Tanzania Blog Entry 3/16/08

Today, we went on our full day trip to Zanzibar. We started out bright and early at 6am (actually leaving more like 6:45) for the ferry. It was a Sunday but still busy with people around port. It was crowded on the boat as we formed a long line to get on board. I sat on the upper deck as the sun slowly climbed into the sky and the heat and humidity started to soak into my skin. Yuck. It was worth it for the view of the harbor. I caught up on my Zanzibar reading from the guide book and a small group of us decided to venture out on our own to the Jozani Forest. Getting off the boat we had to show our passport to get into Zanzibar even though it is the same country as Tanzania.

Finally, we made it through the 2 hour boat ride, and long passport line and got to head on in. The buildings were old and a mix of both European and Arabic influences. Many are falling apart but you can tell may have been something really beautiful to look at, at one point. So we left the group to venture on our own. as nervous as that made me, we grabbed a taxi and headed over to the forest. The cab ride was a long 45 minutes but we got a perspective of the real Africa that you don't get to see in the tourist towns.

We saw the small villages and huts, the police stops, and domesticated cattle and chickens people owned. We saw what was probably some nonlegal small businesses setup by the road and the lush green (which you cannot see anywhere near the stone town). We made it to the forest not know what to expect and we met our guide. We stayed for 45 minutes, but it felt like 3 hours. We went on a nature walk through the lush, green jungle and saw some interesting small critters like lizard, millipede, a huge grasshopper and crab. (I'll add in the pictures later)

We then went to see the (what is known as rare in my guidebook) Red Colobus Monkey. We hungout with a family of 25 or so that followed us through our walk in their forest. They are unafraid of humans so we got incredibly close. I was not expecting that at all! It was amazing and I'll add pictures later. WE also saw the blue monkey but they were shy. The babies were very cute.

We then went to mango groves to see a multi-rooted tree that I've seen before on the show “Man vs Wild” The roots are so strong above the ground that we got to climb and swing on them (pictures to come). We also learned the uses the villagers have for different leaves like rope and filing their nails for henna. The last was learning how to plant the long seed of the mango grove but dropping it into the mud a certain way. (pictures to come).

Nothing could top the nature walk for the rest of the day. Stone town was very hot and humid. I don't think I have ever drank so much water at once. We visited the Sultans palace (museum) where we got to see some antiques and learn the history of the royalty in Zanzibar. It was so humid in there, all I could thing was how badly it was damaging the priceless antiques including the king throne and this coffee table I'll add in later.

We learned that Freddie Mercury from Queen was born in Stone Town Zanzibar (which was very surprising), while stopping for a quick bite to eat at Mercury's Restaurant. After that we got lost for a bit in Stone Town looking for some shopping. The guidebook says it's a must to get lost wandering the streets. The alleyways were a bit scary with garbage littered, bad smells, and dead animals rotting where children were plying nearby. It was a new experience. Overall, it was an interesting experience taking the backroads and streets around Zanzibar. In fact, I think this was my best experience yet here. : )