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14 January 1999

The Kingsmill's Trans-Africa Overland Trip, Part 9: Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya

Geoff Kingsmill
2006-04-25 21:12:17

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G'day, Jambo,

Our last newsletter was from Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania and we were getting ready to head over to Zanzibar - an island off the coast of Tanzania. Wendy and Mal couldn't wait to hit the sand and the beach so they went over a day earlier. On the morning Dave, Geoff and Kienny were to leave for Zanzibar, we arranged for secure parking at Silver Sands Resort (if you can call it that) and proceeded to wait for the shuttle bus to the port to catch our ferry. Alas! Our shuttle bus never turned up. Kienny put pressure on the management and was able to negotiate a ride in the resort's Landcruiser. The owner said that there was no way we could make the ferry in time. The driver took this on as a challenge and gave us the ride of our lives going at great speeds, dodging potholes, bicycles, roadworks, people, animals and trucks. We arrived at the port a few minutes late however the ferry was still docked. The ferry left moments after we boarded much to our relief as Mal and Wendy were waiting for us in Zanzibar.
We arrived two and a half hours later and checked into the Dhow Palace hotel which Wendy and Mal had booked for us. The hotel was decorated with period furniture and lovely Persian carpets gracing the hallways. This is the first time we've not slept in our rooftop tent. It was a lovely change to which we quickly adjusted - CNN on TV and the airconditioner on full blast. Walking through the streets of Zanzibar was very interesting with narrow alleys and the smell of spices in the air. There were hawkers selling fresh fruit, vegetables, samosas, satays, art and curios. This reminded us very much of Asia and the Islamic market in Cairo, quite different to everything we've seen in Africa so far.

We took the Mitu Spice Tour which we thoroughly enjoyed. We saw some history of the island and where the different spices such as ginger, cloves, turmeric, pepper, cinnamon and cocoa grow, along with fruit trees such as ...