We had arranged for a dhow back to Mozambique Island at 2pm, so had a relaxing morning. Packed up our bags which had become more strewn about than normal cause we had had four nights here, plus there was lots of space to spread out. Had lunch, and then boarded the dhow. It was full tide so the dhow was able to come all the way up to the lagoon, and we didn't need to wade through water to board.
Our stay at Coral Lodge included a day trip to the Island, so we had a guide for the afternoon courtesy of Coral Lodge. We docked, and has our bags taken to Jardim de Aloes, owned by a friendly Italian named Bruno. A couple minutes later our guide (Eddie) arrived and we rushed off on our tour.
We quickly saw the Palace of São Paulo and the Fort of São Sebastião. Our guide explained the dark history of slavery with Mozambique Island. There's two colours of rocks used to build the fort - the black coral rock was cut out by slaves from the southern part of the island. That area (Makuti Town) is the poorer half, which floods during rainy season due to the digging out of all the rocks. The lighter coloured rocks were brought from Portugal as ballast for empty ships coming to pick up slaves.
After the Fort we walked through the alleys and streets of Stone Town, and then through Makuti Town. The contrast is quite obvious. We reached the southern point (the island is about 3km long) just in time for the sunset.
By the time we walked back to our hotel we were pretty much done for the day.
Our room at Jardim de Aloes was filled with really cool antiques. My end table was an old safe. It was almost like staying in a museum!
Bruno had recommended Karibu's for dinner, and gave directions - left, right, right, follow the road with the archways, take the fork to the right, pass through two pillars, and you're there.
It was a great little Portuguese restaurant, in a centuries old building with original floors and 20' ceilings. The food was excellent - we split two appetizers and two mains which was too much food but we wanted to try everything.
Walked back home (the alleys are really beautiful at night), and fell asleep.
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