Christmas in Zanzibar

Hello dear readers - we are far behind in our postings, but now have a bit of free time, so we will try to get caught up.

We are fortunate to have spent Christmas on the exotic spice island of Zanzibar.

Our friends Dave and Ruth and their boys Jordan and Caleb are visiting us for a month, and just about the first thing we did when they arrived was to turn them around and get them on another plane to Dar Es Salaam, and then a short hop to Stone Town in Zanzibar. We met up with Al and Carla Kehler and their girls, Katherine, Elisabeth and Olivia, who are also friends from Winnipeg, and are now living in Kampala, Uganda where Al works with the UN World Food Program.

Here is a picture of all of us together

The first place we stayed was the Mnarani Beach Cottages in Nungwi, which is at the northern tip of the island.

It was a bit surreal to be in a tropical paradise over Christmas, but it was great to be there with good friends.

Merry Christmas!

The kids all got along great, and we did things like snorkeling and a sunset cruise on the ocean.

Getting on the boat for our cruise

Dave and Ruth in the sunset

The water was very warm and very blue, the breezes were warm and the sun shone the whole time we were there.

After Al and Carla left, we moved to another hotel near Stone Town. From there we took a tour of the town, did a bunch of shopping and sightseeing. Stone Town is known for it's elaborately carved doors and other interesting architectural touches that show a wide range of Arabic and Indian influences.

A very fancy door

We also went on a spice tour, where we learned all about how different spices are grown. Cloves and other spices are still a big part of Zanzibar’s export business.

On the spice tour

Our Spice Girls

This is Nutmeg

Our time on the island was nicely wrapped up by a great meal on the beach of our resort. We loved Zanzibar and want to come back.