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March 8

Zanzibar Spice Tour

Stone Town - View from the Roof

I was awakened at 5:30 by singing from the loudspeaker at nearby Ijanaa Mosque. Soon after this, the chickens started, followed by noisy doves outside my window. I got up at 6:30 with a mild case of diarrhea, and took a couple Immodiums to keep it from interfering with my Spice Tour. I showered again and went to the roof for breakfast: bread and jam, an omelet on a chapati, and fruit.

I asked the reception desk how to make a call to the KLM office in Dar Es Salaam to confirm my flight home in three days. He told me the hotel phone could not make outgoing calls, and said I could do it at the post office. At 8:30, my taxi driver returned to offer a spice tour. He wanted $60 for a personal tour. I said that was too much, but I might be interested in a tour of the town later. That didn't interest him, but we agreed I would give him 2000 shillings for escorting me here and helping me carry my duffel bag yesterday. When I went to get the money, he brought another man selling group tours for $10. I didn't catch the name of the tour.

I got my cameras and prepared to go to the Seaside Restaurant for their spice tour, but a black man at the door said I should go with him to get on Solomon's Spice Tour, one of the two oldest tours (only Mitu's is older). Solomon wasn't mentioned in my books, just Mitu's, but I think Eric said he took Solomon's tour and it was good. This tour costs $10 and lasts until 4:00, longer than Seaside's. He said we should go quickly to get a space for today's tour. Solomon would show us various spices and fruits growing on the island, and we would have a swim in the Indian Ocean and a meal featuring local ingredients.

We walked fast through Stone Town to the southern end and entered a big hotel on the waterfront, where we went to the Island Discovery Tours office and paid for the tour. Thirteen people would be going on this tour. Shortly after 10:00, we loaded into an open-sided truck with a roof and seats around the edge.

Solomon with a Jackfruit

We drove to a village and walked about as Solomon showed us various fruits, spices, and medicinal plants. He is a tall black man who always refers to himself as "Solomon" or "Dr. Solomon". When we were to move on, he would say "Follow Solomon to see other things." We learned that the local people don't like the avocados, because they are not sweet, but are happy to sell them to the foreigners who like them. We continued from village to village seeing a wide variety of spices and fruits. At one stop, they sliced open a huge jackfruit and served us all pieces. The fruit is sweet, but with a somewhat oniony flavor. We also had mangos here. It started to rain, and we sat in a thatched-roof shelter to eat the fruit.

The rain became heavy, and we returned to the truck and put down the clear plastic side covers, and waited for the rain to slow down, but it appeared that it may not slow down. I had really good weather on this trip until now. Perhaps the dry season is ending, or maybe Zanzibar just gets more rain because it is an island.

Kids in the Rain

Some children from the village, including one wearing a green woven palm leaf hat, had followed us to the truck, and hung onto the back as we drove to the next place. At one spot, we drove into a deep, water-filled rut and stopped with a lurch. A bunch of people helped us push the truck out of the ditch. Soon, the weather began to clear up. We saw a clove plantation and coffee plantation. The coffee beans on the trees where white, and we picked some off and tasted them. We stopped to see an old Persian bath house. The nutmeg fruit was very interesting. The large brown seed inside is covered with bright red strands. We stopped at a store where the spices were sold, and you could buy coconuts and drink the water and eat the soft flesh from the middle.

At about 1:30, we stopped for lunch at a little house. We had cardamom-cinnamon spiced rice with potatoes, coconut curry potatoes, spinach cooked with coconut oil, a salad, and lemon grass tea. There was plenty of tasty food, and some people ate until stuffed. After lunch, we saw more spices and a coconut plantation. They use all parts of the coconut: the husk is used for ropes and mats, the shell can be burned like wood, and the inside makes coconut meat, coconut oil, and coconut water.

The Beach

Dhow

We visited a slave cave and an underground chamber where slaves were hidden to continue the slave trade after it was officially forbidden. Then we went to a beautiful, palm lined beach for a swim. I had left in a rush this morning, and hadn't had time to look for my water shorts, but had put on my nylon Patagonia hiking underwear, which would have to do. I wasn't the only one without proper swimwear. The water was quite warm, even uncomfortably warm near the shore. By the beach, we were given the juice of a fruit similar to a passion fruit, but bright yellow and with bigger seeds. A couple of people were missing when we prepared to leave, having swum around some rocks to another cove. They got a ride back on a dhow, a wooden sailboat used here.

On the way back to town, we stopped at some palace ruins. They were now home to bats, whose droppings smear the walls. One hallway has five toilets. Solomon said it was so the Sultan could use a different one every day. There were many ants in the ruins, and you had to watch your step, or they would climb onto your feet and bite.

At the end of the tour, we were dropped off near the post office. It was closed, as was the telecommunications center next door, because it was now after 5, so it was too late to try to call KLM. I saw the Fisherman's Restaurant, and looked at the menu, but found it to be expensive and uninteresting. I looked at several other restaurants in the area before getting oriented and heading up Mizingamu Road toward my hotel. I tried following the main roads up past Cine Afrique and the police station to find my way to the hotel from Creek Road, but I couldn't see how to get there, so I attempted to follow the route I took to the hotel when I arrived yesterday. I ended up lost for a while in the maze of alleys, eventually stumbling apon a sign pointing toward Pyramid Guest House.

I showered, and then set out to have dinner on the south end of Stone Town, taking care to note landmarks as I made my way out to Mizingamu Road, which I then followed. I first looked at Camlar's Restaurant, which serves Swahili curries, but they only take shillings, and my supply is low. I followed signs to Chit Chat Restaurant, deep inside Stone Town near a Cathedral. Here, they serve Goan food. It was sweltering inside the traditional house, but fans helped, and the atmosphere was nice. I ordered prawn curry, and asked for it to be spicy. It turned out to be a fairly mild, yellow coconut curry, but it was still very tasty, and it came with rice and spinach, and a fruit cup for dessert. The meal cost $8 including a beer.

Walking back up Mizingamu Road, I passed the fort, where they were having a Saturday cultural dance show. It was $10 including a buffet. I had already eaten, so I passed. I checked out the large group of food vendors along the waterfront. These were very popular with budget travelers, but the selection didn't look too interesting. I had a Coke and walked back to my hotel, following the landmarks perfectly this time. I went and sat on the roof for a while to relax and enjoy the view of Stone Town before going to bed.

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