Zanzibar? Hakuna Matata

We left from Malpensa, it was us, THE MAGNIFICENT 4!Anna Robby Tella and Cesare.The destination was to be Zanzibar and precisely the famous beach of Kiwengwa, on the east coast of the island.After 7.15 hours of flight here we are at the airport where a stifling heat welcomed us, along with the shocking approach with the locals who assail you to extract a few dollars with any excuse. At the moment I was a bit annoyed but I would only understand later that it was poverty that led them to all this. After that they loaded us onto the coach heading to the hotel where we arrived after about 2 hours.The road to travel is, to say the least, destroyed.It is from the coach journey that you begin to realise the poor situation of the inhabitants of Zanzibar. You pass among villages of dilapidated houses, built with mud and straw, children playing in the dust and cows grazing on the rubbish.

I defy anyone to remain impassive. Arriving at the Mapenzi Beach hotel, it feels like reaching an oasis! They serve us fresh wipes to pass over our faces, a cocktail and they assign us the rooms which are spacious with a nice four-poster bed covered by a mosquito net, built-in wardrobe, giant bathroom, air conditioning and veranda with chairs and table! The Mapenzi is stunning, it has a typical African-style architecture with very warm tones that makes you fall in love immediately! It is made up of immense halls and staircases covered by a roof of wooden beams and straw.

Scattered here and there are intimate little sitting rooms with sofas and big cushions, and there is a four-poster one with a mosquito net that is very relaxing! The food is excellent and abundant, with local dishes and African ones too.The restaurant is raised so as to dominate the village and the beach; from the table you can relax watching the continuous change of the sea…because you know it, right? Zanzibar is indeed famous for this, for the phenomenon of the tides.

Over the course of the day you will never see the beach the same: you can have the water close by or you can have it a kilometre and a half away! When it retreats as far as the coral reef you'll find a kilometre of uncovered, very white beach that displays like a stall starfish, sea urchins and shells! When the tide rises, the water begins to take colour and shade into all the tones of green and blue! It's a real spectacle! The beauty of Zanzibar is that it has a lot to offer its tourists with the various excursions that can be made. We personally relied, like most of the other people, on the BEACH BOYS, the so-called beach boys. We were accompanied by the group of PILO and GIACOMO whom I absolutely want to recommend to everyone as they are very reliable.

Personally they won my heart with how they manage to make themselves appreciated with their simple questions and their very sweet smiles! It is in this regard that I want to make an appeal that will seem strange to you. On the last day we discovered, talking with Pilo, that he had never eaten a slice of pizza, can you believe it? For us it is absurd. So please, anyone going to Kiwengwa beach look for Pilo, it's not hard to find him, and bring him a slice of pizza outside the village just for the pleasure of doing a bit of good to people less fortunate than us! We didn't have time! For us the effort is minimal! Anyway let's get to the excursions we took part in: BLUE LAGOON: The meeting point is outside the hotel usually at 8.00.

We set off by coach and go to the south of the island, to Fumba where we take the boat to reach Kwale Island which is a strip of deserted sand in the middle of the Indian Ocean of a breathtaking beauty. It is surrounded by a sea of incredible shades of blue and by a coral reef rich in corals of the strangest shapes, very beautiful colourful fish and red starfish. After snorkelling, we take the boat again and go to another nearby, much larger island for lunch, also because Kwale is destined at a certain hour to be submerged by water because of the tide except for the upper dip which will become a meeting place for seagulls that will rise in flight at the passing of every boat! We are ready to eat and we take our seats at table under the huts equipped to welcome hungry tourists. Meanwhile the boys prepare food on their barbecues.

Lunch is a triumph of shellfish, lobsters, prawns and octopus in abundance! On the island you also find a giant Baobab. After 2 hours we take the boat again and go to visit the mangrove park. Very beautiful too. On the way back there is the chance of a swim and you dive from the boat into the turquoise water, near the "remains" of Kwale, with the many seagulls rising in flight at our arrival. Cost € 35.00. DOLPHIN TOUR+JOZANI FOREST: Departure by coach where after 2 hours you arrive at Kizimkazi, a small fishing village in the south of the island where you take a boat that goes offshore to spot the dolphins. They made us wait but when they decided it was the moment the wait was abundantly repaid! They were beside our boat and we jumped in at once, we thought they would run away and instead they stayed there with us swimming! A truly exciting experience.

Lunch is served in a restaurant in the area. In the afternoon you visit the Jozani Forest where you can see the "red monkeys"(Red Colubus). They are beautiful compared to the monkeys we usually imagine and it is a species present only in Zanzibar. They have a red back, Elvis-style tufts and very long tails! They are not afraid and come close. Cost € 25.00. MNEMBA ISLAND(half day): We always set off from the hotel, this time heading North. We pass through a village of locals and arrive after about 1 hour at the beach where we then board to sail along the island of Mnemba, on which you cannot land as it is private.

The water around this islet is incredible and, observed from the boat, it looks like a Maldives island, white sand like talcum powder and tufts of palms! We jumped from the boat and underwater it was full of corals and colourful fish! The day ends with an unusual coach ride on the beach! Cost € 15.00. NUNGWI BEACH(half day): The direction is the extreme north of the island and precisely Nungwi. The beach is wonderful as is the sea which is not subject to the changing of the tides. On the beach there are bars and restaurants. The trip ends with a splendid sunset. What better moment to mourn our holiday which has come to an end? The return is in the evening and it's nice because you can see life in the villages at night! There is one TV in the whole village and the people gather in a group to watch it. In the smaller ones there is nothing and they don't even have light.

On arrival, one of the saddest moments, saying goodbye to the fantastic boys who accompanied us on this holiday! Cost € 10.00. The coach drops us far from the hotel entrance so we walk a little stretch on foot and when we raise our eyes we realise how many stars the sky has! It is an image that I carry within me, as well as the simplicity and the smiles of the inhabitants of this island who, despite the 1000 problems they have to face, do nothing but repeat: HAKUNA MATATA(no problem)! We have a lot to learn from these people!"A journey does not begin at the moment we set off nor end at the moment we reach the destination. In reality it begins much earlier and never ends, since the ribbon of memories keeps running inside us even after we have stopped. It is the travel virus, a substantially incurable disease."(Ryszard K.)