Africa 2012--Zanzibar

When I made the plane reservations over a year ago (January 2011) I had no exact plan on how long the climb up Kilimanjaro would take or the Safari. I also had not even picked a company to use while in Tanzania. So I had to guess on how much time we would need in the country since we were using frequent flier miles and there would be no chance to change the dates/times of the flights.

So we ended up with 2 extra days in Tanzania. I figured that Florence and I would have had enough Safari and sitting around in a vehicle after six of those days, which we were. So I ended up surprising Florence and planning for two days on an island off the coast of Tanzania called Zanzibar. Until just 20 years ago or so this island was its own nation. They did combine up with Tanzania somewhat recently. It is known as a spice island, and was a big island that the slave traders used.

A view over Stone Town, the main city on the isle of Zanzibar

These great wood carved doors were all over the place in Stonetown

The local meat market

The longest pool I have ever seen--and with a zero edge

We flew from Kilimanjaro Airport to an airport in the middle of Zanzibar. After getting our bags and backpacks we took a mini-van shuttle to our hotel which was around 20-30 minutes ride away. While traveling we noticed that almost every woman was wearing the traditional Muslim clothing and covered. We were told when we asked that 98% of the residents on Zanzibar or indeed Muslim.

We stayed for two nights at a resort on the island. Right on the beach. Beautiful grounds--great food. Very nice to just wind down. The beach was a bit of a disappointment to us in that it was more of a cliff beach rather than a sandy beach. Also, the tide swings were over 16 ft., so when the tide when out, it went out about a quarter mile and was just muddy sand left in its place.

We were able to use some sea kayaks and go down the coast to a real nice little beach and back. We also did some hiking all around the area where this resort was. The pool at the resort was the longest pool I have ever seen, and to boot, it had a zero edge looking out over the ocean. Other than us, there were very few if any Americans there. Lots of Europeans, folks from other African nations and India. It was probably at under 30% capacity so pretty empty.

We took a tour of Stone town, the main city on the island that dates back hundreds of years. It was fun to see and learn some of the history of this island.

After two days, we flew to Dar Es Salaam (a short 20 minute flight) and stayed one night at a hotel there. This was because our international flight left at 8 am and we needed to be at the airport no later than 6:30 am and would not have been able to make it back.

Then 11 1/2 hours with a big head wind travel to Heathrow London.