Spice Tour

Now we get to see the real Zanzibar. Taken out of our Ivory tower, we see how the people of Zanzibar live. It is in the main not a pretty sight. Living accommodation is poor, dirty & very small. The main roads are lined with houses, if you can call them that, just shacks really. There is barely a stretch of road that is not inhabited in some shape or form. Lots of children walk along in groups to school. They all wear uniforms; the girls wear long dresses & headscarves they look like miniature nuns. Despite what we would call poverty everyone appears to be relatively happy & well fed. There is plenty of food about and everyone makes their own work, be it selling fruit, veg or mending cars or carving wood. Groups of men sit & talk, some sleep on rough wooden benches. The children are delightful, the very small ones jump up & down smiling, waving & shouting jambo, jambo!
At the spice plantation our guide is helped by one of the local boys. He is very clever & makes us rings, necklaces, headdresses, ties, bags, has out of palm leaves & decorated with hibiscus flowers.We do have some photo's of us wearing this but quite frankly we look even more simple than we are so, no laughs for you! We are shown how & where all the spices are grown. Nutmeg, cardamom, pepper, lemon grass, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, rambutan (this is the one that the boy has smeared on his face & lips). Also lemons, grapefruits, coffee trees and vanilla vines. We then get to taste a variety of the fruits on the island. Small children stand and peer at us shyly. I ask if I may take a photo and then give them some of the pens I have brought. Penna, penna shouts a cheeky one as he snatches it out of my hand and then gives me a big smile.