I have been associating Zanzibar with wild tropical nature, coconut, monkeys and naked Africans. And when I had heard Tanzania, I immediately thought of "The Lion King" and the savannahs, of Simba, Timon and Pumbaa singing "Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase!". It had seemed too wild and somehow not high on my list for next trips. I've had no idea that it could be an exotic vacation destination until Vesey told me about the beaches, the palm trees, the emerald turquoise waters, the fresh food, the cocktails and freshly picked fruit juices. It sounded so impressive that the beaches are only a step away from the dense tropical forest vegetation, where monkeys where monkeys and other wild animals live freely. I wanted to immerse myself in this interesting culture, radically different from ours.

Vessy and I

Vessy and I have known each other since university, where we both participated in the volleyball team. It happened that almost at the same time we were accepted to go to Hungary on a student exchange program. Because of that we talked a lot, exchanged experiences, and so we discovered that in addition to our love for volleyball, we also had a common passion for travel. Since then, Vessy literally hasn't stopped travelling, she has visited many different and interesting places.

She recently returned from Zanzibar and I invited her to write about her experience there. I was very happy that she gladly accepted. With this article I start the new section, where I will show you some of my travelling buddies and their exciting adventures.

Some interesting facts for Zanzibar

• They call it the island of smiles and happy people. Despite poverty and misery, people live in peace, understanding and tolerance. The main religion is Islam and 95% of the population is Muslim. The crime rate is below 3%.
  
• This is the birthplace of one of the greatest artists of all time, Queen frontman - Freddie Mercury. His real name is Farooq Bulsara, and his birth house in the Stone Town has been converted into a museum and it is one of the biggest attractions for tourists.
  
• Nature in Zanzibar is unique, with extremely rich flora and fauna. Due to its proximity to the equator and high rainfall, the climate is humid and the vegetation is thick and green. From tropical palm trees, baobab, ebony, banana and pineapple plantations, to animal attractions such as the rare Red Colobus monkey, which is in an endangered population. This monkey can only live in the forests of Zanzibar. Attempts were made for relocation to other places, but after a few days the animal dies even on neighboring islands.
  
• Day and night in Zanzibar are both equally 12 hours. With a difference of a few minutes, sunrise and sunset are at the same time throughout the whole year. 
  
• Along with the happy people, Zanzibar is also known as the island of spices. They are a major part of Zanzibar's economy. In ancient times, the island was one of the largest trading centers for spices, ivory and slaves. Vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, coffee, cloves, turmeric, curry, pepper and saffron are mainly grown in the area. The taste of curry is characteristic and most local dishes are seasoned with it.
  
• Stone Town is the historical center of the capital city of Zanzibar, and it is an interesting place for a one-day visit. The stone town has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its preserved remains of ancient Arab and colonial architecture.

50 shades of turquoise through Vessy's eyes

"Hey ya'll, travelers, explorers, friends and other cool people! I am Vesela and my hobby and passion is travel, be it to myself, to people, to the world or just to some SPA.

It's my first time writing about my trips, but after Vicky's invitation, I thought I should try to scratch something. Hopefully that ignites another soul to start loving travelling. And why not to open up to the world, to change the usual, to dive and discover new, beautiful and interesting places, people, food, sights, sensations.

Travelling is what charges me. I personally find it enriching, giving, inspiring, but sometimes really shocking.

And above all, my advice is - travel, love, live and be healthy!

Today I am writing about country number 43 in my world scratch map (don't envy me :)).

The island adventure

In their travel diary, a true traveler must add a check point of visiting this island. Zanzibar is certainly worth ticking off the "done" list. It is a mixture of luxury and poverty, heat and rain, beauty and misery, but despite all, it is definitely worth seeing.

Zanzibar is an island with a population of about 1 million and is a semi-autonomous region within Tanzania. It is located on the Indian Ocean, a 7-hour flight from Istanbul. There are beautiful white beaches, 50 shades of turquoise water and a life with no rush or as the locals say, "Pole Pole", which means "slowly, slowly" in Swahili.

The other famous quote of the island land that you will hear every time you enter into communication with a local and will make a strong impression or sometimes even annoy you is “Hakuna Matata”, meaning “No problem”. The Zanzibarians, the Maasai, are the local population there and they are always smiling, as if misery and hunger don't bother them at all.

Weather in Zanzibar

Our Zanzibar adventure was more about relaxing and enjoying heavenly white sands with warm turquoise water in the middle of February rather than sightseeing.

One of the things you must research before visiting Zanzibar is the right weather so you don't get a rainy period. In my travel bible – “The travel book”, the best time to travel to Zanzibar is from June to October and from December to January. In February you could also catch a dry period if you're lucky like us. The average temperature is 27-30 degrees with a pleasant ocean breeze, which increased in the evening and put fine white sand in our eyes, but as we laughed: "Is that your problem - the white sand in your eyes!" I wish you only problems like this!

Their currency is Tanzanian shillings, but US dollars are accepted everywhere.

The African reality

Adventures on Zanzibar's land begin as soon as you step on. Currently, to enter the country you have to pay a fee of $50, which gets you a visa for 90 days. As soon as you exit the renovated in 2020 airport you are immersed in the African reality of bad roads, reverse traffic, dilapidated buildings barely looking like houses, poverty, misery, but surprisingly - really happy people. During the seven days I spent there, and even after that, I kept asking myself the question: "How do these people live, do they have water in their houses and what do they even sleep on?"

I'm generally sensitive about class stratification, segregation, poverty and exploitation, and that's why the only few times I left the hotel, I didn't feel good mentally because I didn't like the views at all. It's not that I haven't seen the situation in some of bulgarian gypsy's neighborhoods, but I had the feeling that they were forced to live like this and had no other choice at all. I kind of felt sorry for them.

Actually, with the last sentence, I wanted to prepare you for the reality and the thing that is never said by the travel agencies or most of the people who travel. I want to describe the real picture to you so that you realize that wherever you go, regardless of which continent, you will always encounter something that you will not like, something that will not be as you imagined it. But of course, this should not stop you. You should go and see it through your eyes, so you could appreciate it better.

A piece of heaven for a real exotic vacation

As you adapt to the sights of naked Africans, feel the humid, warm air, and arrive at your hotel, get refreshed and rest from the long flight. Then head to the beach At this moment, you will gasp and the view of the white sand and turquoise waters will be etched in your mind forever. And if you've already had a Mojito cocktail from the all inclusive, you'll be directly transported to heaven. 🙂

I advise you to research the hotels on Booking and Google, look at the comments and ratings, so you get some idea before booking. Look at photos of the beach of the hotel. We stayed at Neptune Pwani 5* which was great! This is not an ad of the hotel, but I highly recommend it. It is located on the ocean shore, with wooden deck chairs on the beach, under green vegetation that makes a natural shade. There are several restaurants with good food, swimming pools, bars with great cocktails, spacious rooms with terraces. Scattered around the complex are small two-story houses with thatched roofs, there is a huge garden, and in my opinion, the service is very good.

Zanzibar beaches

Hotel beaches are usually guarded and you cannot be reached by any of the people walking freely on the beach. Most often, these are Maasai, dressed in characteristic clothing, in two words - two scarves and a stick, and decorated with their traditional jewelry. They are usually sellers of all kinds of trinkets such as shells, scarves and jewelry, massage therapists and all kinds of tour operators who offer excursions or dhow sailing.

A Dhow is a wooden sailboat and sailing with it is an interesting and worthwhile experience. We went on a one day sea safari with one that stopped at 3 other islands, had a sea lunch on one, swam in the middle of the ocean. It was a day well spent that I recommend you try.

Another interesting place was the so-called Rock Restaurant, which looks very small from one of the corners, but is actually of normal size. Due to the tides, which occur twice a day on the island, the restaurant is accessible by boat at high tide and on the sand at low tide.

There are quite a few other things to do in Zanzibar, for example: visiting a turtle sanctuary, visiting an endangered monkey sanctuary, walking around the Stone Town, boating to various islands. During our visit we did not take advantage of them because, as I have already mentioned, the purpose of the trip was to rest and enjoy the white sand. We do not regret this decision at all.

Important for your health

Finally, I would like to give some health recommendations: on the island, the water is not drinkable and you must drink bottled one. Just in case, grab something for an upset stomach. I recommend a probiotic to drink all the time, both because of the water and because of the different climates, food and spices.

Be sure to use sunscreens with a high factor. Every day a different part of my body was red and burnt, despite the copious lubrication. Water shoes are a useful item as water urchins, shells and other ocean creatures are sometimes encountered. Some mosquito repellent is also a good idea. For your peace of mind, there are no requirements for malaria or yellow fever vaccines on the island and there have been no recorded cases of infection for many years.

That's all for my Zanzibar adventure.
See you soon and Bon voyage!“

Final words

Have you wanted to experience something so cool, yet? With her heartfelt story, Vessy managed to mentally transport us to this exotic place, didn't she? I really thought i could feel the light breeze and the white sand in my eyes. 🙂

If you liked this article, share it with your friends, so they could also virtually travel over the African tropical lands.

And if you want to be the first to know about the latest blog posts, get interesting stories, ideas and useful travel information, meet more of my guest authors and learn what experiences they have had around the world and in our country, subscribe to MyTrips2Remember newsletter.

Your name

Email address

Leave this field empty if you're human: