Our driver drove us to a small private farm (opposed to a government farm) and a guide named Mr. Daddy met us. We simply walked around the "farm" (again, using the term farm loosely) and Mr. Daddy pointed out different spices. It was amazing that all the spices grew in the same area with no organization (i.e., no rows of plants). We continued to walk around the farm while he randomly stopped and had us smell and sometimes taste different plants.
We saw black pepper trees, cloves, vanilla (which are actually vines), cinnamon (we learned that cinnamon sticks are actually strips of the cinnamon tree's bark and that the root of the cinnamon tree is used to make Vick's Vapor Rub -- it smelled exactly like it!), cardamom, turmeric, ginger, jack fruit, star fruit, mangoes, Zanzibar apples, lemongrass, coffee, and nutmeg.
At the end of the tour one of the boys climbed a tall coconut tree and picked a young and old coconut. We got to taste the juice and the meat, and found the young coconut to be more enjoyable. The local children that were following us made us hats, a watch, a tie, a purse, two rings, and a necklace all from palm leaves.
After saying goodbye to Mr. Daddy we hopped back into the car and headed to Stone Town, which is part of Zanzibar Town, the capital of Zanzibar. Stone Town is located on the southwest coast of the island. It was a happening place full of small alleyways of stone buildings that used to be white. It was fun to wander around and really easy to get lost. We saw the beautiful doors that Stone Town is known for and went into the House of Wonders Museum, which was very eclectic. We entered an old fort and saw a catholic church that is built on an old slave market.
Similar to the mainland, Obama was very popular here in Zanzibar. We even passed a truck that had an Obama bummer sticker on it. All in all it was a cool way to spend the day!
It's Ramadan, and 97% of Zanzibarians are Muslim, so we had to dress conservatively and not eat or drink in public. Everyone is fasting from sun up to sun down, so it would be offensive to eat or drink in front of them. At the same time, we were obviously tourists, so people understand that we are likely not Muslim. We did find a little hidden bar and had a Coke and orange Fanta in returnable glass bottles. Alcohol is a little harder to find here.
We rode back to Matemwe and hung out on the beach watching sand crabs and the local kids play in the tide pools until it was time to shower for dinner. We enjoyed another meal (fish and lamb) and strolled back to our place on the beach looking at the incredible array of stars. We noticed the lack of planes or helicopters in Africa. In the US I can look outside and spot a plane flying by within a couple of minutes.
