Travelogue Tanzania 2009
Programme Day 12 – Zanzibar

In the morning we do a spice tour that we already booked through our German agency, really not to be missed. We get picked up by the same guide who showed us Stone Town the day before and again he proved to be an excellent guide explaining us a lot about all the different plants. It was really great! But be aware where to book! We heard that you might end up with a bad guide in a boring plantation where only a view plants are grown. Here is a small selection of the plants we have seen and often tasted, too.

Zanzibar - a rubber tree with a hanging vessel to collect the sap
rubber
Zanzibar - green vanilla pods
vanilla
Zanzibar - flowers and fruits of the anatto shrub
This plant …
Zanzibar - broken fruit of the annatto bush with the red powder it contains
… is used for dyeing cloth.
Zanzibar - ginger plant
ginger
Zanzibar - Papayas on a tree
papaya
Zanzibar - green rambutan
rambutan
Zanzibar - a maracuja or passions fruit cut in half
maracuja or passions fruit
Zanzibar - three green round fruits on a tree
And some fruits that I don’t know.
Zanzibar - A tree with leaves green on the top and brown on the underside.
This tree …
Zanzibar - A tree with leaves green on the top and brown on the underside.
… has two-colored leaves
Zanzibar - Two hands hold a small panicle of red and green pepper berries.
pepper
Zanzibar - mangostane
mangostane
Zanzibar - flowers of the annatto bush
These are – I think – again flowers of the annatto bush.
Zanzibar - A young man has peeled a coconut with a knife far enough for water to be drunk.
In addition to our guide this young man followed as and made sure we felt fine, e.g. by preparing coco nuts for us.
Zanzibar - unripe nutmeg
unripe nutmeg

And of course we got the chance to by some spices at the end of the tour. No idea if it would have been better to by at the market in Stone Town …

We spent the afternoon close to our hotel.

Zanzibar - picture of the beach at low tide - taken from the water
low tide

The evening brought another highlight for me: The owner of the hotel was standing on the terrace and caught calamari.

Zanzibar - Volker with a calamar on the fishing line
… and I was allowed to try it myself, too. Success! My first calamar!
Zanzibar - Volker casts the bait to catch calamars.
throwing the bait

Fascinating to watch the calamari close up on the bait from behind and grab it. The realize immediately that something is wrong but the ejection of their ink does not help them anymore. One has to be careful, because the often shoot again when they are lifted out of the water or when the hook is released otherwise you might end up with some severe stains on your cloths.

Zanzibar - a colorful calamar in a white bucket
beautiful … and tasty

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