It was difficult to leave the beautiful views from the Irente Campground the following morning, but we had folks to see in Dar Es Salaam and a boat to catch to Zanzibar. The drive into Dar was an experience we had not had in quite a while - we were stuck in rush hour traffic!! Kinda strange after a year without it.
We meet up with our hiking buddies Cathy and Matthew from our Mt. Meru hike in Dar Es Salaam and had a wonderful time exploring Dar, which is a very modern city with all the amenities of a western city.
We then took the ferry to the island of Zanzibar to spend 4 days in Stone Town and a beach to the North called Kendwa. We began by taking a spice tour just outside of town. I thought it was going to be such a ridiculous tourist thing to do, but I really enjoyed the tour through the farms and learning about all the history of the spice industry in Zanzibar. Stone Town is an interesting town to explore as there are many small and narrow cobblestone streets to get lost in.
Ferry ride from Dar to Stone Town.
More dhows were to be found in Zanzibar.
Our first dinner in Zanzibar was at the central market in Stone Town - the fish kabobs were delicious!
Sunset over the Indian Ocean.
We found this great old hotel with lots of Zanzibar character and of course the mosquito netting over the beds. The hotel also included breakfast on the roof top patio.
Scenes from Stone Town.
After a day in Stone Town we made our way up to Kendwa to enjoy the beautiful Zanzibar beaches. Our home in Kendwa was a great place called Kendwa Rocks. It is located on a nice quite beach and not too crowded.
I took my second open sea dive off of Zanzibar in the beautiful dive spot at the Mnemba Atoll.
So our trip in Tanzania came to an end with Zanzibar. I can not believe how much 'road' we covered and all the places we saw in this fantastic country. On our drive back to Malawi we drove back through the park and saw MANY giraffes along the roadside. It was a great way to end our trip and say farewell to Tanzania. This was an amazing 6 week road trip!!
Changing money at the border was not a problem, as you can see there were many money changing services to choose from!
