Out of Africa, Part 9: Fiordani Beach Picnic

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

One of my absolute favorite activities in Zanzibar was feasting on the beach at dusk. Because the sun sets by 6:00 PM every day on the equator, darkness settles in early. The sight of brightly lit lanterns all along the beach illuminating the white chef outfits of the merchants was beautiful and romantic. There were tables and tables of food, each one piled with probably 15 kinds of fresh fish and shellfish. The chefs walked us around the table naming each type of fish. Then we chose what we wanted and watched as they grilled our choices. This had to be the most delicious fish I have ever tasted - it was just melt-in-your mouth fresh, and oh-so-good!

Here is the soda cart - the Fanta mango and pineapple were two of my favorites. Soda in bottles, sweetened with real sugar cane - it is so yummy! In the U.S. I always drink diet, but there is no such thing in Africa! On a rare occasion we did find Coke Lite; but the Stoney ginger soda and the Fanta flavors were too good to pass up.

Zanzibari pizza was another new experience. You can see it being prepared in this picture. It didn't really resemble our pizza, but it was good! The chefs top something like a tortilla with a cooked meat/onion mixture (I think); add some veggies and then crack an egg on top. This is then fried and topped with another "tortilla." It sounds strange, but you have to try it - delicious!

Here we are sharing some of the fish and "pizza."

And then there was the fresh sugar cane juice. It was so interesting to watch it being made. The sugar cane stalks were put through the press over and over, each time being folded in half once more. It was amazing how much juice was produced! Then delicious fresh lime juice was added, making a wonderfully tasty drink.

We enjoyed the juice so much that we went back for another!

And no picnic is nearly as much fun without the perfect companions! Annikah loved showing us all of her fav things in Zanzibar, and of course we loved sharing those times with her.