As written on 22 Jan 2004
We had a top time in Zanzibar. Met loads of great people from all over the place and even from little old
Perth. Our first night in
We had a top time in Zanzibar. Met loads of great people from all over the place and even from little old
Perth. Our first night in Zanzibar ended up being a big night as we partied on with the Perth couple (Mark and Mandy, who are enroute to Perth after working in London for the past 3 years). It started with a great meal at the Mercury - where Freddy Mercury, lead singer of Queen was born (little music trivia for you there), and then finished off with many of the excellent local lagers (Tusker, Kilimanjaro orSafari) and a fruit flavored sheesha. Mark and Mandy had looked up a local, Ishmail (friend of a friend), who owns the Mercury and the big night club in town. And so we can blame him for the fuzzy heads the next morning, as we ambled out of the Garage club at 3:30a.m. with pumping Swahili pop music still ringing in 
our ears.
our ears. Needless to say we were feeling rather delicate the next day as
we left for our Spice Tour at 9:00 a.m., but it was a great day seeing
all the spices being grown, dried and prepared, and tasting local fruits
right from the trees like, jack fruit, bread fruit, some local licorice
type of thing, massive grape fruit type of fruits etc. After being busy
sniffing, smelling and tasting, we enjoyed a yummy lunch of local food and then headed to some caves (where they used to hide slaves after the slave trade was reportedly abolished) and then onto a gorgeous beach for a refreshing swim. A good day for $10 pp and Sean enjoyed the company of his 5 
woman harem.
We all met up with our "Spice Girls" and some others that night at Africa House, for sunset drinks. Infact we went there every night for sunset drinks -nice place overlooking the sun dipping down into the Indian ocean. We also ate several nights at the local markets where you choose from fresh lobster, prawns, fish, chicken, falafel, all with naan or chapati, rice and salad and for the bargain price of about $2 or$2.50. We usually
topped it off with a banana, chocolate pancake for an extra 50 cents.
We enjoyed a 2 tank scuba dive just off the coast ofthe island and were quite impressed with the corals and abundant fish life. The 2nd dive was on an old cable laying ship that was wrecked over
woman harem.We all met up with our "Spice Girls" and some others that night at Africa House, for sunset drinks. Infact we went there every night for sunset drinks -nice place overlooking the sun dipping down into the Indian ocean. We also ate several nights at the local markets where you choose from fresh lobster, prawns, fish, chicken, falafel, all with naan or chapati, rice and salad and for the bargain price of about $2 or$2.50. We usually
topped it off with a banana, chocolate pancake for an extra 50 cents.We enjoyed a 2 tank scuba dive just off the coast ofthe island and were quite impressed with the corals and abundant fish life. The 2nd dive was on an old cable laying ship that was wrecked over
100 years ago.
Uganda
Then on Jan 21 we caught a 7:00 a.m. flight from Zanzibar to Dar (and at 15 mins flying time it was our shortest flight ever), but we had to lay over in Dar for 5 hours before we took our flight to Entebbe,Uganda. We bought Wente wine for $5 a bottle dutyfree at the Dar airport - can you believe Calif wine in Tanzania and cheaper than you can buy it in Calif.
It was a smooth, easy flight to Entebbe and it sure beat 2 days of travel by bus. Arriving in Uganda was very pleasant - many travellers have told us this is their favorite East African country and we can see why. Very friendly people, but they don't harrass you like they do in Kenya and TNZ. Got a taxi to the Backpackers Hostel where we immediately met more interesting people from ALL walks of life! We have our own banda (thatched roof hut) for $10 a night and cold 1/2 litre bottles of Ugandas best lager is $1.50 at the bar. An Aussie runs the place, so there's Cold Chisel and Midnight Oil playing on the stereo every so often.
Today we finalized our visit to see Amos (our World Vision sponsor child) and his family and community. They pick us up tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. and were most excited that we were here and paying a visit to the remote community.
We also arranged our permits to seethe Mt. Gorillas and will save $700 each by doing the trek independently instead of through a tour company -will let you know how that goes in a later e-mail. Overall we had a fun and productive first day in Kampala, the bustling capital, and had a good laugh when we zoomed back in the rain on the back of little motor bikes that the local lads ferry people around onfor 50 cents from town. Tonight we are eating at the local markets with a group of travellers staying here, and from my chair I can see Sean is already getting comfy at the bar, so I'll have to sign off and get us moving. Once again, miss you all. Trust all is well with everyone and hope these updates aren't too pesky.
Louise and Sean xxx
It was a smooth, easy flight to Entebbe and it sure beat 2 days of travel by bus. Arriving in Uganda was very pleasant - many travellers have told us this is their favorite East African country and we can see why. Very friendly people, but they don't harrass you like they do in Kenya and TNZ. Got a taxi to the Backpackers Hostel where we immediately met more interesting people from ALL walks of life! We have our own banda (thatched roof hut) for $10 a night and cold 1/2 litre bottles of Ugandas best lager is $1.50 at the bar. An Aussie runs the place, so there's Cold Chisel and Midnight Oil playing on the stereo every so often.
Today we finalized our visit to see Amos (our World Vision sponsor child) and his family and community. They pick us up tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. and were most excited that we were here and paying a visit to the remote community.
We also arranged our permits to seethe Mt. Gorillas and will save $700 each by doing the trek independently instead of through a tour company -will let you know how that goes in a later e-mail. Overall we had a fun and productive first day in Kampala, the bustling capital, and had a good laugh when we zoomed back in the rain on the back of little motor bikes that the local lads ferry people around onfor 50 cents from town. Tonight we are eating at the local markets with a group of travellers staying here, and from my chair I can see Sean is already getting comfy at the bar, so I'll have to sign off and get us moving. Once again, miss you all. Trust all is well with everyone and hope these updates aren't too pesky.
Louise and Sean xxx
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