Dar Es Salaam to Zanzibar: 5.8.09

We were up very early this morning to catch the ferry heading for Zanzibar, initially crossing back to Dar on the commuter ferry (10 mins) before transferring to the 7am ferry for Zanzibar (2 hours). Although Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, the island is separately administered so we had passport admin to complete with immigration at the main port in Stone Town, long queues and pushing and shoving.

Stone Town is the capital of Zanzibar, a quick orientation by our guide showed us a new park by the waterfront, some restaurants and Africa House – a very swanky hotel with a bar overlooking the Indian Ocean. Our hotel couldn’t have been more of a contrast, a total flea pit – most of the rooms had views of brick walls, the lucky ones in the group had views of the hotel’s washing lines! We had some lunch at Africa House which was good apart from the tandoori chicken skewers which were served raw, when we complained to the waiter he asked if we would prefer it cooked medium or well!?! We cancelled the chicken and went back to our hotel for a kip.

Stone Town could be a very beautiful place but needs tidying up and a lick of paint, the people are generally friendly and don’t hassle too much. In the evening we broke off from the group for the first time and found a great beach bar for a drink then headed to a Swahili restaurant called Monsoon – the food was amazing and we sat on cushions and ate from a low table whilst a small band played traditional (and some classical) music, which sounded very Balearic. A bit touristy but we really enjoyed it and it was also nice not to have to do the washing up afterwards. Not missing the tent at all!