Zanzibar

Some quick background information relevant to this post:

1. Zanzibar is a group of two islands that lie about 50 kilometers - about 90 minutes by ferry - off the mainland coast of Tanzania. However, when most people refer to Zanzibar they are actually referring only to the island of Unguja, which is where most tourists head to. For ease, I will be doing the same. I couldn't find official size estimates for the island, but its something between 500-750 square miles. A better way to describe it would be to say that it takes about 3 hours to travel on semi-decent country roads from north to south, and 1 hour east to west.
2. Dar es Salaam (“Dar”) is the de facto capital of Tanzania (the actual capital is Dodoma but all government buildings are still in Dar) and the country’s largest city. It lies on the coast of the mainland, and it’s ferry port is where more than 90% of all tourists pass through to get to and from the island of Zanzibar.
3. Stone Town is the main city on Zanzibar Island, and contains the sole port where ferries can dock.
4. As of the time I arrived, Zanzibar had been without power since the middle of December. However, as luck would have it, power officially returned the day I arrived on the island. Not that they don't still have frequent power outages for 15-30 minutes at a time, but still, it's something.

On Sunday, March 7th I finally left Arusha. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I was headed to Zanzibar for almost a week before meeting up with a few contacts in Dar and heading down to volunteer in Southern Tanzania. As of right now, I have already spent a week in southern Tanzania and have much to tell, but I wanted to dedicate one post specifically to my time in Zanzibar before getting into that. My plan for Zanzibar was simple: Arrive in Stone Town on Sunday night, spend the entire day there, and then head up to the northeast side of the island early Tuesday morning for four days of rest and relaxation on the beaches outside the small village of Kendwa. However, as happens frequently here, my plans quickly went off course. The bus from Arusha to Dar arrived at our destination at 4:15pm, over an hour late. As the last ferry leaves the port of Dar at 4:00pm, I was forced to stay the night in the city. Fortunately, this didn’t throw off my plan too much. I actually met two Americans on the bus ride who were in the same predictament, so we agreed to find a cheap triple room in Dar for the night, then catch an early ferry out the following morning and be on the island by noon. We’d then spend the next day in Stone Town together before parting ways on Tuesday morning, as they were headed south to a different part of the island.

Thankfully, this plan fared better than my previous one, and we arrived in Stone Town on schedule. What I, and I’m assuming every other tourist, noticed immediately after stepping off the air conditioned ferry, was the heat, which combined with the humidity from being surrounded by the Indian Ocean, was almost stifling. You literally feel as if you’ll never stop sweating and, honestly, unless you’re lucky enough to find air conditioning, you don’t. Some of you also might know that I haven’t cut my hair since arriving in Africa, which I can assure you did nothing to help the matter.

After catching a cab to our hotel, we dropped off our bags and set out exploring the town. The city center of Stone Town is a virtual labyrinth of winding alleys squeezing their way through closely packed buildings, each of which has fallen into a various state of disrepair and helps serve as a reminder to the city’s rich history spanning several centuries. Overall, it greatly reminded me of Venice, albeit without all the canals.

To be honest, I didn’t really do a whole lot with my day in Stone Town. My ambitions of taking a spice tour and touring some of the historical sites were quickly overtaken by the heat and the fact that we showed up in the city with only about six hours of daylight left. So instead, the other Americans and I spent the day casually exploring the city, stopping every few hours at a small restaurant for some shade and a cold beer. We made it to the beach at dusk to watch the sunset, and then had the rather unique experience of watching a group of local kids and teenagers who were using a large old tire they had fashioned into a springboard to perform different aerial stunts (which I will post a video clip of when I make it back to the U.S.). For dinner we headed to an open fish market at the waterfront, where local fishermen were selling grilled portions of the day’s catch (which I recommend doing if you ever make it to Stone Town), and then we headed to a hotel to finish off the night with a few more beers.

As planned, I went my separate way from the other two Americans the next morning, and took a two hour dala dala ride up to the north shores of the island to Kendwa. Here are my thoughts on Kendwa: The beauty of the place is unreal. Pictures of Zanzibar’s beaches are quite famous because of their beauty and, I assure you, the pictures don’t amount to seeing it in person. The beach itself compares to the best I’ve ever visited, and the water color of the ocean is something I’ve never seen – sort of glowing clear green that turns to a rich deep blue as you head further from the coast. This, combined with the bungalow-type hotels and the small wooden ships used by the local fisherman, gives the whole area a very secluded and undeveloped feel.

But beyond the beauty, there isn’t really a whole lot to say because, well, there really isn’t a whole lot there. The bungalow-type hotels are a far cry from the posh beachside resorts of Florida, Cancun, or many other popular American destinations, and while the small crowds and slow pace of Zanzibar are nice, at a certain point you find yourself wondering what to do with yourself. During the day there are no beach football or soccer games going on, and while I did see a volleyball court, there didn’t ever seem to be enough people around to play. There’s no TVs, no pools, and only two restaurants to eat at. These restaurants also double at night as bars, but the night life is hardly any livelier than the daytime.

Of course, I fully realize that this exact thing is most likely viewed by others as the reason why Zanzibar so charming. In a world full of developed beaches with high rise condominiums and large crowds, the secluded bungalows and undeveloped stretches of beach are as close as most people can get to having their own secluded paradise. I can imagine Zanzibar would be perfect for older couples looking to ‘get away from it all’ for a while, or even new young couples who will be spending most of their time, to put it delicately, ‘creating their own entertainment’. However, for a 25 year old solo traveler looking for some semblance of a nightlife and more excitement than laying in the sun and re-reading his collection of Earnest Hemingway short stories for the fourth time over can provide, Kendwa (and the rest of the beaches in Zanzibar, at least from what I’ve heard) may not be the ideal hot spot.

In short, I would say this about Zanzibar: If you’re in the area, it’s worth going. You’ll see some beautiful beaches, a unique town with a rich history, and especially if you’ve been doing a lot of traveling, it will be nice to simply lie around in one place for a couple of days and get a decent tan in the process. Personally, despite getting bored over the course of my time, I'm glad I went, and for the most part enjoyed the slow place and the chance to relax. That being said, I’ll most likely chalk it up as one of those places that I’m glad I got to see, but which I won’t be in a hurry to return to.