Welcome to Zanzibar! We spent a wonderful (hot, but wonderful!) four days in this beautiful part of Tanzania. But, we also learned quickly that in Zanzibar, things aren't always what they appear.
On our first evening, Andrew introduced us to dinner at the fish market - just stroll among the vendors and pick out your supper - ahh! But oh, the evening turned out to be so much more!
Here, Andrew and I are approaching what will be our final choice...and...
Ali introduced himself to us as the island fisherman who, along with his son, earlier that day had gone out in their boat and brought in the incredible assortment of seafood displayed on the tables before us. We made our selections; Ali told his crew to begin grilling and directed us to take a seat at one of the tables over by the waterfront and to order drinks (the owner of the drink stand made sure we understood those drinks were not included with the dinner we had just paid for). ;)
After delivering our dinners to us himself, Ali sat down with us and asked what our plans were for the following day, mentioning one of the area spice plantations, popular stops in Zanzibar. Ali's English was excellent, and Andrew told him that we were planning to visit one through a contact our hotel owner had. "Ahh," said Ali, smiling, as he opened his cell phone and scrolled through numbers. We could have guessed what was coming next -- yes, Ali had another contact for a spice plantation and named a price. When we told him that the hotel owner's price was cheaper, suddenly Ali had a new price for us and included taxi service to and from the hotel and lunch after the plantation tour - Ali was great! By the end of the evening, he and Andrew had traded cell phone numbers - for this trip and for Andrew's future visits. You know, it just now dawned on me that I never did look over to see who took over Ali's fish stand that night...
After delivering our dinners to us himself, Ali sat down with us and asked what our plans were for the following day, mentioning one of the area spice plantations, popular stops in Zanzibar. Ali's English was excellent, and Andrew told him that we were planning to visit one through a contact our hotel owner had. "Ahh," said Ali, smiling, as he opened his cell phone and scrolled through numbers. We could have guessed what was coming next -- yes, Ali had another contact for a spice plantation and named a price. When we told him that the hotel owner's price was cheaper, suddenly Ali had a new price for us and included taxi service to and from the hotel and lunch after the plantation tour - Ali was great! By the end of the evening, he and Andrew had traded cell phone numbers - for this trip and for Andrew's future visits. You know, it just now dawned on me that I never did look over to see who took over Ali's fish stand that night...
A simple island fisherman? Another lesson in Zanzibar's appearances can be deceiving.
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2 comments:
Sounds like great fun. I've got your
email...it's just a bit hectic tight now
Can't wait to hear about the spice plantations! Sounds heavenly.
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