Stonetown

Our final three days on Zanzibar (and in Tanzania) we spent in Stonetown, the capital city.

Stonetown was a chaotic, windy city full of exuberant smells. Our first day we wandered around the twisting streets, past many people who were selling their goods - mostly souvenirs such as magnets, stickers, clothes and scarves but also paintings, wooden figure, beaded animals and necklaces.

During our first outing, we went to the Zanzibar Coffee House where we had a lunch of Crepes and a coffee with Zanzibar spices (cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg) which was very tasty.

Next we explored the big outdoor market where we bought some spices and tea. Here they were selling all kinds of foods, from spices and tea, to meat, fish, fruits and vegetables. There was a whole other section where they were selling cloth for clothing, watches and shoes and this area was slightly less chaotic, but still with a lot going on. That evening we went to an Ethiopian restaurant for dinner where we ate without utensils, instead using a kind of bread called injera which was a flat bread which was the coating of the bowl (kind of like a bread bowl).

Our last day in the city we went to one of the local restaurants where we had big glasses of fruit juice and hung out with the locals, doing some people watching. We also went into one of the old forts, which has now been converted into an amphitheater where they hold concerts. Here there were more people selling things, and an art gallery where locals were taking art classes.

Our last day in Zanzibar ended with us looking out over the Indian ocean relaxing on the beach before catching our midnight flight to Dar es Salaam, where we slept in the airport before catching another flight to Johannesburg, and then our last morning flight back to St Helena.