As I mentioned last time, Ryan and I took a few short trips from Stone Town, the first of which was to go on a spice tour. Famous for its spices, Zanzibar is nicknamed Spice Island, and spice tours are one of the most popular activities for visitors. We drove out of Stone Town into a much more rural area, and eventually found ourselves on a large plantation, full of all different kinds of plants. We saw numerous spices growing on their plants, including turmeric, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, mint, pepper, vanilla, cocoa, and ginger. Turns out, most spices in their natural form bare no resemblance to what we would recognize. Turmeric, for example, looks like a carrot! Some of the smells were also surprising – cinnamon’s scent is extremely strong, and cocoa has no smell at all. We also got to taste several exotic fruits, including soursop, starfruit, and lychee. We also tasted cocoa, which, and I suppose this shouldn’t have been surprising given its scent, had no flavor whatsoever.
Later, we went on a dhow cruise off the coast of Stone Town and had a beautiful dinner on the beach. The boat ride was fun and relaxing, and offered great views of the coast and small nearby islands. We ended our cruise at the open-air restaurant of the Mtoni Marine Center, a hotel next to the Mtoni Palace ruins outside Stone Town. Not only were the food and atmosphere at Mtoni amazing, but, since our dinner was part of a package with the cruise, we were VIPs and the restaurant staff pretty much treated us like royalty. As our boat pulled up on the sand, the manager came out to the beach to meet us, and led us to our table – one that was out in front of the restaurant closer to the water, and had palm leaves surrounding it, holes in the sand with candles on them on each side, and flower petals strewn across it. The meal started with delicious bread served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, followed by the chef’s special appetizer, seasoned avocado served on a basil leaf. Next were the appetizers. I ordered the most amazing-sounding salad I’ve seen in Africa: “Crispy garden salad of ruccola, lettuce, sweet bell peppers, avocado, tomato, cucumber, spring onions, roasted cashew nuts, coconut chips, croutons and fresh soft herbs with a Caesar dressing, prepared at your table.” The dressing was even better than regular Caesar dressing, and the salad was fabulous. Ryan had fresh spicy prawns, which he thought were great. We could have ended dinner right there, and I would have been completely satisfied. But there was more! For the main course, I had a goat cheese tartlet – a cheese and red onion filling inside a flaky crust. It was amazing. Ryan ordered a lobster and beef combo, and said the beef was the best he’s ever had. Finally, the desserts. Ryan’s was passionfruit crème brûlée, which was delicious, and mine was a triple chocolate combo, consisting of chocolate-brandy mousse, chocolate crème, and chocolate-hazelnut ice cream. While it was far too rich and chocolate-y to come close to finishing, each one was delicious. As a final touch, a taarab group performed around a fire throughout the evening. Mtoni served without a doubt the best food I’ve eaten since leaving the U.S., and I don’t think I’ve ever been to a restaurant with a nicer atmosphere in my life. It was exquisite.
Our last trip was to Nungwi, a beach on the north side of the island, to go parasailing. It was Ryan’s second time parasailing, but my first, and I didn’t really know what to expect. I thought it felt a lot like sitting in a big swing. And it turns out parasails go much, much higher than I would have imagined, which allowed for beautiful views of the island. See here for a much more eloquent description of parasailing at Nungwi from Mambo Magazine. After we had both sailed and ridden back to the coast, we spent some time enjoying the beautiful beach at Nungwi, which had the softest, whitest sand I’ve ever seen. Paradise!
One last post, about our time at the beach, is coming!
