Zanzibar
Mood:  happy
Monday, August 2nd
Zanzibar N Spice Tour
Mood: happy
So here's the group: Brit is from Phoenix and along with Chris W. from Australia is a game developer. This means that Brit and Chris spend lots of time talking computers and game lingo that is beyond my comprehension. Jacki works with a nonprofit group fundraising for her local public school. Chris P. is a transportation consultant living in Cambridge, MASS. Jerome and Emmanuel are our wonderful guides. They are both from Lushoto, a village that we will be passing through. Chris and Brit are the youngest, late 20's and I am the oldest.

We got up early today (not nearly enough sleep) to catch the Spice Tour. This entailed a bus ride around a large farming area on Zanzibar. We got to see, taste and smell cardamom, ginger, coffee beans, pepper, lemon grass, cloves, turmeric and more. We sat on woven mats in an outdoor kiosk savoring a lunch that included many of the spices that we'd seen earlier.

In the afternoon we once again strolled our way through the tempting shops of Stone Town. It was hard to resist the gorgeous fabrics, jewelry, carvings, and batiks. We were hesitant to buy a lot since it's only the first days of our trip and things seem to be a bit expensive here on this touristy island.
The sights and sounds today are dream like.
More on the negative side of this experience: Emmanuel got arrested over, i think, a contrived charge of acting as a hawker to get me into some shops. It seems that one of the street hawkers saw Emmanuel with me and felt that he was steering me to other shops than the ones that this hawker wanted me to visit. Jerome had to bail him out for about $20 US. It seems like there are so many scams going on around here. We have to be constantly on our toes. We have a late dinner again tonight. We have to be up early for the ferry ride tomorrow.


Sunday, August 1st
Zanzibar trip begins

We were up and putting the bikes together this morning. My front wheel was not true (I think it got smashed in the suitcase on the plane trip. Chris P and Jerome got the wheel straight and the front brake adjusted. The tour of the slave quarters and the church built on the sight of the auction block was a powerful experience. These slaves were sold and sent to Arabia, not the US. Slaves were kept underground in two very low dirt rooms. A salt water canal ran through the two rooms to carry away the waste. I can't imagine how hot, crowded, and horrible the conditions must have been. They were treated worse than animals. After lunch we got a boat ride to Prison Island. We went snorkeling off the boat near the island but the water was murky and we didn't see many fish. It was refreshing and fun and a bit scary to just dive in and give it a try. The sunset on our return was an incredible "Kodak moment." After dinner we chanced on a couple of guys singing and playing guitar in an outdoor bar. What a way to end the day listening to live African music and sipping a Safari beer. Lights went out around midnight.


Sat. July 31st
Sailing off to Zanzibar

Mbu walked me to the ferry this morning just to make sure that i got there safe and sound. On board the ferry my ticket was questioned. My instincts yesterday were correct. The guy selling me the ticket had told me $15 for the bike but wrote on my ticket $5. Then he told me that my ferry ticket was $40 but on the ticket he wrote $30. When i questioned him about this i got a real run around. I wouldn't leave his office until he signed a note saying that i had paid him 50,500 schillings total. I noticed the discrepancy in the prices but didn't notice that he also wrote a very funny letter in the box indicating which class of ticket it was. His F had an extra little tail at the bottom that could have been mistaken for an E. This meant that the captain decided that i was Economy class and NOT First class. I stood my grounds and kept my comfy air-conditioned seat and showed him the signed note. There was a lot of discussion and photo copying of papers, and i was allowed to stay in First class and told that i paid too much for the ticket. Good grief.

I met Jacki, a very charming and enthusiastic lady, at 11am. We wandered narrow streets, discovered the colorful tourist shops of Stonetown, and had a delightful lunch overlooking the ocean. It was picture postcard perfect. Meeting time was supposed to be at 4pm so we headed back to the Garden Lodge to meet our new bike buddies and steer them to our new hotel - not nearly as nice as the Garden Lodge - but, hey, it's better than sleeping in the streets. On the way a Rastah looking guy walks up behind us and says, "Jacki?" Much to my surprise our guide, Emmanuel, was cruising the streets looking for us. I guess we are pretty easy to spot. Brit was there waiting at the hotel looking excited and just as young as we had imagined. Chris P. from Cambridge was there as well. Chris W. from Australia joined us later in the day. Jerome is our other guide. We'll deal with bikes tomorrow. We have a great dinner and head for bed. The three women share a room with 3 twin beds. There's a fan and a cold shower.