Zanzibar, Paradise with Bitter Chai

Before arriving in Tanzania I could not tell you a single thing about Zanizbar, only that I had heard it in passing or as lyrics of a song. In

Tanzania, however, you cannot pass a group of travelers without meeting at least one person who has just come from, or is on their way to Zanzibar. It is as close to paradise as one can get. Zanzibar is a relativity untouched island built upon white coral--resulting in a sand so white that it resembles thick cream.

While Tanzania has enjoyed some amount of modernization, Zanzibar, for better or for worse, has remained simple and blissfully primitive. One could walk for miles along the ever reaching sand bars without a site of civilization. Even the hotels are laced with palm leaves and enforced with cheap white plaster which helps you indulge just a little more into an the island paradise.

But forget the beautiful beaches, for Ryan, Zanzibar's notorious

deep sea was the only item of interest. So via email, while roaming the Serengetti, Ryan designed his stay in Zanzibar to consist of nothing but deep sea and spear fishing. While most couples would welcome the alone time with a day lounging on the beach, almost immediately after setting our bags down Mina and I quickly set out down the beach in search of a dive shop. Fortuitously, we came across Spanish Dancer Divers--a stones throw from our hotel, the Amaan Bungalows.

There is nothing I like more that fresh tar in the morning with my coffee, which is the smell we were welcomed with when we arrived the morning of our dive. Apparently, to repair the holes in the wooden diving boats the crew re-tars them each morning with a hot fire burning underneath the boat. Another first in Africa. Despite being small, rickity and taking on more water than the Titanic, our boat served its purpose and got us to a small coral island off the eastern shore of Zanzibar called Mnemba. The diving was more than I had expected. While we did not descend more than 50 feet, the variety and quantity of fish was unprecedented. It was as though I was taking a bird's eye view into an underwater New York metropolitan.

After a day of incredible diving we arrived back to the beach which was now under water from the rising tide. Swimming back to the steps of our hotel's beach entrance we saw the local fisherman setting sail in their small wooden boats.

As we sat on our hotel's beach front balcony sipping on Tanzanian beer and a local Gin and Honey drink, Ryan arrived looking quite proud of himself--and rightfully so. Over the course of a two hour fight he had bagged himself a metal worthy Wahoo and had arranged for a local ocean-side restaurant to prepare a three course Wahoo feast including carpaccio and jaw dropping steaks. It was the greatest meal of our entire trip.

It is hard to avoid seafood in Zanzibar as we first discovered two days earlier in Stone Town. Stone Town is the "Capital" of Zanzibar and the launching point for the rest of the island. It is a hogpoge of crumbling Portugueseese and Persian buildings, maze-like allys and endless street markets. The most famous market is the tourist fish market. Here visitors to Stone Town meet local fisherman who have laid out hoards of fish and crustacions which is haggled for, cooked to order, and served on paper plates for a unique waterside experience infront of the iconic decaying Portuguese fort. Truthfully, with BBQed lobster tails at $0.50 a pop, I could have been in Fresno during August and still been happy.

Our waterside feast of Wahoo was followed by our most disenchanting experience of the whole trip--Mina's purse was stolen from right underneath us. What made the event more odd was the Masai warrior five feet from our table whose sole purpose was to fend against theft. Perhaps those ten Elephant beers he consumed had impared his abilities as a crime fighter.

Theft and muggings run rampant on this poverty stricken slice of paradise. Formerly part of the communists Tanzania, Zanzibar is riffled with municipal corruption which manifests in the form of bribes, or as they say in Zanzibar, CHAI. For any of my fellow Mexico travelers, bribes should not be novel concept, but when state officials bleed their own citizens dry and leave tourists alone a slight bit of resentment can accumulate and one may feel entitled to wealthy tourist's belongings.

To all Tanzanian bound travelers, I highly recommend resting your feet in the forgetful waters of Zanzibar after a week or two of roughing it on safari. Keep in mind what lies below the surface and you can appreciate the sweat of Zanzibar.