chained by the neck underground in stifling conditions, where you could easily fall victim to starvation, thirst, disease and suffocation. Sheryl was quite upset by this. We were shepherded to the central fish market, the sights within would send any seafood-loving gourmand would turn vegetarian instantly -- shall we say, not at all hygienic, flies and fish bits all over the place; smelly, dark, noisy -- oh boy, yuk is an understatement! Then through the fruit, vegetable and spice section, which was rather more inviting. Then onwards through the narrow alleyways, one no wider than a person's width [probably for moving sheep in single file] of Stone Town, something Pier had been yearning to do for many years. While not as attractive as portrayed in travel shows such as "The Great Outdoors" and "Getaway", it was still a fantastic experience, checking out all the little shops, some no bigger than an average bathroom, magnificent 4-5 star hotels, houses, always looking up at the shutters, open and shuttered verandahs hanging over the street below, etc. You could easily get lost. We had the feeling of dejavous, as if we'd been transported back to Venice 4 years ago, a grottier version perhaps, not as well kept, not so many tourists looking lost; the sense of familiarity was certainly there. Strange that! Many of shops, and all of the major hotels and businesses and some of the nicer residences had magnificent doors [one of the things by which Stone Town is known for], great big thick creations, many with intricate handcarvings, great hinges, bolts, handles and other metal decorations that gave the place that extra little bit of exotica. Meanwhile, people walking, guys on bikes, kids playing, mammas fussing or tending to their children, old fellas just sitting in doorways, on the stoop, hawkers or shopkeepers trying to invite you to buy. At least here [in Tanzania] they usually accept "hapana asante" -- no thankyou -- the first time, in Kenya they were very insistent, bordering on pestering. Meanwhile, members of our group just taking it all in, snapping away with cameras, trying not to lose the main group. Wonderful; love it! We stepped into the Africa Hotel for 5 minutes, marvelling at the interior decor, up to their restaurant/bar area, with views to the bay, oh, wow, gorgeous! Definitely recommended to you if you are keen to visit Zanzibar and be in the heart of it. We also visited the House of Wonders, with it's fantastic views over the city and port from the upper floors. Not too many wonders inside we thought, but the high, wide, shaded verandahs were relief in more ways than one from the heat. We visited the old fort next door, which is now a concert venue [you could imagine Andrea Boccelli singing there] and craft/curios market; heaps of wonderful things sold here, as well as cold drinks, aaaaahhhhh. Sheryl taught a gorgeous young girl with braided, beaded hair 'thumb wars', what a smile she had. Back to the hotel for dinner, and easy, peaceful sleep for the weary travellers.
The following day, after breakfast, we met up with Jamu, who we almost didn't recognise in his civvy clothes. We were so happy to see him, we took a taxi into Stone Town, revisiting many of the streets we'd seen, along with others, chatting all the way, getting to know him -- and vice versa -- better. Jamu had a surprise offer for us: would we like to see his house and meet his wife of 2 months? Yes, of course we'd be honoured. A taxi out near the airport, and to Jamu's house, a rented 2-room dwelling, almost no furniture, mats on the floor. Off with our shoes, and we were greeted by a big smiling Saumu, Jamu's wife. It was a real pleasure to spend 20 or so minutes looking at their wedding photos, asking about the ceremony, admiring Saumu's outfits, just chatting and laughing, it was great. It was lovely to see how in love they were, shown shyly. We swapped email addresses with the promise of keeping in touch: we want to know how they're getting on, and definitely want to hear about their children when they come! Also, if we are to work and live in Arusha in the future, we will want to visit them.
Sadly, because of Ramadan, we couldn't spend time together over a meal, and our few hours together were drawing to a close. We said our goodbyes to Saumu, and Jamu accompanied us in a taxi, to the port to show us around a little before depositing us at the House of Wonders, where we were to meet up with our tour group. It was sad to say goodbye to Jamu, what a lovely, happy, generous man he is. Hope he keeps in touch with us. He doesn't start at the Resort till 2pm tomorrow, we leave at lunchtime for our flight to Dar-Es Salaam, our connection for our flight to Dubai.
We had lunch in a rooftop restaurant, with fantastic 360° views of the the rooftops of the city, minarets and shops, apartments and flats, warehouses and port buildings all around us. A lovely breeze, cold drinks, tasty food, what more could 2 Melbourneans want? A spot of last-minute shopping afterwards, then back to the Resort for packing, dinner and a good night's sleep.
The following morning was somewhat low-key and flat for us, as this signalled the end of our magical stay in East Africa. Sheryl and I have absolutely enjoyed our time in Kenya [foremost] and Tanzania: we have learnt so much, we have met so many wonderful, happy, welcoming people. While the ebb and flow of relations within our tour group has been an unwelcome undercurrent, we have been blown away by our time here. We would thoroughly recommend you all save hard and book for a few weeks of adventure here. You'll come away with memories you'll never forget and pictures you won't tire of looking at. We've been told "go to Malawi, you'll love it even more" so maybe there's a tip for you there.
We were met by big squeal of delight and a faceful smile from Saumu when we went to reception; we were so happy to see her too. With a hug and kisses, she gave us a small farewell gift, which was so generous of her. Wow! A short time later, after some group photos, it was time to say goodbye to the now-friendly faces of the staff we saw and interacted with during our stay, it was sad to go, we could have easily spent more time here, to really discover the true Zanzibar, as well as snorkel the reefs, visit the northern beaches, to have tried the true Zanzibar cuisine. Oh well, perhaps in 2010?!
A short 15-minute flight to Dar-Es Salaam, a couple of hours wait, and then our 4+ hour flight to Dubai.
Next post, Dubai; and then, our week in Egypt.