Our First Full Day in Stone Town

Day 013: The buffet breakfast at Tembo House Hotel is extensive.  By the way, the word tembo means elephant in Swahili. We enjoyed the beach view restaurant area for our fill. Next, we walked about without the help of any of the tour guides that wait in front.

First, we headed towards the old fort.  Although originally an Arab trading port, the Portuguese ruled here back when they had the largest empire on earth.   The fort, the oldest structure in town, was begun by them but later modified by the conquering Omani rulers.

We walked inside the Stone Town streets, although some were only the size of paths.  I suppose some tourists get lost but the area isn't over a few kilometers so I found getting my bearings relatively easy.  

Later in the day, we had a nap.  Everyone comes to the local beach before sunset.  Then, many proceed to the park area.  Lots of food vendors sell to the crowds there.

Getting to Zanzibar

Day 012: We got to DXB in plenty of time for our 10:10 direct flight to Zanzibar on FlyDubai.

 

Getting into Zanzibar took a bit of time, clocking in at five hours and twenty minutes.  We'd already bought 'special insurance' as the airline had said it was introduced.  We bought it online when we were in Vancouver.  We had to forms to fill out at the airport.  Then, we also had to pay $50 each for the visa on arrival.  It took a bit of time.  We picked up the luggage and wheeled outside.

Although our ATM card from RBC didn't work, we changed just $US 100 and got a taxi to Stone Town, the historical section of Zanzibar's old capital city.

I am surprisingly tired, perhaps because I didn't sleep enough last night. It might be the heat. Unlike Dubai's dry heat, it's humid by the sea here. Jay noticed his bag had been checked most probably at the airport here.  We are guessing for drugs.  Nothing was missing but now the new bag's lock doesn't work right.  

We had lunch on the plane, so had dinner at the hotel. It really wasn't biryani but the portions were large and the chicken was spicy and nice.

 

We walked around town a bit just to get the lay of the land. Stone Town is an interesting maze of streets, most of which are not large enough for vehicles. This will be an interesting town for our short, 4-night stay.

Scenes from Our Last Day in Dubai in 2024

Day 011:  This was our final day.  Jay and I leave on a flight to Zanzibar tomorrow morning at 10:10 am.  That means we'll leave the hotel by 7:30 am.  The rest of the gang has a flight back to Sri Lanka at 4:10 pm, so they'll check out at noon.

Tonight we'll sleep for the last time in the Rose Garden Apartments this year.  We took an evening trip just to the Al-Fahidi Historical Area but found much was closed for renovations and updates.  That means our camel encounter didn't happen on this journey.

We picked up some takeaway food on the way back to the apartment.  So much food for such little money!  Lastly, I had to snap a picture in the BurJuman Metro Station.  We have passed through this area so many times over the last ten days.

The next entry will be from Zanzibar.  It will be our first visit to any part of Tanzania.

Dubai Frame

Day 010: The Dubai Frame was completed in 2018.  It stands not far from where Jay and I lived during the early 90s when working in the city.  We stayed in Al-Karama.  Although not ever the poshest of neighbourhoods, it is centrally located and has convenient shopping.  

In our recent trips, we had never gotten close nor gone up the 48 floors to the observation level.  The top of the frame offers superb views of the city.  As the park had enough land, this design makes as much sense as a tower-type construction would've.  We visited this evening with our group of five.  We took an Uber to Zabeel Park.  We spent as much time sitting at traffic lights as moving to get there.

We went before dusk, so we got a chance to see the sunset and the evening lights begin to shine.  As one enters the frame, one must walk through 'old' Dubai in a small series of photos and displays.  Only 200 visitors per hour can ascend to take in the primarily east-west views, of old and new Dubai.  Oh, and there's also a view under one's feet for those not too skittish of heights.  After descending, one sees glimpses of Dubai in 2050 in the form of a wrap-around multimedia video presentation.

We walked on a pedestrian walkway over to Karama.  It took longer than expected to get to the ADCB Metro Station because there was a final huge shop to check out.

Dubai's Global Village

Day 009: From October, when the weather has cooled a bit and tourism season ramps up, an amusement park opens in the desert just outside Dubai.  We decided to visit Global Village again on this trip.  It's been going on, in one form or another, since the year after we left work in Dubai in 1996.  The present location was constructed this millennium.

We took the Metro under the creek to Union Station.  We boarded bus #103, the direct non-stop route.  Depending on traffic it can take up to an hour and a half.  The 3:35 pm bus took a little over 45 minutes today.

The grounds cost Dhs 25 to enter but as three of our gang are now over 65, we availed ourselves to the senior discount -- FREE!  We were there early enough to enjoy the sunset and the lights flick on all over the 1.6 kilometer site.

Most of the over 70 pavilions from various countries had a market sections with items for sale.  We didn't try any of the amusement rides.  This location hosts many performances of famous singers and entertainers.  Being a Tuesday, it was Family Day today and lots of locals and visitors took advantage of the excellent evening weather.

The dragon laser show was small but an interesting diversion.

As we came early we were tired early.  My Fitbit says we walked over 13 kilometers today.  We took the bus and Metro back to the apartment relatively early.  We returned at around 9:15 pm.

Only Six and a Half Kilometers!

Day 008:  It was a rest day of sorts.  Since our arrival in Dubai, Fitbit indicates we've been walking between 9 and 13.5 kilometers per day.  I admit to getting a bit sore just from all the bipedal locomotion. 

Today, Jay and I walked just 6.5 km.  All of the steps were fairly close to the apartment.  The pictures above show the rather unattractive view from the apartment's balcony.  However the location near both of Dubai's Metro Lines makes it easy and convenient.  We do appreciate the space as useful for clothes drying.  We have a washing machine and with five people, it is used daily.  It's also close to a great number of shops.

I bought a couple of shirts on the other side of the BurJuman intersection.  The girls worked hard to buy exactly enough so that the three suitcases going back to Sri Lanka will have 25 kg each.  They were out a few hours more than us.  Secretly, I'm happy as they are reaching that goal, for it means no more shopping expeditions will be required.

For our evening meal, Jay and I got Indian takeaway also at the shop just across from the BurJuman intersection.  We got dosas and parathas at Mr. Chaat, Indian Street Food.

Al Jaddaf Public Marine Transport

Day 007: There's a huge Carrefour in Dubai's Festival City Mall. The easiest way for us to get over the Creek was to go a couple of stops on the Metro to the Green Line's end. Then, we got on an RTA boat to the shopping complex.  We had to scan the same transit card when getting on and off the little vessel.

 

This is an area of Dubai I'm interested in called Al Jaddaf.  I knew the area from recent online research.  I was keen to check the view from the above-ground metro.  

Back in the day, this area was the beginning of the end of the original creek.  It sort of ended in salt marsh.  Now, however, the creek has been widened and loops all the way around to connect with the waters of the Gulf near Jumeriah Beach.  This development presents many new real estate options for the Emirate.

Jay and I could afford an additional small apartment.  The only real options might be Mexico, Sri Lanka, or here.  The advantages to Dubai is the size of the market, choice of options, and ease of making an international purchase.  It doesn't really make sense for us at our ages though.  It'd probably be much more sensible just to rent or lease longer term wherever we wish to spend time.

Today's trip on the water was about 15 minutes.  The major bus and traffic come to the other side of the mall, so it was pretty empty as we walked around the engineered bay.

The supermarket is huge and also has a lot of deals on non-food items such as electronics and clothing.  This was the store where we one spotted a little stock-taking robot running around the aisles.  We didn't spot it today.  So, either it doesn't work during busy times, or it has been retired.  

We got back to the apartment in the same method but the opposite direction.