A Zanzibar Sojourn

[Bonecollector]

Great trip and thread Dr, what an amazing place! Freddy was an absolute legend.

[Bonecollector]

exactly two months before my father.

Just two months before or two months before and in Farrokh Bulsara...?

[DrWilly]

Try again on those polo club pics

[DrWilly]

Then and now photos



And now.



Not a lot has changed.

walk along the beach.



Some Arabic coffee, flavoured with cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves.



But now it’s the afternoon and hot, a pina colada is more refreshing. And yes, Rubbajonny, it’s alcoholic.



It’s at a little Japanese restaurant, upstairs in a side alley.




That served acceptable sushi.

[DrWilly]

The views North and South from the restaurant overlooking Main Street.

[david44]

Why so few people, too hot, siesta time or a bit away from the downtown?,

I've only been in Arab N Africa and people bikes everywhere like ASEAN

[BLD]

Top thread willy. I've watched a couple of utubes on Zanzibar one was pretty.informative by the Danish bloke Harold balder.

[DrWilly]

Why so few people, too hot, siesta time or a bit away from the downtown?,

I've only been in Arab N Africa and people bikes everywhere like ASEAN

Partly siesta time (it’s busy around 7:00am and 5:00pm, but not so much midday), partly hot, and partly I try not to take photos of people.

Here, everybody walks!

[Topper]

Incredible thread Willy!!!!!!! I wanna visit now as well.

[DrWilly]

Late afternoon once the sting was out of the sun we took off exploring again. Dodging the arses trying to sell us tours on ‘their boats’, avoid entering gem shops - one of which claims to be a gem museum. “Free entry mister!” But I notice the exit is a regular shop and the door is locked… and one persistent fellow that keeps following people to try and sell packets of spices similar to the picture below. Am I going to cook up a curry in my bloody hotel room using the hot water kettle?



I’m not sure what this building is called but the main road goes through it.





Our destinations for this evening were the Night Market and Old Fortress…

[DrWilly]

Wiki tells me that “It was built between 1698 and 1701 by the Busaidi group of Omani Arabs, who had gained control of Zanzibar in 1698, following almost two centuries of Portuguese occupation. The fort was used as a defence against the Portuguese and against a rival Omani group, the Mazrui, who occupied Mombasa at that time.”

The fort was not particularly large, maybe 200metres x 200metres and full of touts, kids playing football, and vendors selling crap. It was run down and obviously not looked after, nor was there any entry fee or any kind of order.

[DrWilly]

To be honest the night market in the Forodhani was only setting up when we got there circa 5:30pm and looked like a collection of kebabs, sharmas, and grilled satay. It looked busy enough and a load of locals were out chatting and boys jumping off the wall into the water and swimming and so on.



To pass the time we decided on sunset drinks and sat down at a restaurant built over the water called the Cape Town Seafood Market which was a little confusing as we weren’t in Cape Town. Cape Town Fish Market Zanzibar





A Moscow mule or two…And then a few snacks as well…



The sunset was spectacular


Finally we ordered some lobster thermidor and decided we didn’t need to go to the market for a kebab.


And a cat man feeding his 27 cats.

[Joe 90]

Nice food and sunset pics.

There's always a Polo club in African countries, great for food and socialising.

Did you not fancy a dip in the sea yourself and how much was the lobster?

What

[Joe 90]

Am I going to cook up a curry in my bloody hotel room using the hot water kettle?

Green owed if you do and post a pic.

[Edmond]

Lovely.

a load of locals were out chatting and boys jumping off the wall into the water and swimming and so on.

They have nothing, and everything, at the same time.


#deep

[DrWilly]

There's always a Polo club in African countries, great for food and socialising.

Did you not fancy a dip in the sea yourself and how much was the lobster?

What

There is a polo club in Tanzania, but not in Zanzibar. So I won’t find out if it’s good for socializing anytime soon. The port was just up the road from this spot so the sea did not look much good for swimming. I’ll leave it to the locals, whose stomachs are probably used to the bugs in the water here. We’ll be visiting the beaches north of the island where the water is good for swimming.

lobster has about 70,000 shillings.

Green owed if you do and post a pic.

Yeah, not gonna happen. Some chancer has probably boiled their socks in that kettle to save money on housekeeping and laundry.

[cyrille]

There's always a Polo club in African countries

The voice of experience.

[BLD]

The voice of experience.

Livingstone I presume

[DrWilly]

Late afternoon, relaxing by the waters edge. Had a big day, will update the thread soon but right now I’m busier than a Korat based geologist with itchy balls.

[cyrille]

Looks like more fizzy filth though.

[DrWilly]

It’s not IPA but at 31° outside it hits the spot!

[DrWilly]

Another fabulous sunset, this time from a rooftop restaurant.

[DrWilly]

Coconut crab soup. Taarab Restaurant Taarab Restaurant - Google Search

Was very good.

[helge]

Any/many mosquitos out there in the Indian Ocean ?

[DrWilly]

Any/many mosquitos out there in the Indian Ocean ?

Very very few. Maybe it’s the seabreeze.