Why Visit Zanzibar?

February in New York is so cold, dreary and miserable. Memories of Mozambique have been creeping back, slowly luring me once again to Africa. This time, two of my co-workers Luisa and Shaka are with me. Winter break 2009- Zanzibar. We've got ten days and an entire island to explore. Why Zanzibar?

a) None of us has ever been

b) Ethiopian Airlines is running a buy one ticket get another free special

c) How romantic and amazing does Zanzibar sound, how could we not go?

Not a single one of us felt the need to purchase a guide-book. We didn't book hotel rooms because we wanted the freedom to travel around the island. Instead we booked our first night in Stone Town and are going to leave the rest up to serendipity.

Unfortunately, after excitedly clamoring out of our taxi, to our hotel, we were told that there are no rooms. No rooms?!? We reserved a room and paid in advance and everything.The man gave us a refund and wished us luck. This was not the note we had hoped to start our Zanzabari adventure on. It took us about three hours to find another hotel room. Apparently February is busy season in Stone Town (the capital).

Alas, several hours later, we had a room, had showered and changed, and were ready to hit the cobblestone road.