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Published: September 28th 2017
I left my apartment by cab at around 1030pm for the reasonably short trip to the airport checking in on arrival before heading to the Mahaba lounge where my Mastercard card entitles me to free access. I settled in for several hours enjoying a snack and quite a few free drinks before purchasing some Tanzanian schillings and heading to my gate shortly before the 2am departure time.
I have an aisle seat in the second row which I thought would be fine but the trip ended up being long and exhausting due to the total lack of leg space and my aching ankle which I couldn’t stretch out. Entertainment was also pay for view so I tried to sleep instead but perhaps I will think twice before travelling such a long distance on a budget airline such as FlyDubai again.
I am not sure exactly how long the flight was but it was close to seven hours, on disembarking the aircraft I thought I was in the pacific initially, the palm trees and the confusion that met us in passport control seemed quite familiar, the first thing we had to do was get a visa which we had to
use a credit card to purchase and they only accepted visa so I had to use my Australian card. Next, they took our finger prints and photograph and then I was on my way I only had one small bag so I didn’t have to worry about waiting for luggage.
I was expecting to be picked up by someone from the Riverman Hotel but they didn’t turn up so I hopped in a cab to the edge of Stone town and the taxi driver guided me through the maze to the hotel. The hotel is in a traditional three-story building with a mosque on one side and an Anglican church on the other. My room was on the third floor and has aircon but no bathroom even though I paid for one or hot water for that matter, as I am here for such a short time I didn’t make an issue of it.
After a few hours sleep I headed off down the road looking for an ATM, discovering a pretty good Italian restaurant along the way I stopped briefly for an anchovy pizza and a couple of bottles of Kilimanjaro beer before continuing on my way.
The women’s dress is incredibly colourfully and the town has a really relaxed laid back sort of vibe. My next stop was at the Zanzibar National Museum of History & Culture which probably wasn’t worth the time to visit with its collection of moth eaten animals but directly across the road was the Peace Memorial Museum which was much more interesting.
I continued my walk along the edge of Stone town till I reached the coast and the large often restored colonial era government buildings and attractive hotels that line the water front. I chose a budget option in Stone town but if I return I would probably stay here as most of the restaurants and bars are around this area. I located and ATM here and met a man called the Captain and discussed a few trips I was interested in before continuing on to the fort, the old British Embassy and the Beit el-Ajaib (House of Wonders which was built by a Scot in the 1800’s) unfortunately the building is crumbling and too dangerous to enter so I continued on to the Beit el-Sahel (Palace Museum) where I employed a guide to explain the very interesting history
of the Omani Sultanate that controlled the archipelago for centuries until the 1964 revolution.
Next, I walked into the heart of old town in search of the Emerson Spice hotel a stunningly restored building that has an intimate six course dinner of traditional Zanzibari foods on the rooftop at sunset. I really enjoyed the evening starting with a glass of NZ wine followed by a variety of Tanzanian and Kenyan beers and a very interesting meal as I watched the sun set over the city while listening to the sounds of temple and church bells as the muezzin called the faithful to prayer, the setting was exotic and timeless.
After dinner, I descended the eighty odd stairs and struck out into the night in search of my hotel, but as would become the habit I got lost in the dark and had to ask for directions which generally meant a friendly local escorting me back to my room.
I slept well although the 430am call to prayer was a rude awakening but I soon went back to sleep only to be awakened by the 7am call, eventually I got up and went down for my breakfast of
eggs, toast and fresh fruit the juice was the highlight though. Then I went back up to my room and spent a few hours sorting my photos and deciding what I would do over the next few days.
At midday, I got my camera ready and headed down stairs to wait for the Cheetah Rocks driver to pick me up, he arrived right on 1230pm and I followed him through the maze and out to the bus station where his vehicle was parked. Next, we went to some of the more grander hotels to pick up three other people, two Syrians and an American before making our way north of the city. After about thirty minutes we made our way off the main highway bumping along a dirt track for a time before arriving at the gates to the reserve. At first, I thought it was just us but then a dozen or so other vehicles arrived carrying perhaps forty more people, we then spent the rest of the afternoon getting up close to a variety of animals my favourite being the tiny Dik-Dik antelope.
I support the efforts of the people who run Cheetah Rock but it
still depresses me to hear the stories of the corruption and wildlife abuse that goes on in Zanzibar. I arrived back in Stone town around 8pm and asked the driver to drop me off down near the harbour where I visited a seaside restaurant for dinner, before again getting lost in the alleyways of the old town.
It is Friday morning and the Eid celebration began before dawn and continued well into the evening, breakfast was the same this morning as yesterday but I enjoyed it none the less, around 10am the Captain came to my hotel and I followed him out into the alleyways of Stone town the people are dressed in their finest as they celebrate with many around the old Hamman, eventually we emerged near the old fort and I climbed aboard a vehicle for the trip out to the Jozani-Chwaka National Park and the Jozani Forest the journey took about an hour and I enjoyed getting out of town and witnessing the celebrations going on out in the countryside, on one motorcycle there were two pretty little girls in blue spangled dresses. I am not sure what I expected, I had hoped for a small
quiet group trekking in the forest but unfortunately that would not be the case but I did see both the Sykes and Red Colobus monkeys in the tree tops but nothing else because the idiots I was with just made too much noise. After wandering around for a while we came out of the forest and headed down a trail that emerged onto a board walk through a mangrove swamp which was a bonus with its three species of mangrove and its many little crabs.
On the way, back to town I got dropped off at the Italian Restaurant where I enjoyed a pleasant lunch before venturing to the slavery museum and the Anglican cathedral built in the 1870’s which sits atop the old slave market, it seems slavery in East Africa was an African business with tribes selling captives to the Arab traders. I spent a time after that wandering through some of the shops in the old town.
My last full day in Stone town began with heavy rain the skies opening around 5am, this s the first rain I have seen since leaving Australia and I enjoyed the sound of it beating on the roof.
Dugouts
Stone townFinally, the rain stopped and I headed down stairs for breakfast today I would go out on a boat to do some snorkelling and then onto visit Prison Island and its Alhambra tortoises. The Captain came around 10am and guided me down to the harbour where I boarded a longboat with no life jackets for the journey out to the reef around Bawe Island. The boatman wasn’t interested in engaging with me and on arrival just sat there playing with his phone, no interaction or instructions, so I went in and snorkelled, the reef was quite poor not much to see initially although there were lots of large sea urchins scatted across the coral. Then closer to shore I came across a small sea snake which I watched for some time ensuring I kept my distance.
Next, we chugged over to Prison Island a busy place full of tourists the Prison wasn’t much to look at but the Giant Tortoises were certainly worth a look there must have been thirty or forty of all sizes the oldest perhaps a hundred years old. One tortoise had a broken shell but the greedy owner won’t provide vet care or let a
vet come near the tortoise. My boat man was supposed to wait but disappeared so I hitched a ride back on another boat and was soon back in Stone town. I headed to the Emerson on Hurumzi the sister of the hotel from the other night for another rooftop dinner which was wonderful as was the local band singing traditional songs and playing local music. Around 10pm I wandered Off again into the maze, the streets were mostly empty as most shops were closed early and this time I managed to find my way home.
I rose at 5am and headed through the streets to the taxi which took me to the airport. It didn’t take long to check in and I was soon settled in next to the air conditioner waiting for the aircraft to arrive. Unfortunately, the plane was delayed and I had to endure children screaming and running around for much too long, finally an hour late we boarded the aircraft for the brief flight to Darussalam the Tanzanian capital where we sat on the runway while a handful of people and cabin crew exited and a few boarded before eventually taking to the
skies. The next seven hours were horrific with screaming children everywhere driving me nuts, eventually we arrived back in Dubai and I was able to escape, unfortunately they hadn’t let me bring my club onto the plane so I had to put in luggage and of course it never came out at the other end.
Zanzibar was a very exotic and pleasant place which has mostly friendly people, good food and a chilled atmosphere, I was surprised in a way that it had not been ruined by tourism and would happily return.
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