Adventures of Beth and Dan: Zanzibar Snorkle: “Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me as is ever so on the road”, Jack Kerouac

November 12 we are now a month into this great adventure which brings with it new emotions and experiences everyday. The days are rushing by. I haven’t read one book I brought yet and my friend Betsy says her Kindle hasn’t been accessed for book reading either!!!! This is a tender port. Our tour is another third party tour and we pay cash at the time of the tour. We spend the night here on the boat. The temperature is warm. We are going to Nosy Tanikely, a small uninhabited island with tranquil coral beaches, a marine sanctuary, and magnificent clear waters for snorkeled or so they tell us. We were to spend 2 - 2.5 hours here. Then we were to travel to Nosy Komba, nicknamed the “island of Lemurs”. Nosy Komba is a much larger volcanic island that features small beaches caressed by emerald colored water with a variety of flora and fauna. They call it a jewel of nature. We had a lunch here of fish, rice, vegetables, rice and meat. Lemurs live in mixed groups led by females. Females are red and brown where males are black. They live in trees in the forest and their agility allows them to jump very far from branch to branch and cling very high. We paid $75 Euros to Safari BaleineTours.

Some history and information about Zanzibar: it’s an archipelago in the Indian Ocean also called the Spuce Islands. There are four major islands of which 800,000 live on Zanzibar. Tourism provides 1/4 of their income. You can find Red Monkeys here in certain areas. There are lots of beaches and beautiful resorts. Major influences here have been the French, English, Persians and Indians. Historic Stone town is an area with pedestrian traffic only. This port is a tender port which is always a challenge especially for the many people with walkers, canes and scooters and it slows things down but oh well. The western side of this island displays beautiful sunsets. There is a dark side to this area due to slave trade but many abolitionists like David Livingston lived here. If you go to Dtone Town know that it is a maze of foot paths and a tangle of streets. There are small balconies with ornately carved doors.

Shopping is a big thing here and there is a loud market on Creek St where you can find baskets, carvings, silver, spice, and spice infused products. The Anglican Cathedral built in 1874 marked the official end to slavery in the location where slaves were sold. When we are here the Peoples Palace Museum was temporarily closed. The Freddy Mercury Museum is here. His original house is here. Of course he is the famous rock star who joined Queen for 20 years but died early. The old fort which is one of the oldest built by the Portuguese in the 17th century became a train station in the early 1900’s but is now an amphitheater with local festivals.

The Darajani Market is a place where you can find everything but avoid going in the morning when it is very hectic. There is an old dispensary built in the 18th century on the waterfront. The House of Wonders was closed also. The currency here is the Tanzanian shilling . We snorkel here.