Zanzibar

So, my last entry was awhile ago, therefore I have some serious catching up to do. Beginning with the story of my girlfriends and I escaping Moshi to tropical Zanzibar for the weekend. Yes, there really is a place called Zanzibar, I know some thought it was ficticious. After a couple of days planning, my friends and I were crammed into a hot sticky van, eating our packed lunches from CCS, which consist of butter sandwiches, cold french fries, saran-wrapped hot-dog weiner, and some other fried surprises that I cant quite describe. Despite the disappointing lunch, we were soon cruising through the clouds in a plane without aircon that is constanly jumping up and down, and from side to side, while swahili is practically being yelled through the loudspeakers above our heads. Needless to say, I don't think the butter sandwiches were a good pre-flight meal. Flying in over the islands that provide lush tropical beaches of white sand and aqua colored water you could see the rows of shacks where the islanders lived. Into a taxi that had only one working door and a hole in the bottom, driven by a non-english speaking Muslim, we were off to our hotel.
Zanzibar is 99% Muslim, and they are currently in the middle of Ramadan(sp?). This means that the entire island is fasting when the sun is out, and going for prayer four times a day. So, Stonetown the main inhabited area was rather quiet throughout the day while we were there. Which was nice, because it gave us plenty of time to lay on the beach reading our books, getting henna painted on our feet, and have lemongrass massages. I was with Gemma, who is my closest friend here, she is a social worker from Yorkshire, and is a lovely and sound young woman. I was also with Bethany, who ironically grew up outside of Chicago, then moved to a small town in Texas, and has spent the last few years living in Colorado, only an hour away from me. She is currently climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, so I can't wait to hear all her stories! The three of us shared a beach bungalow, and made the most of our weekend vacation from work. Some of the highlights of this trip were a tour of stonetown through the markets where bananas, coconuts, and any other troopical fruit you can think of, were the colorful surroundings. We bravely ventured into the fish market where octupus were being splattered onto chopping boards, and huge fish were being split open and auctioned off to the locals, as fish guts and blood drained down the side of where we were walking into gross piles of flies and cats. The cats- there were cats everywhere! No dogs, just lots and lots of stray cats. ANother highlight was the spice tour which entailed walking through the forest/jungle tasting different spices, drinking coconut water right out of the shell- coconuts there are different than the brown hairy ones we are a accustomed to. Rather they are big and green, filled to the brim with coconut water, and have fleshy bites of coconut that easily slide down your throat. Like everything I have experienced thus far in Africa, it was quite nice, but only when they werent asking for money. Our guide would often suggest giving the forest children money, and people were always asking for more, for more tip, for more money, for you to marry them so that they can come live in America, never leaving you alone while in Zanzibar, except when in the privacy of your hotel(if youre lucky).
The dinners, and most meals were absolutely lovely in Zanzibar, fresh seafood for really cheap cooked with every spice imaginable, served to you at your candle lit table on the beach overlooking the water, with only the moon lighting up the sky. When the cats werent pawing your feet, it really was unbelievably magical to be on that island surrounded by gorgeous beaches, in the Indian Ocean on the coast of Africa, with great girlfriends.
Overall, Zanzibar was an incredible experience, and I have great photos to share when I get home!