Stone Town Amazes

We got up this morning and would begin the roughly 5 hours drive to reach a paved road once again.


One last look once we reached the crater rim.


As we left we continued to see elephants.




And some more zebra.


We reached Arusha and had lunch in town. Although it was a bit of a disappointment, it was run by some French guy who most likely had been thrown out of France with his cooking, but the place was nice, outside, and they had cold beers. After lunch we got to the airport and found that only half the runway was paved, but I guess that is better than nothing, or is it? We checked in and they weighted our luggage, we were within the limits so they gave us our tickets and baggage tags, then asked for a tip. Keep in mind this person had an airline id badge and could easily ensure my bag never reached its destination, so all I could do was give them a few bucks. Once we got on our Precision Air flight to Stone Town, Zanzibar, they came through the isle with two bug bombs emptying, saying it was a requirement of the World Health Organization. It did not smell too bad and I regained the ability to taste food within 20 minutes, so it was no big deal. One good thing about domestic flights in Africa is that you get cashews instead of peanuts. I like cashews.


We got to Stone Town and found our driver, and you knew you were in the tropics, it was hot and humid. I’m glad I packed a lot of non-cotton items for the Kilimanjaro hike, however I still managed to sweat through them by days end. Once we landed we had a chance to explore Stone Town, and it was awesome.


A seemingly endless maze of alleys between the buildings, occupied with a large Muslim population.


Stone Town is the capital of Zanzibar, a small island off the coast of Tanzania that was once its own country.


I’m surprised I’m not still wondering around trying to find my way out, only a few blocks in to town and everything starts to look the same.


We came across an area where the townspeople discuss politics.


And they love Obama, and we were welcomed as Americans.


Then we tried to find our way out.


Finding an old community bath house. The care taker was happy to give us a tour, and I did not know why until the end when he asked for money, but he only wanted $2 US so it was no big deal.


Wait, didn’t we already come down this way?


OK, I know I have seen this alley before.


But this looks new.


We found our way to the castle, however it is no longer needed to fend off foreign invaders, but now houses the homeless.


After a view of the harbor we began looking for the market, no cute touristy maps here.


So we wandered the alleys.






Until we found it.


I have been in a lot of crazy markets but this would be the most amazing one, one with the most amazing smells, and one that would soon give my immune system a full body stress test. I loved it, best ever.


First was the poultry department. Sorry for the poor quality but these are all screen grabs from my video.


Once you pick your bird you can slaughter it right here.


Next we hit the meat department, what a unique fragrance. I’m pretty sure that employees do not need to wash their hands after using the restroom, and if they did would it really matter?








I wonder what they will be serving tonight, and I wonder where they got what they were serving?


This place was an island so how could you not hit the seafood department to check out the fresh catch of the day.


It was quite an amazing contrast in smells between the meat and the sea food sections.








This was the octopus bartering table.




I did not barter, but felt the one in the back left looked pretty tasty, some thyme and a lemon wedge, oh boy, makes my mouth water.


Ah, fresh air.


Well, kind of. We then meet the local drug dealer who was way beyond baked, and after numerous “No Thank You(s)” I think he finally saw our lips moving and left.


It took about 45 minutes to get from Stone Town to Fumba Beach, where we would be staying the next two days. This place was great, excellent staff, beautiful accommodations, and images that I already saw being framed and hanging on my wall at home. Plus they did laundry, and I was amazed how dusty everything got on safari, from my shirts, to the inside of my pockets, to my bags, and to my cameras.


Yeah I can get used to this, but then I seemed to be saying that every night.