The Final Installment...................................

Stone Town from the sea

Typical street

Palace of Wonder

After the exhilarating success of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro I headed to the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar. Formerly known as the “Spice Island”, this land was once one of the wealthiest places on earth thanks to the spice and slave trades. Many of the great European explorers of Africa made Zanzibar the base of operations for starting their adventures of discovery.  Rebbman, Burton, Speke and of course Dr. Livingstone at one time all started their expeditions from this small archipelago. Many of the buildings they occupied are still standing in Stone Town, now a UNESCO heritage site, along with many of the palaces. The town with its narrow maze of streets, is filled with history and unfortunately garbage. Rubbish is everywhere distracting from the beauty of the area. They are working to restore district but like most places, a lack of funds keeps Stone Town from reaching its full tourist potential. There are a couple good museums housed in the old buildings, especially “The House of Wonder”, once a palace and the largest building in

Jackfruit

Fish Market

Stone Town. It was the first to have indoor plumbing and electricity. The island still has problems with providing electricity consistently; it went out at least three times during my four day visit, still Zanzibar is a fascinating place to visit. The spice tour was very interesting. You  a travel to government agricultural farm where they show you on a small scale the many spices grown on the islands plantations. You have a chance to see cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, ginger, vanilla, menthol and the spice that made the island cloves, in their natural state not in jars at the grocery store. You also have a chance to see and taste the many fruits grown on the island. The most incredible one for me is the jackfruit. It is large as a watermelon, has a spikey rind, and grows on trees. When these things get ripe and start to fall they could probably kill you if you were standing underneath. Part of the tour included a visit to the “Butterfly Man”’ a native who climbs to the top of coconut palms to gather the nut. This guy was crazy, singing wildly as he scurried up a 40-50 foot tree with just the aid of short rope around his ankles to gather the fruit; fresh coconut juice and flesh are delicious. I took advantage of the warm clear waters of the Indian Ocean to do a day of scuba diving. The water was calm, visibility was great and I got a chance to see many seahorses. The walking tour of Stone Town took you to many of the historic buildings and the fruit, meat and fish markets. The fish market was sensorial potpourri of sights sounds and smells. In fact I could have used some potpourri on the visit

Butterfly Man

View from "Mercury's" bar at sunset

to the fish market since the smell was so overwhelming. Many species of fish, squid, octopus and all kinds of other denizens of the deep where displayed on large stone tables in the market stalls and laid out in baskets on the surrounding grounds; without refrigeration or a cube of ice anywhere to be seen. It was like one giant garum factory with feral cats wandering everywhere waiting for their chance to pick up a tasty morsel. The coolest image was a guy with a machete and club hacking apart a marlin which had to be 8-9 feet long without the spear snout. Unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to visit the rest of the island with its beautiful beaches, fishing villages and national forest, but what I saw was enough to make me want to return.

Charles Bridge

Bone Chandelier

From Zanzibar I finished my odyssey in the Czech Republic city of Prague. It is a wonderful city of old buildings, beautiful churches, monuments, and culture. Regrettably my big toe was still hurting from Mt. Kilimanjaro (the toenail just fell off this week) and I was having difficulty doing a lot of walking so it really put a damper on my exploration of Prague. The city suffered little damage during the war so most of the original buildings are still standing. If you are a fan of architecture you can see all styles; Art Nouveau, Baroque, Renaissance, Cubist, Gothic, and Neo-Classical. Some of the churches were surprising; plain and simple or gothic from the outside, but inside dramatically Baroque; quite the contrast. The palace and Charles Bridge are enjoyable and the Astronomical Clock is well….astronomical. It’s an amazing piece of medieval mechanical mastery

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showing not only the time, but the position of the sun and moon, a calendar showing the date and an hourly animatronic procession of saints, moving figures and crowing cock. If you enjoy music and theatre Prague is the place to go. There were concerts and shows being presented during the day and nightly in the many churches, theatres and opera house; organ recitals, string quartets, full orchestras, brass bands, and a multitude of performances including classical puppet shows at the National Marionette Theatre.  Prague has a cultural combination that cannot be beat. I wish I could have appreciated it more.

There's no place like home

Well, I’m back home now and that concludes my odyssey. Thank you all for following along, I hope you found it interesting and enjoyable. Sometimes it seems like it was all a dream the time went by so quickly. I am one lucky and richer man to have had the opportunity to travel to some of the greatest places in the world, visit a few of the most amazing sites on earth, see natural wonders beyond compare, meet numerous fascinating and remarkable people, explore diverse cultures and do things I only dreamed I ever would…… but no matter how much I travel, family and friends are the greatest joys in the world, and home is the place I love the best.

Safe travels.

norb