On Monday, March 18th, we departed from Bagamoyo to head to our last and long-awaited stop: Zanzibar! During travel day, we got a glimpse of Dar-es-Salaam, where we boarded the ferry for Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar archipelago. While some slept throughout the whole two-hour ferry ride, others enjoyed the view on the lower terrace, wind in their hair, facing the sea. We arrived in the evening, exhausted but happy, at Manch Lodge, which would be our home for the last week of the program.

The next morning, we enjoyed a tour of Stone Town, led by local guides. While strolling through the narrow streets, we got to admire the mixed Arabic, Persian, Indian, European and African influences present on the island, thanks to its rich history. We learned how to differentiate Indian from Arabic doors, and wandered through the fish market and the colorful spice market of Zanzibar city. We got to see the house of the famous Freddie Mercury, which was very exciting for all the Queen fans in our group. We also wandered to the Jaws corner (named after a mural of the movie Jaws on a building), where local men gather to drink coffee and debate politics

On Wednesday, we went to a spice farm in Dole, half an hour away from Stone town. There, we got to discover how many spices and fruits are cultivated: jackfruit, breadfruit, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, vanilla, star fruit, passion fruit, etc. We even got a demonstration of how to harvest coconuts from the tree and got to drink fresh coconut juice, while getting palm leave crowns put on our heads. We then had a delicious lunch, made with all the spices we saw and tasted some local pineapple, grapefruit, and different kinds of banana. 

On Friday, we went snorkeling two hours away from Stone Town, in an absolutely heavenly spot! We dove into the perfectly turquoise water to look at an array of fish, coral, starfish, and sea cucumbers. We also had a few encounters with jellyfish, but lived to tell about them. The day ended with a fresh fish lunch and sea turtle viewing. 

The rest of our time in Zanzibar was spent working on our various final projects, our journals, and preparing for our presentations and exams. However, we also had the freedom to go wander in town (in groups of 4, always!). Some of us went to try out local cafes, while others went to the spice market and the night market or discovered the local music scene by attending a drumming or Taarab concert.

In a few days, it will be time to say goodbye to what has been our family for the last ten weeks, and get back to the world outside of the program. It is definitely a bitter-sweet moment, but we all know this is only an “au revoir” – reunions in Montreal are already being planned!AFSS 2019 – that’s a wrap!

By: Julien G, Natalie and Lina