We are off to Zanzibar today! So Angel and I love to do beach vacations so it is of no surprise that she had a wonderful plan for all of us to go to the nearby island of Zanzibar to enjoy the ocean. We had rented a beach house on the north east side of the island in Matemwe.
Before we left for the regional airport in Arusha we had a mad rush of packing loads of suitcases and weighing each one as we were limited to 15 kilos per bag. Angel had lots of goodies of food and cooking supplies packed away to ensure we had what we needed knowing that it was a holiday and most markets may be closed so we would be limited in what we could get that day.
Once we were all situated we left to the airport, Paula and Bill were continuing on to Dar es Salaam to visit with some old friends for the night so we parted ways when we boarded our twin prop planes. Once we arrived in Zanzibar we had to go through immigration again as Zanzibar may be the entry point for some from other countries.
Our Beach Rental
We ventured on our way to our beach rental, with one minor stop with the excitement from Angel, to pick up some rambutan fruit which she hadn’t seen in years from her childhood. We had our selection of rooms, there were 4 individual suites with their own bathrooms, a large living and dining room and kitchen. Outside had 2 wonderful hammocks on each side, a platformed area for some lounge chairs and 2 outside dining areas. It was really quite a lovely rental and the owners were so courteous.
The owners lived just down the street and had given us some recommendations for dining within walking distance at neighboring hotels with whom they were friendly with. That night we stayed in and ordered food from next door.
The next morning I realized I forgot my sunblock in the bag switcheroo I was doing the day before. Me! Forgetting sunblock. This would not end well. Thankfully we needed to pick up a few things from the local market and Gregory had forgotten to pack more than 1 pair of shorts so we went off with one of the owners to a nearby shop about 15 minutes away.
While we were doing our shopping we were chatting with a woman who was picking up items as well. They had lost their luggage along the way so they were picking up some things to help them get by. Their ordeal sounded interesting, they are from Australia and had been visiting in South Africa before they headed onto Zanzibar. While they had their children’s passports they didn’t have the birth certificates as well, and apparently some countries require both. I wouldn’t have known that either, so they were help up at one airport before while they did some negotiations but missing their original flights to jump on another flight hence the lost luggage. I couldn’t imagine the stress level of not knowing you needing the additional documentation. Angel was surprised that their travel agency hadn’t informed them of that. Regardless good to know now, if ever traveling international with children have their passports and copies of their birth certificate.
Back at the house we decided to walk down the beach to check out the recommended place to eat where they should have music that evening. The menu was mostly fish/seafood but they had one option for beef and chicken, unfortunately they were out of both so I just had chips. They said they should have chicken tonight and as they make all meals fresh upon ordering they can make me whatever I would like.
I took a dip in the ocean while Paula and Bill rejoined our party. Our food guy told us that apparently we ordered the only available chicken for the day on the island so our restaurant would have none tonight. Ha! Island living. So the kids and I ate dinner at home before we all left to go out to the restaurant. Good thing too since they make all items fresh from ordering it does take quite a bit of island time to get the meals out so it was good to have the kids to have full bellies while the adults waited.
The band was quite nice and we all enjoyed a relaxing evening. After returning home, Paula decided to slice up some durian she got on her way in from the airport. Thankfully, I had gone to bed early so I missed the opportunity to sample some of that interestingly pungent fruit.
Stone Town and Prison Island
On Sunday Bill wanted to go to service at the UNC church so Angel, Paula, Bill and I headed out early so they could catch service and Angel and I to wander and explore before Gregory and the little ones would join us to do the Stone Town tour. While Paula and Bill were in service Angel and I did a self-tour of the slavery museum. Zanzibar/Stone Town was one of the main ports of call for transport of slaves during that time. It was quite heart wrenching to see but also good to remember the history. Towards the end we went down to one of the holding rooms that maybe was 10×10 feet with 3 feet of head room except for a small walkway and over 50 men would be held in that room for days before they were put up for sale.
When we connected up with Paula and Bill we found that Bill had lost his camera somewhere. He think it fell out of his pocket in the car ride from the beach house so we asked our guide Cosmos if at all possible can they locate it. We continued on our way while Cosomos put in a call to our driver and wandered the streets of StoneTown and admired all of their wonderful doors, so intricate! We also stopped by Freddie Mercury’s birth home, I didn’t know he was originally from Zanzibar.
Before we took off into a little boat to go visit Prison Island, we had wonderful news that the camera had been retrieved. Huzzah! So Prison Island this may sound scary as it was built intending to be used for something but ended up not being used as a prison at all more as a quarantine holding space when yellow fever broke out. The main draw to Prison Island now is their family of giant tortoises. Originally there were 2 from the Seychelles and now have a healthy population of tortoises, the oldest one being 192. The babies are so tiny, maybe the size of my thumb, hard to imagine that something so small can grow to be so big.
We stayed in for dinner that night and I was introduced to bread fruit that Paula and Angel had cooked up. I tried it, but I can say not a big fan. I described it as tasting like raw sweet potato.
The next day Paula and Bill went off to do the Spice tour and while the rest of us went of to the Mnemba Atoll. We dropped Angel and the kids off on the beach first where we would be having lunch and Gregory and I continued on to the Atoll for some snorkeling. After we saw all the fishies in the ocean we stopped briefly at a little sandbar and I was in heaven. Just keep me right there forever. We then continued on to rejoin Angel and the kids for lunch. Poor little Leila had sat on a sea urchin while we were away and had a few quills in her bottom that Angel had to pull out. Ouch! She’s a trooper though and was acting like nothing had happened by the time we saw here. Aidan was having a blast on the beach making all sorts of moats and maps. The beach in this spot was fabulous and Angel and I made note of the location to see if we could return one day. You can only get there by walking during low tide so it is less crowded and more of a local beach. The BBQ they prepared for us was nothing short of a feast! Huge plates of all of the fresh seafood you could ever want and some lovely chicken for me along with veggies and fruit. It was a very good day.
The rest of the day was rather low key except for the wind picked up quite a bit when the tide was out and at that time the power went out in the place. So we went about finding some lanterns and torches (aka flashlights). We don’t quite know why the power was out but while trying to figure out what’s next Gregory got a what was I thinking moment and rushed and bolted and locked the doors. Even though we have the escare (security) outside we didn’t know where they were and if this was an accident or not for the power. Thankfully the power was out for only 20 minutes or so as it seemed that perhaps the wind had played with the old fuse box or the lines.
Tuesday was our chill day for the beach and Angel and I went for what was supposed to be a 15 minute walk on the beach to scope out a dinner place which ended up taking all day. We started going in the wrong direction for about 30 minutes and then the 15 minute walk in the correct direction was more about 45 minutes or so. By the time we got to the place we grabbed a drink to relax and check out the menu, which upon inspection seemed to pass the test so we made arrangements to go there for dinner.
When we got back Paula was slicing up a jackfruit for snacking later, its not too bad although when they roasted the pits that I didn’t care for as much. On our walk with the family back to the restaurant the tide was coming in so we all stepped out of our sandals but Bill said it wasn’t dignified to walk without shoes so we had a few chuckles when he did whatever he could to avoid the incoming waves. It was a lovely dinner as our last night in Zanzibar and the hotel (Zanzibar Queen) even offered to drive us home versus or walk back along the beach.
Our last morning I was finally able to get up early enough to catch the sunrise, it was difficult earlier in the week, ha! It was very peaceful to have the sunrise to myself and Bill joined me for the last little bit of it.
It was time to head back to the airport so we were off, at this tim e there was the full 7 of us flying back and it’s a 12 seater plane so happiness was when we got to the plane to find it was our own private flight! Yay! Since it was just us flying we were able to skip the stop in Dar and flew straight to Arusha. Upon returning we chuckled that the sign at the airport says Arusha, The Geneva of Africa. Angel always laughs and said she left Geneva to come to Geneva. We had to wait a bit to leave the airport as security wasn’t around immediately and there was no one to unlock the gate. Then they would only unlock the gate when we could identify our driver was there to escort us home.
Links
Cosmo Tours (Stone Town, Spice Tour, Mnemba Snorkel, BBQ and all transfers)