Most importantly: the food

Lunch is one of my favorite parts of the day besides, of course, dinner and breakfast. And midmorning snack. And desert. Anyway, my point is this: I feel compelled to note that the food in Tanzania is most excellent, especially street food. For example:

Tables lined the entry street to Stone Town in the evening. At your request, the server/chefs heat up falafel, plantains, chapattis and various other delicacies (octopus and other dead animals, if you're into that sort of thing). Although the falafel was far from life-changing, the plantains were delightful. (Speaking of octopus, on another occasion we saw several locals eating tentacles for breakfast. I think I'll stick with oatmeal.)

To go with your falafel, you can get sugar cane juice which is squeezed before your very eyes. They run the cane through this large-geared contraption several times, collecting its juices, and then add ginger and lime to the can and run it again through the press. It tastes like ginger lemonade. Or should I say limeade?

I tried ugali in the north of Zanzibar, in the beach town Nungwi. This detail doesn't affect the taste, I'm sure, but is included so that I can tell the story of that meal. M and I walked up and down the beach several times, and finally settled on this small restaurant. It had only two tables and a tiny kitchen working without electricity. For this reason, the food took a very long time and the waiter decided to spend that time seated at our table, chatting with us. A pretty relaxed work environment, that.

Ugali is a sort of cornmeal mash that is eaten with the hands, which is always a fun way to consume your lunch. I had it with vegetable curry cooked in coconut milk.

In Zanzibar you can also get what they call "Zanzibar pizzas," which are somewhat like crepes, cooked on drum-like contraptions. I got one with banana; M's was filled with egg and butter and mayonnaise who knows what all else. She liked it.

This particular pizza stand was nestled next to Mercury's bar and restaurant, named for one Freddy Mercury, who was born on Zanzibar. Unfortunately, the restaurant did not play Queen either time we were in it, but the curried vegetable soup was tasty.