Zanzibar

I was trying my best to complete my posts in order, but with the Internet being so sporadic, and my main computer and pictures left back on the mainland, I'm skipping ahead, just this once. 

Paul and I (and the rest of our trip participants) are currently in Zanzibar, a part of Tanzania, but an independently governed part. The islands are religious, Muslim, and so all the locals are dressed conservatively while the tourists are encouraged to not walk around in bathing suits. We arrived via ferry, and started off with a spice tour. We learned a bit about the island and the different plants that made the everyday spices that we know. It was interesting, and we had a traditional lunch and fruit tasting. They even made us hats, necklaces, rings and bags from the leaves. Paul was more than overjoyed to be wearing them.

 

From there we arrived in our bungalows. We had been travelling pretty nonstop for a few days, with one stint in the trip a troubling 17 hours. We were ready for a rest in a clean place, with beds (no tents! Hallelujah!). 3 days in the same place feels like heaven. We haven't done much of anything, other than walk around, try to write postcards, read, and try again and again to access the Internet, if only to download a book or check an email. This is the first place in the world I have travelled to where the Internet is incredibly unreliable and cuts in and out every few seconds, making all connections impossible. 

Last night was a very special night in Zanzibar, as we had booked into "The Rock". Like its name implies, it is a restaurant on a rock. During low tide, you can easily reach it, as we did upon entry at 6pm. During high tide, however, like during the time we had planned to leave, we had to take a boat across the narrow stretch of beach that was now underwater. The food was good, and the atmosphere was great. It was the kind of a restaurant you visit once in your life and never forget. It was worth the 2 hour drive!

Tomorrow we drive back into Stonetown for 2 days and a night, before taking the ferry back pt the mainland and continuing our drive down through Tanzania and into Malawi. With the Internet as, ahem, unreliable, as it is I wouldn't expect to be able to get back on to post anything before we hit Livingstone in 3 weeks. However, you never know what might be coming for you. Bring it on Africa!