Zanzibar

I didn't mean to put this picture up, but it does give a cool idea of what rural Zanzibar looks like.

Never before have I seen so much attention being paid to nutmeg.

Felt great to protect again now that we have sufficient backup.

An intricate nutshot on Kris. Each participant knew their roles inside and out and performed with valour and courage.

Mom, Maurice and I left Nairobi on the 10th and flew to the island of Zanzibar, which is off the coast of Tanzania. After sorting out some minor hotel problems, we set off to meet up with Jason, Ryan and Kris (same Kris who I stayed with in Sydney, who's now conveniently in Africa). Most of the time spent here has involved lying around in one way or the other. The first full day we spent at our resort pool, while the next day we headed over to the other side of the island to visit one of the more remote beaches where we lounged on the sand while locals worked endlessly to collect seaweed from the giant tidal pool next to us. It was hard work watching them, so instead I decided to fall asleep for a while.

Seeing as how Zanzibar is known as one of the "Spice Islands", we figured we should take advantage of this, so the next day we ventured off on a spice tour. Very cool little tour ensued where they showed us pretty much every spice I can think of; cinnamon, vanilla, peppers, curries, nutmeg...the list goes on and on. Was interesting to see how all this stuff actually grows and how much it smells and tastes like the actual spices before it's even processed, especially the cinnamon trees that are basically normal trees but with cinnamon bark, seemed like something out of Willy Wonkas. My last full day with mom and Maurice was spent once again lying around our pool and reading (or in my case, playing the new fantastic video game contraption that I am now addicted to). Originally I was to fly back to Nairobi with them yesterday, but opted to stay with the guys on the island and float back to the mainland on a ferry tonight. It would have been a bit of a hassle meeting up again if I went back to Kenya, so it seems like the right decision, but it did suck missing another full day with my mom. They flew back yesterday afternoon, leaving me alone in the dusty Stone Town streets...

Last night we toasted the island with the help of several dozen beers and other strange alcohols. We then visited a nightclub where we introduced the local populace to the absurdity of white guys trying to dance. Wandered home sometime in the middle of the night and awoke with a fantastic hangover...which is really hampering my blog writing skills. Luckily I should get a great sleep tonight seeing as we're going to be stuck on a ferry for 8 hours on our way back to Dar Es Salaam. Other than that, not much to report. Much of our days are spent watching the news and slowly seeing our Middle East travel plans fall apart. We had a great route planned out a few days ago, but it looks like we probably won't be able to fulfill it all...but damnit we'll try!