Country number #62
Zanzibar – Island of Spice
Sitting on top of my full suitcase trying to fit in yet another dress which I know for fact I won’t even have a chance to wear with the collection of attire I’ve packed already – yes, I’m supposed to be a seasoned traveller, and yes, I still overpack … to be fair, I don’t think having 11kg in total classes as too much stuff by any means, especially for a girl, but I should have this nailed down to the last item by now … before each trip I get this weird sensation, a mixture of such excitement and what I can only describe as getting cold feet… but here we are, finally on the way to Heathrow. It’s threatening to snow, but we have a lucky escape and with no delay we are whisked on the brand spanking new Qatar A350 to the tropical paradise.
So I wanted to start the year with doing something different… there was always something quite mysterious, exciting and outright magical about this island of spice. I am going to Zanzibar – Zanzibar? I’m met with puzzled and quizzical faces of people trying to work out the location … yes, it’s part of Tanzania – Tanzania? Got the same confused looks … well yes, Freddie Mercury’s birthplace …. still blank faces… never mind!
Being of the ‘ants in pants’ type of person, I knew I wouldn’t just be able to hang around in one place so we split our stay between 3 locations – beach #1, town and beach #2. Simples. But this island has as many beaches to offer as there are opinions on which one is meant to be THE best one.
In the end it came down to what I wanted to see – cheeky red Columbus monkeys, giant tortoises, Stone Town & the stunning turquoise seas. And we also wanted to sample some lovely African cuisine.
Zanzibar’s airport is like stepping into the 80s – fully outdoor, airport staff literally loading luggage off the plane by hand, bringing it inside, throwing it on the floor for passengers to collect.
On arrival one has to purchase visa first (payment only by CC), then you go through immigration where they’ll take your full set of finger prints. And you’re out. Jambo! (hello) Karibu! (welcome) everyone shouts all the time…
East Coast
Our first stay is at Michamvi near Paje in a place called Upendo which means Love in Swahili. It’s a nice boutique style type of place. There are cushions and lanterns scattered around to create a nice chilled out atmosphere.
There’s a number of advantages of this location – Jozani Park with monkeys & mangroves are under half an hour drive from here so can easily be done as a half day trip which is what we did.
The hotel is also literally opposite The Rock – a restaurant built on a rocky outcrop just steps off the shore at Michamvi. You can take a walk over during a low tide.
The long sweeping beach is virtually deserted. Where is everyone? There are a few boutique places along the beach but well hidden. One thing we missed here were a few local bars to go to … but our place served amazing food (super tasty octopus salads and samosas!) and we went to the Rock for lunch once. It’s so stupidly expensive by any means but the food was nice and we enjoyed our time there.
Our room was huge with a bath tub and had a big terrace with fantastic views of the sea and the Rock. On our first night we were woken up by an uninvited intruder, which we later identified as a mouse that had discovered a luxury pack of chocolates we picked up on our Qatar flight and left in an open bag. The noise it created you’d be forgiven to think that a corpse was being dragged across the room! It had a nest under our sink and the next day the cheeky rodent returned the empty box and left it outside the sink area as an attempt to ask for more!
Stone Town
A maze of narrow streets where cardamon, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla spices dominate the air … beautiful alleyways with bright textiles, historical buildings and then there’s the door – did you know that there are over 200 amazingly ornamental, elaborately and intricately carved doors?
In the afternoon heat we explored the town and admired the many beautiful colonial buildings – Old Fort, Sultan’s Palace etc. Beautiful views over Stone Town can be enjoyed from the many rooftop restaurants and bars and are only interrupted by the sound of air raid sirens announcing the start of prayers being read over loud speakers throughout the town. We tried the Emerson Spice House and Tea House where we enjoyed African food tasting experiences whilst watching the sun set over the glistening sea. For a more local feel, the food stalls at Forodhani Gardens night market are great to enjoy seafood specialities and watch the waterfront come alive after the sun goes down.
Here you realise that Zanzibar isn’t just about admiring the clear blue waters and relaxing on the beach; one cannot ignore the slums of Stone Town and poverty … street hawkers trying to get tourists onto their boats or to take one of their trips. One such person was Tony Montana (or so he called himself) – everywhere we went, there he was… small-built kinda guy with cheeky smile and commentary. We got fond of his banter and so after 3 days of us continuously bumping into him, we took him out for drink at Taparia. Turned out he owned a small boat, his mother left when he was little; he talked about corruption, bribes collected by police, rivalry between the touts and his love for Zanzibar.
We took a trip out to Prison island & Nakupenda sandbank – with no time to arrange this ahead, we asked the hotel to arrange (I know lazy, right) but we ended up on a private dhow (boat),meaning the biggest advantage was we got to all the places ahead of tourists… downside there was no food or cover included but give me privacy over that any day.
Sometimes I hate the human kind – a group of loud tourists turned up on Prison island; a man in his early 50s sat on a 190 yr old tortoise and found it hilarious, the same group started loud cheering when one of the tortoise males hopped on a female turtle to have a little enamoured moment.
Nakupenda sandbank – is not far away from the town, you can still see the silhouettes of the buildings in the distance yet you are aware of being in the open sea. There’s nothing in the sight apart from this white dot that keeps getting bigger and bigger and then as you get closer, you realise it’s sand. Lots of it.
A few locals are set up to welcome the tourists who will come this way soon after us. Some of them are preparing the catch of the day – octopus, lobsters on the grill and mango avocado salads and others are selling their craft. We have 2 blissful hours on this beautiful corner of the world to ourselves. I skip around from the sea onto the sand then back into the sea and out again … only a flock of birds are here to show who the real landlord of this place is.
With the first tour arrivals we signal to our boatman its time for us to leave this beauty behind. We don’t want to ruin our memory by shouty tourists. 🙂
On the way back from the sandbank the crossing back to Stone Town was a bit rough and my hat took off to the sea. Our boatman exhibited major hunting skills and got my hat back, although it took some 3 days to dry out!
Before leaving Stone Town we had to try the famous spicy coffee – I was so looking forward to this as I regularly add cinnamon to mine, but sadly I did not enjoy it – there’s only so much cardamon spice I can take in my coffee…
Pongwe
I found the perfect shade of blue… it’s almost hypnotising, I just can’t take my eyes off the stunning sea. If I thought the first beach place had a pretty spectacular setting, then it’s only because I hadn’t been to Pongwe yet. Pongwe took things to another level with its amazing blue, turquoise colours. I only ever saw a direct comparison when visiting the Maldives …
Walking through the lobby and getting a glimpse of the beach and the sea through the palm trees, I was left in a happy, enthusiastic whirl of pleasure and purpose.
Searching for starfish was one of our daily activities along with strolling along this stunning shore (gotta keep my Fitbit happy), indulging in the local delicacies, watching the locals work on their seaweed gardens when the tide was low. Falling asleep to the sound of crashing waves is now my favourite type of lullaby.
Our lovely beach villa is furnished in a traditional style with a private sun deck and sun-loungers and direct beach access. The other villas, although slightly set back in the tropical gardens, have a view of the stunning beach/sea as well. There is also a lovely infinity pool set to the side of the resort raised on a rock directly above the beach. It blends into the surroundings without stealing the limelight from the real views, yet it still creates a great feature. Food here was pretty decent. Prices are ok if you accept you’re more or less a captive to the place, we knew ahead it’ll be on a par with the UK; except for the ridiculously overpriced seafood platter which comes at $138! If you fancy a change of scenery, there were a couple of other hidden resorts with bars next door which serve cheaper and much nicer / stronger cocktails. 😉 Surprisingly, wine in Zanzibar is fairly cheap and tasty as it’s imported from South Africa.
Note on malaria – there are signs all over the island that malaria has been eradicated, however we followed the advice of the medical experts here in the UK and took malarone as a precaution. It was dry season so the risk was very low, and in reality there were very few insects / mosquitos. All places ensure your rooms are equipped with mosquito nets and thoroughly sprayed every night. Still better safe than sorry!
Weather
We had glorious sunshine and 31 degrees during the entire 10 days. On the coast it can get quite windy, all places have wind breakers installed in the bars / restaurants. With no wind the sun is pretty fierce I must admit. It seemed the heat intensified between 3-4pm, we definitely felt it in Stone Town where the taller buildings stand in the way of the sea breeze.
Qatar Airways & transit in Doha
Excellent service and food. When I bought the flights, there was a scheduled technical stopover in Oman listed but when we boarded the flight we were told we would be headed directly to Doha.
Doha Airport is absolutely enormous! Transfers are handled very efficiently, even if you deplane what feels like some 5km away from the arrival hall and the transfer journey takes you through miles of roads and junctions going past fuel tanks in between the dessert sands before you actually reach the airport.
We had a slightly funny encounter with a fellow passenger: “How do you say thank you in Doha language?”…
End
We hear that the government has set out an ambitious objective to make Zanzibar a destination for the luxury traveller. You can see these efforts are definitely already on the way as the new airport terminal is slowly progressing next to the old one. I can’t help but think that certain charm will be lost after the passengers will go through an airport that looks just like any other …
This trip was all about escaping the winter blues, London grey and rainy skies and finding my perfect shade of blue, whilst getting a glimpse of African culture – suffice to say, this trip has definitely left me with the desire to explore Africa even more… hopefully soon, but until then – Hakuna Matata!
Eyes On The Cloud 