19-25.09.2018

After an exciting safari, the group headed from Mwanza to the largest and former capital, Dar Es Salaam, on the east coast of Tanzania. Local African airlines tend to use old planes and unfortunately our plane wasn't the safest either, it was shaking and rattling, but we still got there. A quick taxi from the airport to the hotel in the city center, dropped off our bags and went into town. In Tanzania, it's generally worth bargaining, basically everywhere, because you can usually get 20-50% off the original price. Airport taxi prices also started at 50 USD, but in the end we got there for 20 USD. Obviously, walking further would have lowered the price even more. In Dar Es Salaam, the first thing we did was head to the market to see local life and, if we were lucky, buy a souvenir. When we arrived, a large central market opened up, where you could buy everything from toilet brushes to spices, and even live animals. There was a lot of hustle and bustle and it seemed that white people were not common there. It is also interesting that if the prices are in dollars but you want to pay in the local currency, the exchange rate is always adjusted in a direction more favorable to the seller. For example, when buying ferry tickets to Zanzibar, the exchange rate for us was 5% worse than the usual one. We also walked around the city along the coast and visited the local fish market, the horrible smell of which made the girls sick. The bigger the city, the more garbage, crime and scams. It was a common occurrence that some “artist” would come up to us and try to befriend us and “help”, hoping that thanks to his great help we would buy his “own” paintings. Unfortunately for him, this pattern was already familiar and we wanted to stop bothering us. The paintings/drawings he wanted to sell had actually been bought and the assistant just wanted to make a profit. The day in the big city was spent walking around the city.

Early the next morning, we headed to the port, showed our tickets, checked our luggage, and headed to the waiting room. For some reason, locals and foreigners were in separate waiting rooms and were also allowed to board the ferry earlier. The ferry was something like the Saaremaa ferry, probably a little bigger and had an open sun deck, where we also took our seats. Soon after leaving the port, the wind picked up and it even started to get chilly, we had to put on a sweater. Two hours later, we arrived in Zanzibar - KARIBU! (which means “welcome” in Swahili). We had barely left the port when we were approached by people trying to sell us taxis and other services. Our stomachs were empty, so we decided to eat first. However, one gentleman walked around for about 15 minutes after us and ended up actively selling next to the dining table. Luckily, we got a taxi from him, but at a more reasonable price than originally offered. Instead of the $60 offered, we ended up paying $26. We probably filled our stomachs by chance at a more expensive Italian restaurant, which we chose only because of the nice outdoor terrace. Our accommodation in Zanzibar was located on the east coast in the village of Chwaka, about a 45-minute drive from the big city. When we arrived, we were greeted by a beautiful view of a tropical resort. Nice little traditional white huts, blue swimming pools, a large main house with a round floor plan and thatched roof, and a wonderful view of the ocean. Finally, the vacation began! We headed to the pool to sunbathe and read a book. At the end of the day, we had a three-course dinner at the hotel for 11 USD: pumpkin puree soup, chicken curry with rice, and banana split. Before going to bed, I got to hang out with the boys. lounge cards were played in the area.

The third day started cloudy with a light drizzle and continued until noon. Fortunately, the bad weather didn't bother us and we spent the day on the north coast. We got a deal with the taxi driver from the previous day that he would pick us up and drive us all day. The direction was supposedly the best beach. When we arrived, we spent some time in the local village, making time for the weather to become more suitable for a beach day. The muddy village road was filled with small huts and on the side open to the street were souvenir shops. Most of them sold paintings and other small knick-knacks. Our group also found a few pictures to decorate the walls at home. After shopping, we went to the beach with Coca-Cola in the local village shop. By then the sun was out and we could bare our torsos. The beach was beautiful, but it wasn't quite the paradise beach it seemed. We swam, lounged and went back to the village, because Gerd was still itching for a painting and wanted to trade a bit - he finally got his way. We ate our fill on the north coast. The prices were satisfactory. The local fish & chipsWe got a steak for 6 euros and a grilled fish for 8 euros, lemonade for 1,3 euros and beer for 1,8 euros. The plan was to skip the west coast one more time to visit the wildlife sanctuary, but unfortunately we found out that it would close early and we would only be there for half an hour. The driver recommended a local beach. Compared to the one we had visited earlier, it had a wide beach, local youth were playing football and children were running around. The strong wind was not inviting for swimming. Local punks came to check out the whites and Kristen made them a plane. Really fun lads! The sun was slowly setting and we decided to head back to the hotel. Our tired bodies wanted to sleep when we got there.

Stone Town, the old town of Zanzibar, has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, just like Tallinn's Old Town, and world-famous singer Freddie Mercury was born here. Narrow streets, stone houses and small shops here and there. It's like Tallinn's Old Town 2.0 with an African twist. Lots of cool doors: big, small, decorated and colorful. The city, which previously gained wealth through trade and slavery, was the link between slavery and Central Africa and the places that demanded slaves. Before we left, we did a circuit training on the local beach. Squats, push-ups, crab walks, abdominal exercises - these were just a few of the training sessions. All this before breakfast. We wandered the narrow streets of the old town and enjoyed the beautiful weather and architecture. We had lunch in an old tower with a wonderful view. It's worth doing some preliminary work on Tripadvisor, because without the help of the internet we definitely wouldn't have found this place. We visited the old slave market, which had been turned into a museum dedicated to it. Later, a refreshing swim and dinner on the city beach. This time, seafood with a view of the setting sun. It even started to get chilly on the beach after the sun went down. Full stomachs and back to the east coast. An hour-long drive, during which almost everyone closed their eyes for a moment. You know that after a vacation, you also need to rest from the vacation :)

Feeling a little tired from the previous days, I decided to give up the morning run. The other guys still did some exercise before breakfast. Compared to the previous days, I could already feel in the morning that it was going to be a warm and sunny day - and it was. The destination was the famous village of Paje on the east coast, which is known for its good winds and therefore also as a stopover for kite surfers. When we arrived, a wonderful view opened up. Light blue water, a long but relatively narrow strip of white sand. We rented deck chairs and started enjoying the beach. Nearby was a surf cafe with a very pleasant swing. A large-leaved harali tree covered the cafe interior with a cooling shade. A buffet table and individual meals were offered. Kristen and Allan decided to go for a jet ride - 30 minutes 45 USD. After having lunch, enjoying the beach and exploring the local village, we went north. The Rock Stone to a restaurant called, which is known as a house built on a rock in the water. During high tide, you can only get there by boat, during low tide, when we were there, we could also get there with dry feet. While walking, we found a nearby Italian-influenced restaurant for dinner. Delicious seafood: lobsters, fish, octopus and shrimp, some of the dishes we tried. For the weekend, we also treated ourselves to cocktails, which seemed very professional compared to the cocktails we had tasted in Tanzania before. When we got back to the hotel in a party mood, we were delighted to be at the bar 1=2 happy hour´iga. Soon the weekend program began, where five black acrobats in leopard-print costumes were flying onto the stage (floor) with somersaults and somersaults. The guys were unrealistically strong, they stood on each other's hands and heads, did various pyramids and juggled. A surprising 45-minute performance, cool!

Prison Island or Changuu is an island Stone Townnear the island, where it was originally planned to keep prisoners, but in the end, people with jaundice were kept there in quarantine. Today, the island is back in state ownership and is home to giant tortoises. The oldest tortoise is said to be 194 years old. There was a large pier near the landing place for ships, from which we could jump into the water. When the tide came in, the beach became small and we went back Stone Town´i, where a large daily food market started at six. Various street foods were offered. In general, everything we ate tasted good, but the grilled shrimp Allan ordered had probably gone bad, because we had never experienced such a taste and aroma bouquet before in our lives - horrible! We enjoyed the sunset on the pier, where local young people jumped headfirst into the water a meter high.

We decided to spend our last day at Paje beach, which we had already visited. Since we arrived quite early in the morning, we were surprised by the fact that there was no water. The morning tide had not yet started and the beach was ca 500 meters of water, just a big sand field. We decided to explore the ocean floor and walked a few hundred meters further, but the water slowly started to come back, so we decided to head back to the shore. The ocean had soon receded. Before we left, the beach had become very narrow. After a day of frolicking in the waves on the beach, we went back to the accommodation to pack our things for our evening departure.

In conclusion, I dare say that Zanzibar is beautiful, but we were hoping to see more of the paradise beaches. Definitely a worthwhile travel destination and ideal for those who Jet lagI don't want to know, because Tanzania is a 7-hour flight away to the south!

To adventures!

Adventure locomotive Kaspar