The trusty alarm went off at 6 this morning which was rather unwelcome after just under 5 hours sleep. Totally self inflicted of course…
Today we leave Stone Town and head North to Nungwi which is a beach at the Northern tip of the island.
En route was a visit to the African Slave Trade Exhibition in Stone Town.
You can read more about the slave trade here as the Guardian have articulated it perfectly (and far better than me).
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/26/slave-markets-zanzibar
Here, we went underground and saw the chambers where the slaves were held before auction; many not surviving due to the lack of ventilation and disease. Although slaves were largely sold here individually, those who were less able, or suffering ill health were either sold in large numbers for a discount, or even worse, left on the beach upon arrival to die so their captors didn’t have to foot the 1 USD a head fee for bringing the slaves into the country. There are even stories where slaves who worked for higher class citizens had enough money to subsequently buy slaves themselves.
Although Britain was instrumental in the abolition of the slave trade, it was also largely responsible for its existence and its not until you visit an exhibition like this, you realise how much damage some of first world countries like ours have done. British slave traders generated immense spoils by transporting 5.5 million African slaves to its Caribbean colonies, forcing them to work in terrible conditions on plantations in Jamaica, Barbados and beyond
Next up was a trip to a local spice farm. I’ve been to one of these before in Sri Lanka and being honest, they are exceptionally similar, but its still interesting to see where the things we buy in the shiny packets in the supermarkets back home come from. They nickname the local spice growers the ‘spice boys’ which made me chuckle in light of having seen the spice girls back home myself couple of weeks ago. They grow all kinds of spices here, including cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, galangal, cocoa, pepper and turmeric. There was also an abundance of beautifully fresh fruit; jack fruit, coconut, banana, mango, sour-sup (a white fleshy fruit with big black seeds), sour starfruit and the famous (for all the wrong reasons) Durian. Durian looks a bit like Jack Fruit (large with a spiny exterior) and I’ve eaten it in other south East Asian countries before. I’s liken the smell to that of vomit, and it’s actually banned on public transport in Thailand because the smell is genuinely that offensive. Needless to say I passed on consuming it on this occasion. We also got to mess around with a very odd prickly plant, where you crush the seeds inside and use the natural dye as lipstick. Goes without saying some of the boys used it as an opportunity to smear it on their faces as they naturally couldn’t bear to be left out of the cosmetic entertainment.
After the spice farm, Mike, Amber and I took a detour with a local guide to try and see the Colobus Monkeys in a local nature reserve. The monkeys are native to Zanzibar and as we didn’t have time to go to the Jozani Forest, this was the next best thing. Thankfully we found a small troop of them and got our obligatory photos before heading back to our guide Daniels house, to enjoy a local (and absolutely delicious) lunch on the floor of Daniel’s family home. Beef tenderised in ginger, with rice and a local sauce, followed by fresh watermelon, pineapple and thee ripest mango I’ve ever had was just what we needed to set us up for the final drive to Nungwi.
Upon arrival in Nungwi, we grabbed a few sacred hours on the beach catching the last of the days sun, with a couple more Kilimanjaros (notice a theme emerging here?) followed by a lovely group dinner on the beach.
Nungwi is a beautiful little beach town and although we had a couple of days here, we could easily have done a few more. There are lots of lovely restaurants right along the coast, which look stunning when illuminated in the evening. You can also dive, snorkel, swim with dolphins and take several boat trips if you wish.
The first morning started well when a glass shelf in the beach hut bathroom came crashing down whilst I was brushing my teeth. Thankfully no injuries, but a stark reminder that much of the handywork in some of these places cannot simply be relied upon! Thankfully, our water supply that cut the night before had been reinstated too – never would I have thought that being able to actually flush your toilet would feel like a luxury.
I got up super early as I wanted to maximise my beach time, and give this blog some much needed attention. Turns out it was a good shout as a rather large monkey decided to pay the breakfast bar a visit, early enquiring as to whether the fresh fruit was for him. Eventually he cleared off, and breakfast resumed after a rather entertaining start to the day.
Hitting the beach was such a treat after a few hectic, but fantastic days in Stone Town. There were a fair few of the Maasai tribe from Kenya on the beach – I recognised them immediately as remembered the black and red checked cloth they wore when on a trip to Kenya several years ago. From talking to them, we found out they were there looking for business opportunities on the island. We hired sun loungers for 10,000 Tanzanian Shillings each (literally a few quid) and for the first time in a few days, relaxation kicked in. That was however, short lived as Dani somehow manage to stand on a sea urchin resulting in a foot full of spines. Thankfully, the locals came into their own and after a session with tweezers, paraffin, papaya and vinegar, he was on the mend. He did however, retire to his room for a good chunk of the day to lick his wounds (not literally) and more sensibly, stop his foot from getting infected.
So as not to be completely lazy, we collectively decided to go on a sunset cruise, departing at 4pm. A mere 20 USD resulted in all drinks being included, with a 2 and a half hour journey around the coastline during sunset which was magnificent.
Our vessel was quite a traditional old wooden boat with a small top sun deck accessible via a ladder. Initially, we thought the boat was well stocked with beer, local gin and rum. It quickly transpired the this was not to last the journey with whole bottles of spirits being passed around, and poured from the top deck, directly into the mouths of those below. An African band were stationed at the front, playing traditional music throughout. How they put up with us all, I will never know. We spent most of the time throwing ourselves from the top deck into the water which after a few drinks, was probably far more treacherous than it should have been. I stupidly tried to copy a fronts somersault that Lewis performed seamlessly and managed to bruise both the soles of my feet due to landing badly. What an idiot, but I’m sure my friends won’t be at all surprised.
Upon leaving the boat, just to round off a highly entertaining day, Mike managed to drop his phone in the sea and despite it spending several hours in a bag of rice it became clear very quickly it wasn’t going to make it. I’m not entirely sure that his attempt of subsequently washing it with more water to clean it helped, as I think the water as opposed to the sea salt was clearly the issue…..lesson learned.
The evening closed with us taking over the music system in our beach bar and dancing the night away with several more Kilimanjaros.
Time for some rest as an early day awaits as we start a long few days over-landing to Malawi…
Luce x
Finding Freedom 