In November 2018, I had the opportunity to take a full week off to Zanzibar. That was not a honeymoon for me, but since I went with my boyfriend, I can still put this trip in the romantic holiday segment. I was living in Oman at that time and it was a close destination for us.
A brief history of Zanzibar:
The island, established by Iranian immigrants first, was a Portuguese colony from the 14th to the end of the 17th century. Later, it came under the rule of the Sultanate of Oman, it became the capital in 1840. Zanzibar became independent from Oman in 186. The island came under the UK rule, and its sultans were appointed by the UK. After these long colonial years, Zanzibar gained its independence in 1963 but was became a part of Tanzania as an autonomous region as of 1964.
What to do in Zanzibar?
Zanzibar is a tiny island. You can fit a long list of activities on a short vacation. Everywhere is very close to each other. If you want to tour the whole island with your vehicle at a time, it would take 6-7 hours.
During my one-week vacation, I stayed in four different corners of the island. The morning we landed, we went to Stone Town, our first stop and the center of the island. You can find many shabby bars/restaurants by the sea in Stone Town. One isn't better or worse than the other. Therefore, you can give a chance to any place you fancy. Besides the restaurants on the beach, there are many “rooftop” bars in the city, and spending the sunset on one of these is a must-do on the island.
You can walk everywhere in Stone Town. The coastal road is quite pleasant. There are many people selling food on the street, the chances of getting food poisoning is low. If you are one of those who love to eat street food, one of the safe places to do so in Africa is Zanzibar. There is also a bazaar where you can find all the fresh vegetables, spices, and even clothing. Oh, beware of your bag.
Zanzibar Castle is also a place you can reach on foot in the city. Besides the castle, there is a small market where you can buy souvenirs and oil paintings. Of course, bargaining is your most natural right.
It is possible to arrange tours at the castle's tourist counter. Spice Tour is one of the island's quite famous activities, and I highly recommend it. The tour starts early in the day and takes a half day. You walk around in a forest by learning all the trees and spices. You are also trying all the fruits you see. It is a very delicious tour. In our tour, we had to wait 1 hour under a gazebo because it started to rain cats and dogs. During this time, we were pampered with tropical fruits and all kinds of accessories made of leaves!
After spending two days in Stone Town, we started our clockwise island tour. Our second stop was Nungwi and Matemwe. It is impossible to visit the beach without sunglasses because of the sparkle of the white sands. Matemwe is the island's famous diving spot. There are PADI certified professional dive schools, you can reach their offices within the hotels in different points of the island. I did my first scuba diving in Matemwe, even if I was quite afraid. The underwater world was fascinating. Unfortunately, since I did not have a camera suitable for underwater, I cannot share the corals and colorful fish I have seen with you.
After Matemwe, we proceeded to the Bwejuu region of the island. On a day in Bwejuu, we went to Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park in the inner part of the island. Here, too, we made a guided tour in the forest and also visited the places where the monkeys and the mangrove trees are. On our second day, we went on a snorkeling tour with a group. The snorkeling tour was not very interesting, especially after seeing 10 meters depth. But the lunch included in the tour was delicious. I still have the taste of fresh squid, octopus served with delicious curry rice and salad. One of the stops of the tour was the cave they used to hide the slaves. Frankly, I don't like caves and there wasn't much to see inside. Still, to think about the sad events that took place in this cave make me terrified.
We hit the road from Bwejuu to Kizimkazi. In Kizimkazi, we devoted one day to see the historical sites in this region. Although it is sad to know that we have the last two days of our holiday, we have returned to Oman with the ease of having visited Zanzibar completely.
What to eat in Zanzibar
Due to an incentive given to Italians in the 1990s, there are many Italians and therefore Italian restaurants on the island. You can try Zanzibar “pizza”, it tastes like a normal pizza, with plenty of ingredients! Generally speaking, the seafood is fresh and delicious! You can consume red snapper, white snapper, octopus, tuna, squid, and shrimps in abundance. If you like dessert on top of the dish, pineapple fries are great. There are two options, banana or pineapple, but I would recommend pineapple, it is juicier.
Is there Malaria in Zanzibar? The answer to this question: No, there is no Malaria on the island. But if you are not feeling comfortable, take your medicine. It was my first time in Africa, I did not want to take risks. But if I go again, I will not take it.
Zanzibaris
As someone who lived in Oman and now lives in Kenya, Zanzibar is a mixture of African and Arab cultures. It is possible to see mosques and churches on the island. Just like the Oman people, Muslim Zanzibar men wear long white clothes called “dişdaşa” and a hat called “kuma”. Women dress up more colorful compared to Omanis. I can say that they are helpful and friendly in general.
A small note
We wanted to have a budget-friendly holiday. For this reason, we did not stay in those luxury hotels. The hotels we stayed in were on average 50 USD for two people including breakfast. They are laid back, cool places with cool owners most of the time. Breakfast never disappointed us. And the rooms were comfortable. The important thing is to have a fan in the room since it gets hot and humid.
There are not many ATMs out of Stone Town, at least when we were there, we could not find a working ATM. If you are going to leave the center and do not want to return, do not forget to take enough cash with you. The credit card is not accepted in many places.
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