Zanzibar Part 2

Habari,

Flight is delayed from Zanzibar to Dar...apparently the Dar airport is closed for some VIP? WTF!

Today we were introduced to a non-government regulated spice farm where we were introduced to a variety of different plants and spices that give the island its name. We pretty much walked through the bush, literally and got attacked my machers (mosquitos). Of course, I spent half the time worrying about the bugs (they were everywhere) and kept picturing a snake ready to pop out at me! It was very interesting, plants ranging from cloves to lemongrass, and vanilla. The queen of spice being cinnamon! Also sampled iodine, peppers, aloe, tumeric and a variety of fresh fruits.

One of the highlights was a plant called "touch me not" which you touch and it literally closes for five minutes! Was pretty cool to see. The theory behind the naming of this plant was that if a woman was married and someone came to their house when the man wasn't home it served as a signal that someone entered their house. Interesting security system eh?

Another bit that was cool was watching this young guy climb a coconut tree to get us fresh coconuts all the while singing in such a sweet voice. We had an oppportunity to play with some of the local kids and learned their version of jacks. I was terrible but the little girls were amazing, never missed. Also had a chance to smell "ylang ylang" and watch how locals apply lipstick with a local fruit, name has slipped my mind.

Completely forgot to talk about the Foradhani garden experience. Are you people kidding me? I did not eat any seafood there. Maybe, if I hadn't experienced the sights and smells with a million flies circling the fish at the fish market I may have been more keen but god knows how long that fish had been out in the sun. Not to mention the merchants using a skewer with octopus tentacles as a pointing stick, touching all the other types of fish and meat skewers in the process...beware, especially if you have food allergies! Mishkaki was excellent though and the sugarcane juice was my favorite. Watched the sunset there yesterday evening while watching locals cliff jump and aerialists entertain large crowds. Made for a nice early evening stroll.

Also for anyone heading to Zanzibar, be sure to visit Spice Route. Excellent Indian food and wonderful service! Chicken biryani and kulfi were so yummy. I think I have definitely put on weight here. Still another 1.5 hours to go and off to Oyster beach tonight for some live music and festivities and then the work week begins. Another fabulous weekend in a place I will absolutely miss.

Xoxo