Zanzibar

We flew to Dar Es Salaam with Air Malawi via Blantyre (in Malawi). To our surprise the flight was actually pretty good and we even got a half decent meal on board.

After arriving in Dar Es Salaam we bought a couple of sim cards in a shop just outside arrivals and, after some negotiation with a number of taxi drivers, jumped in a taxi to our hotel in the centre of town.

Our flight landed in the evening and by the time we made it to our hotel it was quite late so all we wanted to do was hit the hay.

We didn’t plan on staying in Dar, it’s a big, dusty, bustling city and our thoughts were running more towards relaxing on a sun lounger with a cocktail in hand, so the next morning we headed straight for the port and the Zanzibar ferry.

We hopped in a Tuk Tuk and before long we were surrounded by hoards of people and the absolute chaos that is the ferry terminal. Luckily we had pre-booked our ferry tickets online which made life a little easier but the process of getting through to the waiting area is complete carnage and if we had to do it all again today I would be none the wiser. On the plus side, everybody who worked there was very helpful and ushered us from one desk to another to get us through, and somehow, despite having only bought standard class tickets we ended up in the first class waiting area comfortably seated under a very welcome large fan.

The ferry itself was an oasis of calm with comfortable, spacious seating (in standard class) and, despite some initial swell upon exiting the sheltered harbour, the rest of the two-hour journey passed smoothly.

Arrival at Zanzibar was less chaotic than the Dar Es Salaam end but the terminal is still very busy. When you arrive you actually have to go to immigration and get a passport stamp for entry into Zanzibar, even though it is part of Tanzania.

There is also a real stinger of a tax for entry to the island in the guise of mandatory travel insurance for USD 44 per person which came into force from 1 October 2024. The fact that you already have travel insurance is irrelevant and what you get is pretty poor. I am fairly sure that it wouldn’t actually be any use if we tried to claim against it and given that we already had insurance this just felt like a tax dressed up as insurance. Anyway, that said, you can buy it online while on the ferry or at the terminal and you have to show it before you can get the entry stamp in your passport.

Once through immigration you are free to exit the port which is right on the doorstep of Stone Town.

Stone Town is the historic heart of Zanzibar city. Established in the 16^th century by the Portuguese, it wasn’t until the 19^th century, when the Omani Sultanate moved their capital from Muscat to Zanzibar, that the city became the centre of a vast trading network. Trade in cloves, ivory and slaves were central to its success. At one stage Zanzibar produced 90% of the world’s cloves.

It was in the 19^th century when the distinctive coral stone buildings, palaces and mosques were built with a fusion of Swahili, Arab, Persian, Indian and European styles.

We were staying in Stone Town for a couple of days to absorb some of this incredible culture before moving onto the beach so we side-stepped all the taxis and hawkers outside the port and navigated our way through the narrow alleyways to our hotel.

The hotel room was fairly basic, which we kind of expect on our budget but there was a lovely pool and restaurant in a shady courtyard, that felt like a world away from the hustle and bustle of the town.

After our first night in the hotel we did have to change rooms as we woke in the morning to a smoke-filled room. After quickly throwing some clothes on we realised that the air conditioning unit was on the verge of combusting so after turning it off we headed to reception to let them know there was a slight problem!

Stone Town, so called because the buildings are made of stone, is a labyrinth of small alleys and roads. There are no cars in the alleys but you have to be alert to the odd cart, moped, motorbike or bicycle. The stand out feature of Stone Town are the very cool, ancient, carved wooden doors.

The intricately carved doors were a symbol of wealth. The greater the wealth and social standing of the owner of the building the more intricately carved and larger the door.

On our first night in Stone Town we visited the historic Livingstone hotel for sundowner drinks. Unfortunately as it was Ramadan we weren’t allowed out onto the beachfront dining area until the sun had set but we could watch the sunset from the 1^st floor terrace. Once the sun was safely down the area came alive and we had dinner with our feet in the sand on the beach.

We had organised to go on a spice tour to a farm a 30 minute drive from Stone Town. The traffic in Zanzibar Town is horrendous and despite seeing some new roads in the process of being constructed the growing population has led to virtual gridlock.

The tour itself was very interesting with a large array of spices and fruits being grown on the farm. It is always fascinating to see how things actually look on the tree (or bush in the case of pineapples) when we are so used to seeing them packaged up in the supermarket.

A young lad who helped guide us through the farm spent his time making various things for us including crowns for both of us and glasses, a bag and a combo bracelet and ring for Sarah!

The tour was not without drama though as at one stage a large Breadfruit fell from a tree and hit Sarah on the head bouncing off onto her shoulder and then onto my arm before hitting the floor. It certainly hurt my arm and Sarah definitely had a slight concussion but on the plus side at least it wasn’t a spiky Durian fruit! After the fire in the room and the incident with the Breadfruit Sarah was starting to think her days were numbered!

The end of the tour featured “the Butterfly”. This is a guy who climbs a coconut tree while singing a well known Swahili song, called Jambo Bwana. He had a great voice and it’s a catchy song so was very enjoyable.

That night we went to a local restaurant where you selected food from a buffet. We had a bit of a seafood feast which we shared with the local cats who sat all around our table as we ate.

The next day we arranged a taxi to take us across the island to the beach town of Paje. This was a one and a half hour journey but at least once out of Zanzibar city the traffic eased.

We were staying in a walled hotel with a nice pool and as we had been on the go for a couple of months at this stage we were happy to have some much needed downtime by the pool.

The only downside to the hotel was that for most of the day, there were only really two sun loungers in the shade (for some reason they didn’t have umbrellas) so it was a race each morning to see who could get the prime seats. The other issue was that they were reluctant to run their generator so we spent significant periods with no power (and therefore no air conditioning and unusually also no water) as the power cuts were frequent and lengthy. The generators of the more expensive hotels seemed to whizz into action as soon as the power cut out as you could hear them all kick in as you walked down the street.

The beach in this part of the island is a big expanse with very shallow water at low tide and then at high tide there is barely any beach left as the water laps against the beachfront hotels and restaurants.

We found a lovely beach bar for sundowner drinks, which also did great food and we may have indulged in the 2 for 1 cocktails a bit too much!

Despite a few minor issues on the whole we had an enjoyable time in Zanzibar but it was soon time to move on. Getting the ferry from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam was much more straightforward and much less hectic. The arrival in Dar was busy as expected but we quickly jumped in a Tuk Tuk away from the chaos and spent our last night in Tanzania in a city hotel before leaving for Rwanda the next day.