Tanzania Day Four. Zanzibar: Afternoon Visit To A Spice Plantation And A Beautiful Sunset
After leaving my informative visit to Stone Town my scheduled tours for the day were over. However, I was on the famous Spice Island and I wanted to see a spice farm. Cholo, my tour coordinator from Zanzibar Cholo Tours and Safaris quickly arranged a tour for me. The rain ended as we drove through the traffic congestion of Zanzibar City and soon were making our ways through rural back roads to a hilly and wooded area of the Spice Island.
We arrived at the Jambo Spice Farm and I was introduced to my guides. They took me on a wonderful tour were I learned so much about the many spices we use on a daily basis but which I had no idea how they were grown.
The first spice I was shown was nutmeg. I had no idea it grew from fruit on a tree.
The fruit must mature and the seed is dried and ground to make the spice we are so familiar with this time of year, in out pumpkin pies, apple cider and many other treats we eat during the upcoming holidays.
I was also shown a cinnamon trees and sampled fresh cinnamon bark peeled off of the tree.
I was surprised to see how pepper grows on a large vine-like plant.
I learned all peppers, black, white and red come from the same plant.
We walked through the lush woodlands and the rich soil and saw, and learned about the cultivation of so many spices including cloves, vanilla, and ginger, the roots shown here. In addition to seeing and learning about the cultivation, we also learned about the uses of the spices.
We also soon a fruit that was used as a face paint by the local natives.
Our guide demonstrated its use.
After touring the spices I was taken to an area of the farm were the grow various tropical fruits.
We watched as a man climbed a coconut tree to gather the fresh coconuts. Here is a link to a video I uploaded to my YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/nx8LbBo0Oh4I was soon treated to the milk from the fresh coconuts that were harvested as well as many other fresh and delicious tropical fruits including grapefruits, three types of bananas, watermelons, pineapple and many other fruits.
I truly enjoyed this last-minute tour and thanked Chole and the guides for arranging it. I love learning about the places I visited and I learned so much thanks to these folks that morning. Here is a link to some more photographs from my visit to the spice farm. Tanzania Day Four Zanzibar farm visit. October 1 2019.
The first part of our drive back to the resort took through rural areas with unpaved roads.
It wasn’t smooth driving but I loved seeing this part of the island. I was back at the resort in time to enjoy another wonderful lunch.
After lunch I spent some time exploring the beautiful resort.
It had many types of recreational activity available, including three restaurants and bars.
I found the best activity to be watching the beautiful India Ocean and the white sandy beach.
It was now late afternoon and I decided to take another walk along the road outside the village. Of course my exploration led me to the local landfill.
It was sunny and hot so there was not much bird activity but I did manage to see a few native birds,
I walked about three miles and the sun was starting to see when I returned to the resort. Being so near the equator the folks here see the sun rise and set about the same time all year-long. Sunset was around 6:15 p.m. and sunrise a.m.
Once again clouds blocked the actual setting sun but provided some nice backdrops for the many boats navigating the waters at sunset. After the sunset I headed over to dinner and made my way back to my room under the crescent moon. I noticed how it looks more like a bowl here on the equator. I still wasn’t sleeping well so I retired early hoping to sleep and spend another day exploring this beautiful island. Here is a link to some more photographs from my afternoon walks. Tanzania Day Four Zanzibar afternoon October 1 2019.
The adventure of life is to learn. The purpose of life is to grow. The nature of life is to
change. The challenge of life is to overcome. The essence of life is to care. The opportunity
of life is to serve. The secret of life is to dare. The spice of life is to befriend. The beauty of
life is to give.
– William Arthur Ward
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