addendum: stonetown

OK, this is really the last post.

This morning we left Pongwe for Stone Town, the historical center of Zanzibar. En route, we stopped for a traditional 'spice tour,' in which a local guide takes you through a farm in which they grow fruits, vegetables, and yes, spices. Nothing like smelling fresh cinnamon bark or having your guide dig out turmeric root, but for nerds like Annie and me, two highlights were the iodine tree as well as the quinine tree, for obvious reasons.

We then reached Stone Town and checked into our lovely hotel, Africa House Hotel (with a room with air conditioning!!!!) After setting down our massive amounts of luggage, we headed out for a self-directed walking tour of the city. Two issues: first, the streets are winding and don't meet at right angles, but that's OK, because the streets are unnamed. Second, it was somewhere around 600 degrees outside. Nevertheless, we made our way through town, seeing such sights as

• destitute quarters in which slaves were held before they were traded in open market (as fascinating as it was horrifying)
• crazed, yet amazing local markets: one predominantly food-driven, the other, random gift-driven
• your standard array of palaces and old forts: cool and all, but not overwhelming.

More than anything, we just enjoyed getting lost in the narrow alleyways of the town. It was awesome. We then made our way back to the hotel, which is on the west coast of Zanzibar and offers an unparalleled view of the sunset (which we enjoyed while I started on Anna Karinena and Annie continued forging ahead with American Pastoral).

Once we had taken in our last sunset, we headed out for our final African meal. We decided to brave the street food market, held every night in a recently renovated park at the north end of Stone Town. Before heading in, we set a rule: don't eat anything that we might regret tomorrow. Surprisingly, we had plenty of options to choose from, including

• samosas and falafel
• a strange, yet delicious potato and coconut soup
• grilled plantains as well as grilled 'breadfruit' - a local fruit that tastes exactly how it sounds
• and, the piece de resistance, a "zanzibar pizza" which is basically a crepe. Our choice: nutella and mango.

By the end, we were stuffed to the teeth, and proud of our efforts.

And that's all she wrote! All that's left is three flights and one five hour layover in Dar (groan). Signing off for real this time, asante to all!