After our game drives in Tanzania, we headed south to spend some time on the island of Zanzibar, just off the coast of mainland Tanzania. We had a quick day in the capital and stayed in the historic center, Stone Town. We took a spice tour shortly after arriving on the island, Zanzibar is known as the 'Spice Island' for all of the spices they produce. We visited a local spice farm and got to try fresh cinnamon, nutmeg, lemongrass tea and tons of incredibly ripe tropical fruit, all which are readily grown on the island. Ross also got to try his hand at climbing a coconut tree at the farm using just a rope around his feet like the local guys do to retrieve the coconuts.
Part of the tour also took us to the site off an old slave trading market. A church has since been erected in its place but the old slave quarters are still intact. It was very startling to see the slave quarters where the slaves where kept before being taken to the whipping post/market. The room was tiny and claustrophobic; it was quite eerie standing inside and thinking about what transpired there.
After our tour we spent our evening out at the local market eating our fill of fresh seafood.
The next morning we headed up to North Beach to spend a few days relaxing on the beautiful white sandy beaches.
After Zanzibar we headed to our next country, Malawi, a landlocked country with 20% of its total area made up of Lake Malawi. We had a great campsite right on the sands of the beach and got to see some amazing sunrises and sunsets while we were there.
Part of the tour also took us to the site off an old slave trading market. A church has since been erected in its place but the old slave quarters are still intact. It was very startling to see the slave quarters where the slaves where kept before being taken to the whipping post/market. The room was tiny and claustrophobic; it was quite eerie standing inside and thinking about what transpired there.
After our tour we spent our evening out at the local market eating our fill of fresh seafood.
The next morning we headed up to North Beach to spend a few days relaxing on the beautiful white sandy beaches.
The tide was super strong on the North Beach and the beach would change dramatically every day. With the full moon the water went way out and we got to walk around and see the shells and star fish we had been swimming in the day before. All the locals came out to collect squid and other seafood when the tide went way out. Zanzibar was a beautiful place and a really relaxing break from truck life, a.k.a sleeping in a tent.
After Zanzibar we headed to our next country, Malawi, a landlocked country with 20% of its total area made up of Lake Malawi. We had a great campsite right on the sands of the beach and got to see some amazing sunrises and sunsets while we were there.
From our campground in Chitimba we hiked up to the village of Livinstonia and got to take in the awesome views of the lake and surrounding hills. We were welcomed by all the kids in the village who were fascinated with our cameras and loved to walk with us holding hands and singing the alphabet. After playing with the kids we toured the small town of Livinstonia and hit up a nearby waterfall for a swim.
Gorgeous!
ReplyDelete