Well the day did not start off very well. Ashley called me back at 11 am (check-out time) to advise that the safari was a no go ! Quite disappointed, but fate has a big role in this, so I just have to accept it. I told Ashley I would be checking out, leaving my luggage at the hotel and heading for her office so that we can finalize the Zanzibar portion of my trip. It’s about a 20 minute walk from the hotel to the mall and although it was a cool day, I was soaking wet from perspiration by the time I got there. (My stick on patches for hormone replacements don’t stay on for more than a day, when they should stay on for a week !)
The first problem was that there were no flights out today, and I knew there were no hotels to be had for less than $300/night in Sandton. Then I thought about trying to get a room for tonight near the airport, instead of in Sandton. IT WORKED ! I have a room booked at the City Lodge at OR Tambo Airport. (That’s where I’m sending this e-mail from). My flight leaves tomorrow morning at 11:15 and I will arrive in Zanzibar at 20:20. This includes a 2 hour wait at the Nairobi Airport for the connecting flight and there is a one hour time difference somewhere in there.
Ashley found me an all-inclusive 5-star hotel to stay at in Zanzibar, the Sea Cliff Resort & Spa in Mangapwani from January 26 to February 1. That was the only resort left where room was still available, so I’ll just have to suffer through it. JWhile she was making the flight arrangements and arranging ground transportation in Zanzibar, I browsed through some brochures she gave me that contained info on Zanzibar. One of the brochures was the G-Adventure one (which included the safari I was supposed to go on). As I went through this brochure, I kept thinking that maybe I might still be able to arrange some type of safari from Zanzibar during the week I will be there. Then I noticed that some of their safaris were scheduled to leave on February 4th & 5th, so I asked Ashley if there was any way to contact the company again and simply ask which safaris they had, leaving the first week in February, where there was still availability (rather than requesting a specific package). Sure enough, they have one departing on February 4rth and guess who’s booked to go on it ! ! ! PERFECT, and it appeared that they have room, because I’ve paid for it now !
G Adventure Tanzania Camping Adventure Tour gadventures.com
HOURRAH ! ! ! Let the bells ring out and the banners fly ! ! ! When she tried to process one of the payments, my VISA card was refused. Very strange since I just paid it off and there can only be between $500 to $ 600 worth of expenses on it right now. So I used their office phone to call TD Call Centre. It seems that it is a security measure they have in place for anyone travelling outside the country for any length of time; every two months I will have to call in to confirm that I’m still travelling abroad. While I had the lady on the line, I advised that two BIG amounts were about to be charged on my card for the trip to Zanzibar and then for the Tanzanian safari, and that within the next week, there would probably also be a trip booked to Mauritius. Surprise ! She’s from Mauritius and gave me a couple of hints about where the best places were to stay. How funny is that !
Anyway, it’s been one hell of a roller coaster ride today but everything SEEMS to be falling into place.I’m still sad about not being able to see Egypt or the Middle East. It really screws up the rest of my itinerary since it is too early in the year to go to India, Nepal and northern China.
My bruises are healing well. Scabs on my wrist, elbow and right knee are almost completely gone. Can’t say the same for the left knee, but that will definitely take much longer to close up properly.That’s it for now !
January 26, Thursday
My flight from South Africa to Kenya went smoothly. Only had a 2 hour wait for my connecting flight to Zanzibar and because both flights were with Kenya Air Lines I did not need to bother with Customs or my luggage. When I arrived in Zanzibar I was able to get and pay for my entry Visa at the airport without too many problems. Their security system is quite extensive, and all automated : computerized picture and finger print scans (no messy ink to deal with). I did not get to see much on the drive from the airport to the resort since it was very dark, but I caught glimpses of people walking and biking along the narrow road leading out of Stone Town. It was about a half hour to 45 minute ride to the Sea Cliff Resort, and I was a nervous wreck by the time we got there. Crazy drivers and driving way too fast; expecting the other guy to get out of the way. But so is the other guy driving the oncoming vehicle ! I needed a stiff drink by the time I arrived.The Sea Cliff Resort is beautiful. The grounds are extensive and there are 250 rooms in total, with 260 staff employed. It is only about 1 year old but the architecture makes it look as if it dates back to colonial times. I dumped my luggage in my room and went to eat dinner: extensive buffet ! DELICIOUS FOOD ! I may gain back some of the pounds I lost along the way.
The bar and loungeJanuary 27, Friday
Stone Town: Named because the entire town was built of stone. Most of the buildings look very old and run down. We started off at the market (Ooooh the smell ! ! ) In front of the market the guide brought me to see a big ancient tree: they use the bark to make quinine (to fight malaria in the old days).
The main market area
The local commuter busesIn front of the market building stands a tree from which they make quinine to treat malaria. I knew that these were not native to Africa; they are originally from South America (read this in one of the historical novels I love so much !) My guide Mohamed was quite impressed that I knew this.
The area around the market was quite dirty (litter everywhere) and the smells were quite…… SPECIAL.
The fish market: Tuna steaks anyone?We then walked to the area which used to be the slave market (had read about these as well). What I had not realized was that the slaves sold from this island were shipped to Asian and Indian countries, not to the Americas. The slaves shipped to our part of the world came from the western coast of Africa. The Slave Market in Zanzibar was quite notorious. An Anglican Church was built on the ancient site.
White building on the right was (is still?) the bishop’s residence. White building on the left is the one where the prison was located in the basement for the number of days it took when they arrived by ship, to the time they were sold. I have to say that I had tears in my eyes as I visited these underground rooms. All I could think of was “Man’s inhumanity to man”. The larger cell could hold 75 women and children, the smaller cell could hold 50 men. They were crammed in like sardines. They occupied the raised cement portion since the lower portion was used as their toilet and when the tide came in the water would come into the basement; when it went out again it would take out the soils. The stench had to be incredible. The window slits (about one inch wide and less than 2 feet high) could not have brought in much air; only 2 in the women’s section and 1 in the men’s.
This room contained up to 75 women and children, sitting on the platforms. 
The chains used to tie the slaves together. Sorry for the blurry image, my hands were shaking.
This is the men's chamber. The small opening was the only air circulation they had.
See that small slit in the wall below the window, about a foot off the ground? That is the air hole leading to the men's cell.
The building where the basement is located
This church was built on top of the site of the Slave Market. It took 7 years to complete. “The world’s last open slave market where slaves from East and Central Africa regions were bought and sold. The trade in man, women and children was stopped by decree from the Sultan of Zanzibar on 6 June 1873, following the appeal made by Dr. David Livingstone in 1857 to the men of the great English Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, to liberate Africa from slavery. The Christ Church Cathedral was built by Bishop Edward Steere in 1874. The cathedral stands exactly on the site of the former slave market and the High Altar marks the location of the old whipping post.”
Inside the church
My guide on the grounds advised that it took 7 years to build the Cathedral and that Bishop Steere was its architect ! The bishop was away when part of the interior work was completed and a mistake was made with these columns. Can you figure out what it is ?I’ll tell you at the end of this blog.
I think I told you (blog from Victoria Falls) about the 2 men who accompanied Livingstone on his travels, and who were with him when he died. They buried his heart in Africa, but returned the rest of his body to England. The crucifix in this picture was made from a branch of the tree under which Livingstone died in 1873.
Circle at the base of the altar is the location of the slave whipping post.
Slave monument outside the church
Tree under which the market was held.From the church, we walked along the many small winding streets (memories of Morocco) with their beautiful wooden doors and shutters. Some buildings as you can see are very run down and (at least the exterior) has not been maintained. Others have either been restored, or always well maintained, mostly the expensive hotels.
Big baobab tree in the middle of the street, which a vendor is using as a stall.
Nicer looking building
Narrow streets
Children playing in the streets
Beautifully carved teak doors
Nice building where one of the hotels is located
Inside Africa House Hotel
The terrace overlooking the water at Africa House Hotel
Many tiny streets
Approaching the old fort area
Tunnel under the fortified walls of the fort
The old fort
The fort and surrounding buildings
This tree reminded me of the Mimosas in southern France and the "Lluvia de oro" in Bolivia.
Turns out it's an anise tree ! Black licorice. Check out the beans.Many of the stores were selling Tanzanite: Don’t know if you have heard of this beautiful blue gem stone, but it comes from a single mining site in the foot hills of mount Kilimanjaro, and is claimed to be a thousand times rarer than diamonds. (No kidding if Kilimanjaro is the only source !) To encourage you to buy some of these stones, their signs indicate “According to the World’s renowned Gemologists, the supply of Tanzanite will be exhausted in a few years, ensuring its rarity and will be PRICELESS in years to come!” Nevertheless, I did not buy any.
Then we ended up near the waterfront. 
From here we got back on the mini-bus, and Rama our driver, took us to the interior of the island to see a spice farm. 
One of the main boulevards in Stone Town
One of the streets leading out of town
Saw a lot of motorbikes and mopeds with female passengers riding "side saddle". Did not see very many lady drivers on the island. It may have to do with the fact that over 90% of the population on the island is Muslim.
My guide was very nice and treated the spice tour as if he was a teacher, asking me questions to see if I knew the answers before he gave me the information. I think I surprised him quite a bit with my knowledge of the island's history (it pays to research things ahead of time) but he blew me out of the water with the identification of the various trees we were seeing and spices in their natural state.
I tool loads of pictures, but won’t bore you with photos of herbs and spices: peppercorns, mini hot peppers, cloves, lemon grass vanilla, coffee, ginger, turmeric ( my fingers were stained for 2 days), cinnamon, etc. Unfortunately my hands were full and I did not take notes. One week later, as I tried to identify the photos, many of them remain a mystery as to what they were. It sucks when your memory goes. Some I recognized because of the smell, but most had me stumped since the smell of dried spices is quite different from fresh unripened ones. I loved it.
On the road to the spice farm
Tiny red peppers. Could not help thinking of Claude & Juana "Ma pepperette" 
Cloves before they are dried
White pepper, Green pepper or Black pepperall depends on how much you let them rippen
? ? ? Turmeric ? ? ?They also had loads of fruit and flowers (soaps, perfume, oils): breadfruit, mango, passion fruit, miniature pineapples, jasmine and the one of the main essences used to make Channel # 5. I bought a small vial for a lot less than the marketed version and its pure aroma is divine.
When we switched over to the fruit trees and flowers, my guide kept mentioning that we would go see butterfly . I thought that the singular form he was using was due to his limited English, but guess what “butterfly” turned out to be?
Look at the middle of the picture, slightly higher up. Do you see then man in the close to 100 foot coconut tree? That is butterfly ! We could hear him singing and yelling from a long way off. I laughed so hard I almost wet myself; he was so funny and put on a great 8 to 10 minute show for us, high up in the coconut tree.
Here he is signing his heart out
And showing off ! He really is quite strong.He would sing and yell and we would have to yell back up at him. I have him on film as well and I hope I was able to capture the sound of him ! He ended up climbing up to the very top to cut down 3 coconuts for us. After he slid back down the tree, including a few acrobatics, he cut up the coconut for us to drink and taste. I had eaten and drank coconut before in its natural state, but I made a big show of it being my first time and he had a good laugh at my facial expressions. He was a highlight of this trip !
At the end of the tour, we were given some fruit to sample: D E L I C I O U S ! The little boy who had been following us around, climbing trees to cut down samples and digging up roots as well, had made me a cone from a huge leaf and he kept putting sample cuttings into this cone. Along the way, he also made me a woven grass ring and a woven grass frog. He also fashioned a huge woven basket and put my spice samples inside. Another taller boy showed up with a woven grass crown for me to wear. Of course everyone gets a nice tip, especially butterfly !
The small boy on the right, who was assisting at the spice farm and climbed trees to get some samples for the guide, wove me a frog and a ring out of some tall grass. Then he made a purse to carry all the sample herbs and spices we had collected on the way. The boy who made the crown on the left. The weird looking lady in the middle is MOI !
My stash !Got back to Sea Cliff in time for a nice dip in the pool, then went to my room to shower and get ready for dinner.
Did you figure out what the error was in the Church? The columns were installed upside down ! I have to brag because I figured it out on the first try. Can’t remember which of our teachers (M. Chauvin or Mrs Malloy ?) taught us about Doric & Ionic columns at SRF High School, but the memories stuck !
