Zanzibar

Without Shantell and Julie, the tour group has naturally gravitated into two lots - the party animals and the rest. The party animals were up till about 3am, and so most of them didn't get up for the morning tour of Dar. 5 tuk-tuks duly rolled up, and we piled in. The campsite is only a short distance from the city, but you have to take a ferry across the water. Bedlam. The ferry shuttles all day, but the line of waiting cars extended almost a kilometre, so I hope that they weren't in a hurry - and it was Saturday so there wasn't any school or business traffic trying to use it. I guess that it would have taken them 3 hours to get across.

No such inconvenience for tuk-tuks. It seems that they are honorary pedestrians. We drove in to the ferry area on the wrong side of the road past all the queued cars, then down the off ramp to the pedestrian entrance and ticket office. We queued up in the pedestrian line and bought our tickets from inside the tuk-tuk, then drove down the footpath and on to the front of the boat. Nobody batted an eyelid.

Did a 3 hour tour of the city. Not a very organised tour mind you, as they are taxi drivers and not tour guides, but we went to a Docklands look alike where we had ice cream and coffee, then a shopping centre for a drink and internet, a drive past the fruit market, and finally a look at the Lutheran Church. Not quite the cultural immersion that we were hoping for, but I guess that's what they expect that tourists want to see.

Back down the pedestrian queues and back on the ferry. Time for a quick lunch at the camp, before we climbed back on the tuk-tuks, and did it all over again. This time, once we were in the city we headed for the ferry terminal, and on to the 3:45 ferry to Zanzibar. Quite a modern boat, and the crossing was quite smooth. Spent the two hours lying on the foredeck snoozing. The party animals were a little greener.

We actually had to go through immigration and have our yellow fever cards checked, even though we haven't changed countries. Kind of a weird setup. They have the same currency, customs, defence and government infrastructure, but different parliaments and flags, though every country in the world recognises them as one.

Arrived at the hotel for a quick orientation, before heading off to the night market (think Mindal Market for you Aussies). Food and drink abounded, and we had a lovely time sitting on the foreshore in the balmy breeze eating pancakes and drinking cane sugar juice.

Luxury. A bed, a door, a fan, and no wake up deadline.