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“The narrow pathways between the buildings make it fun to wander about and get lost, not knowing where you'll end up.” |
The flight from Dar to Zanzibar was quite exciting, being on such a little plane! I wasn't scared, honest! It only took about 20 minutes and was well worth avoiding the hassle of a ferry, plus it gave some awesome views of Zanzibar as we flew in.
Stone town itself was a bit of a disappointment at first. We were surprised that more hasn' t been made of the town. I would have thought the tourist industry would provide plenty of money to clean it up a bit. It appeared grotty and full of touts. After a couple of days though, I started to see its charm. It's a pretty relaxed place really and the touts go away as soon as you tell them you're not interested in their paintings/ t-shirts/ cashew nuts/ sunglasses or whatever else they're selling! The narrow pathways between the buildings make it fun to wander about and get lost, not knowing where you'll end up. There are plenty of nice restaurants, although not much nightlife as far as we could tell.
The hotel was gorgeous and to my delight had a Christmas tree! I was feeling a little homesick at the thought of spending Christmas away from my family, so it was great that they were playing Christmas music, had decorations up and even gave us a little wooden box wrapped up on Christmas eve!
Christmas day was very different to usual of course. Starting with a lovely buffet breakfast with a view of the Indian Ocean waves lapping on the white sand, followed by a seafood lunch at Mangapwani beach. Those who know me well may be surprised that I went for a seafood lunch on Christmas day, but I had red snapper and a little bit of lobster and I enjoyed it lots!
The sun finally came out in the afternoon after several overcast days so I lazed in the pool before our special 7-course Christmas dinner in the evening. It was of course nothing like mum's delicious home made Christmas dinner, but every bit of it was yummy!
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