Dream Trip 2009

Great Travel Moment

The Spice Islands conjure up the smell of cloves and cumin. Zanzibar, off the horn of East Africa was a short flight away from Kenya and Tanzania. What a surprise to get off the plane to realize I had just arrived in a totally new world. We walked the alleyways of Stonetown, dating back to the Omani protectorate. Full of cultural memory -- remnants of a once flourishing spice and slave trade, elaborately carved wooden doors, waking to the call of the muezzin, and unique wildlife. As we walked we encountered a group of 40 women communally singing. We rounded a corner to find this mother with her children on their way to an outdoor market. What struck me was the emotionally warm, open and shared curiosity of this encounter.