Day 22 Dar-es-Salaam to Stone Town, Zanzibar
20.01.2012
Jules writes:
Zanzibar: there is possibly no other place on the planet that has a greater power to evoke a sense of the exotic and mysterious as this small island. Just off the coast of Tanzania, this island has been ruled by the Portuguese, the Sultans of Oman and the British, while also experiencing a strong influence from India and China. It’s capital, Stone Town, used to be a major hub for the slave trade and the Sultan of Oman moved his court there around 1850. As implied by its other name, the Spice Island, it has also been a major producer of cloves and other spices for centuries.
We caught a tuc-tuc early in the morning to the ferry’s departure dock, and after buying our tickets, settled down in the lovely air-conditioned waiting lounge, where we chatted to Dave, an Australian working in Thailand, who told us amazing stories of his travels, including being held for ransom in Indonesia. More fun things to look forward to.
The ferry ride over was beautiful, at the halfway point in in the trip, it is possible to see both Zanzibar and the mainland. We arrived in Stone Town and had to go through immigration, as Zanzibar and Tanzania used to be separate states, and now, even after unification, Zanzibar still holds its own elections. This separation proved to be dads undoing, as upon arrival, we were required to show our passports, and he had brought his second passport, which didn’t have the Tanzanian visa in it. This caused great excitement for them, and frustration for us, as there was no proof that Dad had bought a visa upon entry into the country, and after a bit of a stalemate, we were forced to buy another visa for him at $50, which left quite a sour taste in his mouth. We started exploring the town, which is absolutely fantastic, with M.C. Escher clearly having had a hand in the design. Narrow streets seem to curve back in on themselves, branch off at random and then re-join, and one constantly feels a sense of deja vu, convinced that you have already walked past that spice shop, or that ornately carved door. The one thing that sours the experience somewhat is the touts, who are constantly approaching you to buy some CD (they all sell the same CD, some best of Africa compilation), go on a tour, buy some spices, etc. And the buggers are persistent, “no” means “tell me more” and “I’m fine, thanks” means “Hells, yeah, my life will be forever incomplete unless I buy your product", charge me lots of money and then keep talking to me for the next 30 minutes”
We stopped to try new and intriguing fruit, inspect art galleries set in dark alleys, and drink spiced tea from delicate china while browsing beautiful 
carvings. Pretty much The Dream, really. We soon abandoned the map, and let our whimsy lead us. We walked through the palaces of Sultans, and sat in the dark in cramped holding cells of the slaves. We finished off our day by enjoying a drink at the Africa House Hotel, which has a great sunset view. For supper, we headed down to the night market, where irrepressible vendors competed for our patronage. The stalls were practically identical. By the fourth stall, I was able to tell the vendor “Wait, don’t tell me: from right to left it’s prawns, shrimp, spiced lobster, plain 
lobster, mussels, blue marlin, red snapper, barracuda and tuna. At the back you have calamari steaks, octopus, cassava, sweet potatoes, falafels, plantains and salt bananas”. Somewhat sheepishly, they admitted that I had nailed it. We had a great meal of it, despite being asked to buy that damn CD from the same vendor 3 times in the space of 15 minutes. We headed back to our hotel, tired and replete.
Been praying for you guys every day and admiring your situpons.I cannot manage 150ks without severe pain and this is on the police BMW 800,made for sitting on all day long.When you bend a rim,You get a block of wood and a hammer or brick and put the wood on the dent and clobber it back,you dont need to take the tyre off either.On a steel rim you use a blunt steel chisel and also clobber it…works for cars as well.So glad that you can handle the bike electric problems and the rain.God bless you Peter and Barbie Anderson.Why not buy the CD and stick it on the tank of the bike so that they can see that you have one.you can sling it later.
January 25, 2012 at 16:06
felt like i was on honeymoon all over again!!! had exactly the same day – town, cd guys, africa hotel, night market. we loved it.
January 24, 2012 at 17:43
Dude, only thing that works with pesky vendors is speaking in Afrikaans to them. We only figured this out towards the end of our trip in Europe. We barely finished saying ‘nee dankie’ and they had already turned away. we couldnt believe how well it worked!
(Trip sounding amazing bro!!!)
January 23, 2012 at 10:20
Dear Malcolm, John, Shannon and Julian
On the 30th December at around 10am, Cecilia and I were on our way to fetch a friend at Woodside Village (en route to Napier) when we pulled up at the robots at the Red Cross intersection. As I looked across the road I saw 4 fully loaded Kawasaki 650′s, fully loaded and looking ready to tackle the plains of Africa. Without hesitation I said to Cecilia “that’s got to be Malcolm and his family”! And then I noticed Shannon’s hair stick out of her helmet and knew it was the Taylors off on their epic adventure! I recall Malcolm having told me of his intention soon after I returned from a similar trip to Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia. How it happened that we saw you leaving I’m not sure, but boy, I felt so excited for you all, and inspired by what you were about to tackle. As soon as we got to Napier I called Tarryn and asked her to see what she could find on-line about your trip. So I’ve signed up to receive your postings and I will be honoured to share your journey and experiences with you from the comfort of my computer chair! Well done to all of you on making it happen, and for supporting such a good cause, which I will make a contribution to in lieu of your fine efforts!
With best wishes,
Kevin and Cecilia Stanford
January 22, 2012 at 19:06
Oh wow….your poor dad – he really has had a run of misfortune…..hopefully his luck will change now. I hope too that John is feeling much better.
January 22, 2012 at 18:39
ah my birthday post, will forgive you for not remembering, and i am all caught up – thankx for all the messages Jules and co – seems like a great adventure and the best part is that once you are done all the sucky bits will be instantly forgotten [as you plan you bike through south america trip] and only the good story parts will remain… keep on…
January 22, 2012 at 15:36
What lovely images — both verbal and pictorial! Thanks for sharing, I am so enjoying reading about your adventure.
But please don’t shoot Mal … people like me will need him on his return. Travel safely.
January 22, 2012 at 10:24
Great Trip you guys!
I love the feed back and know how much effort it takes to keep it updated – well done Jules! I see you decided against the Iringa-Dodoma-Arusha route? It was here where we came unstuck last year – check: Day 15 of our trip http://threefarmersandagreek.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/day-15-kisolanza-to-dodoma-14-april-2011/ Probably better so and Zanzibar truly sounds wonderfull.
Good luck
Rufus
January 22, 2012 at 09:52