September 21 - Jozani Monkey's and Spices

We are off on another excursion today.  This time we are of to the southern part of the island to visit Jozani National Park.  It’s claim to fame is monkeys and a mangrove.  As we drove into the parking lot we saw our first monkeys…vervets.

Then it was a very short walk to where we saw the endemic red colobus (they look like they all had a bad hair day).

And a couple of trees over was a Sykes.

Didn’t take us long to see the monkeys.  Good thing as it is a bit warm and very humid.  So walking a lot is not a lot of fun.  We did wander through the mahogany forest.  They don’t have a lot of the really old mahogany trees as many had been harvested years ago.  And the mahogany is a very slow growing tree.

From there we drove a short distance to the mangrove forest where there was a very good boardwalk through the area.  

The only wildlife we saw there were ghost crabs. 

We then had about an hour drive to the “Spice Island”’ tour.  Zanzibar is known for it’s spices and particularly known for cloves.  Cloves grow on very large trees.  The cloves themselves are the pink buds that are harvested and then dried.  Fascinating.

Clove Trees

Clove Flower Buds

Raw Clove

The little farm we visited grew a massive number of different spices and fruits.  They gave us a little basket to hold whatever we might want to collect. 

We both learned a lot about spices during this tour.

We had seen vanilla plantations before.  They had vanilla but it was well woven into all of the other things that they were growing. 

Cardamom was one of the most interesting spices to see grown.  The plant itself looked a bit like a bamboo plant and the cardamom seeds pods were on viny stems that trailed around the base of the plant.

Some of the other spices we saw were nutmeg and the red coating of the nutmeg that is used to make mace.  The nutmeg tree is the only plant to give two spices…nutmeg and mace. 

We also saw green curry leaves,

black pepper (the peppers on the plant were still green),

allspice (this is our guide climbing the tree to get to the allspice),

turmeric (it’s a rhizome...the guide cut a sliver off to show us),

cinnamon (a bark),

and annatto (used as a flavoring and food coloring).

Ylang Ylang is used in making healing essential oils and fragrances.

There was coffee

and cacao for making chocolate (a favorite of Mary).

We saw a lot of fruits that are not often found in the US.  These included 

sugar apple,

jack fruit,

egg fruit,

bungo (a citrus),

star apple (the star is on the inside),

star fruit (the fruit is shaped like a star),

red bananas,

sweet lime,

red chili peppers,

avocados,

mangosteen (very tasty),

pineapple,

cucumber tree fruit,

and papaya.

There was also the soap berry.  This was used for many years as a soap.  The guide cut it open and, using a bit of water, made a big lather.  Very effective.  This was used for soap in many areas before commercial soap became available.

We were back at the hotel by early afternoon and spent the afternoon resting and working on photos.  We have been eating at the hotel’s restaurant that overlooks the beach.  Rather relaxing.

Tara got us a very good hotel here.  The Serena is permeated with Moroccan architectural influences and has the added benefit of a gorgeous swimming pool.  We are right on the water with lovely views.  Life doesn't get much better.