December 13 Zanzibar Tanzania

Up early this morning... went to bed early... and breakfast not until 7.30 am but the security guard made me coffee at 7. Very nice even if it was instant coffee!

We caught the bus to Stone Town and started walking around. We ended up at the Anglican Church which is the site of the slave market/auction. 50 men in a small room and 75 women and children in another small room! Not surprising that so many died!

These slaves were heading to the Middle East. The church has a wood cross dedication to Dr Livingston as he bought slaves and freed them. There is also red marble to represent the blood around the whipping tree. This is the altar of the church. They have a very old pipe organ.

We kept walking and found a small restaurant on the beach. Very nice breeze as it is hot and humid again. I had grilled kingfish. Very good. A course fish but tasty! Cost 7500 shillings which is about $6.

We kept walking and bit further past a very nice white sandy beach where many dhows are moored. These are the local fishing boats, which have single sail but also a small outboard motor. Very interesting. We ended up in the main park/square that is in front of the Old Fort and the National Museum. We walked around the Old Fort, but it is full of souvenir shops. The National Museum is closed for renovations.

Stopped at a small coffee shop/restaurant for coffee, real coffee! We must have spent 2 hours sitting there watching the boys jump off the sea wall into the water. Walked a bit further and saw the Sultan's Palace. This building dates back to the mid 1800s. It is a large building but not extra flashy! The furniture is amazing. All very heavy wood. Coconut tree wood. Similar to the furniture in the hotel which is very heavy.

We went to the Floating restaurant that is actually floating on stilts. The boardwalk was packed with people and there were even more boys jumping into the water. It seemed that they were competing to see who could make the biggest splash. Lots of cheering. The catch of the day was marlin. Quite good but once again a course fish... and not as light as most fish but still tasty!

A walk back to bus station and caught the bus. Much easier tonight as we knew the name of the stop, the bus stopped right in front of hotel.
Showered and outside but only for a bit as it started to pour rain!



December 12 Zanzibar, Tanzania

Left the Bow Bed & Breakfast, an excellent place to stay in Addis, as very clean. super staff and close to airport! At airport by 8 am, early in morning but timing was pretty good as we were at gate a few minutes early......if the plane had taken off on time. It was about 30 minutes late. A snack on Ethiopian Airlines turned out to be a nice chicken with pasta! A good 'snack'!

We had arranged for a taxi at airport in Zanzibar, and he was waiting. A 5 minute drive to hotel. We checked and then walked to Stone Town! Only a 30 minute walk according to receptionist that took 1 1/2 hours. Hot and very humid! Found a bank - we had to, no money so we could not take the bus or a taxi!

Turns out it is market night and the area is packed with people. Mostly Muslim. The market was a general market....... anything you want you can find! There was some kind of rally going on as well but could not figure out if it was religious or political.

Found a restaurant, cafeteria style. Not too bad, the beef was a bit tough but the sauce was very tasty.
Caught bus back to hotel, but I had forgot to bring the paper with the bus stop on it, so it was a challenge to find the hotel. The poor driver stopping when we thought it was the stop, but no.... the ladies in the back were having a good laugh at us not knowing where the hotel was.... but we found it.... to cheers and laughs from the back of the bus.
We had no sooner got back and it poured rain!