Uroa

Today, we started with a SPICE TOUR at a local spice farm. I was not super excited when we headed out there, but as the tour went on, I started to get into it. We had the opportunity to either taste, smell, or eat a wide variety of spices and fruits.

We started with a red hairy looking bud about the size of a walnut, it was called a Lipstick spice, that if you mashed the seeds inside, it is used as lipstick or the dot on your forehead in India. Next it was turmeric, a yellow spice used for cosmetics as well as dietary functions. Others were lemon grass used for tea and cooking. Also tamarind, Cardamom, curry leaf, vanilla, clove, cinnamon, chili peppers, and ginger.

They also grow yams and sweet potatoes, almonds, star fruit, various citrus fruits, coconuts . . . and for other products, they grow bamboo and Teak. Most of this is not natural to Zanzibar, but due to its ideal climate, it all grows very well here.

We walked around for well over an hour, and it was a very interesting tour. Our guides were very informative, and would pick and prepare each for us to smell, taste, or totally eat. A really great tour.Read more