One Week in Zanzibar

A week in Zanzibar

Once university exams were over, I go home to pick up mum, Zanzibar awaits us!! On 11 January I leave from Pesaro on the regional train that takes me to Ancona, then the Eurostar to Rome and finally the shuttle train to Fiumicino. On 12 January at 2.00 we take the plane from Rome Fiumicino (Neos flight, excellent staff, excellent flight) to the island I had been dreaming of for years...

How lovely, my dream is about to come true..... And there I am seeing the Sahara desert again (last year I had been to Kenya)... stunning from the plane.... Towards 11.30 local time (two hours ahead of Italy), after 7h30 of flight, I arrive..... Zanzibar airport is really tiny!! A shame, though, that to get your suitcase you have to tip the one unloading the luggage, otherwise they open it for you!!! It is a really bad system, but after the tiredness of the journey you do not want that hassle..

OK, we leave the airport, it is very hot, the sun is high, we look for the minibus... but it has already left... so the tour operator's assistant entrusts us to Alì, with whom we wait for the minibus for about half an hour.... We take the minibus; after about 50 minutes we arrive at the hotel. A shame the last stretch of road is full of potholes....

Coral Reef resort in Pwani Mchangani: we do not have air conditioning (my mother cannot take the heat anymore), some rooms are near the temporary rubbish dump and it stinks!! The rooms have no telephone line, the bathroom has no windows, just 8 little holes in the wall, the cups are stained, Karambola rates it as three-star superior, but as far as the rooms go it leaves much to be desired..... but the food is excellent, the staff are friendly.... My mother called it a sweet prison, because if you leave the resort there is nothing, you cannot reach the village of Pwani Mchangani on foot, you are forced to go out by minibus and there is no contact with the local population, unlike in Nungwi. Oh well, complaints aside..... what a spectacle of a sea you see from the lobby!! I run to put on my swimsuit.... I run to the beach....

and I burn my shoulders...(even though I am the Mediterranean type, protection factor 12 is not enough)

The second day

I spent the whole day at sea; thanks to the low tide I went walking on the coral reef, but it is impossible to go there alone, because of the beach boys, who follow you insistently to earn a few dollars and you cannot shake them off...

Walking on the beach, far from our resort, we notice a whale: it has beached itself!!! What a stink it makes!!! The local people took a good 3 days to carry it away piece by piece, because they use it to make oil...

In the following days I went swimming beyond the coral reef, which is about a kilometre and a half from the coast, but can be reached on foot at low tide....there the water is very fresh and an intense blue, the fish are brightly coloured, and the starfish a splendid red.

Here are the excursions I did, naturally with the beach boys (Taratruga Sullemani and Alì Babbà):

-Spice tour & Stone town: In the middle of the Zanzibar forest they took us to explore all the spice plants: cardamom, cinnamon (it is incredible how many flavours it has, the root is indeed similar to Vicks), zanzero, pepper, turmeric.....and we also drank a ginger drink. From the spice tour we set off for Stone Town, the city of Zanzibar, with the sultan's palace, the slave market, the fish and meat market (terrible hygiene conditions) and the fruit market, then an aperitif at the African House, from which you can see a splendid sunset over the sea.

-Kizimkazi (the bay of a thousand dolphins), Jozani forest, the mangroves, Prison Island We set off for the southern tip of the island, where the dolphins are. Despite the bad weather (in Zanzibar it clears up after thirty minutes; the sun is always there), we board a 15-person boat.... After about 20 minutes the first dolphins... what a spectacle, they jump, they swim in front of us.... I feel like I am right in the Little Mermaid cartoon.... We spent the morning on the boat, we return to Kizimkazi for lunch and then back on the minibus to go to the Jozani forest, where there are the red colobus, a kind of monkey with a red back.... what a sight they are, so cute, and watching them move among the branches, with their leaps, never falling.... Back on the minibus, heading for the mangroves.....

Wonderful to walk on a boardwalk in the middle of the mangroves (because of the low tide); these particular trees grow in both salt and fresh water.... so beautiful to be surrounded by so much nature.... We set off again for Stone Town, from where we will take the boat to go to Prison Island (where the prisons were), the island with the giant tortoises, imported from the Seychelles by the sultan... The island is private, owned by an Indian, but you can visit the park that holds these funny tortoises... so endearing; when they lower themselves and retreat into their shells they make a strange noise.... It is sunset by now.... we take the minibus back to the hotel, and have dinner with a typical Swahili meal... Excellent food, and the sugarcane juice is delicious!!

Nungwi, the Ibiza of Zanzibar

This village is at the northern tip of the island; it is famous for its little beach bars (including the one run by the rasta community) and for the fact that it is not subject to the tides... But first, let us visit the aquatic park, with the water tortoises.... This is an ideal place for anyone looking for fun and a crystal-clear sea, fresh, that drops off immediately...

Stone town in 4

I, my mum, and Gianluca and his mum decide to go to Stone town on our own, without anyone else, to see the new part and to enter the sultan's palace... In fact I would advise going in a small group to this intriguing little town, with its fantastic Arab and Indian doors....

Lobster dinner (at Tartaruga's house??)

Last evening.... 12 of us leave the hotel in Sullemani's minibus to go and eat lobster and fish... the road is full of potholes, we head into the palm grove and go and eat lobster, cicadas, prawns, octopus and rice with potatoes and coconut. If I may advise you, DO NOT DO IT, 20 euros wasted; they had told us they were taking us to the fishing village and instead we were in a little village and not in contact with local people....

IMPRESSIONS: This island is a melting pot of everything: it is Africa but it is also Arabia, so besides the earth-and-straw houses you can find beautiful Arab-style architecture, but it is also India, as the fantastic doors of Stone town testify. It is a very intriguing place....

As for the beaches.... well, in Pwani Mchangani it is stunning: it is very wide, very white, full of coconut palms where you can shelter from the sun. The only flaw is that the water is not warm, but BOILING!!(if you do not go beyond the reef) So if you want a cool swim without palms, I recommend the lively Nungwi. But if you want to relax without too many people around, well, Pwani Mchangani is ideal; I will remember forever the walks along this beach...

In conclusion: if you want to See and Relax in Zanzibar you need two weeks....... it is a stunning island, the people are always smiling and always greet you: Jambo mambo!!! And you reply: Boa! Karibuni Zanzibar (Goodbye!!!!!!) Thank you mum for giving me this holiday