Dertingers In Africa 2012: Show Us To The Beach

To The Beach – YES!

March 1

We were first awake, so we went for a morning walk through Stone Town and the Harbour Front. It was fun waking up with the rest of the town. The alleys are narrow; actually wide enough for one scooter to get through at a time. Walking comes with the constant hum of beep beep beep and the ring ring ring of the little bells on bikes. Best move out of the way because the other option is to get run over. We past by a high school in the middle of morning exercises and when all the students turned and looked at us in the doorway, looking at them, we decided that maybe we were a bit of a distraction and left. We arrived back at Safari Lodge and ate breakfast on the roof top (included in our night stay).

Our taxi van picked us up for our morning adventure; visit to the Slave Market and a Spice Tour. Our guide, Ali was a funny guy who enjoyed experimenting with different accents; British and American and he had many of the idioms we use down to a fine art. At the Slave Market, a guide took us down to the dungeon where the slaves were brought and held before auction. Hearing the tales of these times (late 19^th century) was staggering.

We continued on our drive to a spice plantation where we walked and walked, stopping at various plants to taste or smell or see different parts of the plant sliced, revealing the fruit or dye or spice inside. At the end of the tour we received gifts woven from pineapple leaves. The girls have a crown and necklace with a frog pennant. The boys have a tie and hat. Ed had the bonus of sunglasses made from a pineapple leaf. Classy guy!!! We were now dressed for the occasion of our local lunch, a traditional African meal. It appeared that we were guests in someone's home, a mud hut where we removed our shoes and sat on a mat in circle formation. The food was placed in the middle and we all helped ourselves. It was delicious!!!

Next was the one hour ride to the beach; Sunset Chalets. When we arrived we were shocked and thrilled to walk into our room overlooking the beach. This time we have a bed with a 12 inch mattress, a fan, air conditioning, a balcony and our own washroom. What a treat; here for three nights!