Zanzibar (Is Very Far)

April 07, 2024

So why did we go to Africa? It had long been on the bucket list for a long time, and with upcoming trips needing to be focused on college visits and the like, it seemed like the right timing. And why Tanzania? Well, for one, it offered the opportunity to go to Zanzibar, which had long been a bucket list inside a bucket list. When my friend Sarah, who went to Tanzania last year, said she wished they had tacked on a couple of days there, I was sold.

The more whimsical of us might also say it was because of Bill Harley's Zanzibar song or Billy Joel's Zanzibar, but I digress...

More to the point, the only majority Muslim country I had previously visited was Indonesia, which at least at that time was not overly religious. Ramadan may not be the perfect time to visit, but that was time we had to go, so there we were.

First of all, I will unapologetically say that Zanzibar is the most beautiful tropical country I have visited (Norway might still win the overall "most beautiful" category for the fjords, but in a very different way.) The romance of the winding streets of Stone Town, the gorgeous beaches and water, the sunrises, even the long drives across the island to get places — all incredible — and we didn't even visit The Rock!

We didn't do much on Zanzibar actually. One day we read outside next to the pool (during pouring rain, it's the rainy season), and visited Kendwa Beach for the sunset, to people-watch, and to eat at a beachside restaurant where we had a delicious seafood curry and a perfect cocktail.

Other times we spent at the pool and beach at the resort (when it was low tide, since the beach disappeared at high tide).

We had one somewhat ill-fated excursion into Stone Town. Wandering around the streets was interesting but confusing, and the tour of the former slave market was incredible. But it's kind of an overwhelming place (especially for someone like Beatrix, who had not encountered anything like that before), full of people wanting to be hired as guides, or have you buy from their shop, or generally just wanting *something* from tourists (which makes sense), and we stuck out like sore thumbs. It was also hot, and the market was busy and loud. We could not sit down and have a cold drink since most places were closed during the day due to Ramadan, and likewise you can't eat or drink in public. So we bailed on it early, not staying for the sunset or the night market or anything, because the people you travel with are more important than what you see.

Here's Beatrix in the slave holding area by the market. Over 50 people at a time were kept in that one room, with that one slit for light and air (and it's been enlarged since then). There's a trench in the ground to walk in, but everything else is raised, because the room floods at high tide. I can't even begin to imagine. That visit alone was worth the entire trip.

The other thing to note about Zanzibar — the sunrises. Beatrix loves sunrises, and we were on the NE end of the island, looking out at Mnemba Island (the private island rumored to be owned by Bill Gates). On day 1 we got to the beach at the end of the sunrise, but on day 2 we were there for the whole thing and it was perfect.