We woke early and decided to explore the south side of the resort. Along our walk we saw lots of monkeys starting their day, too. Soon we stumbled on an area called Siri Beach. It was so peaceful and beautiful in the early light.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCpUIogLxRg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj9hhD4uH8Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnDskXye8-o
Breakfast:
Coffee w/ milk; poached eggs w/ toast and grilled tomato and zucchini; dates, mango, yogurt, toasted cashews; raisin bread w/ a spiced marmalade; some kind of yummy little walnut bread muffin; half of a very tart passion fruit; two shoki-shoki; and a small flaky turnover sprinkled with sugar - whew!
Side note: salt, pepper, and sugar are served in small wooden pots without spoons.
I guess the wedding diet is officially behind me! I want to try absolutely everything I can while I'm here. The fruits are by far my favorite - probably b/c they are the most "local" food we've encountered. Even though the resort food tends to cater toward western tourists, much of it is still foreign to Americans.
After breakfast we finished packing, checked out, and went to lounge by the pool for one last hour before our taxi arrived. We read a little about Stone Town and discussed the things we'd like to do there. There is a LOT to see and do there! I was excited to go to Stonetown but also a little sad because I knew it would be the last leg of the honeymoon.
The cab ride to Stonetown was similar to the previous rides. The roads are busy busy busy with travelers and commerce.
We arrived in Stonetown and our hotel, the Dhow Palace. Our room is on the third floor, which is accessible only by a grand staircase. It's an old building (built by Sheikh Mushin bin Mujbia in 1559) that has had many owners and many uses from private palace to office building to apartment building to hotel. We checked in and asked the concierge to make us some reservations for the following morning, then went to see our room and explore the hotel a little.
The hotel is across the street from a landmark, the Africa House, which we'd read about in one of the guide books. It's a hotel with a well-known expat rooftop bar, so we changed and headed over there for drinks. Back to conservative clothes now that we're in Stonetown. I wore a full-length linen skirt with a white v-neck and my now well-worn black flip-flops. At the Africa House, I had a Tusker; he had a house white. It was HOT up there on the roof, but the view of the water was worth it!
After the drinks we decided to wander around town a little to get the lay of the land. Nate wanted to stop at an exchange to get some cash in the local currency (even though american dollars had been fairly widely accepted he felt it would be a good idea to have both - and he was right). We waited in line until a teller called us, then Nate tried to speak Swahili to ask for the exchange. When he spoke, the teller and several others around her smiled and laughed - they loved hearing a tourist try to speak their language! The teller finished the transaction in English ;)
We continued wandering for another half an hour, finally stopping for lunch at a place called Clove Garden. It is all outdoor seating on a terrace that is a few feet above street level. The food is cooked in a shed-like structure with a bar counter. The "toilet" just a hole in the ground. We had read about this restaurant in one of the guide books, and it got great reviews (especially for "real" Swahili dishes) so we decided to give it a try. While we waited for our orders, Nate gave me a lesson in Swahili numbers.
- Moja
- Mbili
- Tatu
- Nne
- Tano
- Sita
- Saba
- Nane
- Tisa
- Kumi
Lunch:
Green bananas (very much like potatoes in both texture and flavor) in a savory brown sauce, vegetable curry, and a chai tangawizi (ginger tea)
After lunch we continued our blind wandering, checking out the various neighborhoods and getting lost. At one point we found ourselves in a large market full of tons of fruits and vegetables, large squid in heaps on the ground, and some fish and other meats. It was lively even though it was clearly the end of the selling day. Many of the merchants were packing up their stalls. There wasn't much seafood left for sale and what was left was pretty picked over. I was too embarrassed to take any photos - didn't want to seem like I was gawking. I wanted to keep wandering to see if I could find a breadfruit, but Nate was uncomfortable with the crowds so we pushed on.
We wandered back in the direction we thought felt right, hoping to make our way toward the House of Wonders. It wasn't difficult to find. Most of the streets are very very narrow with 3- to 4-story buildings on either side. The House of Wonders, though, sits in front of a large open green space looking over a plaza and the ocean.
The House of Wonders is several stories, each with a variety of exhibits on the history of Zanzibar and Swahili culture - music, clothing, pottery, weaponry, and (my favorite) cuisine. There is a large atrium in the center with a full rebuilt dhow on display. The upper floors featured displays of recreated kitchens and bedrooms. One room exhibited kangas, a popular printed cloth worn by Swahili women. These featured political slogans and proverbs.
The top floor is a library with a beautiful wraparound porch on all sides. The view was stunning, but truth be told the structure didn't exactly seem sound. It was scary and we didn't fully trust it. We snapped a few photos and hurried back down to the ground floor!
Side note: the men's pill cap I described on the ferry ride is called a Kofia. Thanks, House of Wonders!
After the House of Wonders, more wandering (I love wondering). We saw a female car driver for the first time! We tried some skewered chicken (we think) from a street vendor. It was actually a little bland despite the spicy-looking sauce all over it. We didn't know what to do with the skewer after we finished b/c there aren't public trash cans like there are in the US.
We had hoped to have supper at The Livingstone, another well-known expat hangout, but it was closed for the summer, so we went to have supper at the Africa House instead. The restaurant is different from the bar we visited earlier in the day. Much of the restaurant is indoors in a series of elaborately decorated rooms with painted ceilings, much like a European palace. We were seated on a small outdoor terrace overlooking the waterfront along with two other couples. From about 6:40 - 7 there was an island-wide power outage. As I mentioned in the first post, the sun sets pretty early here so it was truly a candle-lit dinner! We could barely see what we were eating, but it was tasty!
Supper:
Tusker, salad of prawns and mango
No comments:
Post a Comment