We have just arrived back in Dar es Salaam after 3 days in Zanzibar which were a wonderful couple of days on an unbelievably stunning beach.

To get to the other side of the harbour to catch our ferry to Zanzibar we needed to catch the local ferry (for a whole 1p). In typically chaotic African style when the gates for the ferry opened every man and his dog surged forward to get a place - as if this was the last ferry leaving a desolate island.... Sadly during all the pushing and shoving someone decided to relieve Sean of his mobile phone and iPod from out of his rucksack……strikes 2 and 3 on the theft front - let's hope that's the end of it for the trip. Luckily the ferry to the island was a much more plush version with some serious aircon to counter the humidity. We arrived in Stone Town and checked into our hotel - laughing to ourselves at how a hotel that was not particularly special, and one we probably would not have chosen to stay at, suddenly appeared to be the height of luxury after a week of camping!

We were soon picked up to take a tour of the islands Spice route, which turned out to be far more comprehensive than just the spices. After the local lunch (not particularly special), visiting the old slave market and sultan's old palace for his wives, we got to one of the spice farms on the island. This was truly amazing seeing how peppercorns are grown, what turmeric looks like as a root, cinnamon trees - all by walking through the farm and chopping bits of trees en route to explain. We tasted some of the fruits and were treated to watching coconuts being collected by hand from the tree tops by one of the farm workers to eat. This was definitely a highlight of our couple of days. The guide was also quite funny as he often put on an English accent complete with sayings and even some cockney slang for good measure ("init").

After a night in Stone Town we headed north to Nungwi, staying at a hotel on the beach for 2 nights. Nungwi truly is an amazing part of the world where the sea is perfect blue, the beaches a wonderful white, the sunshine and waters wonderfully warm and welcoming, and the sand so incredibly fine it reminds one of cement (a ball thrown into the air retains its shape the sand is so compact). The first day was spent enjoying the sunshine and sea. We visited an enclosed natural aquarium fed from the sea and swam with greenback turtles which was very cool. Sadly the water was far from the crystal blue of the sea that feeds the aquarium…so every now and then they would bump into you without you seeing them coming and give you a proper fright!

Sean managed to fit in some diving on the morning of the second day. Although the snorkelling off the beach isn't particularly special, the diving on the reefs was amazing and apart from all the tropical fish they saw turtles, eels and rays. It has also been lovely to go out once or twice with the others from our truck here. English football is always the first priority for all the guys so we invariably look for a pub showing the big games and sample a few of the local beers there. We have also had some interesting experiences with the local service - don't expect a food order within an hour, and don't expect apologies when things are late, not as ordered etc. Sadly this magnificent island could leave a much better impression on visitors if they just practiced a little customer service.

Anyway, from here we have a couple of days making our way to lake Malawi on the truck and back to putting up and taking down the tent every day!!

Lots of love, us xx