Paradise Island

Zanzibar, an island rich in history, spices and beeches, is somewhere I will never forget. It was one of those truly surreal experiences where you felt like you were stepping into a postcard or beautiful picture book. I feel so incredibly lucky and privileged to have the opportunity of travelling available to me.

Our week's holiday was five days on Nungwi's beeches sandwiched between two stays in Stone Town, Zanzibar's port and city.

Stone Town: A beautifully shabby town with palaces, mosques, spice markets, food markets, backstreet 'duka's' selling fabric and allegedly 'antique' jewellery and spice boxes. It's fair share of hustlers too, as is to be expected. We spent a day here to recover from the 10hour coach journey and 2 hour ferry crossing, and spent much of it wandering through the beautiful shabby backstreets.
Most of the doors have beautifully ornate carvings in a dark wood (mahogony?), and you have to dodge out of the way of immams on motorbikes. Definitely one of the highlights on ST was the Forodhani Food Market. This is every foody's dream: when it starts to get dark you do to the water's edge where there are over 100 stalls selling every variety of exotic fish and sea food, as well as meat, rice, naan, sweet and savoury pancakes and sugarcane juice. I put aside my natural aversion to anything from the sea (!) and am pleased to report that I quite like barakuda, although I wouldn't chose calamari in a restaurant! On our last evening, I managed to buy cannily and do a spot of haggling, and was completely full for about 2pounds - not bad!
After a not very pleasant experience on our first visit, which resulted in 4 of the group having to hand over some money, it was very refreshing to meet Abubaker Sali. We were eating our seafood kebabs on the grass when we saw a tiny monkey skuttle across in front of us and onto a smallish man in his twenties. We got chatting, and Abu, son of a vet, had found 'Alladin' in a bush at 2 days old - her mother had abandoned her. He took her home, got her vaccinated etc, and is bringing her up as his daughter! She was so sweet and human-like - when we walked away her face wrinkled and she started to cry! Apparently she will grow to around two feet, and continue to follow Abu wherever he goes. Aw, sweet. Right, sickly sweet stuff over, on to Nungwi...

T.b.c