BOHOMAROON

The Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa

Listening

• Podcast: The Zanzibar revolution by the history hour

Just the name Zanzibar sounds exotic, perhaps that’s what first captures the imagination when thinking about coming here. This island, part of Tanzania, is as you might imagine it. Warm in every way, both the daytime temperature and the greetings and interaction with local people.
We arrived early on a Friday morning in December 2024 after an overnight stop in Nairobi, Kenya. The BA flight to Kenya landed at 9.30pm and one hour and forty-five minutes later we left with our bags, making it a late night. Our Kenya Airways flight was at 8am the next morning, so sleep was a luxury, made infinitely easier by a bed in the nearby Crowne Plaza.
Our new gadgets, tracking devices buried in the luggage, at least provided some reassurance that they (our bags) arrived in the country with us.
Heading into Stone Town from the Airport, our driver, Abdul, told us a little of the history of the place and there was clearly a level of pride in his voice. Zanzibar is a majority Muslim Island, with a rich mix of both Arabic and African people. In the past it was an important trading post and that legacy is clear to see.
Highlights from the first day…food, Mango and Banana juice, King Prawns and Salad, Whole White Fish and tasty brown spicy rice with curry sauce. “Hakuna Matata”…don’t worry, was in every other interaction.
Challenges, not really, unless you count really slow internet connections, but that might be a blessing 😉.

Day 2, woken up at 5.50am by sounds from the early morning Mosque calls, one after the other, it was simply magical. Walking around the town after breakfast, past the old slave square and Freddie Mercury museum, and lunch at Cafe Africana. The local coffee is excellent.

Day 3, another glorious alarm call from the Mosques. After a roof top breakfast we met our cycling guide for the ride to Pongwe. After collecting the bikes, we started out and past one of the very few churches in a predominantly Muslim country. The music pulled us in to see what was going on and we spent a good ten minutes dancing at the back with some of the locals. From there we headed off towards Mr Spices, a family run enterprise with just about every fruit and spice you know and love being grown on premises. A quick lunch and then back on the bikes for the 30km ride to our hotel. Walk on the beach, swim in the pool and workout the “jungle gym” and ready for a hot shower and evening meal.

Day 4, left Pongwe and rode towards the coast to get a boat ride in the direction of Jambiani. Quite relaxed riding day today covering around 40km. Lunch at Mr Kahawa overlooking the beach and watching the kitesurfing. Kahawa has relaxed and friendly feel to it and the food and service was very good. Finally arriving at our hotel owned by an Italian couple, we had a real treat with an evening meal of excellently cooked pasta.
Day 5, My sleep last night at the beach room hotel in Jambiani was somewhat restless. The bed was a mixture between comfortable and annoying; I’m concluding that these body moulding mattresses are not good if you like to turn often at night. That combined with the constant sounds of the waves against the beach kept me awake more than I expected.
I woke up reflecting on the last couple of days at the beach. There were two noticeable and very visible things seen since leaving Stone Town. The first was the sprawling row of exclusive beach front Hotels and Apartment complexes, we cycled past mile after mile of them. Second, at almost every one that we stopped at, the security people we young Masi men, dressed in traditional clothes. When I asked our cycling guide, Suleman, why this was, he explained that it was cheaper to employ them as they were mostly from the mainland (Tanzania) and would work for much less than locals. On the positive, there appears to be a government mandate that only African and preferably local Zanzibarian people can work in the shops and hotels, very relevant given that each time we’ve asked who owns a place, the answers range from Italian, Swedish, Indian, Dutch etc. Everything other than local Zanzibar. Perhaps the most disappointing thing was the massive contrast in wealth, here we have mile after mile of exclusive hotels and apartments, but a few minutes away the local people burn their rubbish on the streets and inhale the toxic fumes given off.
Day 6, a walk along the beach and out into the sea 🌊. When the tide goes out in Jambiani, it’s possible to walk for a good mile in towards the ocean. Local people can be found farming seaweed and digging holes for a purpose I wasn’t quite sure about. It was common to see fisherman burning the underside of the boats to remove algae and seaweed. Quite a spectacle. Tanzania and therefore Zanzibar, was one of the places where the government originally denied the existence of Covid 19. Apparently, the President later died due to this, but speaking with locals, it is clear the whole pandemic seemed to pass them by with minimal impact. Maybe a handful of cases were reported in the country.

Day 7, we head off for some Sea Kayaking. Abdullah collected us from the hotel and after a short drive we were collecting our kit and, in a boat, moving towards a snorkelling spot. From there, we landed on an abandoned island with a derelict hotel (Niamembe) where we would be camping overnight. In short, the snorkelling was good, a lot of very colourful fish and coral reefs, and we did two laps of the island on the kayaks as the sun was starting to set. Magical.
Day 8, Our last day in Zanzibar was, well, rushed. At 7.30am came news of a two-hour flight delay to Nairobi, slashing the four-hour buffer in half. After a frantic set of discussions with Precision Airways, we decided to reschedule to an earlier flight. However, on arriving at the Airport, this flight had also been delayed by at least two hours, so the rushed departure could have been a bit more relaxed. Perhaps not the best way to end the trip but my memories of the place and people will always remain positive.

Highlights and Learnings

• Walking around Stone Town in the evenings was a real pleasure. Families with multiple generations all out together enjoying the warm evenings and having fun
• Freddie Mercury and Zanzibar, that was an interesting connection
• The local markets are great places to people watch when a new delivery of fish arrives. It’s manic, lively and fascinating to see how the traders operate