10 Days in Zanzibar: spicy!

Day 7, Tuesday

Breakfast:
Mango (not nearly as good as the mango we had in Fumba - read: we're officially spoiled), a new kind of triangular andazi that was spiced and far less greasy than any of the previous ones, beef fajita (mis-spelled "beef fighter" on the buffet sign) with baked beans and flat sponge bread, mini bananas, coffee with milk, and a croissant

After breakfast we went to the lobby where we met a tour guide who would be taking us to a spice plantation outside of the city. He didn't introduce himself to us (the desk clerk simply told us to go with him) and he walked very briskly through the streets of Stonetown - barefoot, by the way - until we reached a very compact little van full of other western tourists, most of whom were our age or younger. We piled in, quickly identifying who among our companions were interested in making friends for the day. The van made two additional stops - one to pick up more tourists and one for gas - before beginning the 30-minute drive to the plantation. The driver never identified himself. Along the way we mostly chatted with a cute British girl who was studying water infrastructure as part of an internship for a global engineering firm.

Once we arrived at the plantation we were greeted by an energetic and well-spoken guide who flooded our brains with some much horticulture it made our heads spin. It was difficult to take notes and keep up, so please forgive us for publishing a basic list: 

turmeric

rambutan, or shoki-shoki - akin to the lychee

unripe rambutan presented by our guide

rice (we think??)

ginger root cut straight from the plant - VERY pungent!

cassava (or yucca) and sweet potato field - cassava leaves are boiled and eaten like collards, cassava is like a potato: used to make chips and ugali, though corn based ugali is more popular on Zanzibar vs cassava on Pemba

annato - strong color but little flavor - used mostly for dyes, it's the color in tandoori

annato in the pod - incredible color, right?!?!

elephant apple - used in hair gel

cocoa - hard outer shell, the inner core is made up of white gelatinous seeds that have a citrusy flavor and are used to make cocoa butter; they hide the dark inner core that is used to make cocoa

cloves (caracul in Swahili?) out of season in July, 90% grown on Pemba, export controlled by the govt

vanilla - grown in a raised bed covered with coconut leaves and husks b/c the root system is shallow

also (not pictured):

-Lemongrass

-Cinnamon: taken from the bark, which grows back in 2 weeks. The leaves are also boiled with porridge. Cinnamon root can be used like menthol: boil it and put it under a blanket with the sick person.
-Coffee
-Starfruit or carambol
-Cayenne Chili pepper, stays red when dried
-Cardamom
-Breadfruit, which we learned is known here as a Zanzibar apple (not yet ripe)
-Peppercorn, used for white and black pepper, also red and green Soursoap, used for juice and ice cream


Nutmeg: the outer fleshy white-ish fruit is used for marmalade; the red veiny membrane around the nut is used for mace

After the tour, we bought some spices to bring home and share with our families. Our favorite was a little plastic envelope of dried red chili peppers with a label that warned not to put them in your "sense organ." We'll be giving that to Landon.

A group of children were playing outside where the tour bus was parked. One was wearing an Auburn University t-shirt.

The best part of the tour was lunch! We sat on the floor of a covered open-air hut and shared bowls of rice, spinach, and potatoes cooked in spices from the plantation. Everything was absolutely delicious and we loved passing plates around with the other tourists and chatting. Some of the children eventually came into the hut hoping to relieve us of any leftovers (they were successful).

Lunch:
Rice boiled with cardamom, cinnamon, and other spices (there were large pieces of cinnamon bark in it), spinach with coconut milk (this was my favorite), and potatoes in a turmeric sauce, which was mostly flavored by the whole peppercorns in it - we were told the turmeric is really just for color

After lunch we were all taken to a beach, where we were told we could pay one dollar each to see a cave. Nate and I wanted to go but we didn't have a small enough bill and they couldn't make change. Later the tourists who did go told us wasn't worth it so apparently we lucked out. The beach was small, rocky, dirty, and littered with dead fish bait and some interesting abandoned fishing boats.

We returned to town, went to the room to relax and clean up a bit, then made a stop at an ATM and browsed through a book store and a couple of tourist shops. Back at the Dhow palace we lounged by the pool before gearing up to try out the Forodhani Gardens.

making shwarma

Zanzibari pizza

Forodhani Gardens

Nate enjoying his shwarma

Supper:
Shwarma with chicken, yogurt, and chilli sauce; Zanzibar "pizza" with beef, mayo, finely diced red onion, tomato, and scrambled egg; a tuna kebab that we each took one bite of and then tossed, some kind of soup with a thick delicious broth