Sunday, December 26, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Paje and Stone Town
Dec. 20, 2010
The tide was way out this morning so we walked out to see the ladies harvesting the sea weed and other activities taking place.
We saw 3 little boys looking under the big anchor rocks close to shore so we went over to see what they were catching. Would you believe they had 2 tiny dacillus fish and 1 tiny clown fish - perfect aquarium size! We spent several minutes discussing if we could/ should try and purchase them for our aquarium. While still under discussion, we watched 3 older boys working to catch small fish with a throw net.
If you read our marine aquarium entry you know David has researched various styles of fishing nets and associated collection methods. These boys had a long net only 1 meter tall and the floats at the top were all brightly colored pieces of flip flop sandals. They shaped the net into a "V" and then one boy was out in front facing the net and slapping the water to try and scare the fish into the net. They then closed the net into a circle and removed the fish they caught.
We saw a mark in the sand that looked like a potential cardium pseudolima so David starts rolling up his sleaves to pick it up with his hand. I advise him to kick it with his shoe first. Good thing as it was a huge blue crab! We pointed it out to the older boys and chased it into their net. It does not appear that they eat them here as they let him go.
We walked on to further investigate the sea weed collection activities that were occurring all around us. Wood stakes are put in the sand about knee high. Seaweed is collected and then tied on in small clumps along the string. Once the string is full of these seed clumps it is attached to the stakes. Daily the ladies come out at low tide to harvest the sea weed by gathering the lose bits around the strings. Once the seaweed is collected it is dried for five days and then sold for 300 shillings a kilo ($0.27). The sea weed is sold by the government abroad used for use as food and in cosmetics. The papasi advised that this "was a very slow way to make money" so I guess hounding tourists to take trips to spice farm, Stone Town, snorkling, fishing must pay off better.
Kite boarding was a tourist activity that was interesting to watch. We decided it was not for us as we never even got our wind surfer going to well.
Amin drove us back to Town with only a shake down by the traffic police. On all the roads around Zanzibar there are check points by the traffic police probably 4 for the 1 hour road trip. They said that Amin did not stop at a check point when signaled to do so. His license was taken and he has a ticket and notice to report on Wednesday. We asked what was happened and he just muttered corruption and pay-offs. We arranged for him to take us to the airport tomorrow.
We are now in the Tembo hotel with promised sea view room for $120. Had lunch at our favorite Archipeligo restaurant with excellent food, view and breeze. There was a short burst of rain while we ate and that dropped the temperature slightly for a brief time.
We toured the museum palace, found the old customs house and the Dispensary which are near the port and big tree. Leslie had black henna done by a lady at the old fort. The design is on a much smaller scale and she says more "Indian" influenced. We looked around at souvenir shops but made no purchases other than trading some books in for other novels for the flight home.
We went back to the Dhow Palace hotel to see if David's favorite Ex-officio brand shirt had been found at the Chumbe resort and returned. Bless them it was there so he was a happy camper and willing to continue the hunt for Richard's house 551. After looking around different corridors and asking various people we actually stumbled across it. Just as I sent a picture of the door and house number to Richard we had an email from him indicating that "we could look down on the back patio of the Zanzibar Hotel and watch guest dining and dancing". We would have found it for sure with that description.
The tide was way out this morning so we walked out to see the ladies harvesting the sea weed and other activities taking place.
We saw 3 little boys looking under the big anchor rocks close to shore so we went over to see what they were catching. Would you believe they had 2 tiny dacillus fish and 1 tiny clown fish - perfect aquarium size! We spent several minutes discussing if we could/ should try and purchase them for our aquarium. While still under discussion, we watched 3 older boys working to catch small fish with a throw net.
If you read our marine aquarium entry you know David has researched various styles of fishing nets and associated collection methods. These boys had a long net only 1 meter tall and the floats at the top were all brightly colored pieces of flip flop sandals. They shaped the net into a "V" and then one boy was out in front facing the net and slapping the water to try and scare the fish into the net. They then closed the net into a circle and removed the fish they caught.
We saw a mark in the sand that looked like a potential cardium pseudolima so David starts rolling up his sleaves to pick it up with his hand. I advise him to kick it with his shoe first. Good thing as it was a huge blue crab! We pointed it out to the older boys and chased it into their net. It does not appear that they eat them here as they let him go.
We walked on to further investigate the sea weed collection activities that were occurring all around us. Wood stakes are put in the sand about knee high. Seaweed is collected and then tied on in small clumps along the string. Once the string is full of these seed clumps it is attached to the stakes. Daily the ladies come out at low tide to harvest the sea weed by gathering the lose bits around the strings. Once the seaweed is collected it is dried for five days and then sold for 300 shillings a kilo ($0.27). The sea weed is sold by the government abroad used for use as food and in cosmetics. The papasi advised that this "was a very slow way to make money" so I guess hounding tourists to take trips to spice farm, Stone Town, snorkling, fishing must pay off better.
Kite boarding was a tourist activity that was interesting to watch. We decided it was not for us as we never even got our wind surfer going to well.
Amin drove us back to Town with only a shake down by the traffic police. On all the roads around Zanzibar there are check points by the traffic police probably 4 for the 1 hour road trip. They said that Amin did not stop at a check point when signaled to do so. His license was taken and he has a ticket and notice to report on Wednesday. We asked what was happened and he just muttered corruption and pay-offs. We arranged for him to take us to the airport tomorrow.
We are now in the Tembo hotel with promised sea view room for $120. Had lunch at our favorite Archipeligo restaurant with excellent food, view and breeze. There was a short burst of rain while we ate and that dropped the temperature slightly for a brief time.
We toured the museum palace, found the old customs house and the Dispensary which are near the port and big tree. Leslie had black henna done by a lady at the old fort. The design is on a much smaller scale and she says more "Indian" influenced. We looked around at souvenir shops but made no purchases other than trading some books in for other novels for the flight home.
We went back to the Dhow Palace hotel to see if David's favorite Ex-officio brand shirt had been found at the Chumbe resort and returned. Bless them it was there so he was a happy camper and willing to continue the hunt for Richard's house 551. After looking around different corridors and asking various people we actually stumbled across it. Just as I sent a picture of the door and house number to Richard we had an email from him indicating that "we could look down on the back patio of the Zanzibar Hotel and watch guest dining and dancing". We would have found it for sure with that description.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Paje, Zanzibar December 19, 2010
We asked around again this morning for house 551 near our hotel and did not come up with any new information. Need to find an old person to ask!
We checked out and headed with Amin, our driver, to Jozani Forest which was about 50 minutes away. We hired a park guide to take us to see Kirk's Red Colobus monkeys. These are an endangered species of which there are only 2,500 left of which 2,000 are in this forest. They are named after Sir John Kirk the same botanist and British Consul-Geneal that I have mentioned before. In our 1 hour walk we saw at least three large groups. They are extremely inquisitive and very photogenic because of this. Only exciting thing that happened in our walk was coming across army ants. We had to dash down the path and then madly try to brush off the ants as they were biting. They moved fast and got quite far up our pants legs before we got them all.
We proceeded on to Paje and chose the hotel Paje by Night which had a room with AC. Since taking the room the AC broke and we had a repair fellow in to get it fixed. We chose the hotel for free internet which has been spotty at best. The beach was not that enticing so perhaps we should have just gone back to Stone Town but then we would have wondered if we missed out on anything. The biggest group of tourists here are Italians. There is a kite boarding place here and that seems to be the biggest draw. It is not safe to walk on the beach or around after sunset. There is a guard patrolling the grounds of the hotel.
We checked out and headed with Amin, our driver, to Jozani Forest which was about 50 minutes away. We hired a park guide to take us to see Kirk's Red Colobus monkeys. These are an endangered species of which there are only 2,500 left of which 2,000 are in this forest. They are named after Sir John Kirk the same botanist and British Consul-Geneal that I have mentioned before. In our 1 hour walk we saw at least three large groups. They are extremely inquisitive and very photogenic because of this. Only exciting thing that happened in our walk was coming across army ants. We had to dash down the path and then madly try to brush off the ants as they were biting. They moved fast and got quite far up our pants legs before we got them all.
We proceeded on to Paje and chose the hotel Paje by Night which had a room with AC. Since taking the room the AC broke and we had a repair fellow in to get it fixed. We chose the hotel for free internet which has been spotty at best. The beach was not that enticing so perhaps we should have just gone back to Stone Town but then we would have wondered if we missed out on anything. The biggest group of tourists here are Italians. There is a kite boarding place here and that seems to be the biggest draw. It is not safe to walk on the beach or around after sunset. There is a guard patrolling the grounds of the hotel.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Chumbe Island Coral Park, Zanzibar
Dec. 18, 2011
Today we were up early and out the door to Mbweni 7 kilometers from Stone Town where we were to catch a boat to go to the Chumbe Island Coral Park. The boat left from the Mbweni Ruins Hotel which is set in the botanical gardens founded by a Scottish botanist and physician, Sir John Kirk, while he was Britain's Consul General for eighteen years beginning in 1866. Kirk accompanied Livingstone up the Zambezi river.
There are also the ruins of a nineteen-century Anglican mission that housed and schooled girls freed from captured slave dhows and daughters of freed slaves. Interesting place to look around before getting on the boat as all the plants are still pretty much labeled.
We traveled the 9 kilometers to the island in one hour using a small dhow with a 15 HP engine. Chumbe island has an old British light house built in 1904 and a small mosque built at the same time for the Indian light houseman. This island is reputed to have the finest coral gardens in the world. There is now an eco-lodge that provides a day room and lunch for day trippers like us. We were shown to bungalow 3 and instructed on the compost toilet, rain water shower, and lock box for your valuables. There was a Dutch family with 2 young boys who were there as well. We all went on a small motor boat with the guide and a big inflated truck inner tube so that you could hold on if you wanted and to make us more visible. The coral was amazing! Large variety in size, shape and colors. We were very impressed with the marine life too. The parrot fish were so inquisitive and come up to look at you giving one a chance to clearly see their beak mouths and fully appreciate their colors. We snorkeled for an hour and were actually quite tired as there was a good swell in the sea. We saw a couple of blue starfish, lobster with white legs, blue spotted sting ray and too many beautiful fish to name. This day trip was a little over $ 100 per person but worth it. After a nice lunch in the shade watching the waves, and some sun bathing we went on a walking tour of the coral rag forest and through the mangroves looking at the different flora and fauna. Our guide even found a huge coconut crab for us to photograph in a mangrove cave. These are the world's largest land crabs reaching 60 cm to 1 meter in length and weighing 3 to 4 kilos. They are called coconut crabs because they are reputed to climb trees and cut off coconuts which they eat. These crabs are nocturnal so we were lucky to have seen one.
We arrived back in Stone Town a little before 6PM tired but having enjoyed the day very much.
We made plans to spend the next night at Paje on the east coast and stop at the national park on the way. We decided to come see the 2 hotels we were considering in person as both on Trip Advisor had extreme ratings (good and bad). We also made a reservation at El Tempo hotel which is a sister hotel to our current Dhow Palace for our last night in Zanzibar. We arranged for a sea side room we think. Most of our meals have been at a restaurant called "Archipelago" as the food is excellent, the view is great as the restaurant is on the beach and the first floor of a corner so the breeze that comes through is very helpful. Very few places seem to have AC so looking for fans and good breezes is essential to survival.
Today we were up early and out the door to Mbweni 7 kilometers from Stone Town where we were to catch a boat to go to the Chumbe Island Coral Park. The boat left from the Mbweni Ruins Hotel which is set in the botanical gardens founded by a Scottish botanist and physician, Sir John Kirk, while he was Britain's Consul General for eighteen years beginning in 1866. Kirk accompanied Livingstone up the Zambezi river.
There are also the ruins of a nineteen-century Anglican mission that housed and schooled girls freed from captured slave dhows and daughters of freed slaves. Interesting place to look around before getting on the boat as all the plants are still pretty much labeled.
We traveled the 9 kilometers to the island in one hour using a small dhow with a 15 HP engine. Chumbe island has an old British light house built in 1904 and a small mosque built at the same time for the Indian light houseman. This island is reputed to have the finest coral gardens in the world. There is now an eco-lodge that provides a day room and lunch for day trippers like us. We were shown to bungalow 3 and instructed on the compost toilet, rain water shower, and lock box for your valuables. There was a Dutch family with 2 young boys who were there as well. We all went on a small motor boat with the guide and a big inflated truck inner tube so that you could hold on if you wanted and to make us more visible. The coral was amazing! Large variety in size, shape and colors. We were very impressed with the marine life too. The parrot fish were so inquisitive and come up to look at you giving one a chance to clearly see their beak mouths and fully appreciate their colors. We snorkeled for an hour and were actually quite tired as there was a good swell in the sea. We saw a couple of blue starfish, lobster with white legs, blue spotted sting ray and too many beautiful fish to name. This day trip was a little over $ 100 per person but worth it. After a nice lunch in the shade watching the waves, and some sun bathing we went on a walking tour of the coral rag forest and through the mangroves looking at the different flora and fauna. Our guide even found a huge coconut crab for us to photograph in a mangrove cave. These are the world's largest land crabs reaching 60 cm to 1 meter in length and weighing 3 to 4 kilos. They are called coconut crabs because they are reputed to climb trees and cut off coconuts which they eat. These crabs are nocturnal so we were lucky to have seen one.
We arrived back in Stone Town a little before 6PM tired but having enjoyed the day very much.
We made plans to spend the next night at Paje on the east coast and stop at the national park on the way. We decided to come see the 2 hotels we were considering in person as both on Trip Advisor had extreme ratings (good and bad). We also made a reservation at El Tempo hotel which is a sister hotel to our current Dhow Palace for our last night in Zanzibar. We arranged for a sea side room we think. Most of our meals have been at a restaurant called "Archipelago" as the food is excellent, the view is great as the restaurant is on the beach and the first floor of a corner so the breeze that comes through is very helpful. Very few places seem to have AC so looking for fans and good breezes is essential to survival.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Searching for the Past in Stone Town
Dec 17, 2010
On the hunt for our friend Richard Hann's four childhood homes in Stone Town, Zanzibar. Richard lived here as a child when his father was a British civil servant responsible for Education. In Oman the position would be Minister of Education. His mother worked in the Beit al-Ajaib (house of wonders) palace, which was the government headquarters. Richard used wikimapia to mark his old residences including his favorite right on the sea coast. We studied the maps on the hotel computer and then noted as best we could the houses on our tourist map.
Richard's last two houses were behind the High Court which is a building built by John Sinclair. Sinclair built many of the buildings in Stone Town and used a lot of Moorish features such as domes and arches. The High Court has the characteristic dome, clock and Moorish arches and was easy to find as it was just down the street. We managed to find his 3rd house to the right of the court right away as it had the right look - that being big veranda's to let in the sea breezes. To our emailed picture Richard responded, "This is the house !!!!!............not the one by the sea obviously....we had no A/C in those days so the verandas etc were open...my bedroom upstairs............ fantastic. .....built well it seems." His favorite house was right nearby on the sea. There were 3 abodes there in various states of disrepair. In Richard's front lawn is a big phone tower and perhaps that is why the house was left to run down. The second house over we could not get to as it's front yard had been turned into the Zantel phone customer service center and you could not get to the house. The last building in the row was St. Joseph's school. In talking to a phone company customer and one of teachers, perhaps the school had bought the house next door.
In moving on to find his first house on Vulga Road, we were looking for an apartment building and again had a general location and so were hunting something with balconies. We got confirmation from Richard a day later that yes that was the apartment block. In looking for house 551 near the Zanzibar Hotel we found the Hotel but all the houses had their numbers out of sync so we will keep looking for this one.
Later in the afternoon after a swim in the hotel pool we went out to see the Beit al-Ajaib (house of wonders) palace. In walking down Kenyata street we saw a old photo store and decided to go in and see what old pictures he had. The shop keeper, of Indian descent, said his father started the business in the 1930s. We asked him questions on the Zanzibar Hotel and its original location and the houses around it.
We thoroughly enjoyed Beit al-Ajaib as the museum displays are informative and it was interesting to see the beautiful carvings on the massive doors inside of which there were four on each floor. The top floor's verandas had lovely view from all sides. These had obviously been executive offices in their last use. We even found a old massive safe in one room that had carved walls painted white.
On the hunt for our friend Richard Hann's four childhood homes in Stone Town, Zanzibar. Richard lived here as a child when his father was a British civil servant responsible for Education. In Oman the position would be Minister of Education. His mother worked in the Beit al-Ajaib (house of wonders) palace, which was the government headquarters. Richard used wikimapia to mark his old residences including his favorite right on the sea coast. We studied the maps on the hotel computer and then noted as best we could the houses on our tourist map.
Richard's last two houses were behind the High Court which is a building built by John Sinclair. Sinclair built many of the buildings in Stone Town and used a lot of Moorish features such as domes and arches. The High Court has the characteristic dome, clock and Moorish arches and was easy to find as it was just down the street. We managed to find his 3rd house to the right of the court right away as it had the right look - that being big veranda's to let in the sea breezes. To our emailed picture Richard responded, "This is the house !!!!!............not the one by the sea obviously....we had no A/C in those days so the verandas etc were open...my bedroom upstairs............ fantastic. .....built well it seems." His favorite house was right nearby on the sea. There were 3 abodes there in various states of disrepair. In Richard's front lawn is a big phone tower and perhaps that is why the house was left to run down. The second house over we could not get to as it's front yard had been turned into the Zantel phone customer service center and you could not get to the house. The last building in the row was St. Joseph's school. In talking to a phone company customer and one of teachers, perhaps the school had bought the house next door.
In moving on to find his first house on Vulga Road, we were looking for an apartment building and again had a general location and so were hunting something with balconies. We got confirmation from Richard a day later that yes that was the apartment block. In looking for house 551 near the Zanzibar Hotel we found the Hotel but all the houses had their numbers out of sync so we will keep looking for this one.
Later in the afternoon after a swim in the hotel pool we went out to see the Beit al-Ajaib (house of wonders) palace. In walking down Kenyata street we saw a old photo store and decided to go in and see what old pictures he had. The shop keeper, of Indian descent, said his father started the business in the 1930s. We asked him questions on the Zanzibar Hotel and its original location and the houses around it.
We thoroughly enjoyed Beit al-Ajaib as the museum displays are informative and it was interesting to see the beautiful carvings on the massive doors inside of which there were four on each floor. The top floor's verandas had lovely view from all sides. These had obviously been executive offices in their last use. We even found a old massive safe in one room that had carved walls painted white.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
North of Stone Town Dec 16, 2010
Our guide from yesterday Mohamed brought his "brother" around with a car promptly at 9 am. However Mohamed was now not going to be our guide but Amin the driver was. Does this sound like the old bait and switch? The car was a 7 person mini van with just the 3 of us and the AC was good so we were happy. We travelled first to Myoni Palace where Princess Salem was born. Having read her book "Memoirs of an Arabian Princess" and the recently published book "The Sultan's Shadow" we were curious to see this site. The palace was built in the 1840s but destroyed by fire in 1914. Now only the main walls, roof and bathhouses remain. A lovely location! There were other remnants of palaces along the road but the only one still kept in good condition was the one in the naval area.
We drove on to the Kidichi Persian baths which were at the highest point on the islands. These baths were built in 1850 for the granddaughter of Shaherizad and see decorated the Persian style stucco depicting lotus flowers, cloves, coconut palms, peacocks and dates. The sultan brought in Persian Zoroastrians' to create the stucco as Moslem's under the Quran can not make this type of decorations. At the baths we saw the bathing area, toilets, massage room. The care taker does seem to be working hard to keep the mold off the white stucco. Following this quick tour we proceeded to an old clove farm that now has other spices as well. We have been on a spice tour in India but had never seen cloves and a few other spices as well. During the time the Omanis rulered Zanzibar the island was wealthy from the income from the clove plantations as well as the slave trade. The previous day in the market we had bought spices so today we only bought a lemon grass tea and more cloves. Now we know that everyone walking around with some green woven coconut hat has just come back from a spice farm visit!
We then drove up to the northern most tip of the island passing piles of coral stones that were being used in the construction of houses. It was this same construction that gives Stone Town its name. The reason we had come up here was to see the dhow builders. As in Qantab we watch the various boat being built and the fishing activity we wanted to compare it to Zanzibar. Here we have seen very few fiber glass boats and the fisherman use many either paddle with a dug out canoe,mtumbi, or sail with a larger boat called a ngalawa. The biggest boat here is called a jahazi. While we saw minimal actual construction as we had arrived close to 1 PM we did note the wood was being cut and shaped by hand, the use of the old square body nails.
There were many fishing nets hanging to dry and being repaired by the fisherman. We spotted the net dumping area and were delighted to see all the shells! Many cones, some mitra, tiger coweries and other members of the cowerie family. The most common in the discard piles we reviewed were spider conches. Of course we had to poke through the debris to see if their might be a Lyrialeslieboschai!
Lunch was at the sunset restaurant at Amaan Bungalows. This tip area is very much affected by the tides so not great for swimming and there is really no beach to walk on unless you walk by the local village and all the boatmen. There was one old man selling sea shells. The tiger coweries, helmet shells and spider conches were $1 and the large lambis like in Oman were $5.
We arrived back in Stone Town around 5 pm so went to check out some of the shops and sit by the beach at Livingston's Cafe which we had spotted earlier. As usual when walking around one is pestered by the local touts. They are know as "pappasi" which mean flea can be quiet irritating and many places have "bouncers" in a uniform to make sure they don't pester tourists on their property.
Tomorrow we are going to hunt for our friend Richard Hann's various houses in Stone Town while he was growing up. He has marked them on wikimaps so we take a closer look at them again before we head off on the hunt.
We drove on to the Kidichi Persian baths which were at the highest point on the islands. These baths were built in 1850 for the granddaughter of Shaherizad and see decorated the Persian style stucco depicting lotus flowers, cloves, coconut palms, peacocks and dates. The sultan brought in Persian Zoroastrians' to create the stucco as Moslem's under the Quran can not make this type of decorations. At the baths we saw the bathing area, toilets, massage room. The care taker does seem to be working hard to keep the mold off the white stucco. Following this quick tour we proceeded to an old clove farm that now has other spices as well. We have been on a spice tour in India but had never seen cloves and a few other spices as well. During the time the Omanis rulered Zanzibar the island was wealthy from the income from the clove plantations as well as the slave trade. The previous day in the market we had bought spices so today we only bought a lemon grass tea and more cloves. Now we know that everyone walking around with some green woven coconut hat has just come back from a spice farm visit!
We then drove up to the northern most tip of the island passing piles of coral stones that were being used in the construction of houses. It was this same construction that gives Stone Town its name. The reason we had come up here was to see the dhow builders. As in Qantab we watch the various boat being built and the fishing activity we wanted to compare it to Zanzibar. Here we have seen very few fiber glass boats and the fisherman use many either paddle with a dug out canoe,mtumbi, or sail with a larger boat called a ngalawa. The biggest boat here is called a jahazi. While we saw minimal actual construction as we had arrived close to 1 PM we did note the wood was being cut and shaped by hand, the use of the old square body nails.
There were many fishing nets hanging to dry and being repaired by the fisherman. We spotted the net dumping area and were delighted to see all the shells! Many cones, some mitra, tiger coweries and other members of the cowerie family. The most common in the discard piles we reviewed were spider conches. Of course we had to poke through the debris to see if their might be a Lyrialeslieboschai!
Lunch was at the sunset restaurant at Amaan Bungalows. This tip area is very much affected by the tides so not great for swimming and there is really no beach to walk on unless you walk by the local village and all the boatmen. There was one old man selling sea shells. The tiger coweries, helmet shells and spider conches were $1 and the large lambis like in Oman were $5.
We arrived back in Stone Town around 5 pm so went to check out some of the shops and sit by the beach at Livingston's Cafe which we had spotted earlier. As usual when walking around one is pestered by the local touts. They are know as "pappasi" which mean flea can be quiet irritating and many places have "bouncers" in a uniform to make sure they don't pester tourists on their property.
Tomorrow we are going to hunt for our friend Richard Hann's various houses in Stone Town while he was growing up. He has marked them on wikimaps so we take a closer look at them again before we head off on the hunt.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Stone Town Zanzibar Dec 15th
The fast ferry was interesting and we were happy that we chose to arrive by sea as coming into the old Stone Town Harbor was so reminiscent of the old Muttrah Cornish area. The ferry tickets showed up at 8:30 am but instead of being for the 10:30am ferry they were for the 9:30am ferry so we had to hustle our selves by 5 minute taxi ride down to the quay. We had sprung for the $40 first class tickets versus the $35 economy tickets. The ferry was full and this time a good mixture of local mainland Tanzanians, Zanzabaris, Omanis and westerners. After the ferry ride that was almost an hour late leaving we landed in Stone Town and had to queue to get a Zanzibar stamp in our passports as well as fill in an arrival form. Zanzibar has it's own President as does the mainland. No visa fees were charged this time though.
We had a guide walk us to the hotel as we were annoyed by being besieged by taxi drivers wanting to take us to the hotel which was an 8 minute walk. We are traveling light - not as light as on the Camino but still just small roller bags. We have booked at the Dhow Palace hotel which is a lovely old restored Omani home in the historical area just across the street from the Old British Club. We had an outstanding lunch at Archipelago Zanzibar which is on the first floor of an old building right on the beach. Lots of fishing action to watch while we ate. We then made arrangements for a walking tour of Stone Town which was very interesting and we will try and post some pictures of the wonderful carved Zanzibar wood doors. Our friend Dr. Richard Hann was raised here in Stone Town so we are excited to try and find the houses he lived in as a child.
Some of the men here wear the Omani disdasha and also the kummah. However the kummah is called a khaifer here and has an extra band around it so that is sits taller on the head than the Omani style. The ladies were the Kanga as their head covering like in the old days of Oman. The Kanaga, in their many bright printed colors also have different "sayings" printed on them. Our guide, Mohammed was very good at reading several to us once we had determined that they were not just the manufacturers label so to speak!
We saw the infamous slave market area, the various market places and wonderful old alleyways filled with beautifully carved doors. Basket weaving here at just a quick look is very similar in style to what we see in Oman and Saudi.
The weather is tropical - hot and humid. We had a short swim after we arrived at the hotel in their lovely small courtyard pool.
We had a guide walk us to the hotel as we were annoyed by being besieged by taxi drivers wanting to take us to the hotel which was an 8 minute walk. We are traveling light - not as light as on the Camino but still just small roller bags. We have booked at the Dhow Palace hotel which is a lovely old restored Omani home in the historical area just across the street from the Old British Club. We had an outstanding lunch at Archipelago Zanzibar which is on the first floor of an old building right on the beach. Lots of fishing action to watch while we ate. We then made arrangements for a walking tour of Stone Town which was very interesting and we will try and post some pictures of the wonderful carved Zanzibar wood doors. Our friend Dr. Richard Hann was raised here in Stone Town so we are excited to try and find the houses he lived in as a child.
Some of the men here wear the Omani disdasha and also the kummah. However the kummah is called a khaifer here and has an extra band around it so that is sits taller on the head than the Omani style. The ladies were the Kanga as their head covering like in the old days of Oman. The Kanaga, in their many bright printed colors also have different "sayings" printed on them. Our guide, Mohammed was very good at reading several to us once we had determined that they were not just the manufacturers label so to speak!
We saw the infamous slave market area, the various market places and wonderful old alleyways filled with beautifully carved doors. Basket weaving here at just a quick look is very similar in style to what we see in Oman and Saudi.
The weather is tropical - hot and humid. We had a short swim after we arrived at the hotel in their lovely small courtyard pool.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Zanzibar, Tanzania for our 35th Wedding Anniversary
Tuesday December 14th
We flew on Oman air from Muscat to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on a day time flight that took 5 hours. We were the only Western faces on the plane. On arrival we handed in $200 for visas and the forms we had completed earlier. We had stressed about photos, bank account info and not of it was requested. As we arrived at peak rush hour we had plenty of time to watch daily life as we crawled along. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Business District as we wanted to be close to the harbour for a ferry to Zanzibar the next morning. We made a reservation for the fast ferry with a estimated travel time of 1 1/2 hours versus 2 hours on the slower ferry. It is frustrating not having a guide book so we used the internet to do some reading.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Bosch Marine Aquarium
One of the joys in having your own place is that you can make a mess with your own hobbies. We are going back the "old Muscat days" wherein one struggled daily with a marine aquarium. Back then it was carrying buckets of salt water from the beach every week replacing the aquarium water, but thank heavens technology has improved since then with live rock, protein skimmers and ultra violet lights. While one could now populate one's aquarium with store bought fish, this is not the "old Muscat days" tradition. Hence considerable time, effort and funds and been invested in relearning how to catch and keep marine fish of a very small size. In the technological advance noted above one should also include the advent of UTube as it was there that some hours were spent watching films on catching fish, the types of equipment and nets.
Khamis, our old fisherman friend, came over several times and discussions on the types of nets would continue with him making at least one version of a cast net for sardines but with smaller mesh. (This turned out to be too big to use for catching specimens among rocks, in coral, etc.) In addition to several types of nets, there are also various types of bottles or bags to put the fish in once caught plus the blow up little boat that is tied to someone's waist and loaded with all the gear as we snorkel around. Gloves are of course a must as are water shoes. Flippers are carried in the boat along with the hammers, and are used when it is deep and we need to dive to reach the fish, but it is surprising that many fish can be caught in a few feet of water, especially at low tide. Current supply of nets include at least 3 of various round shapes on varying lengths.
Khamis, our old fisherman friend, came over several times and discussions on the types of nets would continue with him making at least one version of a cast net for sardines but with smaller mesh. (This turned out to be too big to use for catching specimens among rocks, in coral, etc.) In addition to several types of nets, there are also various types of bottles or bags to put the fish in once caught plus the blow up little boat that is tied to someone's waist and loaded with all the gear as we snorkel around. Gloves are of course a must as are water shoes. Flippers are carried in the boat along with the hammers, and are used when it is deep and we need to dive to reach the fish, but it is surprising that many fish can be caught in a few feet of water, especially at low tide. Current supply of nets include at least 3 of various round shapes on varying lengths.
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