Zanzication!

After the Uganda/Rwanda week, we had one stupid week of school that half the kids didn’t bother to come back for.

Steps near our room and the breakfast area.

 Then another week off! Nick and I jet-setted off to Zanzibar!

I managed to find plane tickets from Arusha airport (2 minutes down the road) to Zanzibar that were reasonably priced. Arusha airport is a tiny airport and so fittingly they also have tiny planes. The plane we got in had maybe 12 seats. The pilot wasn’t separated at all and we could look out the windshield and see all the dials and gps stuff. (I found this less than comforting when we went through clouds, cause you can’t see nothin)

We landed in Zanzibar, hopped off the plane and headed into Stone Town. Nick was in charge of the first night’s accommodations, so naturally we had none. (His plan was to walk around and pick a place) We stopped and had lunch before choosing a hotel out of the guidebook. Nick redeemed himself by being surprisingly good at navigating the maze of sidestreets and alleys without getting lost. We checked into the hotel; the room lacked decorations but the rooftop breakfast area was gorgeous!

We then wandered some more. I love the Zanzibari doors so Nick tried to retrace the Door tour he went on the last time he was in Stone Town.  (He had gone a few months before with the students on a school trip.) We wandered in the old fort but there was not much to see there. 

      

          

We also watched the kids that jump off of the wharfs for a while. They’re quite good at doing back flips and spins. 

Forodhani Gardens

As night falls the wharf area called Forodhani Gardens becomes an outdoor fish market. Fishermen bring back whatever they have caught that day (prawns, various fish, shark, calamari, octopus, all kinds) and lay them out on tables lit with lanterns. They then try to call you over to eat their seafood. We wandered for a while looking for a good table. (You want to pick a table that doesn’t have a lot of fish on it because you want it all to be fresh caught, not old leftover fish from other days) Then you pile your plate with whatever you want and the fishermen cook or heat it up as you choose an area to sit. They then bring you your food. I had calamari, king prawns, some fish and some rice cake balls. To drink we had fresh cane juice (my favorite). There are men with these contraptions that they feed the sugar cane into with limes and then they crank it back and forth to squeeze out all of the cane juice. It’s super delicious.

Cane Juice Squasher

As you eat you have to fend off the cats that come to beg and steal (if they can) any of the seafood.