Zanzibar
Thurs 16th. Having been told that breakfast was included at Keys, I was told in the morning that bread and tea/coffee were free but anything else you had to pay for. So I just had the bread and tea !!! I got to the ferry terminal around 08:30 and bought my ticket for the 09:30 for 100,000Tsh; it was only 2,000 more than the last couple of times I used the ferry. I had time to draw money from DTB then went to board the ferry, being very careful this time to jeep an eye on my phone.
An hour and three quarters later we arrived Zanzibar. Now I know the ropes, I had my pen ready to fill in the immigration form. I walked straight to Aurelia. No Hassan as he was on Leave. Some confusion as to the room price. Apparently it was 90,000 but they were prepared to give it to me for 80,000, but I said I’d agreed 65,000 with Hassan. In the end I got my way and paid the 65,000..£20/21 approx.
This was all by 12:00, so I had time to get to the beach and have a swim and sit in the sun. Not seen so much sun in 2 months. Back to Aurelia and a refreshing shower. Then over to Patamu. What a transformation…all the wood painted black with a gold trim. Even the old fashioned wooden till was painted gold…what a shame. The blackboard with ‘specials ‘ had gone; the pool table was no more; and there were now comfortable black sofas. Even the stairs up to the first floor had been changed around. Anyway, the beer was the same.
From there I went to Travellers next door for the beautiful sunset. Had a nice chat with Albert the Lithuanian wjo had just arrived for a 1 week holiday. After it got dark I walked through Forodhani and towards Aurelia. I ate a delicious urojo then retired to my comfortable room.
Fri 17th. At about 08:30 I went down for my fantastic Aurelia breakfast. Apart from coffee, toast, omelette…there were samosas, katchori, mandazi…great. certainly no need to eat anything until the evening.
As part of my general walkabout, I wanted to find where the Nungwi dala dalas went from. I was misdirected because only a couple of weeks earlier they used to leave from Darajani…a five minute walk from the hotel…but the stage now was 30 minutes on the outskirts of town. Although I walked there, I caught a boda back.
I had a beans and chapati lunch. Not a particularly good one as the chapatis were in a glass case and were left to get crispy. But it was cheap. I relaxed at the beach for nearly an hour and had a swim. First a shower in my room then to Patamu and on to Travellers for the sunset.
On the way back to Aurelia I stopped at Maru Maru to check if they still did a happy hour. It’s 3 months since I was there but they remembered me..!! I must’ve made a real nuisance of myself..!! And the beer only cost 5,000…so a good happy hour.Then, near the hotel I stumbled across another street stall doing urojo…delicious, probably nicer than the other one. Not far to Aurelia from there.
Sat 18th. A great breakfast again. I’d got downstairs at 07:15, but told breakfast was from 07:30. Got talking to a Tanzanian who had lived in the UK for many years. I left a bag with my black trousers, my thick striped shirt and a packet of chevda with Aurelia reception to look after, in order to save a bit of weight.
I walked to the main road and got a boda to the Nungwi stage for 2,000. Got there at about 08:45 and we left at 09:00. I said Hi to a couple of Brits. Great trip..less than one and a half hours…only real delay was caused by the 4 police stops.
I walked up and along and in the general direction of the beach. All the roads had been recently tarred and were still sticky, but enough space was left on either side to walk on. I suppose they could be left like that to dry, or it’s a precursor to full tarmacking.
I reached the hotels which seemed to be all bunched together. Actually, a lot of them are bungalows. I walked through Langi Langi then Amaan and 2 of the prices for a single room were 200,000+. The third was 185,000. There was a lot of renovation going on, being low season and fairly quiet. Strange set up as it didn’t seem clear to me when one hotel ended and the next one started. Anyway, I stumbled upon Ames…bungalows actually…where a guy was cleaning one room but the next one was available. We agreed on 70,000, not including breakfast. That was ok…big room, hot water and AC. As I intended to stay only one night I didn’t go wandering around in the heat to try and improve on the offer.
I sorted my things out and walked the 5 minutes to the beach. The tide was in so I was confined to a shortish length of beach, but fantastic. I walked up and down enjoying the soft white sand and the turquoise water. I settled on the beach for an hour in the very hot sun and had a couple of swims. I liked the fact the water got deep quite quickly; I saw later a sign saying Gangis ??..name of a hotel/restaurant flanking the beach ?
I showered in my room then went walkabout. The tar had dried a bit. I stopped at a little hoteli and had beans and rice for 2,500 (80pence). I walked to the town centre…dala stand…and then in the direction of the beach, but not from where I had just come.
I came out near the fish market. The beach was interesting but not as nice as the one near my bungalow. I walked towards my beach, passing lots of bungalows/restaurants/bars. I stopped at one of them for a couple of beers. It transpired I could follow the beach all the way around as the tide was out. In fact I didn’t recognise my beach when I arrived; it looked totally different with the tide out.
The two Brits who had been on the same dala from Znz city were having a drink at the beach bar and I joined them. When eventually they left to have dinner, I carried on until after dark. I went into a little shop and bought a packet of crisps and a small bottle of Hanson’s Choice to take back to my room.
So that was my day in Nungwi. A great success considering it was a short journey from Znz city. The only downside is that there is nothing else to do there other than relax on the beach and use the hotel facilities. Oh, I tell a lie, I think there’s a chameleon reserve + cave somewhere to visit..!!!
Sun 19th. I left my Ames room after 08:00. On the way to the dala stand I stopped for breakfast of ginger tea and boflo. Boflo is a small white loaf of bread about 8″ long. Very fresh and soft at that time of the day. It didn’t seem to have the wheat in it to give me a bloated feeling.
The road tar seemed to be drying.I reached the stand as a dala..coaster actually..was reversing in. As it was empty I got the front seat. 10 minutes later we left…not full, so we picked up passengers along the way. A good trip taking just over an hour and a half. Of course Stonetown stand is just on the edge of town so I hopped on a boda to dharajani. (2,000).
I was a bit early so had a tea at Lukmaans across from Aurelia. Was given room 102 with balcony facing the square. Huge room; not slept in that one before. Some discussion at the desk about the rate but I just went straight up to the room and decided if I had to pay a little extra, then so be it. It turned out the rate was the same at 65,000 and I paid my 130,000 for 2 nights.
I went to the beach…it was very hot; definitely needed a couple of dips in the ocean. Back to my room to shower and had a superb urojo from just around the corner at an earlier time than usual. Over to Patamu for a beer. Didn’t stop at Travellers as the angle is all wrong for a good sunset. As Patamu hadn’t paid the necessary subscription for football, I went over to Maru Maru. Being a top hotel they were likely to be up to date with channel subscriptions. I had a great evening watching the deciding matches to the Premier league season and watching a beautiful sunset. And the added bonus was that they have a proper Happy hour so that their beers are 5,000…even better than the 6,000 at Patamu.
Decided to have a nightcap at Zanzibar Palace which is just around the corner from Aurelia. The 2 guys remembered me from when I visited with Mark…but that was only a few months ago. Had a couple of sips of beer and a few peanuts when I realised I had left my phone on charge at Maru. Whilst the barman looked after my beer/nuts I went quickly back to Maru; all was well as I hadn’t been away too long. Back to Znz Palace to finish my beer; good chat with one of the guys who knew the Kenya coast quite well, then to my room for the night.
Mon 20th. I woke up to a great breakfast as usual. I went to a ferry booking office to buy my 99,750Tsh to Dar for Tuesday. After that it was a matter of wandering along the waterfront and into the narrow Stone Town streets; there’s always a lot to observe. I went for the very first time to the Cape Town fish market; I always assumed it would be a lot more expensive than anywhere else, due to its location in Forodhani, but apparently a big beer there is 6,000 which is the same price as Patamu.
I went to the beach briefly as it was a fairly overcast day. A pleasant temperature actually. I had a few kachori from a street vendor. After showering and heading in the direction of Patamu, I checked the main Lukmaans restaurant as a possible venue for dinner but decided it was too expensive. I can’t remember what I did for dinner. I think I had cutlets…a meat one and a fish one.
I went to Patamu, but skipped Travellers. I went directly to Maru Maru, as I could tell there was going to be a good sunset in the evening. Well, it didn’t disappoint…it was Spectacular. I took lots of pics of the incredibly red/crimson sky; I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it before. Got talking to a couple of Aussies for over an hour, which was fun. By that time it was dark and I headed back to Aurelia to my very comfortable (and large) room.
That was my Zanzibar holiday. 6th time and loving the place all the more.
Tues 21st. A relaxed start to the day. Nice breakfast then a leisurely stroll to the ferry terminal. Well…the crossing was fine until we hit the strong winds. I was sweating profusely and as a precaution I took a couple of sick bags. It was like a rollercoaster and after nearly an hour I succumbed and was sick twice. Lots of people were puking, but after I’d puked I felt a lot better. The crossing was still an hour and three quarters.
I stopped at Harbour View then went to see Happy at the A T room and relaxed with a tea. From there to Riki Hill where I got the last 30,000 room. I bought chevda. Still raining on and off, so very pleased the roads around Riki have been tarmacked; the road drains are still being constructed.
On my way to the Congolese bar I stopped for lunch of rice and beans…wali na maharage. I complained gently that the rice was cold…but overall the food was tasty. Then I complained when they tried to charge me 5,000. The boss reduced it to 3,000..much more like it. Then across the road to the Congolese, where I lingered over 2 Castle beers. After that it was over to 24/7, then to my room for the night. A very relaxing afternoon and evening.
Wed/Thurs 22nd & 23rd . I took my time. Enjoyed my Riki breakfast. Approaching 10:00 I ambled down to Mnazi Moja and jumped into a dala to Segerea. I got the front seat. Nearly 2 hours journey; there was an initial detour where even the driver was unsure about which side roads to take. To make matters worse, Uhuru St had really broken up badly with hardly any tarmac left. Plus there is more construction going on for the Rapid transport system…UDART. But once we reached Tabata, I recognised where I was.
I walked beyond a different part of the bus stand to check on the Segerea Executive lodge and Password lodge for a room. Both were a bit expensive for what they were offering…25,000 & 30,000 + AC which I didn’t need. I went to BS Lodge right in the middle of town, which was good value at 15,000 (£5).
I’d had mandazi na chai earlier, opposite the stand. A small bottle of beer at Kingdom was 2,500, so I decided not to visit there again. I went on a big walkabout and bumped into KP just around the corner from Emil’s, and we had a good catch-up.
I’d already tried to contact Amy but KP said she was in Tarakea. I showered and went to Pork Point for dinner. I didn’t fully understand all the different options of kiti moto, and ended up having ribs; tasty but a bit fiddly knawing the meat off the bones. And then Amy contacted me…so she wasn’t in Tarakea after all…and after I’d eaten she wandered over to Pork Point for a drink and a chat. Then it was only a 5 minute walk back to my room at BS Lodge.
Day 2 in Segerea was spent wandering around. My room was comfortable enough considering how cheap it was. The toilet didn’t refill automatically but there was a big bucket and jug handy, so that wasn’t a hardship. Had breakfast of chai na mandazi at a hoteli opposite the stage.
Mid afternoon I got hold of KP to buy him a drink in return for him buying me one the previous day. He seemed very keen and rushed over from his house nearby !!! I thought he’d ask for a medium sized bottle of Konyagi but he got himself a large one !!!
But that was okay as they are inexpensive anyway !
After a good chat with KP, I went to Pork Point for a slightly different kiti moto. Just the meat that time…no bananas, as they make the meal too filling. After that I went back to my lodging for the night.
Fri 24th. I took my time checking out of BS as my flight wasn’t until late afternoon and I didn’t need to leave Segerea until after midday. I had breakfast near the stage, then with rucksack at the ready, I went for a drink sat the Segerea Lounge by the stage. It’s such an easy trip from Segerea to the Airport.
During this time I contacted Alkonjello again, having previous said I couldn’t meet him in the City. Incredibly, he said he was working at the JN Airport and would be finishing work in the early afternoon. I rushed my beer and caught a bajaj for the 20 mins or so to the airport.
There was a little confusion as to which side of the road he was at, and outside which terminal. It didn’t take too long before I heard my name being called out from a location that was conveniently close to a bar. I think that was at about 13:00, and we had time for a catch up and a few beers before I needed to go to my Terminal for around 14:00.
So, that was it. My flight left on time around 17:00. The usual 4 hours stopover in Addis. I think I got a little more sleep than usual, before arriving about 07:00 at Heathrow.
That was the end of my 9 months East African adventure. Went once to Rwanda and 4 times to Zanzibar. I joined up with Mark at the end of January. I saw a Stage of the Kenya Safari Rally at the end of March. I couldn’t catch the ferry down L Nyasa from Kyela because the lake was flooded from the heavy rains. My usual visits to Arusha, Moshi and the Mombasa coast. Plus I was a real tourist for 3 nights and 4 days in Tarangire/Ngorongoro Serengeti in Jan.