Posting this about a month late but better late than never? Thoughts from Tim, since he is the only one with the discipline to blog after returning home.
After the trek, we needed some relaxation. Finishing a day early was great, but it left me with mild Achilles tendonitis in my left ankle, which slowly recovered over the next week. The complementary massages were exquisitely painful, and the coffee tour was surprisingly fun. I wasn't expecting Oscar, the farm owner, to start with dried beans still in their husks and then demonstrate the removal of husks, roasting over an open fire, grinding the beans by pounding them in a big wooden mortar, and then preparing the coffee in a french press. The open fire roasting and open air cooling is what made the coffee less bitter than more standard coffee, or at least that's how it was explained to us. Oscar, who was hung over after emceeing a relative's baptism the night before (which meant he couldn't start drinking till after the ceremony ended at 10pm), mentioned several times how much he needed coffee through the hour-long process of making it.
Darjani market was quite busy, with many of the stalls selling the same general style of mass-manufactured goods. The market felt somewhat segregated by type of product - we wandered into an area focused on electronics and appliances that had mostly locals shopping there (not many tourists are looking to buy a desktop computer).
We also stopped at the Anglican church, where the old slave market was partially preserved. The chapel was built on the location of the old auction block and whipping post, and some original holding cells were still maintained to give visitors a brief glimpse at what life may have been like for the slaves awaiting auction. Even empty they had an oppressive feel.
"Space" for 65 slaves
The night market in Stone Town was full of local boys jumping off the old fort wall into the ocean, along with lots of local food tables selling meat and veggies grilled to order, fresh sugar cane juice, two Syrian guys who made delicious gyros, and a number of "Tanzanian pizza" tables which would make a variety of small savory and dessert pizzas.
We took a dala dala (the local public buses) out to Bwejuu, a 90 minute ride which cost us about $0.95 each. It was crowded and a bit warm, but the breeze was nice and the price was right (especially when compared with a $40 taxi ride).
The beach was fine, although Mariel and I aren't really beach people. The shore was very shallow as it sloped out towards a reef, which caused the tides to go out about 500 meters over mud and seaweed. The sand was pleasant. We didn't check out the snorkeling past the reef since Mariel's arm was still recovering. It seemed to be a popular kite surfing location with the constant monsoon winds, and we saw several surfers out on a few of the days. Mopeds and dirt bikes would occasionally cruise past on the firm sand of the beach, either rented by tourists or locals acting as taxis.
We went on a spice tour, which was interesting enough, but the prices they were charging for spices at the end felt more expensive than what we'd pay at home.
Nutmeg in fruit