Zanzibar, Tanzania

After a brutally hot night in a campsite in Dar es Salaam, we boarded a ferry to Zanzibar which is a large island off the coast of Tanzania. The island is home to about 80,000 people, and is primarily Muslim. There is a long history of spice trade, especially with the Arab world, and continues to be their number one industry.

The first stop was Stone Town, which is the old quarter of the capital city (Zanzibar City). It was hot and bright there, luckily you didn't even have to leave the bus to find sunglasses.

The town was a series of narrow winding alleys and whitewash buildings. It gave the town a very Mediterranean feel, and was a great place to walk around and shop for local art work.

Highly recommended and not a disappointment, we watched the sunset from a roof top patio bar. The lovely young lady in the picture here is Rachel, or Pip as she insisted we call her. She was a sossy Londoner who we got to know well, she was good fun. Pip, see you at the cottage next year.

That night we stumbled upon a night fish market in which they all take the days catch and prepare tasty kabobs. Fish off the street in Africa, definitely a questionable move, but everything looked and smelled fresh, so we decided to go for it. It was really good, and a fun experience doing as the locals do.

Mark was looking for a good Zanzibar T-shirt, and found a guy selling pizza who's shirt he liked. The guy insisted there was nowhere to buy them, they were home made. Mark had no choice but to trade him for it, straight up.

With our brief time in Stonetown over, we headed up to the pristine beaches in the north of the island. Absolute paradise. Somewhat like places in the Caribbean, but very undeveloped and uncrowded. Amazing!!!

Time to soak up some rays...

That night mark found a guy who did booze/sunset cruises (yes, we've been on a few now). For $20 a head, 2 hours all you can drink and a trip around the bay. Great deal. The only shady thing is that the guy needed money in advance to go buy the booze. We were a little sketchy but had to role with it. Luckily he made us feel better with a very official receipt.

The boat was a classic fishing boat...even more sketchy.

But once we got on, it was a blast. James on the left was another good buddy of ours on the trip. He liked to go hard.

We stopped after a while and went swimming off the back...

And Mark and I enjoyed a romantic sunset...

And would we say we got our money's worth.....oh ya!!!!

Unfortunately, without Marieke, Mark was once again forced to resort to the love of a dog...