Loving Zanzibar! We've arrived on the island and I only wish we had longer than 4 days here.
The journey to the peninsula car ferry, about 1.5mile away took 1.5hrs due to traffic. It did allow us to jump out though for some deep fried doughnut like products which cost around 3p each!! Think I could OD on them, I ate 6. Healthy. Especially when combined with alcohol most nights and a definite lack of exercise!!
The ferry crams on as many cars and foot passengers travelling across to Dar as possible, foot passengers nestled amongst the cars. The life jackets in a cage, out of reach and the windows (holes in the side, no glass) impenetrable with metal bars, offering no means of escape in an emergency. The only way out would be to run to the front of the ferry and swim. The 6 of us in the cab unbuckled our seatbelts and planned a rudimentary means of escape in case we needed to. The cab had no windows that opened, only one door and three people were in the back requiring us to pull the seat forward to allow them out- possibly difficult if we were underwater. We also had the issue that the car doors wouldn't open due to the number of foot passengers blocking us in. It was Dave who set us off saying he'd heard about these car ferries sinking! Clearly these incidents haven't prompted improvements in health & safety.
Thanks to traffic, we only just made the Zanzibar ferry at 9.30am and arrived in Stone Town around 11.30 to meet our spice tour guide, Daniel. First though he took us to his house for lunch prepared by his wife, and what a lunch it was using all the spices grown locally. Pilau rice with clove, cardamon and cinnamon, beef tenderised with ginger, vegetables cooked with coconut, spinach with garlic ( I ate 3 helpings of this!) followed by mango, pineapple & watermelon. It was the best food we'd eaten since arriving in Africa.
We then headed around the spice plantation which I'd thought wouldn't be that good and quite expensive at $25 each, but actually it was and it was finished off with more food- lots of fruits such as jack fruit which tastes like a cross between a pineapple and banana with a weird texture, star fruit and custard apple which Tony says may have entered his top three fruits slipping the humble pineapple down to number 4! His other top two if you are interested are raspberry and mango. I learnt this on our third date walking 14miles up to Simons Seat!
Before leaving the plantation I needed the loo so I was taken to a local toilet, thinking this would just be an ordinary squat. It was actually someone's house, and the squat had no door, no curtain, nothing. I just had to hope no one in the family walked by.

We had arranged a mini van to take us direct from the plantation to mbuyuni beach in Jambiani on the South East of the island where we are now. I'd researched this place before coming out & we decided we didn't want to head with the majority of our group to Nungwi in the north of the island as it sounded too 'party like' with the all you can drink booze cruise, and opted instead for something slightly more befitting of a honeymoon. Our $45 a night room is also $25 a night cheaper than where everyone else is! Brad & Michal asked if we'd mind if they stayed here too so there are 4 of us. We love it.
We walk out of our lovely room with huge teak 4 poster bed direct onto the sand and down to the stunning stretch of coast with azure sea, sparkling white sand and swaying palm trees. The bar has tables perched on a rocky outcrop looking out to sea, perfect for sun downers and we took advantage as soon as we arrived, relaxing into honeymoon mode with a beer. We don't get sunsets as such on the east coast so we will be rising early tomorrow for sunrise, saving sunset for when we head back over to Stone Town in a couple of days.
Breakfast is a leisurely affair with platters of fruit, eggs, bread and pancakes and lots of coffee- surprisingly rubbish throughout Kenya and Tanzania despite it being 2 of the best places in the world growing arribiaca and robusta beans-yes, we've been through a few coffee plantations and can now identify the differences in beans. Tony asked if I was missing my hurried bowl of cereal we normally have at camp....hmmm, let me think. That would be a no.

We spent the afternoon walking along the beach from Jambiani to the far end of Paje, stopping on the way back for tuna and grilled squid for lunch, costing less than £10 for the two. Behind the beach front hotels it's surprisingly undeveloped with the village consisting of a few huts along a dirt track. We'd hoped we may find a nice seafood restaurant for tonight to celebrate being married for a month, a whole month!! We didn't, so we're eating at our hotel which seems one of the nicest places on this stretch of coast. I'd planned on ordering lobster thermidor for £7 but the menu changes daily & it isn't available tonight. Cigale, or rock lobster whatever that may be is on the menu & Tony has ordered this with me ordering grilled fish with Zanzibar honey, both again costing less than £10. First though, we're indulging in cocktails at £2 each. We always said we'd splurge a bit in Zanzibar :-)

Back in Dar after 4 days on Zanzibar. We ate our body weight in fresh lobster, squid and seafood stews and drank lots of wine and cocktails. We walked for hours on the beach, watching the local women collect the seaweed to dry and sell.
We dodged the incoming tide and walked to a hotel 200m up the beach with a bar set at the edge of a wooden pier out at sea and treated ourselves to an Aperol spritz and Mai Tai cocktail. These were slightly more expensive at £3 each but worth it to be sat in such beautiful and relaxing surroundings. Lobster Thermidor was back on the menu so we both enjoyed this on our last night in Jambiani.

Yesterday we arrived back to the hustle and bustle and oppressive mid day heat of Stone Town. I felt weary and missing the coastal breeze and nicities that Jambiani offered. At least I had a day to get back in 'traveller' and not 'holiday maker' mode.
We wandered the tiny alleyways, children running amongst us, wooden carts being hauled around, taking up almost the entire width of the alleyway, and bicycles and motorbikes whizzing past us. How they didn't crash into each other around the tight blind corners I don't know. We visited the cultural museum learning about the origins of Zanzibar, how the island has changed over the centuries and learning more about Swahili culture. The museum is in the former sultans palace, a once prestigious colonial looking building, the first building in East Africa to have electricity. Now, despite it being a world heritage monument, falling apart. We laughed saying there should be a sign saying management accept no responsibility for visitors falling through the decrepit staircases.

Dusk brought more ambient temperatures and a breeze as the tide came in. We walked past the Forodhani Gardens as the vendors set up their stalls for the night market, stopping to buy a freshly squeezed sugar cane juice- what a revelation. We'd been missing out only discovering these 3 weeks into our trip! That wouldn't be the only juice of the night, the next ones with the added delight of ginger and lemon!
We walked on the beach, dodging the balls flying everywhere as local boys enjoyed games of football as the sun sunk below the horizon - Tanzanians and zanzibarians love football and frequently regale us with premier league trivia, and when asking where we live, tell us that Leeds were once good and won the league in 1991/2 and then run through a list of past players. Funny though, we've not yet meet a Leeds supporter, they are all Manchester or Arsenal supporters it seems. Football has enabled many a bond to be formed with locals throughout the country.

We headed to 6degress South, a bar with a roof top terrace to catch the last bit of sunset, looking out to sea enjoying happy hour cocktails for 6500tsh or £2. I guess traveller mode didn't need to kick in just yet!
Wine and tapas for £1.50 each followed before we headed back to the night market to gorge on fish skewers, falafel and toasted coconut bread. A plateful costing just over £2. We were stuffed which unfortunately meant we had no room for a Zanzibar pizza- basically a chapati with several different filling options- my chosen had been snickers and peanut butter. Gutted I couldn't fit it in, I should have bought one for now! I'm hungry and it would go down a treat. We're en route to Nakumat though, the Tanzanian supermarket where we know we can buy rock buns and samosas- lunch is sorted!
Zanzibar has been a fab reprieve from a tent with a little bit of (cheap) luxury. When we bumped into fellow truck passengers in the bar last night, they didn't recognise me. I was wearing a dress and make up and we looked like a honeymooning couple, relaxed and enjoying sundowners. Back to roughing it now though with a bush camp tonight. It doesn't bother me as I started out my camping days back when I was 16 wild camping. Some people however aren't enthralled with the idea of no showers and having to dig a hole for the loo. At least our hotel last night had the hottest and most powerful shower we've experienced in the 4 weeks we've been away!