Paradise on Earth

Zanzibar is gorgeous. White sands and ethereal out-of-this-world turquoise waters right at the equator. It truly doesn't get any better than this. I spent three sun-soaked days on the beach, split between the North and East Coasts.

Each coast has a different personality. The East is quiet and serene. You can look all the way down the beach to the right, and to the left, and see not a single person. The waters come and go with the tide, but when it's high tide, it's breathtakingly beautiful, as the ocean fades from bright green to turquoise in the horizon. It's so deserted that when we ordered from the hostel, we would have to order two hours ahead of time from the daftari (notebook) menu. After we placed our order, if for example we ordered fish, they would go out and get the fish from the ocean or the pasta from the local duka. Everything was so fresh and delicious. The North, on the other hand, is marked as the prime tourist destination on the island. It's the more popular choice because you can swim at all times of the day (for some reason, it's not affected by tides), there are more options for excursions (we went fishing on a dhow boat - a shortlived trip that was unsuccessful but nonetheless very fun) and by the fact that it's more crowded, it's a round the clock party. The beach front bar, Cholo's, has theme nights where they blast music into the wee hours of the night - while we were there, they had Rock night, followed by Funk night (complete with jazz flute!). The hammocks and dugout canoes provide ample seating to watch the stars, lean back and listen to the music. I don't think I've ever seen so many Europeans in the same place, save for, maybe, Europe.

But now it's time to go home. We are currently in Stonetown, a town that is completely made of stone buildings (go figure). It has its own charm, and reminds me a lot of the south of Spain, with its narrow alleyways that seem to go on for forever. Tonight we are eating at the Forodhani Gardens - an open air market that has different stands that serve up specialities such as Zanzibar pizza, tuna, shark, red snapper, lobster and sugar cane juice with ginger and lemon. Can't wait! Then tomorrow at 4am we head to the airport and fly out to Nairobi, and catch our connecting flight to London. Then home!! Can't wait!! :)