We headed out to the spice farm which was about 30 or 45 minutes away from our hotel in Stone Town. Almost right when we arrived it started pouring rain. Considering it's the rainy season here we were lucky it waited that long to rain! We had a guide who took us through the forest/jungle area and showed us vanilla, tangawizi (ginger), turmeric, cinnamon, pili pili hoho (hot peppers), curry leaves, karafu (cloves), local iodine trees, dragon fruit, lemongrass, cardamom, bananas, mlongi longi, peppercorns, anato, and many other plants and trees. We had a guide taking us around and another man carrying a knife who would run out to the plant or tree and take either some of the leaves or fruit from the tree for us to smell or taste. It was incredible that the guide knew what every plant was and the uses for each plant and what spices could be made from it. I found the local iodine tree the most fascinating because the sap could instantly make bleeding stop if you have a cut or scrape. Another favorite for me was the tangawizi which is actually ginger. I enjoyed this one so much because 1) it's made into one of my favorite drinks at home, Ale 8 One, and 2) it's made into one of my favorite drinks here, Stoney Tangawizi!
After the spice tour we were introduced to an entertaining character named Mr. Butterfly. He ended up climbing up a 40 foot talk coconut tree to get us fresh coconuts for us to try. He put a loop of rope made out of the coconut husks around his feet and just started flying up the tree. He sang and yelled down at us the whole time he was climbing. Then on the way down he started adding some dance moves in with the singing and it was interesting to say the least. When he made it back to the ground he cut the coconuts for us so we could try the water and the meat. Mr. Butterfly asked us if anyone wanted to try to climb a coconut tree and one of the guys in the group, John Michael, volunteered. Unfortunately he only made it about 3 feet off the ground.
After meeting Mr. Butterfly we went back to an area where we could try all of the different types of fruit they grew at the spice farm. We tried little bananas, cucumber, dragon fruit, cacao fruit, oranges, grapefruit, star fruit, and pineapple. My favorite was the dragon fruit! I had never had it before, but it tasted a lot like a Sweetart and had a very strange texture.
To finish off our time at the spice farm we drove about 10 minutes from the farm to a little village for a traditional spice lunch. We walked into one of the buildings and say down on the floor. Then rice, beans, and octopus in a brown sauce was put in front of us and it was all delicious. After lunch some of us went outside to play with the children who lived there and they were so adorable and friendly! They loved when we would take pictures and then show them the pictures on the camera. They ran after us yelling Swahili phrases as we walked back to our bus when we were leaving-so precious. Luckily I got a really adorable picture of one of the little boys giving Nick a high-five that I cannot wait to put on Facebook when I get home!
Here is a picture one of our professors took while I was showing the children a picture I had just taken of them.
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