12th-20th

ZANZIBAR.

From the ferry port at Dar es Salaam we boarded the Ferry to Zanzibar; because we are white only VIP tickets were available, so we all went to the VIP area. The VIP area was very nce, big plush leather seats and very much appreciated air con. The boat ride got rather rocky so I decided to take a little nap; when I awoke there was a graphic film on about the apartheid which was rather ironic as we were sat with every other white person on the boat in the VIP lounge while everyone else was squished downstairs. Anyway three and a half hours after departure, Stone Town, Zanzibar was in sight; the buildings along the coastline were actually amazing-so beautifully rustic. We arrived on Zanzibar and wandered through the cobbled streets, with amazing old carved doors until we found The Pearl Guest House. For the rest of the day we wandered around and at night time Shaun, Mikey and Kieran found an amazing Fish Market right on the shoreline. There was every fresh fish (in the Indian Ocean near Zanzibar) imaginable, all skewered and barbequed. There was naan bread and garlic naan bread and salads and banana chocolate pizzas! I had reef shark, salad, naan and mayonnaise of course-it was so good! Next day we hopped on a kind of little truck/carnival wagon up to the North of Zanzibar; we travelled through really untouristy areas and even when we arrived at our destination we were still surprisingly in the middle of a village. We then sat with our bags and people went off to get accommodation. There was an annoying old man who insisted on chatting away with us for the hour that they were away, so I was glad when Molly and Blair came back. They said they had found a nice little open hut thing and it was $15 a night and then the guy who owned the place turned up with his car, so we all piled our bags in. Molly waited for Naomi who was still looking for accommodation. We then walked to the beach it was actually beautiful, once you had walked through the rubbish heap and passed the dead cat that Molly had nearly stood in. The wooden boats lined up on the beach were stunning and the colour of the water equally as beautiful. We got to the place which was basically a hut on stilts-no matresses, no mosquito nets, no door, just wooden planks and it was all in the open. Naomi then arrived and told us about the accommodation she had found, for $12-beds, mosquito nets and ensuite bathroom. We then awkwardly retrieved our bags from the mans car and sidled off down the beach with our huge rucksacks. We managed to get the accommodation down to $10 per person, which was reasonably priced for what we were getting, considering the ridiculously over priced hotels surrounding us! So, what did we do for the next week...sat on the beach, swam in the ocean and just generally relaxed. One day we got up nice and early at 8 and off we went snorkelling. The boat was really nice, although we were in the sun which wasn't great for the old skin. We snorkelled by this amazing secluded Island where you have to pay $500 if you even step on the beach!! It was like paradise and all the fish were amazing, lots of tropical colours as you would imagine. We then went to a nearby beach and got a lunch of pineapple, mango, fresh fish with ginger and rice; it was all very nice unfortunately I was feeling really ill by this point. The journey back was pretty hellish I felt so ill and desperately needed the toilet and despite endless applications if suncream I was burning (probably didn't help that I had had diaroahh all week...). Anyway moving on swiftly-when we got back to shore I felt very bad and just wanted a shower to get all the salt water out of my eyes and off my body-but oh no, they had turned the water off- I was very angry so decided to take a nap to calm down a little and hoped I would feel better when I woke up. I can't remember whether I did or not and I don't have my journal to refer to, but I am going to say I did. One night we went to a 'Full Moon' Party at Kendra Rocks (another tourist area of the Island). It was an interesting night to say the least; there were lots of rastas and Masia from the beach dancing in a very disturbing way with a number of elderley white ladies...Also sodas were 2500Tsh which is actually ridiculous-that is nearly 4000Ush and you can buy a soda in Uganda for 700shillings! Prices were so hiked up on Zanzibar for tourists, yet the huge tourist hotels making insane amounts of profit were sat right beside the villages. After staying on the North Beach for 8 days I decided the morning of our departure would be an excellent time to do some shell collecting, so I scurried about on the beach and found some very nice shells (which have now been packaged up and sent home for the fish tanks. I have also forgotten to mention the local women on the beach. They were so funny to watch, all day they sat on their buckets, in their multicoloured, multi patterned skirts, shawls and head wraps and waited. As soon as they spotted one of the small wooden fish boats coming into shore they would jump up and run to the ocean and then wade in fully clothed from head to foot, shouting away to the fishermen. One day Molly and I were sat at our favourite reataurant eating the huge burgers that they did and all the women legged it past us; and there wasnt 5 or 10 women there was literally about 50 of them! So we left Zanzibar on the 20th after a last walk around stone town, a coca-cola ice lolly in 'the park' and a trip to the delights of the fish market. Immigration was closed so we havn't officially (and legally) left Zanzibar yet...Boarding the ferry at 10pm and arriving in Dar at 6am I had a blissful time as I was asleep the whole time :) x