Zanzibar airport area to Stone Town (Shoki Shoki hostel)

August 27, 2022

I knew it! I LOVE Zanzibar!

I only moved a few miles away to Stone Town, which is the touristy old part of Zanzibar city. There is a mix of cultures here, Arab, Persian, and Indian. It was known for it's spice trade back in the day. (Thanks Wikipedia.) The city center is a maze of narrow passageways and I may have gotten lost trying to find the hostel both upon arrival and after I had gone out exploring.

I have a fantastic hostel except the receptionist overcharged me and I called her on it. I get so tired of this. She had been helpful though, so I let her keep some of it and asked for a partial refund and kept it light so as not to offend her. My bike is in a hallway downstairs and I'm very nervous about it. It's locked, but only to itself for now. There is a very steep stairway up to the dorm room. I can lock it to the railing, but not until tonight, otherwise, it will be in the way a little bit.

It's HOT and humid here so taking after my initial exploration, I needed an air conditioning break before venturing back out closer to evening. So many souvenir shops. So many things to buy. Ha ha. I will find just the right thing as I am a patient shopper and since you have to haggle, I need to get an idea of the correct price before I buy something.

There's an old fort here which I walked around and then went to the waterfront. Went back later in the evening when the street vendors are out selling a bunch of cheap food. Was a super neat experience. I actually ran into a couple that had helped me find the hostel earlier today and they invited me to sit with them for dinner.

Down along the waterfront there were a couple of groups of boys. The first group was along the beach. They would run and use an old tire to launch themselves to complete a bunch of acrobatic flips. Every once in awhile, they wouldn't stick the landing and let's just say there was sand everywhere! Later, I saw them running and launching themselves off a wall into the water. I guess it was a common game to replicate the moves. Looked like fun and was fun watching their skills at work!

Watched a bit of a soccer game on my way in. Check out those hot pink jerseys!

Not sure what was going on here, but I suspect someone very important. A long motorcade of cars and police. They stopped all cars and even me on my bike. I discreetly took this picture

Home sweet home. Only one other guy here and I just visited with him and he gave me a bunch of useful info for where to stay and what to do

Thank goodness I am not on the second floor!! Steep stairs, especially for my big foot!

Tons of stray cats around. I may have given these two some of my chicken after lunch

I thought the electrical was a bit interesting, then I noticed the cool shuttered windows

Today's ride: 5 miles (8 km)
Total: 3,991 miles (6,423 km)

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