Friday, December 18th - Zanzibar City, Tanzania

This morning we were up, had breakfast and ready to go to the forest.  The tax was there at 9:30 and we started our half hour drive to the forest.  We were on a main road and going through many small villages that looked very busy.  Their buildings are cement block so quite different than Ethiopian buildings, and they were larger.  They look wealthier but there really is no industry around so I'm nog sure where the wealth would come from.  Most would be farmers and probably not growing much more than what they themselves needed.  Tourism would play a role in some places but not all.

The landscape was very green and as we approached the forest we were driving down a road with big trees on either side and their branches met in the middle so it was a complete canopy for miles.  It was really nice but I could not get a picture as we drove along.  Just before we reached the entrance to the forest we saw signs for monkey crossings and we even saw a monkey bridge.  It was just a rope ladder but they had it installed so the monkeys could get safely across the road.

The Jozani Forest is 50 sq km of protected forest and actually I'm now finding that it is officially called the Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park, the only national park on Zanzibar.  There were three parts to our tour: a boardwalk through the mangrove trees, a walk through the forest itself, and a visit to see the red colobus monkeys.  We were joined by a family and we went to see the monkeys first as they were supposedly nearby sleeping.  Well, indeed they were.  The trees were full of them and they weren't exactly going anywhere.  They were simply sprawled over limbs with their arms, legs and tails hanging down or sitting on branches and leaning up against tree trunks and they were definitely asleep.  I think there were times when pictures were being taken from less than six feet away from them.  The only ones who seemed to be slightly awake were the mothers and babies and there were quite a few of them.  They certainly weren't afraid of us but the mothers were a bit wary if we got too close, and of course the babies were moving about so the mothers had to keep switching positions to hang on to them.  They were really cute to see and the family who was with said it was the first time they had seen them up close and they had been to the park couple of times over the years.

The next part was the walk through the mangroves, which were like just about any group of mangrove trees.  However, our guide was very good at explaining things to the children so we learned a bit too.  He left the boardwalk and went down into the swamp to pick up seeds for them.  I probably had heard it before but had forgotten that the seeds are long and pointed and weighted at the one end so that when they fall from the tree they stick in the ground and stay upright.  The bottom pointed end quickly grows roots and the top part starts to grow leaves so the mangroves are continually renewed.  It was an interesting walk.  We saw some crabs and some fish along the way but I don't remember much else.  The mangroves were in an area of tidal salt water which was also interesting because we didn't think we were anywhere near the coast of the island.

The whole forest or park is built on a reef limestone marine terrace.  I take that to mean that it was once an under water reef but I'm guessing all of Zanzibar was at one time.  Our walk through the forest was about 40 minutes long.  The guide was again good at pointing things out to us.  For example he spotted a lizard on a tree and it wasn't more than three feet away from me and it took me a long time to see even though he was pointing right at it.  It was a chameleon and blended perfectly with the tree trunk.  He was also good at spotting teeny tiny little frogs or toads.  Again I could barely find them but he kept pointing them out.  They were no larger than my little finger nail and they jumped quickly if you got too close so pictures were virtually impossible.  We heard some birds but never did find or identify them.  There were also some butterflies but they fluttered by quickly.  We did see a couple of squirrels but none of the other animals let themselves be seen.  Of course some of them, like the leopards, have not been seen for over 10 years and some people think they are just a legend so who knows.

The people in the area did not get along well with the animals, especially the monkeys. The monkeys eat the leaves of the trees and kill the trees, and they eat the unripe fruit so the locals didn't have any for themselves.  There were huge dead trees in the area so it was understandable that the villagers were not impressed and tried to kill the monkeys.   In order to do this the government and other agencies had to relocate some people from the area of the park and teach them not to kill the monkeys.  Things seem to be going better now and the monkeys are thriving with more than 1,000 in the park.

After our tour we decided to have lunch in the restaurant.  Well, that was probably the wrong decision because they really didn't seem prepared for people to actually eat there and it took over an hour to get any food.  I can't remember what I had but I do remember that the french fries that came with it were absolutely cold like they had been cooked the day before.  I remember now.  It was chicken and chips and the chicken was fine.

Eventually we finished our meal and were ready for the ride home.  Our taxi driver had been waiting patiently for us but on the way home he seemed a bit impatient and I think we probably made it in record time.  He was a good driver but he definitely liked to pass any vehicle that got in front of him and he would be right behind them before he pulled out to pass and there was almost always something else coming in the other direction so it was a bit nerve racking to watch so I decided to look at the scenery instead.  And I have to say that other drivers didn't seem to mind his driving and they all seemed to drive the same so I guess it is the usual for Zanzibar.  And if there are two cars coming at you as you drive down the road you just pull off to the side and let them go by.  Road rage just doesn't seem to exist, which I guess is a good thing.  I didn't seen any accidents either so that's also good.

Once back at the hotel I showered and got cleaned up and started to sort through my junk to get ready to move on tomorrow.  I also did some computer work even though the internet was its usual slow self.  Eventually Randy, who had gone for another walk, came back with dinner.  He had some pizza buns and dessert buns from the Korean bakery across the street.  Along with some macadamia nuts and cheese and chocolate that was our dinner in the sitting room of the hotel.  

Shortly after dinner I went to my room to do some more packing.  My room really was a mess as it had been so hot and humid I was going through a lot of clothes.  I did some more computer work and then it was time for bed - our last night in Stone Town.