Blogs from Zanzibar, Tanzania, Africa - page 3

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Africa » Tanzania » Zanzibar » Zanzibar City September 22nd 2018

The ferry port at Zanzibar is something Glyn described as a well oiled machine. This is sarcasm, as sheer chaos with a lack of information and people blocking the entrance as they swarmed to get through immigration is not oily. But it is sweat-soaked as the heat was intense stuffed with packed bodies and luggage. It was a necessary evil to get us on our way home. Earlier I put a cleanish tshirt and deodorant in my hand luggage so I don't stink too badly on the plane, but things aren't looking hopeful and pity the poor people sitting near Glyn and myself. After packing, we had time for a last wander around Stone Town, buying essential souvenirs and tat before doing a self tour. We were stuck in there for ages getting lost, having gone ... read more
Stone Town
cat in souvenir shop
Stone Town Kitten

Africa » Tanzania » Zanzibar » Zanzibar City September 22nd 2018

Tanzania day 14 Lost in Stone town, my name is Taxi and a summary of Tanzania and Zanzibar Homeward bound today so it’s time for the usual conversations after we’ve visited somewhere. Things like could we/would we live here, would we come back and would our cat Cosmo like it? We wouldn’t live on Zanzibar; the attitude to women is far too oppressive and we like holding hands when we are out and being able to give each other a hug. Simple things but in a sexist society they are things that can get you hurt. The only reason we would come back would be to revisit Cheetah’s Rock or, even better, work there. We have enjoyed it here but seen nothing else that would make us rush back-we still have lots of places to see ... read more
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Africa » Tanzania » Zanzibar » Zanzibar City September 21st 2018

Tanzania day 13 Three adventures in one day including giant tortoises on Changuu, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Africa. We had a bit of a shock this morning when some hot water came out of the shower. It didn’t last long but we have called the relevant authorities and the Garden Lodge will hopefully be dealt with accordingly. Claire was so disturbed she threw the toilet roll into the toilet. We failed to sleep though to a 7am alarm despite staying up late last night writing about what an exciting day we had yesterday. There was no noise-we have seen no other guests where we are-but we were both awake by 6:30. After breakfast up on the roof, this time even better as they had avacado, it was time for another trip. Today was our rest day and before ... read more
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Africa » Tanzania » Zanzibar September 21st 2018

Today is our last full day in Zanzibar/Tanzania and we'd left it free as a relaxation day, only there's things to do and see. The question was how to fit it all into a day. So I went on TripAdvisor and searched out a driver to get us around and organised. 'Friendly Taxis and Tours' had consistent 5 star reviews, so I contacted them and Salim arrived at just after 8.30am. The first place was Jozani Forest, going south on the island. It is home to a colony of Zanzibar Red Colobus Monkeys of which there are only a few left in the wild. Salim left us with another guide along with 4 other tourists after purchasing the permits we required to enter. We stepped into the forest and quickly came upon a group of small ... read more
red colobus monkey
tiny from on leaf
mangrove

Africa » Tanzania » Zanzibar » Zanzibar City September 20th 2018

Tanzania day 12 Big cats at Cheetah’s Rock, stroking cheetahs and feeding monkeys. Zanzibar, Tanzania, Africa Crikey, day 12 already and we had a lie in planned. No alarms set. See what happens. We both woke up before 6:30. Brilliant. Despite the allure of a hot tap in the shower it was a total deception as we both had cold showers again. There was actually a shower curtain though so we didn’t soak the loo while we were in there. Cue for a song here....join in....there was no mirror in the bathroom.....either so shaving was interesting again but I’ve had a go. Breakfast was on the roof and was the best in Tanzania yet. After my initial fears that all we would get would be eggy bread we haven’t had it since. We then took a ... read more
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Africa » Tanzania » Zanzibar » Nungwi September 20th 2018

A cheetah chewed my hair!! I felt his teeth on my skull and there's cheetah slobber in my hair - I'll never wash it again! I also hand-fed a lion, bottle-fed a baby vervet monkey and been in an enclosure wth a young white lion. This wasn't some tourist trap wth drugged and mistreated animals (before you worry), this was Cheetah Rock in Zanzibar, for rescued and injured wild animals. Full of awful stories about each animal's past and near extinction, but with some hope plus the chance to get near wild animals, just use your common sense (that was a problem for most) and our tourist money pays to keep it going. * please note that as we could only take one camera into the cat enclosures, I took my Nikon and left my phone, ... read more
Jenny and Chaka
Glyn and Doris the colobus monkey
glyn and lemur

Africa » Tanzania » Zanzibar » Zanzibar City September 19th 2018

Tanzania day 11 Sunset in Zanzibar and the happiest drummer in the world Nothing is ever simple for us. When I booked the flights from Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro and then from Arusha to Zanazibar I hadn’t known that the Gombe safari company had booked us flights to cover the first leg. I couldn’t get to even cancel just one of our booked flights let alone get any money back so we just thought we’d take the one back down. After we got here I remembered once having a flight cancelled because I hadn’t taken the first part so I contacted the airline. They messaged me saying our second flight had been suspended as we hadn’t taken the first one even though I had told them we wouldn’t be taking it and it wasn’t actually ... read more
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Africa » Tanzania » Zanzibar » Zanzibar City September 19th 2018

Arusha airport is bigger than Kegoma, but not a lot, just the one scanner but a few desks plus some market stalls selling local trinkets and souvenirs. We were taken there by my new Instagram buddy, who I will be helping to improve his Hekima House Safari website, as they have a lot of competition from travel companies abroad. We'd been worried about paying extra fees at the airport due to a lack of communication from various people regarding bookings. It wasn't our fault as Glyn had done everything required but we'd been told via email we had to pay an extra $130, which we didn't have in cash and they don't take cards. However, bad communication worked in our favour at the airport as no one knew what we were talking about and we checked ... read more
moving the planes by pushing them, Arusha Airport
Kirundo Group
hubby in Arusha Airport

Africa » Tanzania » Zanzibar » Nungwi September 10th 2018

From Zanzibar city we bus it to the very north of the island to Nungwi. This is a good beach area and has several dive schools - I have arranged for us to do a couple of days diving with Spanish Dancers dive centre and we have a room only a hundred metres away so it’s all very convenient and a good place to relax for a few days. The diving is a little mixed. The first day we dive off the west coast near to Nungwi and though the fish life is good the visibility is only about 10m – so it’s a little disappointing. The 2nd day we go to Mnemba Atoll, on the east coast and a 40min speedboat ride away and have a superb couple of dives, excellent vis and great diversity ... read more

Africa » Tanzania » Zanzibar » Zanzibar City September 6th 2018

After Europe we’ve planned 6 weeks or so in East Africa, starting with a few days in what we hope will be a reasonably relaxing spot – Zanzibar. Zanzibar is perhaps best known historically for being the hub of the slave trade, and though the slave market was closed in 1876 (after pressure from the British) you can still see the old slave chambers where there is an excellent and very informative museum about the slave trade. One other interesting sight in Stone Town is Freddie Mercury’s old home where his family lived until moving to the UK in 1964. It turns out to be only metres from where we are staying, but the Mercury bar which plays non-stop Queen songs is overlooking the harbour 10 minutes walk away. I like the feel of Stone Town ... read more




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