Day 31 Zanzibar

Thursday January 13^th. Packed up our tents for the last time for a few days, repacked our stuff into just a day pack, as we will leave most of our stuff on the truck on the mainland as we sail by ferry to Zanzibar.

Paul took us by the truck to the ferry dock (as the hotel forgot to order us tuk tuks). Then we boarded the ferry for the short ride back across the bay. It seemed liked disorganized chaos but Vernon got us all through the throngs and onto the ferry. When we landed we got a taxi bus to take us to the ferry terminal for the trip to Zanzibar. At the dock GAP has organized a lock up for all of our gear so we can walk around town without carrying everything.

Most of us headed to a mall in order to withdraw some money as apparently there are no ATM's on the island. We relaxed for an hour in the mall which is quite upscale (with a large casino in the basement) and a world away from huts and shacks we had seen in the country side. Sat and had a fresh mango juice before walking back to the ferry docks for the passage.

The ride across to Zanzibar was very comfortable and smooth. It was a very fast ferry. It took about two hours to cross. When we arrived the GAP rep for Zanzibar met us and brought us to our hotel, the Garden Lodge. It's a very old building that is quite quaint. We are sharing a room with Ed. However, it has no towels, internet and has dodgy electrics. Here we met a couple of the new people that are joining our tour.

Then Vernon led us all to a local restaurant that he likes called the Silk Route Fusion Restaurant. Nice place but we waited a long time for our food and my vegetable curry was supposed to have raisins and nuts in it, but didn't. John and I found the portions quite small. However it was tasty.

Then we had a couple of hours to wander around Stone Town. Vernon said the best way to explore the town was to get lost in it. So, that's what John, Ed and I did. First we sat by the harbour and had a coffee. Then we walked around for two hours taking photos of places and people. Fascinating place. We wandered through lots of alleys and found a large open air market that was very interesting. The meat section was disgusting. We got so lost that we had to take a taxi to the African Hotel for our 6:00 rendezvous with the rest of our group and the new people. We were very hot and sweaty sitting there for a few hours watching the sunset, drinking beer and connecting to the internet.

Later we all went to a club. John had a good time dancing up a storm. I felt like a fish out of water. Dancing has never been my thing. And the the 'music' was dreadful and loud, so that conversation was very difficult. Enough said. John and I wandered home about 11:00. Ed was already in bed and fast asleep.