Blogs from Nungwi, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Africa

Hi folks. Just a quick update from the stunning island of Zanzibar. Clear blue seas and sunshine. Possibly my favourite beaches ever. Anyway, we have been travelling down from nairobi overland. Can't quite believe how many different kinds of scenery there have been. First we travelled down to arusha in Tanznia. By the sounds of it, a good time to get out of Kenya following the troubles with Somalia. We went on safari to the Ngoro Goro crater; a caldera with its own ecosystem. Then we went to the serengetti and saw the big five in one day. Inlcuding lions in trees and leapard cubs. Unfortunatley wrong time for the wilderbeast migration. Can't really complain. We then travelled down through dar es salaam to the ferry and then accross to Zanzibar. For anyone thinking about it, ... read more

Mambo Everyone! Hello everyone, Hope you guys are doing well back home. This will be my first Blog entry from my travels on my Around the World trip! So far I have taken 5 flights, a few trains, dala dala’s and taxi’s to get to where I am going. I am now writing from the island of Zanzibar in Tanzania. I have already completed one of my stops on my around the world trip, that stop was England. I did just a quick stop for a few days in London, England. I was very lucky to meet up with my friend Natalie and made a new friend with Jo. Nat and I walked alllll over Downtown London and saw all of the main sights. It was pretty good weather for 2 of the days the third ... read more

The island of Zanzibar hosts many exhausted climbers fresh from the slopes of Kilimanjaro. Well known for its spices, in particular: cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper. Zanzibar lies 16 miles from the coast of Tanzania, the group of islands were claimed as a colony or protectorate of the Brits for almost a 100 years until 1964, where it became a republic of Tanzania. The capital of Zanzibar is Stonetown which is a World Heritage site. We grabbed a quick flight from the mainland on a twin engine plane that took us briefly over the Indian Ocean. Our midnight arrival into Stonetown gave us few options and we ended up in a humble hostel down an alley. Availability among some of the better hotels on the island was tight but we did find the Dhow Palace which ... read more

Hi all/few, It’s been a while that I have been unable to update the blog. We left Rwanda and rolled onto Tanzania. We followed the southern shore of lake Victoria to the Serengeti/Ngorongo parks where we saw some incredible scenery and wildlife before stopping over in Arusha on the foot of Mt. Meru and Kilimanjaro (sadly there were clouds so we did not get to see anything at all) change truck. I had decided at that point to stay extra days in Zanzibar and wait for the next truck coming down this way. I will look forward meeting a new group and do the next leg of the journey and meet extra people even if I feel sad having waved goodbye to some great characters. So I am now on my own in Nungwi on the ... read more

This morning we went on a walkabout in the old quarter of Stone Town, with photography of the famous doors on Kayla's agenda. Emily joined us. There are some 500 mahogany doors with large brass studs, each a different hand carved design, all of Indian origin. The studs were originally to keep elephants from rubbing against the door. Interesting to note that there have never been elephants on Zanzibar. However that doesn't take away from the beauty of the doors. Although she didn't get photos of all 500, Kayla did take shots of many interesting designs. Stone Town is on the ocean, which provided other sights of interest, including a secondary school for Muslim youth, and a very high end hotel opened by the Aga Khan, with room rates starting at $450 US. We luxuriated on ... read more

May 10th We said our goodbyes to Xuxa, Rachael and Nico in the morning after tea and toast. It was a shame they were going to another part of the island, we had such a good time together and everyone got along well! Oh well, c’est la vie, right? After departing from the Safari Lodge, Justin, Nicio, Wendy, Cameron and I jumped in our taxi to head to the north side of the island and get some beach and snorkel time. The drive took about an hour and a half and it passed by fast. The scenery was great and it was cool to think about what the island was like six hundred years ago. We got dropped off at the Sunset Hotel and Bungalows, and we didn’t need to go any further, this place was ... read more