Poa

December 27^th, 2010

 Stonetown

Today we all went into Stonetown for a little touring, shopping, and eating.  We started our trip at the Anglican church, which had been the site of the former slave market.  The church was built by the British one year after the official abolition of slavery (The blackmarket trade continued for years after…Look up Tippu Tip).   We saw the slave quarters below what is now the mission's house.  So sad to see what people had been subjected to.  The trade in slaves here mostly consisted of east and central Africans, and I believe they were destined for the middle east.  The church had a lot of symbolism including a round marble tile where the former whipping post was and red marble tiles around representing the spilled blood.  It also housed a wooden cross in memory of Dr. Livingstone.  The wood for the cross came from a branch from the tree in Zambia under which Dr. Livingstone now rests. 

 Livingstone's Cross

The women and children's slave quaters, typically housed 75 for two week intervals.  The harsh conditions were a trial of the slaves strength.

  After the church we meandered around the streets of Stonetown and enjoyed the scenes as well as a glass of sugarcane juice with lime (soo refreshing).  We popped in and out of stores and stalls.  We went through the fish market, meat market, and veggie market.  We wound our way around to the Africa House (former British Club) enjoying the beautifully carved doors along the way.   At the Africa House we were treated to an azure view of the port of Stonetown (probably one of the best places in the world for a sundowner).   We continued on in the blazing humid heat and finally sat down for lunch at the Monsoon.  We cooled off (with the help of a Safari Lager) and enjoyed a lunch of octopus and other delectables.   A little more shopping and then we headed back to Breezes, but not before getting a little wet from an afternoon storm (I got drenched as I ran back into the market to get some supplies for the upcoming week).  Another wonderful day. 

Making sugarcane juice

Enjoying Sugarcane Juice

 Dried octopus and other assundries

Emma and I at the Fish Market

A door in Stonetown.  This one is of Indian Design and made out of Teak.  Zanzibar historically traded with India and the influence is obvious as you walk through town.  One of the results of this trade is an abundance of Teak.

 Another door with some Zanzibari children selling peanuts.

The view from the Africa House

The Monsoon. 

December 30, 2010

  Jambo!  We are still in Zanzibar! Yeah!!!  Our time with Tom and Lauren ended and we are now with Lala.  We have moved from Bwejuu to Jambiani and continue to enjoy the island.  Things have shifted and we are no longer at Breezes in Bwejuu.   We thoroughly enjoyed our time there with Tom and Lauren and are thankful for them providing us with a luxurious respite, which served to recharge our batteries after a long semester.   We did plenty of snorkeling, I went on a dive, and we spent a day in Stonetown.  Breezes was great and had extraordinary food (xmas dinner will go down in history) always accompanied with great live music. 

The Feast!!

Lauren and Tom with the girls and their handiwork.

Hakuna Matata!

  Lala came in on the 27^th (sans luggage) at about 9:00p local time.  On the 28^th we sadly said Kwaheri (goodbye) to Tom and Lauren.  They dropped us at our new home for the next week and  were off to catch their flight in Stonetown.  Our new home…was not at all what we wanted (or what Jess and I had remembered about Zanzibar).  Five minutes after check-in, Jess and I were scouting new places to stay.   We were not going to waste our vacation at this place.  Luckily Lala could stay with the kids while Jess and I scouted around.  We had no luck in Bwejuu, everything booked or was not very nice.  Jess and I decided to hop on a taxi and go to our beloved Jambiani and try our luck.  We had some immediate success for the place we are now (Starfish), but only for two nights.  Jess and I hoofed it all over Jambiani, which has built-up quite a bit in 10 years.  We had some luck, but we wanted to try and see if the little house we had rented was available (2000 it was $7 per night).  It wasn’t, but we had some prospects so we weren’t worried.  We were tired so we decided to sit and have a beer at a new place in S. Jambiani called Al-Hapa, which had a great beach bar and extremely friendly bartenders.  We told them our situation and though they did not have any vacancies, they hopped on their cell phones and started calling around for us.  Time was dragging on without any success and we were getting worried about leaving the girls so long with Lala.  We decided to have one more beer and give them 15 more minutes to call around.  Boy are we thankful that we did!  Fourteen minutes later we were taken to the house we will rent from the 31^st to the 6^th.  Three bedrooms (one with bunk beds), a living room, and a kitchen on the beach for $100 a night (oh and a rooftop deck).  We were elated not only to have a nice place, but to be back in Jambiani after a decade. 

  So, we spent the 28^th in the undesirable place in Bwejuu and then bolted the morning of the 29^th.  The Starfish welcomed us early 8:30 and made us breakfast…Mango, pineapple, crepes, bread, and the best fresh fruit juice.  We were joyous to be in a beautiful place that is comfortable and quite fun.  We walked around, relaxed on our roof top deck, and went to lunch, which was chipati and Pweza wa Naazi (octopus coconut curry) Yum!!!! We strolled down to the house were we will be staying and stopped and had a drink at Al Hapa.  Linda had this tastey little drink called Penzi Ufukweni, which I believe translates into the world’s most awesome drink.  We made our way back to the Starfish and cleaned up and put in orders for dinner.  Pweza wa Naazi again for the adults and a grilled cheese and chips for the girls.  It took about three hours for the octopus, but it was worth the wait.  Now, the Pweza is what Jess and I had eaten almost daily when we were here last, but this Pweza is different than what we remembered (we had a local woman cook for us back then).   I have been trying to explain what we are looking for but something is being lost in translation.  Its still great, but I am on a mission to have the local dish we once enjoyed tremendously. 

The Starfish

Penzi ufukweni

 Cool Zanzi Girl

Zanzi girl posing

Low Tide

My Zanzi Beauties

  This morning (the 30^th) we enjoyed a similar breakfast as the previous morning and geared up for our snorkeling trip.  We boarded Captain Ali’s Dhow (hapa utu?) and set sail.  It was glorious.  The wind was strong and the dhow sliced through the turquoise sea.  Truly invigorating.  We were worried that Emma and Addie might not like it, but their joy of the experience was soon expressed through grinning faces (after about a minute of trepidation).  The sail lasted nearly 30 minutes until we anchored near some corals.  Linda and Jess went first as I remained with the kids.  Soon I was spelled by Linda and I joined Jess.  Wow! The array of fish and other organisms was once again astounding.  The sea stars were spectacular.  We snorkeled for about an hour trading off.  Emma joined me for a bit and enjoyed the experience.  When we had enough (rather the girls had enough) we sailed in…correction I sailed us in.  Captain Ali was nice enough to let me pilot us home, it was quite fun.  And now vacation continues…enjoy the pics!

Heading out!

Bips A'Hoy!

Lobstah

Killer sea star attack!

Taking her home.