Zanzibar the Door Katie!

............Ahhhh, Zanzibar. The most amazing place on earth. . . . . so far. Well my trip started out with an hour and a half flight from Nairobi, Kenya straight onto the Island. We (Matt and I) made our way to the hotel where we were staying in Stone Town and struck out to find FOOD! We ate at Mercury's the first night. Side note, Freddy Mercury the lead singer of queen was born in Zanzibar, so there's tons of Mercury's this and Mercury's that. We spent a couple days in stone town looking around in the market and checking out the local scene there. After that, we took a shared taxi up to Nungwi where we spent the rest of our trip. Nungwi is at the northern tip of the island. Our room, at Union Beach, was only feet from where the Indian Ocean washes up on shore. It was a perfect spot to do some relaxing. We met several different people (mainly Europeans) who were traveling and had come to Zanzibar. Many divers go there to dive in the Indian Ocean. The little bungalo we stayed in is partly owned and operated by Dumi. Dumi is one of the coolest guys I've ever met. Everyone in Zanzibar is so layed back, they realize they live in paradise. So each night Dumi and his crew would set up the dinner tables right on the beach and we would have grilled seafood that was usually caught the same day. I tore it up! Crab, lobster, red snapper, white snapper, dorado, and the best calamari you've ever had!
Tanzania is predominantly Muslim, and we happened to plan our little vacation right in the middle of Ramadan. We weren't affected by it that much though, being in the tourist section everything carries on as normal. Ramadan is a holiday celebrated every year, and it lasts for a month. The practicing Muslims fast all day up until 6:30 pm. No food or water, they can work their job, but can't have any leisure activities. So in some parts of the market you would have to respect the tradition and not eat or drink in public, but on the beach everything stays open and you are free to do what you want.
Before we went up to Nungwi we met Nancy, who joined us on our way up and tagged along with us for a few days before she headed back to the mainland. She was from the U.S. and was taking three months to travel through out Africa. Among many Europeans, we also met Ollie who was there to dive the Indian Ocean. He also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro which is a huge feat. While at Kilimanjaro he had an opportunity to volunteer at an orphanage and told us many stories about that.
Our last two days there, we met Latel who is from Israel. She was about our age and had come to Zanzibar for two weeks of vacation. We met her while on a snorkeling trip. There are many smaller Islands around the main island, and we were able to go snorkel on the reef of one of those Islands. It was my first time, but quite an experience. All the different colors of fish blew my mind. And then being able to swim in with a whole school of fish, and they just swim right along side of you like you belong in the pack. It was awesome. When we finished snorkeling, the guides took us to the beach where they had prepared lunch, fresh fish, fruits, and bread. I highly recommend you go snorkeling the next time you're off the coast of Tanzania. If things go as planned, I'll be going back in November. I know there's tons of places to see in Africa, but whatever, I'm going back. Not that much about Zanzibar is bad.
Speaking of which, the one thing that will drive you crazy is the hagglers! People come up to you on the beach, in restaurants, on the street, everywhere, asking you to buy this or look at this. It's usually hand made jewelry or wood carvings, the stuff that you normally buy when you visit a place like Zanzibar, but it gets annoying constantly having to tell people, "No, I don't want anything, I'm ok." Even when you're in the market it's the same, and you have to haggle on prices for everything! That's really the only thing that's bad about being there though. I mean every night you see a beautiful sunset, eat great food, and it's all really cheap.
For example, you can get an hour long professional massage for about $10. I did take advantage of that a few times. . . . . . ok everyday, and even two some days, it was amazing. I've never been somewhere that I could get up, have breakfast, walk on the beach, get a massage, take a nap, have lunch, go swimming, get another massage, freshen up, have dinner and then chill with Dumi for hours and just talk, all for around $60 a day including what it cost for the room each night. So yes, Zanzibar was ok. I'm not trying to make you all jealous or anything. . . . . . but you should be.