Another trip on offer was a Spice Farm visit, which I did. Oh my goodness, I am so ignorant to smells and tastes and I promise I will try harder when I get home and not just eat beige food ?. If you ever come to Zanzibar, definitely take this tour, it was brilliant. You get to see loads of different types of spices as well as other things. Out of the 15ish different things I was shown I got 2 correct….pineapple and lemon grass ? How embarrassing was that…I was totally being judged ? As we went around the farm with a guide (and my bodyguard, Mohammed ??♀️), another man was making things out of the vines and flowers.
The seed is used as I ‘red’ in cosmetics 
Vanilla pods 
Just needs a diamond 
My crown 
Handbag
Also at the spice farm are coconut trees and I was given a demonstration of how the men climb up and pick the fruit. They also sing songs when they are up the tree, so that people below know they are there and won’t get hit by falling coconuts.
Following the Spice Tour, I took a trip to Prison Island. I had to wade out into the sea to get onto the boat…I wasn’t appropriately dressed for this, but it’s hot here so I dried off pretty quickly. The boat was a bumpy experience and some more wading when we got to the island. The island was use as a prison for rebellious slaves in 1860s and also functioned as a coral mine. After slavery had been abolished, the British used it an isolation hospital for people with diseases like small pox. Now the island is home to tortoises and a hotel. Not a lot of information gained on the island, but it was a fun visit.
That night there was the most amazing storm I have ever seen. It started about 11pm and went on till 4am. The lightening and thunder just did not stop in all that time. The forked lightening over the sea was incredible. I was going to go outside to take pictures, but felt it was a bit too dangerous, so just watched through the window instead. The storm did however knock out the power and the generator, which ended up being off for over 24 hours. I resilient though and used my head torch to be able to eat dinner. I was now in the honeymoon suite with candle light!! Luckily the next day I had a marriage proposal from a Masai who apparently is going to come to England and take care of me. Not going to lie…he was very handsome….but I am a sensible young woman and not wanting to be on the cover of ‘Take-a-break’ declined his kind offer.
In the lead up to Christmas Day, on the whole I was doing ok. It didn’t feel like Christmas here at all. It’s hot, for a start, and I guess because its mainly Muslim, the shops are not decorated or full of seasons greeting. However, I am still listening to UK radio, so the Christmas favourites were being played non-stop. Occasionally I got a little tearful thinking about being away from home, but it was very brief. At one point I even found myself looking up flights. And do you know I could have flown home for £250 on Qatar Airways!! I gave myself a proper talking to after that episode!!!. Anyway as a way of distracting myself, I booked a taxi to Stone Town, gave my bodyguard the slip and had a wonderful time just wandering around on my own. Question…..who is the most famous person to have come from Zanzibar??? Answer…..Freddy Mercury of course. I visited the house he was born in and lived until the age of 8, and also attached was a little museum in his honour.
While in Stone Town as it was Christmas Eve I went and visited the Catholic Cathedral. This was a strange one for me really, because I haven’t been to church for years, and not sure I even believe in it any more. But I was drawn there. The Cathedral was very busy being got ready for midnight mass. It was a lovely looking cathedral, the colours inside very vibrant. I sat there for quite awhile ??♀️
And so to Christmas Day itself. I thought I was actually fine. When the uk finally woke up (it’s 3 hours behind me), I face-timed with my mum, Jake and then my dad, which was all really lovely. Mell chose to forget me and go off down the pub with mates ?. Later on, as planned, I also did a group face-time with Jake, Sue, Julie and Louise. It was all really chilled and lovely.
Later on that day, and I think it’s pretty common knowledge now… the hotel thought it would be a lovely idea to take all the guests (7 of us) to the local beach for our dinner. Without going into too much detail, I felt that the other guests were talking about me, taking the piss and maybe even filming me. I am probably wrong, and maybe I wasn’t coping being away as much as I thought I was!! Anyway, that was how I was feeling and being very upset, decided to remove myself from the group. I walked along the beach, had a bit of a cry and pulled myself together again. I had missed the dinner, but the restaurant owner had put some aside for me. Then a young man, walking nearby called me grandmother and told me I looked old enough to be his grandmother, he was 27 ??♀️. Cheers mate ?
The end of Christmas Day however did finish on a high. I am very lucky to have a tech savvy son, who by the magic of the internet, live streamed me the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special. What a joy that was. I was like millions of other Brits enjoying that bit of Christmas magic!! I just didn’t have any quality street to tuck into while watching it ??
My Boxing Day was quite quiet. I need to catch up on my blog and book some accommodation for when I leave Zanzibar. I also started planning the next leg of my adventure into South East Asia. It feels very strange to be leaving Africa. I got to face-time again this time with the extended family who had gone to my mum’s for lunch. Oh…..and Palace won….woohoo. ❤️?❤️?❤️? and I really fancy pigs in blankets with some chestnut stuff ?