Honeymoon Pt 11 - Zanzibar, Stone Town

So we stayed in the lovely Serena Inn hotel.  When we returned from our walking tour of the town we were taken to our room which blew us away!  We had an ENORMOUS balcony, bigger than the room itself!  They must have given us a superior room (we didn't request this at any hotels but think our tour company must have told them we were on honeymoon) as we were right at the top of the hotel with a sunset sea view and a massive balcony with it's own hammock!  AND we again received a lovely gift of a fruit basket and bottle of fizz.

Hammock and sea view

HUGE balcony

Another romantic 4-poster bed :)

Fizz & Fruit gift 

My Lovely hubster  :)

We enjoyed our lovely fruit and headed down to the cafe for a bite before heading out again to explore more of the town on our own.

Pool
 

Cute cafe area by the pool

Gorgeous hubby again  :)

I managed to squeeze in a little bit of shopping after our tour in the more touristy area and down some of the back street markets.  I bought a silver Africa charm and Nik bought me a very cute malachite elephant I fell in love with (I'm really not into these kind of ornaments usually but I love malachite and it was such a nicely patterned piece made into a very cute elephant which I was getting very excited to see on safari!!)  We also got a gorgeous watercolour painting of one of the carved doors from an artist we found on our way back to our hotel balcony for sunset.

Africa Charm

Malachite Elephant

Watercolour Painting

Sunset wasn't particularly amazing but I took a couple of photos from the balcony (we'd missed most of it anyway by the time we found our way back) and we got ready for dinner.  (i.e. sprayed ourselves with insect repellent!)

We had been told on our tour about a big open area down at the sea front which is filled up at night by dozens of street food stalls selling all kinds of zanzibar specialities which is where most of the locals go to eat! We decided we'd rather do this than have another hotel meal so headed off to see what was there.  

We had also been told by our guide of the favourite speciality of 'Zanzibar Pizza' which consists of a doughy base (like pizza) but filled with Nutella, banana and MAYONNAISE!?!!?  Apparently it's lovely but we both chickened out and just got a savoury version which was still quite exciting as it wasn't at all what we expected when ordering a cheese and tomato pizza (OK we were REALLY unadventurous) he started mixing up eggs and chopped tomatoes and soft cheese and then put a doughy lid on also.  It was more like an encased omelette and was delicious, if a bit tricky to eat while standing up!

Our 'safe' option omelette style pizza

We also shared a chicken gyro wrap which was very tasty and the chef was so friendly and chatty and loved my Africa charm as it proved I loved Africa apparently :)

The best thing though was the cane sugar juice which they squeeze fresh like I had seen in the Borneo market.  In Zanzibar they served it with lime and ginger pressed through as well and it was amazing!

The next day, we had one of the best breakfasts yet (we were even offered fizz!) and the windows open right onto the beach, I believe the sea can reach right up when the tide is in!  We watched the early risers working out while we enjoyed our food before heading off for our flight back to the mainland which turned out to be just for us!  It was literally us and the pilot on a 12 seater plane, very exciting!  More on this next time with the start of our safari!

Enjoying my coconut water with breakfast :)

Breakfast view

Honeymoon Pt 10 - Zanzibar, Stone Town

After leaving Ras Nungwi we stayed for one night in Serena Inn in Stone Town before our flight back to mainland Tanzania the next morning.  We arrived at about 11am and had arranged for a walking tour of the old town with our driver.  We checked in and left our luggage, had a lovely, cold welcome drink served in a coconut (love those wee tropical holiday touches) and met our guide outside before even going to our room.

At first I wasn't sure how good the tour was going to be but it turned out to be very interesting and our guide was very knowledgeable.  We mainly booked it as we had only that afternoon to explore and had no idea where to go or what to see (a good idea as it turns out it is VERY easy to get lost in Stone Town!)  None of the streets have names, there are just 'areas' so you can easily find yourself wandering the back streets having not a clue which way to go or where you are, just keep going until you see something familiar!

We started off wandering past a few restaurants and shopping areas near our hotel, past a square where the men like to meet at night for a blether and to watch sport on a TV which is put up on a stand for them all to see.  We walked past dozens of little back street shops and stands selling all kinds of things - the usual touristy paraphernalia, fruit & veg, antiques, camera equipment, clothing...

Antique shop

We noticed some areas of the town were very clean while others were shockingly dirty piled with rubbish.  Some areas very quiet and all of a sudden a random busy area full of people or children.

Quiet Area

Busy area

Dirty Area

We were shown around the old slave market which was incredibly humbling and awful to see the conditions in which they were kept.

This slave chamber would have had 75 men squeezed into it!
(I am standing at the door to take this photo and the other wall is just off camera.)

This reads:
"SLAVE CHAMBER
During the slave trade, these two underground rooms were used to keep slaves before being taken to the market for auctioning.  A small hut was on top and there was a big hole used as an entrance to the slave chambers.  Slaves were kept in terrible conditions, so many died of suffocation and starvation.  The amount was terrible."

This is a statue representing one of the slave pits where they were sold.

One of the actual shackles used.

This poster represents how the slaves were transported , piled on top of one another,
literally crammed into the base of the ships.

We went through the fish market and fruit and veg stalls.

I love the way they balance their oranges! 

Squid and octopusses (octopi?)

After the stinky market, some more of the pretty clean areas...

Comfy Cat

Schoolgirls

They have some pretty amazing doors with carvings and huge brass studs and we bought a lovely watercolour painting of one which I will show you in the next instalment, along with our lovely hotel room and what we did for dinner that evening (it was actually quite interesting) before I finally get to the safari report!  ;)

Honeymoon Pt 9 - Zanzibar, Ras Nungwi Part 6

Sorry for the delay in writing this post - it's been a super busy weekend of painting, sorting and de-cluttering!  I have so much I want to write about on the blog and so much to catch up on!  (I've also been addicted to reading my book - Before I go to sleep which I have now finished and can happily say it was excellent - I literally couldn't put it down after a certain point (about half way!) I recommend you read it as it is not only an exciting read but makes you think what our memories mean to us and what life would be like with no past.

ANYWAY...

So, for my last post on our time staying at Ras Nungwi in the north of Zanzibar I will be showing you some of the nearby village of Nungwi.  We went for a few walks here to see the lighthouse, the fish market, the people and the boat building yard.  I was hoping to get a  few more photos of the locals but here they were much less willing (or at least the mothers were) to let me take their photographs.  I was of course respectful of this and always asked them or their mothers if they were children.  Most of the men said yes, most of the women said no.

It was frustrating to see potentially great photo opportunities and not snap away as I pleased but I felt I couldn't do that in a country like this.  I am pleased with some of the photos I do have from our little jaunts...

Beautiful carved door

These girls had just been getting pushed around in the wheelbarrow waving their books around.

The girls all wore pretty dresses like these

Sometimes you shouldn't look up!

Boat worker & shadow

And as I have simply been so busy and don't have time at the moment to edit a few more, here are some un-edited versions (dust bunnies and all!) to show you a bit more of the area and village....

Beach & lighthouse

Nungwi Village (shot from the hip so a bit OOF anyway!)

Very cute baby goats - goat-lets to Bella and me, kids to everyone else probably!  ;)

Another one shot from the hip - the children were playing on the stinking pile of rubbish

The women really are skilled at carrying all manner of things on their heads!

Me sans make-up, those eyelashes were a god-send!  And my emergency airport hat since I left my glam one behind!
(Which was probably just as well considering the battering it took on safari!)

We saw a few dragonflies

And this sun-bathing lizard on the way back to the resort

Got back just before dark :)

Next time I plan to be on time with my post (I like having my little Honeymoon series on a Monday) but am off to London again for a few days so may be late again since I have no more Honeymoon stories prepared yet, ooops!  We have one night in Stone Town next before we get to the most exciting part - my first ever safari!!!