My Take on Zanzibar...

Hey Everyone...
So we are back from the weekend in Zanzibar...a veritable buffet of sights sounds and smells...some pleasant, some I could have happily avoided....The island itself is just a short boat ride from the mainland and the first thing that hits you as you cruise up to the dock is just how blue the water is...inviting to say the least..the second is as you step out from the air conditioned cabin is the realisation that you are in Africa...and it's hotter than the hinges of hell here...your senses are assaulted with all kinds of foreign smells, exaggerated by the heat and congestion...The best bet...go with it...and follow the tide of people streaming off the boat.

Our first stop is a restaurant just past customs, beef and rice in a kind of Marsala sauce, Team 1, Africa 0....very tasty...very cheap, extremely worthwhile...
On the way to paradise beach (about and hour and half drive from the dock) we pass through many small villages which closely resemble those on the mainland...mud and brick houses, straw and corrugated iron roofing, bananas, plantain, mango and coconuts being sold on the side of the road..roads that are more potholes than asphalt...and the normal assortment of organised chaos that we have come to expect from Tanzi...
The Paradise beach itself is amazing....photos cannot do this place justice...although it has to be said the excitement i felt to arrive on the beach and on a small vacation is tempered by the fact that so close by we see much poverty and hardship...such stark contrast serve to remind how privileged I am...
My stay at paradise consisted of laying in the sun, cooling off in the water, laying some more in the sun...bonfires and music at night...and more swimming whenever the heat got too oppressive, or the water became too irresistible...
Saturday night was spent in the market in stonetown (back to the main part of the island) and the highlight was most certainly the fish market...an incredible array of the fruits of the sea..all laid out to see, salesmen hustling for our business...and I must admit I went to town here...delighting in trying skewers of Tuna, Marlin, Snapper, Lobster and more...I had Chapattis, Zanzibar Pizza (nothing like any pizza i have had but great none the less), bananas and chips, and washed it down with cold soda....
Its quite a popular tourist spot but one still has to be careful...the salesmen (who are hawking everything from genuine $5 Gucci sunglasses, to paintings, to carvings, to jewelry...) are very pushy and persistent....and on two occasions i was offered money to fight someone...i am not sure how serious they were.....but (before my mother has kittens about reading this) i really didn't feel unsafe there...everything has to be taken with a grain of salt, and as we frequently say here "T.I.A" (This is Africa)...
Sunday we put on our tourist hats and did the shopped and did the old slave market....the slaves here were subjected to all manner of abuse and humiliation, and although everyone appreciated learning about this piece of history, it was hard not to be saddened to see and hear their story.
The rest of the time was spent haggling at the local shops (for those reading who have not haggled for anything, it is so much fun...the tricks of the trade to get the best price include a good poker face, a little gaul, and a sympathetic ear good...we walked away with a bounty of clothing and cloth, books and bracelets, carvings and cards...
The ride back to Dar on the boat was a bit bumpy, but short enough to be bearable....and the last adventure involved the drive home, where we turned a one lane road into a four lane highway, up on the shoulder, dodging motorist and pedestrians, stopping for the presidents motorcade, and just laughing heartily at the general lunacy on display behind the wheels of the motor vehicles here...once again T.I.A...