Zanzibar! - Stone Town and Snorkeling

After we arrived back from our safari, we caught a flight from Kilimanjaro International to Zanzibar. When we arrived at the airport, we found out that the airline we had booked with, Fly540, no longer serviced the flight route. After several hours, we finally got an answer from the Fly540 employee and we were on the next flight to Zanzibar with a different airline, Precision Air.

We had arranged to stay in Stone Town through CouchSurfing and the apartment was bare bones, but it was in the heart of Stone Town and dirt cheap, so we were happy. One thing about Zanzibar neither of us realized was that it is HOT there. I would guess it was upper 80s, but the humidity was even worse and made us look forward to a cold shower. Being on the third floor with no A/C made sleeping a challenge at times.

One of Stone Town's wider streets. Most streets are too narrow for vehicles.

On our first of 3 days on Zanzibar, we spent the day exploring Stone Town. It is such a unique place because whoever designed the streets must have been insane. There is no organization to them whatsoever and, since the buildings are all 3 stories or more and right next to one another, you can't see any landmarks including the sun to guide you. We wandered these streets for several hours and never came out on the other side where we expected.

The local market with swordfish being unloaded along with every other type of seafood imaginable.

We visited the old slave market, where slaves were brought and sold up until the late 1800s, the Fanodori Gardens near the beach, which was one of our favorite places to relax, and the local open-air market, where we saw huge swordfish being sold along with octopus, squid, and tons of other types of fresh seafood.

A pair of dolphins swimming near the dhow.

Our second day we spent exploring the waters around southern Zanzibar on a snorkeling tour. A taxi picked us up and it was a half hour drive to the loading area for the tour. Several other groups, including a very nice family from Nairobi, were also doing the tour. We loaded the dhow, the traditional wooden ships used there, and set off for a sand bar where we had the option to snorkel, swim, or just relax. We chose snorkeling and it didn't take long for us to find coral, urchins, and tons of other sea life, including some fish that would just watch us as we swam just a couple feet over the coral where they lived. Sometimes Erin was a bit nervous because with the coral so close to the surface, there was no room to upright yourself and tread water so
we just had to keep swimming and find a deep area.

The dhow parked on the beach near where we snorkeled.

After the sand bar, we hopped in the dhow again and drove to a nearby reef that was deeper and had more fish. On the way, we spotted a pair of dolphins. We were able to see them several times throughout the day

which made them seem common, although I am sure they aren't. Once we got to the new snorkeling spot, we dove overboard and explored the reef for an hour or two. This was first time we were really able to
use the water camera. After following the current for awhile and getting called back to the boat, we went to the island where we would have lunch. They cooked us lobster and chicken with rice and several
other things on an island in the middle of nowhere. Afterwards, they showed us a baobab tree which had fallen over. We have seen the sequoias in California and the width of this tree was comparable to those...massive. After climbing and taking some pictures, we took the boat to the last island for a relaxing hour or so of beach time.

The island where we had lunch. The island are very tidal which is shown by the rock/ground level being much higher than the beach.

The baobab tree which had fallen over in a storm.

By this time, Erin and I could tell we were pretty badly sunburned. It doesn't take much, especially since we have found our anti-malarial meds make us burn even easier. We spent the hour laying down in the
shade and relaxing. By the time we left, we were eying the shaded side of the boat and snagged two spots there quick for the ride back to mainland Zanzibar. We enjoyed the ride and talked about how the
snorkeling and beaches on our honeymoon in Costa Rica didn't even compare to what we had seen that day.

(Written December 22nd)