Zanzibar, the little Golden Island.
Truly, or sincerely, Zanzibar is a golden island, it is a small island - but it is golden. The beauty that manifests itself in the little island can only be likened to the sparkling yellowish color of pure gold — just breathtaking. Let’s pause, mmmh…… and repeat again, the beauty is just….. just …. amazing.
How I developed my interest to visit Zanzibar.
It was on 27th July 2019, Saturday evening, when I was just scrolling through my Instagram feed and I came across a picture of a beach that was so clean — I mean not the usual beach you would find in Cape Town where I reside. The beach was so clean that the ocean water looked super blue — transparent blue. The views of the ocean shores were also breathtaking. I became so interested to know where that beach was located and a quick search would reveal that it was the famous Nungwi beach found in Zanzibar. I stared at the picture for some time — just to appreciate its magnificent beauty. I started to think — what about one day I visit that beach? What are some activities I can do while there?.
Minutes later, I switched to youtube where I watched some videos on some travelers who had previously visited Nungwi beach and some of the activities they had done while there. After watching three videos, I was fully convinced that Zanzibar was my next traveling destination. (You can watch one of the youtube video I watched).
I was finishing my undergraduate degree in 2019 and I planned that I would travel to Zanzibar just to celebrate my victory — any student at the University of Cape Town will tell you that earning a degree from the “University on the mountain” isn’t that simple. I started saving some cash for the purpose of visiting Zanzibar later in 2019. However, things didn’t go as I had planned and I was forced to postpone the traveling to December 2020.
In December 2020, I was ready to travel to Zanzibar. However, something happened — I tested positive for COVID-19. The plan was to travel back home, Nairobi Kenya in early December and travel to Zanzibar in Mid December. After testing positive, I was taken to an isolation center at the University of Cape Town where I spent 2 full weeks in quarantine. After quarantine, I tested negative and I was cleared to travel to Kenya. I traveled back to Kenya on Dec 26th, 2020 and I couldn’t travel to Zanzibar asap as I had to spend some time with family, friends, and some meet-ups that I had prior arranged. I changed my traveling plans to Mid February 2021 which is the actual time I traveled to Zanzibar.
Nairobi to Zanzibar.
On 15th February 2021, I was ready to travel. I did my COVID-19 test again to enable me to cross the borders and I tested negative. I had two options to travel to Zanzibar where one was through a direct flight from Nairobi to Zanzibar and the other one was a bus from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania plus a two-hour ferry ride from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar. I had not traveled to Tanzania before and I was interested also to see around the country — so I decided to take option two. I have several Tanzanian friends who reside in Dar es Salaam and I had communicated with some of them to make them aware that I was visiting the country and I wanted them to show me around Dar es Salaam before I go to Zanzibar.
I booked a bus ticket from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam through Tahmeed Coaches and on 17th Feb 2021, I left Nairobi at 5 Am EAT headed to Dar es Salaam.
We passed through the Namanga border where the immigration officers checked my COVID-19 results and stamped my passport. I was cleared and granted entry to Tanzania. We passed through Arusha where we saw a good background of Kilimanjaro. We proceeded to Moshi then directly to Dar Es Salaam. We took several stopovers where we bought food and local fruits — I enjoyed their special mangoes called (embe tanga) — they were nice and tasty. Finally, we arrived in Dar es Salaam at 10 pm EAT. I was so tired and I yearned for a good rest. After alighting the bus, I took an uber to Upanga where I had booked an Airbnb for 4 days. The plan was to explore Dar es Salaam before I proceeded to Zanzibar.
In Dar es Salaam
The first thing I did was to purchase a Vodacom sim card the next morning to enable me to make cheap calls to connect with friends who were around Dar es salaam. Sim cards are cheap as I just spent 1 USD to purchase one. I managed to visit a few areas around Dar es Salaam such as Salads for Days, Kitambaa Cheupe, Juliana pub, Oyster Bay, Cocoa Beach, Kigamboni, Kinondoni, Triple 7 in Mikocheni, University of Dar es Salaam, Mlimani City, and Kariokor.
I spent 10 days in Dar es Salaam exploring. My most enjoyable places in Dar es Salaam were Coco Beach and Mlimani city. At Coco Beach, there was a lot of nice music — bongo fleva genre and local food such as kiti moto( Pork and rice) and zege ( A mixture of eggs and chips). There were also local drinks and popular cocktails such as gin and tonic.
Accommodation in Dar es salaam is expensive if you live in hotels such as holiday inn and Park Inn but very affordable when you book via Airbnb or booking.com. I stayed at two different places as by the fifth day in Dar es Salaam I moved from my Airbnb in Upanga to Serene Beach Hotel along Mbezi Beach. (I would recommend this hotel as it has a therapeutic ocean view, swimming pool, boat rides, good food, and amazing waiters).
I had planned to leave Dar es Salaam for Zanzibar on 25th February but my friend suggested that I should travel to a small town called Bagamoyo before leaving Dar es Salaam just to go experience a boat ride to a remote island with a scenic view and white sand. I agreed to travel to Bagamoyo but that came with extending my stay at Serene Beach Hotel by one day. We went to Bagamoyo and we had so much fun and experience. We traveled by public transport as the town was a 2-hour ride from Dar es Salaam town.
After coming from Bagamoyo, we went to Juliana pub, just a few kilometers from Clouds Media Group (One of the biggest Media groups in Tanzania) Headquarters where we spent some time finalizing our grand visit to Zanzibar which was to happen the next day. We booked our accommodation that night through booking.com and also planned out our Zanzibar itinerary. We booked a lodge called Dalma Lodge which I would strongly recommend to anyone visiting Zanzibar and who wants to stay not far from Stone Town and on travelling on a budget.
Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar
27th February 2021, was the big day — it was the day to travel to Zanzibar (my target destination). I was feeling excited and one of my friends who reside in Dar es Salaam offered me transport to Zanzibar Ferry in Dar es Salaam port. He came through and picked me up and my bags. He dropped me off at Zanzibar Ferry port in Dar Es Salaam. I quickly booked my return ferry ticket which cost me USD 50. I waited for my friend to arrive and by 4pm EAT we left Dar es Salaam heading to Zanzibar. We used the Azam Ferries.
The ferry was moving faster compared to the Cape Town ferry that moves between WaterFront and Robben Island. After 1:40 hrs, Zanzibar was in our vicinity. After two hours, we saw a sign written: “Karibu Zanzibar” meaning “Welcome to Zanzibar!”. We felt excited that we had finally arrived at our target destination.
I quickly cleared the Zanzibar immigration office. As a foreigner, you need to get your passport stamped and your COVID-19 results checked. My friend is a Tanzanian so he did not require immigration clearance. After clearing with immigration officers, we headed to Dalma Lodge where we had booked our accommodation. There is no uber service in Zanzibar and we were forced to use the local cabs to commute. They usually charge in USD so it was a bit more pricey than we had anticipated. We arrived at Dalma Lodge which was just 20 minutes away from the port. The port is located in Stone Town which is the main Zanzibar town center — let say capital center. The staff members at Dalma Lodge were very friendly and they welcomed us warmly. They also offered us transport to the locations we wanted to tour at a cost of USD150 per day. We had an itinerary of three days so we saw it as a good option.
Day 1 in Zanzibar
My friend had a friend who resides in Zanzibar whom they had schooled together in Feza high school Dar es Salaam and they hadn’t met for a long time. His friend agreed to come over to meet us after we had settled in Dalma Lodge. After two hours and settling down, his friend pulled over with a car and took us to Forodhani Gardens in Zanzibar to get dinner for us. Forodhani Gardens is a marketplace in Zanzibar where various food vendors showcase their foods to tourists and sell them to tourists. There are more than 150 food vendors at a go with different food types but most are seafood. There is also a huge and luxurious restaurant called “Cape Town Fish Market” Zanzibar. We decided to walk around tasting various Zanzibar food and drinking some local drinks. I enjoyed the lobster and some mishikakis (These are meat pieces bundled in a stick and spiced up) — You need to remember Zanzibar has two main islands — Ungunja and Pemba. We were in Unguja Island which is on the Zanzibar Archipelago and home to Zanzibar City & many historical buildings.
Zanzibar food is special in that it is mostly spiced up as history will tell you that Zanzibar used to be called the spice island which also extends to special spice tours which you take around Zanzibar tasting some interesting Zanzibar spices. After walking around tasting some food from the vendors, we decided to go to the Cape Town Fish Market Zanzibar to catch up and have some drinks/cocktails. My friend’s friend who resided in Zanzibar helped us refine our itinerary and after two hours of catching up and drinks, we left Forodhani gardens to Dalma lodge to rest and prepare for the next day.
Day 2 in Zanzibar: The Grand Nungwi Beach Visit
Our 2nd-day itinerary was to visit Nungwi Beach — yes, finally I was to go see the beach that excited me and made me develop a huge interest to visit Zanzibar. We paid Dalma Lodge the transport for the day and they gave us their car for the whole day and a personal driver. This was the USD150 per day package. The beach was a 2 hrs ride from where we had booked our accommodation. Along the way, we bought some coastal fruits from Zanzibar as we interacted with the locals. After two hours, we arrived at Nungwi beach. The first thing that struck me was the white sand and the day was so sunny. The sun struck the white sand and it was impossible to look around with naked eyes and I was forced to buy new sunglasses at a street vendor.
I also bought a T-shirt with Zanzibar written on it before embarking on some activities. At Nungwi beach the activities that you can do are boat riding, swimming with fish, scuba diving, cooking while on a boat, and viewing the Mnemba Island which is fully owned by Bill Gates. We approached one of the boat riding companies that were operating along the beach and they offered us a package: boat riding, scuba diving, full gear, food onboard, and driving across Mnemba Island, all for USD350. We agreed to pay for the package and in a few minutes, we were on a boat ready to go swim with the fish and scuba diving.
We drove in the boat for 2 hrs and we arrived at the scuba diving spot. Our boat was anchored about 200m away from Mnemba Island while we dived and swam along. One distinctive feature I saw was exactly what I saw in that instagram post — super clean beach with transparent blue water. I was not a good swimmer but our boat driver was an expert in swimming and helped me to do a few moves in the water. Due to its blueness and transparent nature, you could just see the whole ocean sea bed when you were fully immersed in water. After two hours of having fun, we drove back to the shore where we had lunch and enjoyed some local music.
We drove back to Dalma Lodge where we quickly took some rest before we headed back to Forodhani Gardens for dinner. Literally, we had dinner at Forodhani Gardens every day we were on the island. Our Day 2 was over. We had explored and we were satisfied with the day.
Day 3 in Zanzibar: Jozani Forest Visit + Mkunazini Dolphins watch
Our 3rd Day itinerary was to visit the Jozani forest (famous for the presence of the red monkeys — yes, they are red in color- the only forest in Africa with red monkeys. As usual we paid our transport and we were on the way to Jozani Forest. It was just 1hr ride from Dalma Lodge. Arriving at Jozani Forest, we paid for entry fees (only USD20) and a tour guide accompanied us to explore the forest. The forest is also known for huge snakes as one we were shown was a huge python. The forest looked beautiful and had very therapeutic scenery. We got a chance to see the red monkeys and also walked on the mangrove canopy. The mangrove canopy is a wooden walk-path on top of mangrove. The trees present in the forest are mangroves.
After a long exploration of the forest, we were on our way back to the ocean — this time to Mkunazini beach to go watch and swim with dolphins. We had previously organized for a boat that will take us deep in the ocean to go watch the dolphins and swim with them. After arriving, we rode the boat for approximately 1 hr deep in the ocean. We did not find the dolphins as we had arrived late in the afternoon. The interesting thing that happened here was that there was a strong wind while we were deep in the ocean — hahahaha — I felt our adrenaline rising up. We waited to see the dolphins but we did not see them and since it was getting late, we opted to drive the boat near the beach where our driver would teach us how to dive well in the ocean. We did that and we spent almost 2 hrs being trained how to dive well in the ocean — it was fun. We then drove along the beach enjoying the beautiful views and clean water. We were happy and were ready to go back home.
As usual, we got back to Dalma Lodge and took some rest before we headed to Forodhani Gardens for dinner — as usual. We decided to feast on other delicacies that we had not tasted before. Interestingly, on this day we met a local youth group performing in Forodhani Gardens. Day 3 was over. We had explored and we were satisfied with the day.
Day 4 in Zanzibar: Stone Town Visit + Leaving Zanzibar
Day 4 was our final day in Zanzibar. We took a tour around Stone Town which hosted many historical buildings in Zanzibar. Speaking to locals, they told us that there is a law that prohibits one from changing the architecture of stone town such as demolishing the old buildings and building new houses with new design style. After our walk around Stone Town, we passed by a tourist shop where we bought some gifts and ubuyu — ubuyu is a famous Baobab Is a Type of Candy Made From The Seeds of The Baobab Tree Fruit Which Is Known As a Super Fruit which is mainly sourced along Tanzania and Kenyan Coast. There is a well known Ubuyu vendor by the name “Babu-Issa” which is known to be the best.
Ater finishing purchasing some gifts and the ubuyu, we were now ready to board the ferry back to Dar es Salaam. We went back to Dar es Salaam where I spent one more night and left the next morning to Nairobi. I had accomplished — I had visited Zanzibar. I had concluded that Zanzibar is a little golden island.
You can visit my social media pages to see more photos and videos.
Advice if you want to visit Zanzibar:
- Know why you are traveling, is it for luxury? Or is it for exploration? To see? Hotels are super expensive like super., use booking.com or Airbnb to organize for your accommodation. If you are travelling for luxury, there are so many luxurious and 5 star hotels around Zanzibar.
- Eat at Forodhani if you can or eat along the beach as food is a bit cheaper.’
- Hiring a vehicle and a photographer is cheaper. If you have a camera just use your camera or good iPhone use it…
- Stay close to the airport if you are traveling via airport or stay near Port that is Stone Town if you are using the Ferry. Ferries are the best option/cheaper and connecting with Dar es Salaam airport.
- Prepare to spend 20% more of what you had budgeted to spend. This is because of other costs such as COVID-19 testing or gift purchase.
To see places you can visit in Tanzania and Zanzibar check this twitter page:
Next I will be travelling to Rwanda and Western Uganda in between December 2021 and January 2022.
Special Acknowledgements and gratitude
- Andrea Silaji for being my travelling buddy all along I was in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.
- Dalma Lodge, Serene Beach Hotel and LandMark Hotel Ubungo staff for being nice and friendly to me.
- My Tanzanians Friends who hanged out with me — Maneno Mgwami, Jonathan Elingao, Samson Idabu, Donel Chihoma and Mary Louise Chambu. Check their LinkedIn profiles there.
If you may want to have a conversation with me on Cybersecurity, Digital Literacy, Agritech, Edtech, or any other interesting conversation,
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Author: Willie Macharia, a Masters in Computer Science student at the University of Cape Town and a Mastercard Foundation scholar. Coder, thinker, emotional intelligent individual and problem solver.
