We are up early as it is too hot in the room and spend a few hours lazing in bed. We have breakfast in the hotel and then get ready to go on the Spice Tour of Zanzibar. We first, however, pack up our bags, check out of the Karibu Inn and head over to the Tembo House, where we drop off our bags.
We leave on the spice tour shortly after 9 AM. The mini bus quickly heads out of town and into the countryside. The primary purpose of the tour is to show all the different plants and spices that they have in Zanzibar. Most of these are not native to the island, but have been introduced over the years. For us, many of these plants are not new as most of them exist in Asia, but it is still quite interesting. As I did not take notes, it is hard to list here all the spices, fruits and other plants that we saw. We even had the chance to taste some fruit. Jacqui was in heaven when they broke open some durian - she did not have many people she had to share it with (the coconut tree you see here was struck by lightning - thus the cork screw pattern).
In one of the villages, we stopped for a local lunch. They really did put on a great spread and we were stuffed. We ate on the ground, sitting on mats. It was very good.
After lunch, a few of the ladies had some of the henna painted onto various parts of their body.
After lunch we headed out for some more touring. First to some of the Persian baths that are left here and then onto the coral caves. Finally, we got to spend an hour at the beach, where we went for a swim. It was then back to town.
We went to the Tembo House Hotel, where we got our room. It was quite nice, with a small balcony and a view of the ocean. It was in the old wing and furnished with old style traditional furniture. We went for a swim in the pool and then took a shower, before heading over to the Africa House to watch the sunset.
Tonight we decide to have a nicer dinner and head over to Blues restaurant. It is right next to Forodhani Gardens, but quite different. It is built on a pier built on stilts over the beach and the sea. It has a great atmosphere and menu (and a nice cooling breeze). We have a wonderful dinner with a quite enjoyable bottle of wine.
We then wander back to the Tembo House to enjoy our hotel room - with air conditioning - for the night. It was nice and worth it.