Post by Aly on Apr 12, 2006 8:26:32 GMT -5
1. The secret to a sucessful trip to Zanzibar is to stay in a hotel with a pool. This may seem crazy, and you probably sit there and go "dude... why would you swim in a pool when you're on an island" but seriously, in Stone Town, the sewage pipes all lead to... oh can you geuss where without me telling you? I bet you can!
2. Go on a spice tour but do not buy any spices there. Don't even think about buying spices from the tourist places ever. Place to go? THE ZANZIBAR BAZAAR of course. You want to go to the Market or Sokoni where the locals get their spices. Biggest packages, better recipes, fresher spices, cheaper prices. about 1/5th the price.
3. Want to swin in the Indian Ocean? You are going to want to get out of stone town then. Go to the Slave Caves about 15 kilometers away and once you're done that, walk down the slope a little ways until you find the cove where you have your own private protected beach. A little rocky but insanely scenic with clean blue water and huge coral formations surrounding a white sand beach. Bring a lunch.
4. Don't tell the tourists but the Maasai in Stone Town aren't real Maasai.
5. African Dance at the fort may sound cool, but its over priced and the dancers don't get money except the addition at you give them.
6. Want a really cheap dinner (less than 2$)? Go to Forodhani by the beach (haha, get it, its an island, everything is by the beach). At Forodhani (near the Palace of Wonders you can find everything from fresh fish kebabs to Zanzibar pizza. Just make sure they cook it, or recook it in front of you as you don;t want the kinds of illnesses they have here.
7. When you were walking through the streets why did you think that Zanzibar made Indian-style clothing on Zanzibar? Wasn't that a little dumb of you since you know that way back when all they wore where really long shirts with belts? Not necessarily as Zanzibar as a very large indian population as a result of hundreds of years of trade. Every clothing store that sells batiks, scarves, silk patterns, cotton clothes, etc, while the fibers were not made on Zanzibar as it has no fiberous plants of its own, were all partially manufactured here from weaving to sewing, dyeing and stiching. Oh an good fundraiser idea, buy 100 scarves at $1.25 each and fund your trip to Z-Bar by selling them for 10$ when you get back.
8. Night life in Zanzibar if fun, which isn't at all a secret. the secret is that the new Happy Club 2000 is actually not so much a club as... a place to buy hard drugs and machine guns!
9. Did anyone else know Tanzania was a communist state? huh. Now i've been to two of them. I mean, what else do you cann a country wehre the Russians built their housing, in a once party "democracy" where the governement decides what you do with the land you purchase.
10. Fennel seed is not grown on Zanzibar and Cardamon that is from Z-Bar is green, if its from Dar its beige.
Thats all i have for you today. Tomorrow I will be going to Chumbe Island to sit in the sun and swim and see dolphins and whale sharks and be happy on my last day before ISP.
Take care of yourselves, and don;t tell the tourists what i just told you, they'll stop paying so much for spices.
-Aly-
2. Go on a spice tour but do not buy any spices there. Don't even think about buying spices from the tourist places ever. Place to go? THE ZANZIBAR BAZAAR of course. You want to go to the Market or Sokoni where the locals get their spices. Biggest packages, better recipes, fresher spices, cheaper prices. about 1/5th the price.
3. Want to swin in the Indian Ocean? You are going to want to get out of stone town then. Go to the Slave Caves about 15 kilometers away and once you're done that, walk down the slope a little ways until you find the cove where you have your own private protected beach. A little rocky but insanely scenic with clean blue water and huge coral formations surrounding a white sand beach. Bring a lunch.
4. Don't tell the tourists but the Maasai in Stone Town aren't real Maasai.
5. African Dance at the fort may sound cool, but its over priced and the dancers don't get money except the addition at you give them.
6. Want a really cheap dinner (less than 2$)? Go to Forodhani by the beach (haha, get it, its an island, everything is by the beach). At Forodhani (near the Palace of Wonders you can find everything from fresh fish kebabs to Zanzibar pizza. Just make sure they cook it, or recook it in front of you as you don;t want the kinds of illnesses they have here.
7. When you were walking through the streets why did you think that Zanzibar made Indian-style clothing on Zanzibar? Wasn't that a little dumb of you since you know that way back when all they wore where really long shirts with belts? Not necessarily as Zanzibar as a very large indian population as a result of hundreds of years of trade. Every clothing store that sells batiks, scarves, silk patterns, cotton clothes, etc, while the fibers were not made on Zanzibar as it has no fiberous plants of its own, were all partially manufactured here from weaving to sewing, dyeing and stiching. Oh an good fundraiser idea, buy 100 scarves at $1.25 each and fund your trip to Z-Bar by selling them for 10$ when you get back.
8. Night life in Zanzibar if fun, which isn't at all a secret. the secret is that the new Happy Club 2000 is actually not so much a club as... a place to buy hard drugs and machine guns!
9. Did anyone else know Tanzania was a communist state? huh. Now i've been to two of them. I mean, what else do you cann a country wehre the Russians built their housing, in a once party "democracy" where the governement decides what you do with the land you purchase.
10. Fennel seed is not grown on Zanzibar and Cardamon that is from Z-Bar is green, if its from Dar its beige.
Thats all i have for you today. Tomorrow I will be going to Chumbe Island to sit in the sun and swim and see dolphins and whale sharks and be happy on my last day before ISP.
Take care of yourselves, and don;t tell the tourists what i just told you, they'll stop paying so much for spices.
-Aly-
