The second part of our trip was in Zanzibar, officially part of Tanzania, but semi-autonomous so we went through customs after debarking from the ferry from Dar es Salaam.
Ferry leaving Dar
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The first few days we spent at Jambiani, a village on the southwest side of Zanzibar. Beautiful white sand beaches and blue water. |
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Evan at breakfast looking over the African mammals book |
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We went snorkeling on the reef, which involved taking a traditional dhow across the mile-wide lagoon. |
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Lots of spectacular fish on the reef while snorkeling, plus just walking along the reef we saw animals like these clams |
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The reef was beautiful and interesting, but a minefield of sea urchins. More than one spine was pulled from our feet after the walk. |
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A unique sea star with no obvious legs |
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Investigating a rusty old anchor |
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Lots of brittle stars |
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Jambiani was a sleepy interesting swahili town. It was Ramadan, so folks got up before sunrise to eat, then went back to bed. So the mornings were pretty quiet! |
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Zanzibar red colobus monkey, only a few hundred exist and live in the forests there. They seemed oblivious of tourists nearby, letting folks walk up close. |
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Sykes monkey, one we always enjoy seeing (we have them in Kenya) |
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Walking in the mahogany forest of Jozani National Park on Zanzibar. |
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The national park also had a boardwalk through the mangroves |
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Various mangrove forest animals like this mud crab |
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We stopped at a sea turtle rehabilitation center after the national park |
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Giant land tortoise, originally from the Seychelles but brought to Zanzibar many decades ago |
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At the butterfly farm, one that we often saw in the forest |
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We see swallowtail-like butterflies like this often in Kenya |
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A bit of rain made the beach more dramatic |
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Laughing at Alex after (before we could stop him) he chugged a cup of strong Italian coffee |
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Jambiani White Sands Bungalows, where we stayed |
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The porch where we relaxed a lot, like playing poker with the many cowry shells we collected |
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On the spice plantation, one we'd not heard of that was used for dye. |
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Checking out one of many spices (I forget which one!) |
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Cloves, the speciality of Zanzibar |
Nutmeg
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Tour included the cheesy photo of us wearing coconut palm hats and ties |
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Freddy Mercury's childhood home in old Stonetown |
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Hotel back in the alley's of Stonetown, the room itself was a "2 out of 5 stars" on Alex's rating, but the hallway was fascinating! |
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Stonetown is known for its old wooden doors, this one on a mosque |
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The Zanzibar flag, with the Tanzanian flag in its upper left corner |
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Fort built by the sultan Arabs from Oman, after they kicked out the Portuguese back in the 1700's. Zanzibar and Oman were ruled as one for a while. |
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Double expresso and a smile |
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Wandering the back narrow streets of Stonetown |
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Memorial for the old slave market, now the site of the Anglican church |
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Plaque in the Anglican church honoring Livingstone and others that worked towards abolition |
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A few hours to kill in Dar before flying back to Nairobi, so we went to the village museum, a cool collection of traditional homes from various places around Tanzania. Alex and Evan were getting design ideas to make a hut once returning to Harrisonburg! |
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