The Snorkeling Trip (Ashagre)

We got up and ate early because we were going on Blue Safari. We got snorkels, masks, and flippers. We got on a boat and stopped at this beach where I saw a starfish and white and black fish. We ate fresh fruit. We went to a snorkeling spot. I got in and saw lots of black and white fish, puffer fish and a sculpin. 

Then we went to another island for food. I was hungry. This is what we ate rice and coconut sauce, salad, octopus, shrimp, lobsters and fruit. When we had lobster I didn’t want it but then I tried it and it was awesome. After lunch we went and climbed a tree. 

We got back on the boat which was crowded. They put the sails up and the boat rocked a lot but that was awesome. Not for an Israeli person. She got seasick. They sang songs when were going back to where we started from. When we got back we had a big dinner and also dessert. Then we went back to our house and went to bed. 

Blue Safari (Elsa)

On the 3rd of November 2016, my family and I went on a Blue Safari. There was 6 people from Isreal, 1 lady from Germany, 1 lady from Russia, 1 man from Latvia and a bunch of people from Tanzania on our boat. First we had snack and got to swim in the warmish coldish Indian Ocean at a sandbar island. Then we got in the boat and stopped for snorkeling. In the water we got to see fish going under the boat. My parents went out far and then they got on the boat. 

We had lunch. My mom, dad, and Ashagre ate rice with sauce, octopus, fish, salad and lobster. I had the same food but no lobster. The octopus was good. It was chewy and you had to chew it for several minutes, but it was delicious. We went to a tree that you can climb. 

On the way back to the shore where we started our trip everybody in the boat was singing Tanzania songs. The Tanzanian men were drumming on things in the boat like the cooler, a plastic bucket and a water jug. Each Tanzanian man took turns singing and leading the songs. I felt really happy listening to the music and singing. The trip was fun, cool, amazing, and good. When we got back to our hotel we rinsed off and then swam in the pool. Then we had dinner and went to bed.

The Walk (Ashagre)

We woke up and ate. We walked down the beach. The tide was low so we could walk on the rocks. When we were walking I went on the rocks and saw a crab. I ran like a bolt. A guy asked us if we wanted to go to The Rock which was a restaurant. Our dad said no thank you but the guy convinced him into got to The Rock for dinner. If you walk on the rocks then get on the sand sometimes you sink in the sand. It went deep sometimes. Dad and I went to where some women and children were doing something. We walked out far. When we arrived we saw that they were farming seaweed. They use seaweed in lots of stuff like toothpaste, makeup and ice cream. We went back and walked down the beach a little ways and on the way there we saw some boys playing with homemade boats that they made. Then we headed back to our beach hotel. 

We played in the pool for a long time. Then we got out of the pool and did homework. Elsa and dad played a darts game. Then we went to The Rock. We got on a boat and got on the rock which was an actual rock with a restaurant on top. We should have made a reservation but the guy didn’t tell us that. Some people came to the restaurant with fancy clothes and I had swim trunks. The food was good. We got back and played darts. Then we went to our house and got ready for bed. 

Barbecue (Elsa)

In Stone Town at night time there was a bunch of people selling seafood, pizza, sugar cane juice and other food. My brother and my dad had seafood. My mom and I had pizza. I had my pizza with no cheese because I am allergic to dairy. Then some cats came to us. “You have to watch your food or the cats will come and get it,” my dad said. One time one of the 7 cats was about to get my food but I shooed the cat away. 

Then I starting talking to Elias for a long time. Elias is from Tanzania and was probably in his twenties. Elias was asking me about my life and he was also talking about his life. A couple hours later my mom said that it was time to go and Elias had to go also. I finished my sentence and said goodnight. When you meet someone from outside the USA its a big change because they have such a different life than you.

Spices (Ashagre)

We got up and ate. We got dressed and we packed our bags. We went downstairs to put our bags in a car. We found our driver so we handed the bags to him because he was going to put them in the car. We drove to the spice tour. When we were slowing down I saw a sign that said the spice tour or something else. We walked down a trail to a farmlike place. We sat down on a bench and our guide was telling us what we were doing. The first thing we saw was breadfruit. The second was a tree that had jackfruit. We walked down the trail and stopped. He asked us if we knew what a fruit was called. I said papaya. He said yes. On the tour this is what we saw breadfruit, jackfruit, papaya, turmeric, natural lipstick, and lots more spices. Tanzanians use natural lipstick on their face and hair. Turmeric is used to spice food and for health. We got to drink fresh coconut juice and watch somebody climb a coconut tree and sing a Tanzanian song. We got hats made from leaves from the trees on the farm. After we finished the spice tour we got to eat fruit. I loved all the fruit. It was so good! We got seconds. We went to our new hotel at Jambiani. 

Stone Town and Spice Tour (Elsa)

In Stone Town my family went to our hotel then we ate lunch. Right after lunch we went back to our hotel. Ashagre and I were playing a game. In our game we were pretending there was a customer that didn’t like the food and the waiter was messing up the order. At dinner we had Ethiopian food. The Ethiopian food was good. 

The next morning we had breakfast and we went on a walking tour. We learned about the slave cage. There were 50 men in the men’s cage and there were 75 women in the women’s cage. Then we saw in a museum how slavery started and how the slave trade ended. Right after the tour we went to eat lunch and had chill time in our hotel. While Ashagre and I were playing a game my parents were setting up a trip to Jambiani. When you are in Zanzibar Stone Town their will be a lot of clothes and jewelry for sale.

The next day we went on spice tour then to Jambiani. On the spice we learned about spices and fruit grown in Zanzibar. Some of the fruit we saw were breadfruit, papaya, and jack fruit. There is a spice called turmeric that turns your skin yellow when you touch it. Tumeric is used in food and staying healthy. We also saw natural lipstick. Natural lipstick is a seed that is crushed up and turns orangish reddish. People use it to turn their hair, lips and cheeks red. Some of the other spices we learned about were peppercorn, cinnamon, ginger, and Arabia coffee. At the end of the spice tour we got to drink fresh coconut juice and try some fruit. My favorite fruit was the pineapple.

Stone Town (Ashagre)

We got up and got some food. We walked out of our hotel and walked all over Stone Town as part of a walking tour with our guide Alex. Then we got some tickets for a museum and a church. We went in the church and our guide told a story about Dr. Livingston dying and they got his heart and buried it under a tree. Then we went into a slave prison. The men were on one side that had two breathing holes and about 50 men were put in there. On the other side there were three breathing holes and there were about 75 people that could fit in there which were children and their moms. They had chains on their around their necks and their legs. If they tried to escape they would get tortured. We went in the museum. It talked about slaves working and how they would prepare the slaves for the slave market. The British came and freed the slaves because Dr. Livingston convinced them to. Before they were free the slaves had to get a license from the British. Some of them didn’t become free because they didn’t know they had other choices and some made that choice because they get food and water. I would be hard to find those things if they were free. Then we got out of the museum. 

We got some lunch at the same place we had lunch the day before. Then we went back to our hotel and relaxed. Then we went and walked around town again. Then we went to a park where they cooked food. We walked around and saw some boys jumping into the water. They did flips and other stuff. We went far and saw more boys jumping into the water. We sat down and I saw a park for little kids. We went back and saw that there was people cooking food and some were eating. We got an explanation of what the food was. My dad and I ordered calamari and octopus and some bread. We sat down and waited. There were lots of cats there because they liked seafood. We got our food. Then some cats came close to us. Them mom’s food arrived and more cats came. We ate. Then our drinks arrived. They were sugar cane juices. Elsa was talking to some guy she met. Our dad asked how much it was for our food. They guy said one hundred eighteen shillings which was expensive. Dad and the guy were having fun bargaining. Finally they made a decision. My dad didn’t get a very good deal. He paid 90 schillings which is about $45. We got in a taxi and the taxi driver was crazy. We got to our hotel and got ready for bed. 

The Red Boat (Ashagre)

On Sunday I awoke to the sound of the TV blaring. I got up and changed and walked outside and saw my dad watching the news. We got our bags and put them in the trunk. We went to the ferry terminal. We got on the boat. The ferry can carry more people than the Catalina Express. It can carry about 500 people. When we got to Zanzibar we had to wait until our bags came in the cart. The people would push the cart fast and a man would hop over a rope so he didn’t trip. The rope is supposed to slow down the cart. It felt like he was going to trip over the rope any moment and get smashed by the heavy cart. The boat terminal was crazy. People were rushing and people pushing carts would make a lot of noise. People pulling carts would drop the handle and that would make a lot of noise because it echoed. 

Finally we got out of the boat terminal and went to our hotel. When we entered our room I went to the bathroom which stunk because the plumbing wasn’t that good in Zanzibar so smells come from the sewer. We checked into our hotel and walked down to the Ethiopian restaurant but I checked the sign it said they were open for lunch from 12:00 - 3:00. It was past 3 o’clock so we had to go back for dinner. We walked to this place where they had a lot of meat and less vegetables. I got spinach and white rice. We sat outside because it was hot in there. They gave me a lot of rice so I ate a lot of that first. We walked back to our hotel and did nothing until we got hungry. So we walked down to the Ethiopian restaurant and we ate. The tibbs could have been a lot better at the Ethiopian restaurant. We got back to our hotel and got ready for bed. 

This is me riding on the ferry VIP class.

This is where we ate lunch in Stone Town.

The Honey Badger Lodge (Ashagre)

On Saturday we got up and ate. After we ate Elsa and I went back to our hotel and brushed our teeth. We started to pack our bags. Then our dad came into the room. We asked him for our medicine. If you don’t know why we have to take the medicine its because it prevents us from getting sick from malaria. After we were done packing our bags we put our bags behind a corner of the hotel’s front desk. 

Elsa said I am going to change clothes so I can go swimming in the pool and she asked me if I was going into the pool. I said maybe. It got too hot to sit around so I changed so I could go in the pool. Elsa and I played in the pool for a couple of hours. I got out of the water and relaxed. Elsa was still in the pool. When Elsa was out of the water we had lunch. Our mom said we can swim until 4:00. We played in the pool for a while. I got out of the pool and changed. One of the font desk people told us that your driver is waiting outside. So we got our bags and put them in the trunk. We drove to dinner. 

Then we were at the airport. We looked at a sign. We were delayed 2 hours. We kept getting bit by the mosquitos. Finally we checked our bags in. Then we boarded the plane. We went outside to get on the plane. We landed at Dar Es Salaam at 2:00 in the morning. Finally we got in our room and got ready for bed.