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Published: March 22nd 2011
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 boasted one of the few swimming pools in the area. We explored the small town in the mornings and caught up on our reading around the pool in the afternoon until sunset where we would make the quick walk to the rooftop restaurants near the water. We had not researched this portion of our trip much, so we listened to fellow travelers closely in hopes
of getting valuable tips on our upcoming time near the beaches. We secured 9 days in the North of the island in Nungwi, where we had heard beaches are considered the best. The shared taxi for the 1 hour ride North was driven by a young local who did his best to show off in front of his two passenger-seat buddies. He demonstrated his break-neck speeds through small village along the way and little regard for villagers or others along the road, we finally spoke up stating we were happy to arrive 15 minutes later in exchange for our lives. Arriving with frayed nerves but in one piece we were happy to drop our bags into the hands of reception at the Z Hotel. The "Z" is a boutique hotel known for modern rooms and a glistening pool overlooking the white beaches. We took advantage of the local seafood every meal, with sea bass, tuna, lobster and calamari arriving fresh to our tables…our choice for beer was really the only decision to make.
Two days later, we headed down the beach to our accommodations for the week at the Hilton. Two years old, the Hilton was built on what is
for now a fairly remote end of the beach in Nungwi. We ventured out to take in the sea turtle sanctuary and wandered by a sign reading: Ice cold beers! Now, normally anyone visiting the island would know this would be a stretch as most beers are served abysmally warm. We were pleasantly surprised to have chilled bottles and mugs pulled from a fully functional freezer by our nice Norwegion owner/bartender Guri. Further conversation with our new hostess unveiled her chef's willingness to cook up anything from the nearby sea if we gave enough notice. This would give ample time to buy the fresh catch at the market and have bbq’d for that evening. While we pride ourselves on being adventurous around sampling local cuisine...the first dinner was so perfect that Kajibangi Bar (aka: Rasta Bar) monopolized our dinners the next 4 nights. The island life of Zanzibar provided the relief and relaxation we were looking for..you must check it out if you're on this side of the world!!
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Keith
non-member comment
Did Shane play??
he is quite the goalie