Tanzania (english)

I am writing  from one of the many beaches in Zanzibar.  We have been here for the last week and are really enjoying the Tanzanian hospitality and the beautiful beaches.  The first few days we spent in Zanzibar town and stayed in the area of Stone town, which is the heart and soul of Zanzibar.  The town faces out to the ocean and is surrounded on the remaining sides by the main road.  The center is a maze of small, windy cobblestone streets littered with small souvenir shops, tiny restaurants, cafes, guest houses and hotels.  As you walk down the streets you are constantly being greeted "Mambo" "Jambo" " Karibu".  These are the Swahili ways of saying " hello" and "welcome".  Yes, most are trying to sell you something but they are in no way aggressive or too persistent and some just want a little conversation.  The buildings are a mixture of colonial, Arabic and Swahili style construction resulting in a beautiful mixture of architecture.  It is very common to see Masai's walking down the streets in their typical dress with red or blue cloths wrapped around them and tied to their waists with a belt.  They also wear lots of beaded jewelry on  their wrists, ankles and necks and some even have a knife tied into their belts and carry a walking stick.  But it is even more curious and fun to see them here on the beach with their sunglasses on selling their jewelry.  The market in Stone town is very lively and goes on all day.  They have tons of fruits, vegetables, some really big fish and spices (It is called the spice island).  In the evening you can walk outside the marked or down the side streets and eat grilled octopus, calamari, bread fruit, and cassava's.  All throughout the day you can buy peeled oranges which you buy to suck the juice out and then throw away the pulp, mangoes with chili and sugar sprinkled on top or just sit by one of the locals selling spiced coffee on the street and people watch.  After leaving Stone town we took a "Dalla Dalla" (local transport) to Kendwa, one of the most beautiful beaches (that's what we are told) here in Zanzibar.  They are white sand beaches, with turquoise water and the temperature is perfect to swim or just laze around.  There is always someone to offer you a tour somewhere or a snorkeling trip but if you decide not to go they say "Akuna matata", "no problem".  Yesterday we went out on a typical Dhow boat, which is made of wood and has a large sail, and were taken to a nearby private island to snorkel.  Later they took us to a different beach where they had fresh grilled tuna and rice waiting for us for lunch.  On the way back we had a school of Dolphin swim up along the boat and follow us for a bit.  Today we have walked to a nearby village while the tide is low to use the internet and tour around.  We are planning on staying for about 4 or 5 days more before making our way back to Malawi.