Zanzibar Island 5-9 July 08

From Dar es Salam we headed by ferry to Zanzibar Island which is about a two hour trip off the coast. Zanzibar is a relatively small island and it took us about an hour from the Old Town of Zanzibar to get to the north eastern tip of the Island – a place called Nungwe. We thought it would be more build up but it was still very basic and primitive with dirt roads, mud brick huts and the most wonderful white sand beaches.




There weren’t many cars and bulls were used to transport most things around. We nearly got run down by a wee boy with a bull and cart flying round a corner at a bull gallop.





We had heard that Nungwe was a real party place and really expecting some awfully out of place bars but there was really only one and its probably the best bar we’d ever been in



and definitely had the best view out of any of the bars I’ve been in (even beats Tower 42 in London)



We were in Nungwe for three nights and days were spent swimming, exploring the village, watching the locals fishing at low tide. The colours they wore just looked stunning against the blue blue water and sparkling white sand and it was lovely to be able to sit and watch.



The fishing seemed to be done mainly by women and children, all fully dressed. The girls all wore headdress and long dresses or sarongs that flapped around them when they ran and they seemed to be having a lot of fun!





They used all sorts of things to catch and collect fish, octopus, sea slugs, shrimps etc. Pots, pans, sarongs, nets, spears were all used successfully – very clever fishing tactics and some of them came back laden.



There were Maasai that stalked the beach and you just couldn’t miss them with their long long legs, striking coloured clothing and the beads that adorned their ankles, wrists and necks.



The fishermen used the low tide to do maintenance on many of the boats and this chap was waterproofing his. We were walking to a turtle sanctuary in a natural lagoon and a local had walked with us for a while trying to sell us stuff then asked if he could stay with us for the rest of the way “for conversation”.



The turtle sanctuary was in a natural lagoon and there were 15 adult greenback turtles there. If nests are found in the area, they were staked out and as soon as the eggs hatched the young turtles were brought to the sanctuary where they stay until 11 months old. Some are kept in the sanctuary and others are released back into the sea. It’s a good scheme and you can get into the water with the adult turtles and swim with them. They’re so so soft around the neck and under their legs. If you hold onto their shells they don’t go far at all – very easily caught.

It was so warm on Zanzibar and the water was so beautiful and clear that we spend a lot of time in and around the it.



On our last night we headed down to the Zanzibar Old Stone Town which definitely has flavours of Middle East but completely lacks character and we were constantly harangued by seemingly well-meaning druggies. The markets were brilliant and far more in your face than any others I’ve encountered (even the hard-core Otara market in Auckland, NZ, where I worked for years in the weekends while I was at school) but the produce was well worth buying. The spices were out of this world and were so cheap (we’ve since tasted them in cooking and the difference is incredible – so much flavour).

The fish market was winding down for the day but locals were still chopping up fish





The cows had already had their turn



and I’ve never seen such huge bananas in my life!



That night we ate in a local seafood market which was another experience like no other. Basically it was just trestles and trestles of seafood in all shapes and forms. You name it, they had kebabs of it. All of it was cooked on mini coal grills that were on the corner of each table.



Some of the chefs were dressed up but most were just regular guys that did this every night.





Earlier on in Nungwe, we’d seen a local lady bashing the s**t out of something in the sand with a bit of 4x4. I went to investigate and it turned out she was bashing the hell out of about 5-6 octopus and was really giving it some. I presume that this is to tenderise them and all the octopus that we’d eaten had been super fresh and tender as. This octopus was fresh but was as chewy as a tyre.



The deal was, you just rocked up, browsed the tables, chose bits and pieces from whatever tables you fancied then it all got piled onto a paper plate and you stood round eating the fish or whatever with a toothpick. YUM. I’d eat there every night if I could and while I didn’t enjoy the Stone Town that much, the seafood market rocked and you could eat enough to fill you up for about £1.



The ferry back was rough and there were quite a few people throwing up - I had to get up top as I was also feeling queasy but once I was perched on the bow hanging my legs over the edge with spray hitting me I was in my element. Getting up there was a different story though as it was really windy and my skirt when wooshka up over my top and I couldn’t get it down, then the boat went over a big wave and down I went. All in front of a decent sized audience. I was so embarrassed. Worse still was a poor girl in our group who was throwing up into a plastic bag not realising the bag had a hole in it and that it was coming straight out the bottom.... down her top and into her lap. She was green by the end of it poor thing.

The night was spent at the mozzie infested campsite we’d been at four nights before. Honestly, even in the shower they were trying to get at you!