Thursday, February 26, 2009

Zanzibar!

“Tanzania--
birthplace of Freddie Mercury; mankind.”—Lonely Planet travel guide

Zanzibar. The allure and mystique of the name is only exceeded by the actual place itself.

Although it might seem like all I do is vacation lately, I am still a Peace Corps Volunteer. However, I just got back from the coolest place I’ve ever been—Zanzibar, a small island off the coast of Tanzania in the Indian Ocean. We had a helluva time getting there—cars, trains, boats—but it was so worth it. I left my village on a Saturday and didn’t actually get to Zanzibar until the following Friday. We took a train from Lusaka to Dar es Saalam that took two and half days and went thru a game park. Zanzibar has a unique, rich cultural history and I think that is really why I loved it so much. It’s touristy in all the good ways, yet it retains so much of its cultural heritage. Historically, it was at the intersection of many trade routes and so the culture blends African, Arab and Indian influences. The architecture of the main port, Stone Town, exemplifies this as do the ornately decorated doors that marked merchant houses of the past. Stone Town is full of winding alleys that lead everywhere and nowhere at once. I enjoyed just exploring the alleys and all the random open store fronts. After not having been shopping for about a year, I got my fill of treasure hunting for African paintings, carvings, batiks, jewelry, etc. Zanzibar is also known as the Spice Island, because they grow just about any spice you can think of in addition to cacao, coffee, tea. We went on a tour of a spice plantation and saw pepper, cardamom. nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, ginger, tumeric, vanilla and even more that I can’t remember because I don’t know what they were! Exotic fruits, including about 10 different varieties of bananas, also abounded. We tried just about all of them thanks to my friend Sydney’s penchant for trying really weird fruit. [We played lots of Scrabble on the train, hence this entry’s use of many big words]. The market was mesmerizing because in addition to all the spices and fruits there was a giant fish market. We had delicious fresh fish everyday. The food was amazing, especially the Swahili style cooking, which naturally features many different spices (but isn’t spicy). All of this on a beautiful Indian Ocean setting. Coral reefs surrounded the island and as one friend put it, “I felt like I was in a screensaver,” because of the white sand and aqua blue water. I also had my first margarita in a year, which solidified the trip as best ever.
The whole reason we went to Zanzibar in February, centered on a 4 day music festival, Sauti za Busara, featuring various African music styles and acts. The venue was an old Stone fort in the center of Stone Town, which was awesome. We really enjoyed the music, and I realized how much I’ve missed going to concerts! After a few days in Stone Town, we went up the coast for a few nights to hang at the beach. For all these reasons and more, I fell in love with Zanzibar. I really hope I can go back someday.