We decided to stay in Stone Town (capital of Zanzibar) for four nights. Through some slightly convoluted organisation we were to stay in a room above a cake shop, and obviously had high hopes. Sadly, we arrived during Ramadan so no cakes were to be available. The room was also completely terrible (even with our significantly lowered standards). There was a double mattress perched on top of a single bed frame, only one pillow between two, no lighting or window in the bathroom and only a bucket of cold water for a shower. Thankfully, Stone Town is a brilliant and safe place, so we hardly spent any time in our accommodation.

On the first day we did a walking tour of the town with a local guide. It was very interesting to learn about the history of the place, with its multicultural roots, and to be able to ask lots of questions. A lot of the buildings have very beautiful front doors, many of which were imported from India a long time ago. The Indian doors are rectangular and have spikes on them to keep the elephants out of the house! The Arabic doors are equally ornate, but are arched at the top, have an inscription from the Qu’ran on them and have spikes that are purely decorative as there are no elephants in Zanzibar. We also saw Freddie Mercury’s old house. The tour ended on the roof terrace of a very fancy hotel. We decided to go back there in the evening to enjoy a drink and watch the sun set – we may be cheapskates staying in the worst room in Stone Town, but we are very happy to use the luxurious facilities on offer elsewhere!

The next day we joined a tour of a spice farm. We learnt lots about how each of the spices are grown, and got to sample them. We also tried lots of tropical fruits like rambutan, custard apple and star fruit that were fresh from the tree. There was one fruit, known locally as the gay fruit, that only women eat. This is because it is full of a dye that stains your lips red. There is also a fruit that congtains a gel-like substance that is sometimes used to style hair. Apparently Swahili women are experts in the use of nutmeg, and make a special porridge out of it that has intoxicating properties. So with the ‘lipstick’, ‘hairgel’ and nutmeg local women can have a pretty good party. We were then served a delicious curry for lunch, using locally grown vegetables and some of the spices from the farm.

 

Getting food during the day at the moment is quite tricky. It is inappropriate to eat in public for this month, but some restaurants have a special licence to open for the tourists. Thankfully in the evening all of the locals want to break their fast, and the streets come alive. There are lots of good food markets where you can get chicken satay, naan bread, freshly caught fish and Zanzibar pizza very cheaply.

On our final day in Stone Town we decided to get a dala dala and head to Nungwe beach on the North of the island. After lots of searching, we found the right vehicle and were promptly ripped off. After paying 50% more than we should have (still only £1.20) our driver got himself into a fight with the driver infront for stealing all of his customers. Once the commotion had died down, we pulled out of the market, drove round the corner….and stopped. For 50 minutes. Then we drove back into the market, crammed more people into the already full bus and headed North. When we arrived in Nungwe we walked down a dirt track towards the beach, and the heavens opened! We were on Zanzibar, about to head to the beach for the first time, and it was raining torrentially. Thankfully it quickly blew over and we spent the afternoon on a beautiful beach with white sand and turquoise water. When the tide was out all of the locals came and searched in the water for various shell fish. A big group of women then formed a large circle and herded fish into a large net.

On the way home we got another dala dala. This one had to be push started, and the driver sat with his foot to the floor for the entire trip. He would hare around corners at a terrifying speed and bounce over the potholes. This was made even more scary by the fact that our vehicle (a modified open truck with seating installed) was meant for 14 people but he had managed to cram 27 people plus one chicken inside, 4 people hanging on to the back and a whole supermarkets worth of food, plus one bike, on the roof. We were pretty relieved to make it home in one piece!

Tomorrow we head to the beaches of the east coast for 11 nights.

• Stone Town