Tag Archives: Spice Tour

Stone Town, Zanzibar

zanzibar Sunset

We made it to Stone Town in Zanzibar and to our hotel.  Though it is an island, Stone Town has the least island vibe Seth or I have ever been to.  It feels like a busy, dirty city.  Though our hotel was pretty, they caused us more problems than it was worth.  When we did our laundry they burnt a hole in my shirt, they charged us more for our second night without notifying us, and they didn’t follow through with helping us out with a transfer to the north of the island.  Zenji Hotel in Stone Town sucks.  Don’t give them your money.

The spice tour was nice.  We roamed through a plantation and were able to smell and taste a variety of local spices such as lemon grass and cinnamon, but the spice Zanzibar is known for is clove.  The clove flower had a very sweet, spicy smell.  

Zanzibar Tumeric

Zanzibar Lipstick Plant

We then made our way to the north of the island.  As I mentioned before, the hotel guy did not follow through with getting us a good price on a ride to compensate for the damaged shirt.  40 dollars is way too much for the ride.  After being swindled a few times trying to find a ride, we finally managed to get a ride to the north for a reasonable price.

But, apparently there are two hotels with very similar names.  We were taken to the Baraka Beach Bungalows while we needed to go to the Baraka Aquarium Bungalows.  Hmm… So we had a delicious lunch of lobster coconut curry before heading to our actual hotel.  The place is fine, but it wasn’t quite as nice as the hotel we were initially dropped off at.  But the Aquarium Bungalows will do.  And it was clean and did have hot water, so… How can I complain.  Once we made our way down the beach I felt better.  This is my first white sand beach.  It’s quite beautiful.  The fine white sand  makes the water glow a bright turquoise.  It’s really quite lovely.

Zanzibar Flats