rachel's blog

There are few creatures to rival the gentle beauty and size of the whale sharks that visit Mafia island off the coast of southern Tanzania.

If you go during the season, it's possible to swim right up close to these giants and experience their quiet majesty.

Check out this video from earlier this month, showing how easy it is to swim with whale sharks:

This tune by Sultan King, called 'Baby Hello', is one of the most popular tunes on Zanzibar at the moment. Keep checking back with Mambo as soon we will welcome guest blogger DJ Side from Zenji FM, who will contribute Zenji Flava blog posts and artist videos and interviews.

Sweet potato leaves ('mtoriro') are one of the foods that you find sometimes when you live in Zanzibar, but don't tend to come across as a tourist much. But these young leaves are really tasty and nutritious and can be used instead of spinach ('mchicha'). Ask around for them if you are in Darajani market near Stone Town - small bundles of arrow shaped green leaves you buy in bunches and which are wrapped up in newspaper for you to take home.

When you get them home, strip of the bigger rougher stems, wash the leaves and then put them out in the sun for a couple of hours to dry out. Read more »

Sometimes as a travel writer it is hardest to write about the place you live. However exotic it might have been when you arrived, when you call it home, the extraordinary starts to become mundane. Hard to believe, you might think, that somewhere as wonderfully mysterious sounding as Zanzibar could start to seem commonplace and everyday. Yet after a procession of months and then years, regularity gradually erodes novelty. Read more »

Mambo will regularly publish a food blog called Zenjiflava with the best traditional and modern recipes from the spice islands. This is one of my favourite recipes and one that you can prepare with all Zanzibari ingredients.

Try it if you are based in Zanzibar or if you've been on holiday and want a taste of the tropics at home. The tangy, hot prawns go well with the creamy coconut rice.

You will need: Read more »