After the second service was finished, I was invited to attend a meeting with the church elders. The purpose was basically to take note of their needs and concerns with regards to the partnership between our communities, and to transmit what I would learn to Helgoland’s congregation. It was a very interesting session and helped me to understand a little more about the local culture and about the issues the people of Mwanakwerekwe were facing. At 1:30 pm, Saraphia and I left for lunch at the family of Mr. Mwekyembe, another church member and friend of my parents who had invited me, too. I was agreed that I would be back at the community guesthouse at 4 pm in order to meet with my driver. He was supposed to drive Saraphia and me to Nungwi, a popular beach resort at the northern tip of the island where I wanted to spend tonight and the day tomorrow. Unfortunately, it seemed that there was some kind of misunderstanding between my contact and whoever was in charge of organising the driver: when Saraphia and I were all set up and ready, waiting for the car to come and pick us up, we ended up waiting 90 minutes before it turned out that the driver wasn’t even aware of this transfer and that he wasn’t unavailable for the rest of the day. So instead, we decided to go to Stone Town for the evening and then take the car to Nungwi tomorrow morning.

At 5:30 pm Saraphia and I took a dalla-dalla to the city centre and made our way to a hotel called Emerson & Green. I had read about it and its gorgeous roof terrace from where they promised a terrific view over Stone Town. Plus, I wanted to leave an envelope for Monsieur and Madame Dubucq, the Belgian couple I had met at the Breezes Beach Club, who would be staying here for their last night before returning to Europe. They had offered to take some post to Brussels and mail it from there which would be safer and faster than if I send it from Africa. Therefore, I wanted to give them the picture CD I prepared yesterday to send it to my parents. When Saraphia and I were still at the hotel’s reception, Monsieur and Madame Dubucq happened to arrive themselves and we decided to stay for a cocktail on the roof terrace. This place is really extraordinary and makes you feel like an extra in one of the stories of the “1001 Nights” fairy-tales. Being the second tallest building in Stone Town of Zanzibar (and if you read my diary carefully, you should know which is the only one that’s taller), the hotel has been restored to its former glory when it was the residence of one of the richest men in the Swahili Empire. As it says on the Emerson & Green web site: “Atmosphere is of principal importance as the furnishings are all original Zanzibari antiques of varied origins and styles that, together, create the impressions of Arabian nights and sultan princesses escaping in the dead of the night for romance.”

Not necessarily in search for romance but rather for a unique sunset experience, the four of us were lucky to get a seat on the very small, not to say tiny, roof terrace where you basically sit on the carpet, surrounded by cushions, pillows and small wooden tables, under a canopy. If you were planning to stay for dinner, reservations would be required, but as we promised to leave before the dinner guests would arrive, we were allowed to stay for one cocktail. And that was all it took to enjoy the view over the roofs of Stone Town and to experience a beautiful sun disappearing into the Indian Ocean. (For pictures of the roof terrace of Emerson & Green go to www.zanzibar.org/emegre/mainframe.htm and then choose Towertop Restaurant at the bottom menu...)

After the sunset cocktail, I was happy to have my angels on my side once again: I had realised that I forgot my floppy disc in the internet cafe yesterday, so I went there to see if they found it. Otherwise, all my diary writing of the past weeks would have been in vain! Somehow I was sceptical but then again, strangely enough, not worried at all. And indeed: When I came back to the internet place, my disc was still in the A: drive of the computer I had used! I picked it up and was extremely happy to be so damned lucky again.

Saraphia and I still spent an hour walking around in Stone Town and I enjoyed the evening atmosphere which I wouldn’t have experienced without her, since I still stuck to my safety rule not to go out alone at night. Just this afternoon, Madame Dubucq had told us the story of another female traveller who had been mugged in the streets of Stone Town a couple of days ago. Not only did I have the advantage of not being alone, I also enjoyed Saraphia’s company and the fact that she was a native inhabitant of Zanzibar. Thanks to her, I learned a lot about the life of local young women. In the end, we returned to Mwanakewrekew by dalla-dalla and I went to bed around 9 pm.